Once again, God seems to have put a homeless person in my path. Lately, I have regularly come into contact with people that I just can't ignore .

    His name is Mark and I was surprised to hear that he is only three years older than me. He looks so much older! He was on the counter, asking for money. I parked my car and plonked(砰地放下) myself down on the curb(路边) to talk. People were driving by and looking at us, but I didn't care.

He told me about his life. How much of his story I believe, I don't know. He told me he was dying—-that part I believe, for he could hardly walk and had trouble catching his breath.

    I asked what I could do to help him. He said all he wanted was a slice of pizza. I gave him $3, the only cash I had . He said he wanted to go to get the food himself, but he was stopped from the shopping center for begging. I said I would get it for him and asked if he wanted something to drink .

    Then he asked for a(n) ride to the trail in the woods where he had his tent. Usually I don't give rides to strangers, but this was just up the street, and quite honestly he had no physical threat to me. When we parted, he held my hand for a long time and we just looked at each other wordlessly for a few moments.

    At that time, he wasn't a homeless man and I wasn't a sufferer .We became just two souls making a human connection I don't know if I will ever see him again, but I know I will never forget him. God bless you, Mark, and your beautiful blue eyes and gentle soul.

A

    Mrs. Brown is a woman about forty-five. Her husband has a factory in the town and gets much money. Her three children are all intelligent and they work in their factory. She has nothing to do at home and lives a happy life. Mrs.Brown likes meat and cakes very much. Her husband and children often buy some for her. And she doesn't like sports and often gets up at eleven o'clock in the morning. So she gets fatter and fatter and now it's difficult for her to walk. Sometimes she thinks something is wrong with her heart. She went to see a doctor one day. The doctor looked her over carefully and said, “You have got a heart disease, Mrs. Brown. It's bad for your heart to eat much sugar and meat. You'd better eat a piece of bread for each meal.”

    “That's easy, doctor,” said the woman. “But when do I have to eat the bread, before a meal or after a meal?”

"Everything happens for the best." Whenever things weren't going my way, my mother would say this to me.

After I finished college in 1932, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer(广播员) . I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily, I got turned down every time.

In one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn't hire (雇用) a person without any experience and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon, where I had grown up. There were no such jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local person to work for it. I wanted this job, but I was refused again.

"Everything happens for the best," Mum reminded me. Dad offered me the car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The programme director, Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.

As I left his office, I felt so frustrated. "How can I become a sports announcer if I can't get a job in a radio station?" I asked aloud.

While I was waiting for the elevator, I heard someone calling. It was MacArthur. "What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he asked me to have a try. He was pleased with my performance, and he offered me a chance to work there.

On my way home, I thought of my mother's words: "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened without the failure before."

Dan is a Grade 7 student and he is 13 years old. He lives on Oak Street in Toronto, Canada. Dan is waiting for the bus because he is going home now. There are also some other people waiting at the bus stop. Dan is looking at them and thinking about where they are going.

There is a short man. He is wearing a blue jacket and a baseball cap. He is reading a map. Maybe he is a tourist(旅游者).There is an old man with glasses. He looks like Dan's grandfather. Dan wants to know where the old man is going. Is he moving to a new town? There is a girl standing near the old man. She looks very worried and is looking at her watch. Maybe she is late for work.

The bus finally comes and Dan gets on with the other people. Dan thinks he can write a story about the people he saw at the bus stop today.

We all know Bill Gates is a very rich person and good at computer science. But do you know he has another 1 —reading? He is so interested in reading that he always tries to find a book to read when he is 2 on weekends. And in his large and beautiful house, you can see a big 3 with so many books.

Why does Bill Gates 4 reading a lot? He thinks good books can tell us much about life. As we know, he is fond of 5 about the world. He says books may bring him many smart ideas. A good book is just like a teacher. You always learn 6 than you can think.

Gates is kind to young people. He's always doing his best to help them: He thinks reading can teach young people a lot. 7 every year he recommends a good book to them. If he decides which book young people8 read, he'll spend his money buying many of such books and give them for free.

This year his favorite book is Factfulness, a book tells us the world is better than 9 think. He hopes all young people can know more about the world. Which book will be the 10 one Gates wants to recommend to young people? Let's wait and see.

My brother Claudio is one of the people I love most. He is wise and always {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(help), taking care of our younger sister Sarah and me. The day when he left home to go to college, I was taught the {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(important) of being a man. 

It was a rainy Saturday morning in August. We were woken up by Sarah who enjoyed{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(play) the piano in the morning. In the kitchen, there was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} surprise for Claudio — his favourite pancakes. 

Mum gave us a big smile and told us{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(sit) down for breakfast. 

While we were eating breakfast, Claudio went upstairs to collect his things. I {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(sudden) heard him calling me. When I walked{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the room we shared, I found Claudio sitting at my bedside. "It's time, brother, " he said. I thought he was saying that it was time for him to leave,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} in fact he told me that I should take on a bigger role in the family from then on. He said I should be more {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (use) to Mum than before after he left. 

I thought about his words very{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (careful) and then understood many things. That day I learnt about family, love and duty.