C

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mom came in and asked, "Nancy, what about inviting John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he was already getting better grades in math than anyone else in our class. "Mom, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mom said nothing.

    The next day, mom gave me an envelope(信封) with a shopping card in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John," Mom said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, John arrived, in an old sheet(床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice, "Now it's time for the great prize game." It was a math game. None of us were surprised when John gave the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

    Mark Twain, as you know, was famous in his day as a public speaker. In his public speeches he always tell funny stories. He also liked to listen to funny stories and to play jokes on his friends. One day one of his friends lost his wallet and asked Mark Twain to pay his train fare for him. "But I don't have enough money to pay both your fare and mine, "Mark Twain said. The friend didn't know what to do. "We can do this, "said Mark Twain." We can get on the train and when the conductor comes to check the tickets, you can hide under my seat." Later, however, when the conductor came to check the tickets, Mark Twain gave him two tickets, one for his friend and one for himself. Then he explained in a loud voice, "My friend is a strange man. When he travels on a train, he doesn't like to sit on the seat." Of course everybody in the train looked at the poor friend and laughed at him loudly.

    The Duanwu Festival in China, also called Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month every year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. For thousands of years, this festival has been marked by people's eating Zongzi and racing dragon boats. (A) To hold the dragon boat races is in memory of Qu Yuan. He was one of the greatest poets in ancient China.

    Qu Yuan was born in Zigui of Hubei Province over 2,200 years ago. Qu Yuan was an honest minister (大臣) of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475—22l BC) . He was upright, patriotic (爱国的) and wise. (B) 屈原想给自己的祖国带来和平并让它变得更强大。But the country was in the hands of bad officials, he could do nothing to change it. (C) He was very discouraged. At last, Qu Yuan ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River. It is said that people tried to save him by jumping into the river. But it was too late and all their efforts were in vain. Also, they were so sad and they threw rice into the water to feed Qu Yuan's spirit.

    Now we read his poem Li Sao which is filled with deep love for his country. We can see the dragon boat races and have a kind of Chinese food named Zongzi to eat during the Dragon boat Festival.

People love walking through a giant puzzle. In a corn maze(玉米迷宫), they can follow miles of paths and run into lots of dead ends before they finally find their way out. The corn maze has been growing for almost 30 years. 

Simple corn mazes began appearing in the 1980s. In 1993, the first big corn maze created for the public to enjoy was made in Annville Pennsylvania, by Don Frantz and Adrian Fischer. Then, in a corntield as big as two and a half football fields, Mr. Frantz created "The Amazing Maize Maze"with the help of his family and friends. When it was done, almost two miles of pathways snaked through the cornfield. Since then, thousands of corn mazes have been created around the world.

For many farmers, a corn maze means a boost(激增) of extra income. During the opening weekend, about 6, 000 visitors came to get lost in Mr. Frantz's maze. Charging only $5 per person, he earned almost $32, 000in two weeks.

Brett Herbst is also a maze designer. In 1999 he set a world record for the world's largest corn maze, an image of the solar system with nine planets in it. He now has a business called The Maize, which has designed more than 4, 000 mazes around the world. "Corn mazes help people connectwith their roots, "he says. "People are so far removed from farm life that they are drawn to something real, something organic. "

Today, a great number of people enjoy seeking fun in a corn maze. Mr. Herbst says, "When we see families on the farm having fun, we know that they are making memories that will last a lifetime. "