The Phone Call

        It was getting dark. Paul looked out of the window and signed (叹气). Dad said he would come home by 5:30, but it was almost 7:00. Even if Dad came back, it wouldn't be much fun playing 1 in the dark. Paul walked into his room and threw his baseball into the corner. He tried to do some homework, but couldn't.

      The phone rang at about 8:00. It was Dad: “Paul, I'm 2, but I couldn't play baseball with you tonight. I have to finish my work at

the office. Maybe we can play this weekend. Oh no. How about next weekend?....”

       Paul couldn't understand why Dad was so 3. He threw himself into the sofa and soon fell asleep. His book was still opened to the

 first page.

      The next day at school, Paul didn't hand in his homework and 4 a test. Mrs. Green, his teacher, asked him to stay after school. “Paul, you didn't do your homework. You didn't pass the test and only got a D. This isn't like you. What's wrong?”

      Paul just sat there5 . “Paul, if you don't want to talk, I will. I know that something's worrying with you, but you have to get it out. You need to tell someone.”

      As Paul walked home, he thought of what Mrs. Green said. Maybe he didn't do his homework because he wanted to get his dad's _6 . He knew Mrs. Green was right. He decided to take her advice.

      When Paul got home, he 7his dad. But there was no answer. Then it went to voicemail (语音信箱). Paul began talking: “Dad, I can't play with you next weekend. I've got lots of problems with my homework. Also, I really don't want to spend another day looking out of the window and waiting. Whenever you 8our plans, Dad, it hurts me. It's not too late to rebuild our relationship, but we have to start small. Maybe you can help me with my 9sometime. Dad, I love you.”

      As Paul ended the call, he felt much relaxed. He didn't know whether his dad would be different, but it didn't matter. He himself __10. He expressed his feelings to the right person. He had a clear head as he was doing his homework that evening.

    It was a cold snowy morning after the winter vacation. And it was my first1at my new school. I was walking alone slowly and 2about lots of things. It was early and there weren't many people on the road. Suddenly a girl who was 3a bike on ice fell down. She was trying hard to get up but fell again. 4 thinking, I went over and helped her. She said "5" with a smile and then rode away. Her words warmed me a lot.

    Finally, I got to school. The teacher led me to the 6 and introduced me to the class. Then he asked me to sit down beside a girl. I felt so 7 that I didn't dare to look at her. Soon the first class, 8, started. Their textbooks were different from those in my old school. As I was wondering 9 to do, an English book appeared in front of me. "Let's share," the girl beside me said, "Hi, I'm Carrie." I 10. It was the girl I helped this morning. Later on, we became good friends.

    From that I learned: to help others is actually to help ourselves!

    It was very cold, Amaya was warm in her house, thinking about an article she'd read at school. The article was about kids who 1 out their communities, and she thought it would be really cool to help her own town, Harvard.

    The only2 was that she wasn't sure how to help. In the article, the kids had grown food for people who needed food, but it was winter. She couldn't start a garden. Amaya was deep in thought when her mom said it was time to go shopping.

    As they drove along the road, Amaya saw a family wearing only light jackets. The cold wind blew 3 outside. How cold they must be! That gave her an idea! She could 4  winter coats, hats and gloves for people who needed them.

    She shared her idea with her mom, who thought it was great. But how would they 5 the idea to get plenty of winter clothing? Amaya decided to talk to her teacher, because then she could share her idea with her classmates at least.

    Ms. Monroe agreed when Amaya talked about her idea. They decided to call the 6  Hats in Harvard. Then they wrote a letter explaining the project. They also met with the headmaster during lunch time. He was excited about the idea, and said he would make sure copies (复印件) of the letter went home with all the students.

    They collected enough winter clothing in only one week. Then they left the clothes around two parks, so families who needed clothes could get them there. Three days later, Amaya and her mom went shopping again. She saw the same family that had given her the7for Hats in Harvard.  This time, though, the family wore some new coats, hats and gloves. Amaya felt 8 in her heart, and was very glad she could help others.

Seba Stephens is only 10 years old, but he's a very talented musician. He plays drums, bass, guitar and piano. Recently, he got a professional certificate (证书) in music through the Berklee Online program at the famous Berklee College of Music.

Seba and his family live in Memphis, Tennessee-a place famous for music. He grew up with music all around, but he especially loved the drumming of Stewart Copeland from the band The Police. "The songs of The Police are full of so much cool drumming (鼓声)." he says.

Before he turned three, his parents asked him what he wanted for his birthday. "Drums!" he answered.

His parents weren't sure, but after seeing him play the drums at a local music store, they decided he was serious. They bought him a junior drum kit (成套装备). It was a huge step. "He didn't stop playing-ever." says his dad. Everett.

But soon Seba grew upset. He couldn't get his junior drum kit to make the sounds he heard Mr. Copeland making. It was a lesson for the family: good instruments were worth paying for. His parents bought him a professional drum kit and signed him up for lessons.

In just a few months, a drummer, his drum teacher reported that Seba was learning very quickly and needed a higher level of training. He was still four.

He faced challenges-because of his size. "I couldn't see over my drum set," he says. "And I couldn't reach some of the cymbals (铙钹，打击乐器名)." He also had trouble finding a good bass that was small enough.

Seba wanted to start a band, but Everet said he had to "at least be in kindergarten (幼儿园)" to do that. Everett thought he was joking, but Seba actually started a band in kindergarten. By the first grade, he was making money playing music.

Hi! I'm Mandy Swift. I'm from an island nation in Southeast Asia. It is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} country named Singapore. I am in {#blank#}2{#/blank#}( grade) Seven this year. Do you like to know more about me? Read on, please.

I live {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Beijing now because my parents work here. I like the nice classmates and teachers here. They always help me find and correct some {#blank#}4{#/blank#}( mistake). Mary is my new friend here. We're in {#blank#}5{#/blank#} same school but in different classes. I'm in Class One {#blank#}6{#/blank#} Mary is in Class Six. So sometimes we go to school or go home with other friends. I also like the delicious food here. Beijing roast duck {#blank#}7{#/blank#} ( be) my favorite. And I love {#blank#}8{#/blank#}( read) books too. It always makes me {#blank#}9{#/blank#}( happy).

I really enjoy {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(I) life in China. Here is some of my personal information. Thank you for knowing about me!

 These days, I find that mail delivery(投递) is a little different. I got a notice of my mail's arrival through email from a friend of mine. I went to the mailbox after the time the mail usually arrived. Nothing, but my neighbors' mail. I thought that was unusual.

I decided to take my neighbors' mail to them. I was going to put the mail in their mailbox when a tall man came and shouted at me. "Hey, what are you doing?" He snatched(夺取) the mail from my hand, open the mailbox, and pointed inside. "You were after this!"

I shook my head, "No, I was just bringing it to them. I got this mail by mistake in my box today." He gave me a funny look and went back into his house.

I got the knock on the door the next morning by two police officers. The angry tall man had phoned the police and told them I was a crazy old woman going around mixing up everyone's mail. Before I could finish telling them about what was going on, the officers had watched the dog coming near my mailbox with mail in his mouth. He took out the mail that was in my box and put letters in. He pushed the door closed with his nose, picked up the new pile of mail he had got from my box, and repeated this all the way down the next street. We all started laughing.

 The dog had belonged to a postman who had died. It had been trained to put mail in and take mail out of the boxes. After his owner died, he was left alone, but he still carried on with his duties.

I went by to talk to the tall man to describe what had happened. He was very pleased when he realized I was not a mail thief. He did, however, adopt(领养) the little guy.