A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had loved a beautiful sports car, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

    As Graduation Day came, the young man waited for the good news of the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his study. He handed his son a beautiful gift box. Curious and disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely ,leather—bound(用皮包装的)Bible《圣经》,with the young man 's name on its cover. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then rushed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

    Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. But he realized his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could set off, he received a telegram(电报)telling him his father had passed away. He needed to come home immediately and deal with things.

    While searching for his father's papers, he found that new Bible. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible, It had a note with the salesman's name, the same man who had the sports car he had hoped. On the note was the date of his graduation, and the words :“PAID IN FULL.”

    I used to be the shyest person in the world. I hid1 my elder sister whenever I had to speak to a stranger. When asked to speak in class, I could hardly 2, much less speak. Even among the few friends I had, my high, timid (怯怯的) voice earned me jokes —about being a girl.

    Then in the seventh grade, my sister suggested I 3 voice lessons. After considering it for a short time, I did. I began a series of vocal exercises.

After exercising a lot, I finally gained 4 in my voice.

    A few months later, I was asked to sing for some retired people, I thought I would do better than before 5 the voice lessons. I opened my mouth and —nothing. I couldn't remember the 6! My face turned hot. The kind pianist whispered a prompt (提示), and I remembered just enough to keep singing.

    Then the thought struck me: I've already embarrassed (尴尬) myself enough. There's really nothing else to 7. So in my second song, I just relaxed and felt the energy of the song lift me. And I did much better.

After that, I started singing to myself as 8 as I could in my own room. That's something I would never have done before. One classmate even said that I 9be in the school's talent show.

    I am not a shy person 10. Singing has made me more outgoing. Today, I can also stand in front of the whole class and give a big speech. I am proud of myself.

    There was a special wedding on 15 August, 2012 in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The groom (新郎) was Frares Abdullah, a Swiss, and the bride was Li Miao, a Chinese girl.

    Before the wedding. they spent their holidays on a Silk Road tour (丝绸之路旅行), along Kashgar, Turpan, Kanas and finally Lhasa in Tibet.

    During their tour, the couple hoped to have a special wedding in Urumqi with 25 guests, including the groom's family members and friends from Switzerland, Germany, Palestine, the US and the UK.

    On 5 August, the wedding guests flew to Urumqi. After one day's rest in the hotel, the group flew to Kashgar where they enjoyed the scenery(风景) in Dawakun Desert. On the third day, they took a 3.5-hour car ride to Karakuri Lake.

    On 8 August, the wedding group took a tour of Kashgar city. They visited the famous Id Kah Mosque. The next day, they went to Turpan to see the Jiaohe Ruins and Karez Well, two of Turpan's most famous places of interest.

    On 15 August, the special wedding began in Urumqi. All the guests sent their wishes to the groom and the bride. They were so moved and said they would be nice to each other for all their lives.

    Rene was born in an Indian village in Oaxaca, Mexicon. His family lived in a small house. They spoke an Indian language. Rene started school in the village when he was six years old. There was no school for older children in the village. So Rene went to Oaxaca City when he was nine years old. This was a big step for Rene. It was his first time in a city.

    Little Rene got a job in the city. He worked for a rich family. He took care of their big house. He worked during the day, and he went to school at night. He learned good work and study habits. He learned Spanish, and he grew up.

    When Rene was thirteen years old, he returned to his village. He had many brothers and sisters. His mother needed help. Rene felt bad. He could not go to high school.

    When Rene was twenty years old, he took a very big step. He went to Los Angeles. He worked as a cook. He took English classes in his spare time. Then he went to university. He studied very hard.

    Today, Rene teaches English. He tells his students," Learning English is not so hard. Having good habits is the most important thing! Be organized. Use your time well. Have a good time!"

    When Daniel woke up yesterday morning, he found he was a bit late for school, so he started running to catch the bus. Moments later, he saw a dog, but not its lead. He tripped over the lead and fell down. He jumped up quickly, went on running and got on the bus. After a while an old coach broke down in the middle of the road, and the driver couldn't move it. It was eight o' clock, the middle of the rush hour, so it soon created a terrible traffic jam. The bus driver tried to go round the coach. Unfortunately a taxi was coming in the opposite direction. The driver tried to stop the taxi, but he couldn't prevent the accident-the taxi crashed into the front of the bus! Luckily nobody was hurt.

    When Daniel finally got to school out of breath, the science lesson had been on for five minutes. Daniel said sorry to the teacher and sat at his desk. He reached out for his school bag-no，it was nowhere to be found.

    "Where is my school bag?" Daniel was puzzled. Suddenly he realized that he had left it on the bus. Bad luck！