Last Friday, I was just in France to visit my 96-year-old grandmother who is very dear to me ­­­­­­ 1   lives alone. I don't visit her very often, so every time I go to see her,   2of us think that it might be the   3    time we see each other. Last time I visited her in December of 2014, I did some video interviews about her life. I asked her  4   it was like to grow up with her father in the 1920s, to live with two young children, with her husband   5  in a prisoner's camp (集中营) in Germany. I also asked her about her greatest   6  . I learned a lot of amazing new things about her that I never know before.

     This year, I did not really have questions to ask. I only wanted to tell her how loved she is. So, I cooked for her and read stories. I gave her a foot massage （按摩）.   7    leaving, I wanted to leave something  8 behind besides the memory of our time together. So I wrote her five different love and thank notes to let her knows how much she means to me. I   9 them in different places where I knew she would  10  find them. One of them was under her pillow. 11    one was hanging from the lamp shade by which she reads in the evening.  Another one was by her toothbrush. One was in her mailbox which she has to check every day. And the last one was in her car. She still  12  to the nearby village a couple of times a week!

       I knew that these cards would surely cheer her up after I left. Really she called me as I was catching my plane back to the US. She said, “ I found your three cards! By the time I discovered the third, I was laughing out loud! They did me so much good. Thank you so much!” I smiled to myself, 13  she still has two more to go! It is Sunday today, so my guess is that she hasn't  14   her mailbox or driven her car! I can  15  how happy she will be when she finds them.

    A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apples he grew. One day， his friend gave him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and 1 it.

    Seeing the gift， the farmer was very happy， and he thought he would also have a lot of wonderful apples， but when he got home， he felt 2 . He did not know where to plant it. He thought over and over and considered every place he could think of. 3 ， he decided to plant the tree in his woods. There were many high trees with thick leaves in the woods. With those trees around ，no one else could see the young apple tree. He even felt proud of himself for finding so secret a place for the apple tree. Every day he went to take care of the tree， watering it. To his surprise and 4 ， the apple tree didn't grow as well as he expected.  It died without sunlight and good soil.

    Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a 5place. "What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily. "If I had planted the tree near the6 ， passers-by(行人) would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields， my neighbors would have come at night and 7 some of the apples! If I had planted it near my house， my own children would have taken the fruits. No matter where I plant the tree， I can't have8 to enjoy the apples： So there is no difference where I planted it."

    "Yes，" said the friend. "But sooner or later someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed(抢夺) everyone of the fruit， but also have 9 a good apple tree! You don't know the true meaning of 'share'!"

    We should learn to 10in our life. The more you want to own something all by yourself， the less you get at last.

    Beethoven had an ugly face and a very1temper(脾气)but people2him to their homes. When he lost his temper, they forgave(原谅)him. He was often poor and ill during his life. After one illness, he suddenly3himself deaf. At that time he was431.What a blow it was on him!

    5this didn't stop Beethoven6on in his life.He went on7much music. He wrote long pieces and short pieces, happy ones and8ones. During his life, he composed(作曲)about 300 pieces. 9people's surprise, he wrote some of his best and most beautiful pieces10he became deaf. Many of them are known and loved all over the world.

    Susan had long blonde hair and big blue eyes.So did most of the other1in her school class，which troubled her a lot.“I look like everyone else！I'm not special！I'm bored！”Susan2to her mother.

    She decided to try to make herself look3She painted big pink spots on her neck and when she didn't get attention，she stuck a long plastic nose on top of her real nose.Nobody noticed that，4.She took ink(墨水)and poured it all over her5.She wore clown(小丑)clothes to school and stuck leaves in her ears.6no matter what she did，she still didn't get any7and nobody thought she was special.

    One morning her8went to wake her up and told her to get ready for school.She made Susan9the ink out of her hair and clean her neck.“I'm not going to school10！I'm bored！”She buried(埋葬)her head11the quilt and cried.

    “Susan，”her mother said，“you are different.You are unique(独一无二)and special.12in the world looks just like you.Some people have blonde hair like you and some have blue eyes like you，but none of them has your smile or the twinkle in your eyes or your pink face.Nobody laughs like you，either.Now13and get ready for school.”

    Susan went to school that day and looked at all the other kids in her class.“Mom was14.Nobody looks just like me.”Susan said.“I am special.I am unique and I am not15！”

    When I was a teenager growing up in France, I wanted to leave school and have my own life. The only way I could 1 this was to work in the local paper factory in my town, or get married. I was very nervous when I told my 2I wanted to leave school. I thought he would say, "3. You are going to college." I was very 4 when he said, "OK. Let's go to the paper factory."

    Two days later, 5 took me to the factory. I imagined everyone to be friends 6 together and having fun. I even imagined there would be music and singing. I 7 I had watched too many movies as a teenager.

    When we 8 the factory gates, my father spoke to the guard(门卫) and one minute later we were 9. I walked around the factory looking at the building, the workers, and listening to the noise.  It was 10. I ran back to my father and said, "I want to go home."

    He asked me, "What do you think of the 11?"

    "Too bad," I answered.

    "And marriage is even 12!" he said.

   I went back to school the next day thinking about studying hard13 I could get into a good college. I 14 studying English so I decided to major in（主修） languages at college. Thanks to my father and our 15to the paper factory, I now work at the United Nations and my father is very proud of me. I married a very good man and my life is much better than it would have been working in the factory!

    There was once a boy. He liked watching TV so much that wherever (不论哪里) he went, he 1 arrived late. He couldn't wait to go back to the front of TV, so he never 2 his breakfast or homework.

    One day, the boy got a box, but he didn't know 3 sent it. In the box, there was a pair of glasses and a piece of paper, it said," With these you'll be 4 to see time."

    The boy didn't understand. He 5 the glasses, looked at his brother and saw many flowers on the top of his head. 6 it wasn't just his brother. When he looked at anyone through those glasses, the same thing happened. The only difference was that the older (越老) the person was, the fewer (越少) 7 were on their heads.

    The next morning, when he wore the glasses, he found the flowers on his head go 8 the TV.

    The TV had a big mouth and it ate all his flowers! He was  9 to see that.

    So the boy knew that it was not 10 to watch TV for a long time. He decided not to watch TV like before.