How old was I? I can't remember. Maybe I was only 10. It was the first 1 without my father because he was away for something. He left me to fill that sad place in my mother's heart. It was the Christmas when I stopped being a 2 and tried to play Father Christmas myself. I really wanted to make it happy and bright again. It was the Christmas of the 3.
Mom first saw the coat at Tobias, a nice 4 shop in our town's little shopping mall. It was dark green. And it was a 5, heavy, wool dress coat. Mom pulled it out from the rack(架) and held it up. “Long enough,” she said in a low voice and 6.
“I need a new coat,” Mom smiled before the mirror. She looked good on any clothes, 7 this coat suited her much better. She looked at the 8, then hung the coat back on the rack, standing there once more to 9
Eighty-seven dollars. But I decided to buy it for her. As we moved on 10 the mall, I found some excuse to return and asked one of the Tobias ladies to 11 the coat.
I helped clean every yard(庭院) in our neighbourhood—some yards twice, and soon I got the coat. The store ladies helped me put it in their biggest 12 with bright blue paper and thick silver ribbon(丝带). I don't remember 13 I got it home, but I can still feel the wonderful 14 and pride that filled me. I would imagine the big space which the box would take up under our tree. Here it was—joy, peace and15 —all in the box, waiting for Mom's surprise

    Mabel is a beautiful girl. She likes all kinds of clothes, but she didn't1 her heart into her lessons when she was at school. With her friends' help, she finally finished middle school, 2 she learned little there. Of course, she can't do any important work and now she is a salesgirl in a 3 She has to work there and hopes to find a better one .

    One afternoon the girl argued with her mother angrily. So the following morning, . When she served an old man, she was very4 The old man chose a pair of shoes and bought them. Before he left, he asked, "How 5  will the shoes last?"

"It depends. If you don't use them .the shoes will  6  be broken. "

The old man  7 nothing and went away. That afternoon, while Mabel was  8  for supper, she cut her finger. She had to go to a hospital. That old man happened to be on duty. After Mabel got the medicine from him, she asked, "When will I get 9 ?"

    "It depends, "said the old man. "If you don't use 10 , you'll lose your finger. "

    A group of frogs were jumping through the woods when two of them fell into a big hole. All of the other frogs gathered around the 1  to see what could be done to help their friends.

    When they saw how 2  the hole was, the rest of the group agreed that itwas 3 for the two frogs to get out of the hole. In the beginning, the two frogs 4  with all their strength. Some of the frogs shouted into the hole that is was hopeless, just prepare for the fate(命运), others  5shouted that they two should save their energy and give up. But the two frogs continued jumping as 6as they could, and after several hours of hopeless jump they were quite tired.

    At that moment, one of the frogs gave up. He lay down at the7of the hole, and died as the others looked on his helpless sadness. However, the other frog8to jump with every bit of energy he has, even though he was completely worn out. His friends began a new shouting to him to accept his fate, waiting to die. But the frog jumped harder and harder. Finally he jumped so 9that he got out of the hole.

    The other frogs asked him surprisingly, “Why did you continue jumping when we told you it was impossible?” Reading their lips(嘴唇), the amazed frog explained to them that he was10and when he saw their gestures and shouting, he thought they were cheering him up, so he tried harder and finally succeeded.

    It was more than 80 years ago, when an army quietly passed across the Yudu River in Ganzhou, Jiangxi. They were the Chinese Central Red Army. They decided to start a 1 and hard march. It was 2 known as the Long March. This year is the 83"' year of the victory of the famous march. Let's learn something about it.

    During the Long March, the Chinese Central Red Army passed many places. They 3from Jiangxi, passed through several provinces and finally arrived in Shaanxi. It is said that they 4 about 25,000 li (about 12,500 kilometers) during the Long March.

    At school, you may have learned in books that soldiers 5 many difficulties. They lived a 6 life and fought against the enemies. They crossed Chishuihe for four times, 7 many kinds of difficulties. In Sichuan, soldiers spent a hard time creeping(匍匐)across Luding Chain Bridge, which was 8 13 iron chains(铁链), in the middle of gun fire. They also climbed 9 the snowy Jiajin Mountain, which was 4,930 meters high. They didn't have enough food to eat, so they often went 10 for days. And they didn't have enough 11 to stay away from the cold. Many soldiers 12. About 86,000 people took part in the march, 13 only about 7,000 were left when they arrived in Shaanxi.

    Today, we can visit the places that they once passed through. This way, we may truly understand the 14 of the Long March：Never be 15 of difficulties and never give up hope.

    Four women lived in the same building and all of them were going to a party. They were1 about what dresses they would wear. They finally decided to choose(挑选) a dress that matches the hair color of their 2.

    The first woman said, "I will go in red 3 my husband colored his hair red."

    4 this, the second woman said, "Well, I will 5 black because my husband's hair color is black."?

    The third woman also had a(n) 6 "Yes, then I would love to go in a 7 dress because my husband has yellow and blonde(金色的) hair!"

    They all turned to the 8 woman, but she stayed quiet. So they asked her 9 she would wear. "I am thinking very hard, but I can't 10 a right dress. It seems that I can't wear any dress because my husband is bald(秃顶的)!" said the woman.