Do you like reading stories? Maybe you will answer, "No, I am not a child any more!" Yes, children all over the world always love stories.

    Chinese children are 1 in Monkey King's story. It 2 a popular bedtime story in China for many years. In fact, adults also love the story a lot. For them, Monkey King has become a very 3 part in the memory of their childhood. The clever and humorous monkey 4 the hearts of many Chinese people. British boys and girls all know Alice's Adventures in Wonderland well. As the name 5 , it's a story full of dangerous but exciting trips. Children laugh, cry and even get frightened with Alice together while reading the story. Most American kids have read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by the famous writer,6. Everyone likes the brave boy who also has lots of 7. Some scenes of the story may make your heart go faster, for Tom and his friends meet some very bad men and are usually 8. Of course in the end, they beat the bad ones.

    You may also ask me9 I like stories. Yes, I have liked them since I was very young. At that time, I often 10 all my pocket money on story books. For me, stories are much more delicious than chocolate! They help me learn a lot. So either young or old, let's enjoy stories.

    Mary is worried about her 16-year-old daughter，Sophia．One day，Sophia comes back from a party，upset and unhappy．From then on，she  1  nothing but how to lose weight and become beautiful．She refuses to eat and keeps on2exercise．Sophia has always been a little heavy，so Mary encourages her to go on a diet．She feels that her daughter would  3  more attractive(有吸引力的)if she lost 5 kilograms．However，Sophia has lost over 10 kilograms until now．Her eating and exercising habits are having a harmful effect(影响)on her  4 ． She is too thin and is often sick．

    Her mother is trying to prevent her from going on a diet and  5 weight，but Sophia thinks that she is still too heavy and refuses to start eating as  6 ． Sophia's mind is full of the idea of looking like a model. Every day she goes to a club to do exercise．Sometimes she 7 her time reading magazines like Fashion&Beauty．The models in these magazines are very thin and beautiful．Sophia says “If I look like these models. I will be happy and the boys will like me．”

    Mary feels sorry for having encouraged her at first，because Sophia 8 feels good or pleased with her body．She's afraid that Sophia will never be happy  9 she always compares herself with the models in the magazines．Mary tries to tell Sophia that true 10  comes from the heart．The most ordinary face becomes beautiful when the person is filled with confidence．

    A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a boy was walking around the shinning car. “Is this your car ,Paul ?” he asked. Paul answered ,“Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised . “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you anything? Well , I wish…” He hesitated.

    Of course, Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that . But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

    “I wish,” the boy went on ,“that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again,“ Would you like to take a ride in my car ?”

    “Oh yes, I'd love that.”

    After a short ride, the boy with his eyes shining, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

    Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are ?” the boy asked.

    He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled* brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

    “There it is , Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it…Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about.”

    Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining—eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

    My uncle John used to live in a beautiful little house by the sea in Atlantic City. I say he "used to" live there 1 he doesn't live there any more. He was killed two years ago. He2living there before he died. He had $60 million in the bank.

    After Uncle John's death, I came to stay in his house for a while. I had been there for two days when I3a message on the screen of the old computer. I was very surprised, because I thought the computer had been4.he message said, "You have new5!" When I read it, I thought it looked like the6of a novel. "This looks interesting." I thought, "It must be7one of Uncle John's friends." I decided I should make an answer to the e-mail to tell him or her that Uncle John was8. However, the computer would not let me9.

    Every day for the next three weeks, more e-mails kept arriving. I printed10of all of them. The story was about Jane Winterbourne, a young writer working on her first novel. She sent her novel to Jack Tanner, an old writer and asked him to11her to publish it. However, he cheated her, and published the novel himself-pretending that he had12it. The novel was very13. Tanner made a lot of money, and bought himself a house by the sea in Atlantic City. It was then that I realized that "Jack Tanner" and "Jane Winterbourne" were14names. "Jack" was15 to be Uncle John.

The Secret Soldier

    A young soldier, Robert Shurtliff, lay dying in a hospital bed. He was too 1to speak or move. Two men stood over him.

    "I think this young man has 2 ," one man said.

    "I'll take his jacket and boots," said the other.

    Robert gathered all of his strength to 3 , "I…I'm alive. "

    The doctor came running over as Robert fell into a coma（昏迷）. "We can 4 him," he said as he examined the young soldier, "Oh, my! He's a 5! "

    It was true. The young soldier, Robert Shurtliff, was really Deborah Sampson. 6who was she？

    Deborah Sampson had grown up in Massachusetts, living as a servant. She 7of having great adventures (冒险). 8 the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, women were not allowed to serve in the army. But Deborah 9 herself as a man and became a solider. She called herself Robert Shurtliff.

    One day, during an attack, Deborah was shot in the neck and10. Another soldier lifted Deborah into his horse and rode her to the 11. A doctor treated the wound on her back and asked if 12 had any other injuries. Deborah lied and said no. She was afraid that if the doctor examined her leg, he would discover her 13. Using a pocket knife, Deborah got the bullet（子弹）out of her own leg. She 14 to fight as a soldier.

    After the war ended, Deborah got married and had children. But she still longed for 15. So she put on her soldier's uniform and travelled around the country telling of her life as young, brave soldier, Robert Shurtliff.