Sports are important in English life. The people of England are sports lovers. Some of the world's famous sports began here such as football and cricket(板球).

    Football is a fast game played in winter and early spring. Lots of people play football in parks or playgrounds just for fun. With hundreds of years' history, it's one of the most popular sports in England. The English love football very much and they turned most of their main players into famous persons. David Beckham and Bobby Charlton became heroes（英雄） for many children. The most interesting part of the English football year is the FA (Football Association) Cup Final each May.

    Cricket is a national sport in England. It is a very popular summer sport. It is a game played on grass(草地 )by two teams of eleven players. Players wear white clothes and score points（得分） by hitting（击打） the ball with a bat(棒子). People can sit around the green, enjoying the sun, having drinks and watching the team games.

    Miya, nine years old, and her six-year-old sister Tiffany were in the swimming pool in the back garden of their house. Their father David was with them. It was a lovely day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

    Suddenly David shouted. He was in trouble. It was his leg His legs weren't right. He was in pain. Then he was under the water. The girls weren't scared but they were worried. Was it just a joke or was he really in trouble? Twenty seconds later, he was still under the water. Now Miya was scared.

    There was no time to wait. In seconds, Miya was under the water with her father. He was heavy but with the help of the water, she was able to pull him to one side of the pool. Now his head was out of the water. He was alive but he wasn't conscious(苏醒).

    There was a mobile phone in the house. Tiffany called 911 as quickly as she could. Ten minutes later, doctors came. Soon their father was conscious again. The girls were relieved.

    David still doesn't know what was wrong with his legs on that day. But he knows that his daughters were heroes and thanks them every day for saving his life He is a very proud father.

    It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he passed by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind, "I'll send mom some roses（玫瑰）."While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. "How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?" he asked. The assistant（店员） was trying to tell him roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen（一打）. Maybe he would be happy with carnations（康乃馨）.

    "No, I have to have red roses, "he said. "My mom was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, for roses are her favorite."

    After hearing it, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the assistant said, "Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you." Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars that John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the assistant to send them to his mother.

    As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon John realized it was not a park but a cemetery（墓地）. Crying, the young man carefully put down the roses, "Mom, oh, Mom, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mom and tell her I love her."

    Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

    One night, a young woman was driving along a country road. It was dark and rainy. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding up her hand as if she wanted a lift(搭车).

   "I can't leave her out in such bad weather," the young woman said to herself. She stopped her car and opened the door.

   "Do you want a lift?" she asked. The old woman nodded and climbed into the car. After a while, she talked with the old woman. But the old woman didn't say anything. The old woman only nodded or shook（摇）head. She tried again." Bad weather for the time of the year" she said.  The old woman nodded.

    Then the young woman noticed that the old woman's hands, which were large and hairy (多毛的). Suddenly she realized(意识到)that" she" was a man! She stopped the car." I can't see out of the rear screen(后视镜)," she said. "Would you please help me clean it?

   "The old woman" nodded and opened the door. As soon as "she" was out of the door, the young woman drove off as fast as she could.

When she got to the next village, she stopped. She noticed "the old woman left "her" handbag behind. She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a gun(枪).

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous artist who was born in Italy. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern life. Although Leonardo hated war. he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war. Besides, Leonardo spent days thinking about how to save time. He developed ideas for something like cutting machines.

Leonardo was a strange man. He never ate meat. That was very unusual in those times. He never published(发表) discoveries about science. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like usual writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left side。

Only a few of his paintings are left today. Many paintings were not finished because he thought they were not perfect.

Leonardo was talented and creative. He was regarded as one of the most intelligent men in the world.