Mr. Jackson was our science teacher. On the first day of class, he gave us a talk about an animal called wampus. He told us that the wampus lived on earth millions of years ago during the Ice Age and died out because of the change of climate(气候). We all listened carefully and took 1 of everything he said. Later we had a 2.

    When the exam paper was 3to me, I was surprised and sad, there was a big red "×" through each of my answers, I failed. But how come? 4, on the test paper, I had written down 5 Mr. . Jackson said in class.

    Then I realized that no one 6 the exam at all. What had happened?

    "Very simple," Mr. Jackson explained. "I had 7 all that story about the wampus. There had never been any such animal, so the information in your notes was not correct. Do you expect to get 8 marks for incorrect answers？"

    There was no need to say we were 9. What kind of test was this? What kind of teacher was he?

    How could we believe he gave us so much information about an animal that had not been there at all? How was it possible 10 us students to doubt what the teacher taught us?

    "The zeroes on your papers will be 11 in your grade books," he said. And he did it.

Through this experience, Mr. Jackson hoped that we would learn something. Teachers and books are not always 12. In fact, no one is. He told us not to let our mind go to sleep. Instead, we should keep thinking all the time and speak up if we think there are13in our teachers' words or in books.

    We should 14 the habit of doubting, and the ability to decide by ourselves. What a special 15 he gave us.

    Many people like to collect things. For example, they like1stamps, books, pictures and so on. But my friend Mr. Green likes to collect clocks. He 2 five hundred clocks. The clocks are3in his house. You can see shelves in4room. All the shelves are5of clocks. Mr. Green is glad to do this,6 his wife doesn't enjoy it at all. She has a lot of7to do every day. It's not 8for her to clean hundreds of clocks. She is also angry at the noise. Each clock keeps its own time, so she can hear the clocks strike almost9time day and night. She says, “There is something even worse. I really don't know what10it is with so many clocks in my house.”

    When I was a twelve-year-old newspaper boy, an old lady who was my customer lived near my house. I 1 her name. On a winter afternoon, I was playing with my friend near the old lady's backyard. I found a2 smooth rock and threw it out, but the stone 3 a small window of her house. Unluckily, I saw the old lady standing behind the window. We knew we were 4, and ran away quickly. We were scared about that we would 5 and didn't worry about the old lady with the broken window in winter. The next morning, she was 6 greeting me with a smile when I gave her the newspaper. I made up my mind 7 my money to correct my mistake. After three weeks, I had seven dollars. I put the money in an envelope with a note explaining everything and/ hoped that the seven dollars would cover the 8 for repairing the window. I waited until it was dark, and put the letter in her door. The next day, I 9 the old lady her newspaper and she thanked me for it as usual and gave me a bag of cookies. After eating several cookies, I found an envelope and pulled it out. When I opened it, I was surprised. Inside were the seven dollars and a short note that said, "I'm proud of you." I smiled in relief. However, I 10 the lesson about forgiveness she taught me.

    It was the middle of July. I had spent two days exploring a bat cave in the desert in southern New Mexico. The cave was part of an ancient flow of lava（熔岩流），now hardened into rock. I had left the cave and was driving my pickup truck on a rough（高低不平的）track across the  1surface of the lava flow.

    Suddenly, the truck came to a stop, caught on a black lava rock.

    A quick check of the underside 2the worst: the truck's axle（车轴）was bent，nearly broken in two. I couldn't 3 help in such faraway country. I put the food and cans of water into my backpack and set off on foot, going north, the direction of the main highway. I was low on water. Too little food did not matter much, but hiking across the desert in July without water could be dangerous. As I set out, unreasonable 4 came over my mind. I was afraid of everything around me. Each creature made my heart jump. In my mind, every movement was a scary animal about to strike and kill me.

    I walked for hours and cried until I 5that nobody was around to hear me. Complaining was useless. A change came over me. I began to feel less afraid. Fear was replaced by curiosity. I went on, and slowly but surely began to see the desert world differently, through 6 eyes, not frightened ones.

    That night I lay on the warm sand, using my backpack as a pillow. The sky went dark. The stars began to shine in the hugeness of the heavens. With a smile I thought how little there was to fear, after all. By noon the following day I 7north. I began to think how lucky I was to see the wild desert world. A wrecked truck and a forced hike across the desert gave me an/a 8 to see what few others ever saw

    Late in the day, I came to a farmhouse. I drank all the lemonade that the farmer and his wife had in their refrigerator. "I liked it out there," I told them when we got to talking. "I just wish I had been less frightened. I would have noticed more that way "I know what you mean," the man said thoughtfully.

"It's a rare sight, that desert wilderness, a rare sight'