There was a kingdom long, long ago. It was ruled by king who loved riddles. Once a year the king made a new riddle. He gave a prize to the person who could solve the riddle.

    There was a baker who also lived in this kingdom. Everyone agreed that he baked the finest breads. The baker had almost everything he needed except for a horse. If the baker had a horse, he could sell his fine breads from one end of the kingdom to the other.

    One year the king made a new riddle that puzzled everyone. "I will give a prize to the person who can solve my riddle," the king said. Whoever wins will have the pick of one of my strongest horses." He then drew a line down the middle of the courtyard "Make this line shorter without erasing(清除) any part of it," the king challenged.

    People came from far and wide. They looked at the line and squinted at it. They even put their noses to the ground and scratched their heads.

    How can you make a line shorter without erasing any part of it?” the people in the crowd asked each other. Some of them tried. The dressmaker kicked dirt(泥土)over the line to hide it. The farmer poured water over the line to make it disappear. None of these efforts worked, and the people went home disappointed. Everyone was puzzled about how to solve this new riddle.

    A week passed, and nobody had any new ideas. Then one day the baker came into the courtyard with a bag of flour(面粉).

    Your Majesty, "the baker said to the king, I can make your line shorter without erasing any part of it." Then the baker opened his bag of flour. He poured out a line of flour right next to the king's line. The line the baker made was longer than the king's line.

    Now, good king, "the baker smiled, "your line is shorter.

    The people were amazed. The king laughed and clapped his hands. "You have won the prize. I will give you a horse of your choice.

    The baker was excited. Now he could sell his breads from one end of the kingdom to the other.

Hello! I'm Anna. Look at{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(this) photos. The woman in{#blank#}2{#/blank#}orange dress is my mother. She{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(teach) English in a middle school. The man in a white T-shirt is my father. He is an office{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(work).

My mother gets up at 6:30. It takes her about{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(40) minutes (分钟) to go to school on the bus. She has two{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(class) in the morning. We{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(usual) have lunch at a restaurant near school. At 14:00, she has an English class. She is kind{#blank#}8{#/blank#}her students, so they like her a lot. At 17:40, she comes back home. She cooks dinner at 17:50. At 18:30, we have dinner. After dinner, she reads a book about English. Sometimes (有时), she helps me with my study. She can help me with my English{#blank#}9{#/blank#}Chinese. I think she is a very good mother. I love {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(she) a lot. 

While we were growing up, our parents often said things like, "Look at that boy, he swims so well! He is such a talent(人才)．" Such words made us believe that if we were not born a talent, we would never do things well. So we were afraid to try new things, and were afraid of making mistakes or failing. But in fact, failures(失败) and mistakes are as important as success.

Sarah is lucky. She has a great father. As a child, her father asked her the same question every weekend. "What did you fail at this week, Sarah？" He did not care too much about her grades. He cared more about what she had tried but failed at. When she told him about her failures and mistakes, he would give her a high five(举手击掌)．

Do you realize what her father was doing? He was trying to make her believe that failures and mistakes are just fine. And they were a huge part of our growth and success. Most importantly, her father was telling her that she would still be loved and trusted even if she failed. Encouraged by the weekend communications, Sarah has grown into a successful businesswoman.In her journey, she has tried many new jobs and had many difficulties，but she never lost heart. Because she knew her failures and mistakes would be embraced(接受) on the weekend.

So go ahead and ask yourself and your children, "What did we fail at this week？"

In the middle of a cold night, I heard a loud sound outside. I 1 and looked out through the bedroom window. There was a little dog outside the door. It was 2 and shaking. The dog was black, so at first it was difficult to see at night. The yellow spots(斑点) on its eyes helped me 3 it. It was trying to get inside a box to get away from the cold air outside.

 Seeing the poor animal, I felt really 4 . I went near the little dog and wiped(擦) it till it was dry. Then I took it inside and made a(n) 5 for it with an old scarf and a small pillow. The dog seemed very comfortable in its new be d and went to 6 quickly.

 The next morning, I asked my parents if we could 7 it. They thought for quite a while and 8 . We named him Spotty. Soon Spotty became part of the 9 . Days passed on and he could take care of the house when we were out.

 Almost a year later, one midnight we heard Spotty barking(吠). We came out but saw nothing 10 outside. The next morning, I woke up and couldn't find Spotty. I searched for him everywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen. We waited for one long week. But we still couldn't find him.

Many people like visiting new places and seeing new things. But before taking a trip, we all have to decide who we want to travel with: is it better to go with family, with friends, or alone?

Traveling with family can be hard work and you may argue a lot. Not everyone in the family wants to do the same things. But traveling with family can be very cheap. And traveling with parents can make you feel more comfortable and relaxed. They won't let you do anything dangerous. Traveling with friends isn't usually expensive, but money always plays an important role. It's normal for everyone to have different budgets(预算) and there needs to be lots of compromise(妥协). This may cause problems. But traveling with friends can be great fun. It also helps you learn more about your friends, and sharing experiences can keep your friendship (友谊). 

When deciding who to travel with, young adults can choose to travel alone. Traveling alone has advantages. For example, you don't have to compromise on money problems. You can choose what you want to do and it can also be a good way to meet new people. However, it can be lonely and sometimes dangerous. When you're ill or having trouble, nobody will be there to help you. 

Who do you usually like to travel with? Why? (no more than 25 words) {#blank#}5{#/blank#}