B

    An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart after a day's hard work. When he was not far away from his house, the light on the cart went out. He tried but could not repair it. He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light. When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old man.

    "Where is your light?" asked the policeman. "No man may take a cart along the road at night without a light. You know that. You have broken the law." "I had a light, but it has just gone out," said the old man.

    "I don't believe that story. What's your name and where do you live?" asked the policeman. "Please don't write down my name," said the old man. "My home is just there. You can see it from here. I had a light nearly the whole way."

    "You came all the way without a light. What's your name?"

    The old man quickly took the policeman's hand and put it down on the top of the light. The light was still hot and burnt the policeman's hand. The policeman jumped and he was very angry. "Now, what do you think?" said the old man. "Did I come all the way without a light?"

    At midnight, Mr. King coughed again. He got up and took some medicine. Before he lay down again, he smoked. And he couldn't go to sleep any longer. He found the medicine book and began to read it. He was afraid he had lung cancer (肺癌）He seemed to see death was waiting for him. Tears ran down his face. He didn5t see his wife was standing by him.

    "What's wrong with you, dear?" asked the woman.

    "Nothing," the old man answered and covered his face with his hands.

    The old woman opened the book and understood at once. She said, "You must stop smoking right now."

    "I began to smoke when I was nine, you know. How can I do that?"

    "But I think health is more important".

    Mr. King coughed again and his wife said, "Go to see a doctor tomorrow. He will be able to help you, I think."

    The doctor told Mr. King to have an X-ray examination of his lungs. And then he looked at the X-ray carefully for a long time.

    "Tell me the truth, doctor," said Mr. King, "Do you see any shadows (阴影）in my lungs?"

    "No, I don't see anything."

    "Yes?" the old man said happily. "Really?"

    "Yes. Your lungs are turning black. How can I see any shadows?

    This year the US will honour(纪念)one of the country's most famous writers-Mark Twain(1835-1910).Most readers know that his real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but how many know where the pen name "Mark Twain" came from?

    The answer shows Clemens' colourful early life before he became a writer. "Mark Twain" was the cry shouted on a ship when the ship entered a part of a river that was two fathoms(6 feet) deep. "Twain" is an old-fashioned way of saying "two". Twain trained as a ship pilot on the Mississippi river for two years, a time that he wrote about in the humorous Life on the Mississippi(1883).

    The famous river would become an important theme in many of his works-who could forget the journey of Huck and Jim along it in his most famous book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1884).

    With little education, he had to teach himself how to write stories. Whenever possible, he would go to public libraries. There he spent much time reading and thinking, which greatly helped him with his writing.

    On the other hand, his life experiences gave him wonderful material to write about and attract readers. Twain wrote in a style that has been called "local colour" because it shows great knowledge of local people and their customs.

    The gift is very clear in the two books for which Twain is still celebrated today: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer(1876) and its follow-up The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which many people call "The Great American Novel".

    The most amazing invention in his book is the voice of Huck himself. Huck did not enjoy schooling. It shows in the way he uses language, in a spoken style. Only a master like Twain could copy the way a young southern boy talked so well.

A man lived happily in a village because everyone praised him.

One day, he happened to hear some people talking about him.1 what they said made him sad. They said he was too proud. From then on, whenever he heard others2 , he thought they were saying something bad about him. He was 3 all the time. His wife noticed this and took him to a wise old man.

The wise old man said, "Stay in my house tonight. "

The man 4 . When he went to sleep at night, the croaking(呱呱叫声) of frogs fell in his 5 . A pool was behind his room. The more he wanted to ignore(忽略) the sound, the6 the frogs seemed to croak.

The next morning, the man told the wise old man, "I couldn't sleep well last night. It felt like there were  7 of frogs in that pool. You must also have trouble because of them. Can I take them8 and put them far away?"

The wise old man agreed.

To the man's9 , only ten frogs were caught.

The wise old man said, "Even at night there were only ten frogs. Because you paid too much10 to the noise, you thought there were hundreds of them. It is the same in your life as well. There's no need to care too much about others' talks. Be true to yourself. "

A hen lives with her children on farm. It's late summer and she wants to make a delicious corn (玉米) cake. She thinks everyone would like it.

It's hard work, because she needs enough corn for the cake. Who can help her? Some other animals, like the dog, the cat and the pig. They live near her. She goes to visit (拜访) these friends.

"Who can help me get the corn to make a delicious cake?"

"I can't get the corn!" says the cat angrily. "You wake me up for this?"

"Sorry!" says the dog. "I like ready-prepared dishes."

"I can't do it," says the pig. "I do not like to be tired."

So the hen has to do it alone (单独). When the cake is ready, it smells delicious. All the three want to try some.

The hen doesn't want to share the corn cake with them. She thinks no one helps her and that they are too lazy. The corn cake is just for her and her children.

I start my first day of school at junior high today! What I am thinking about makes me1 . I don't know anything about junior high. I am going to be a new kid in the school and I am going to have to make new 2 .

I am not alone(孤单的). All of us going into junior high are in the3 boat. Though(尽管)I am 4 being a new junior high school student, I am also excited about it! I am excited about all the different 5 I get to study.

I will miss my old friends, but I 6 hope to make new friends. The letter from my new school 7 that this Friday will be Club Day. There are a lot of 8 at my new school. I think I might join the Film- Making Club. It is a good way to 9 new friends and share hobbies.

I am so 10 now! My family are all excited for me as well. I am looking forward to a great year and an exciting new world!