阅读下列短文，完成下列小题。

    “Save the whales!” That's what the picture on Jake Smith's bedroom wall said. Jake liked having a picture that said something important: that showed he cared. He just never expected to get a chance to save a real whale, one right in his own neighbourhood.

It was a Saturday morning when the newspaper first reported the whales' coming. A group of the animals were swimming close to the beach in Jake's hometown. All the local people rushed out to the beach to see them. They were expecting a beautiful show, better than a movie, but nothing they'd have to do anything about.

    Then one whale swam in the direction, directly towards land. It came in with the waves, and when the waves receded. Its huge body on the sand. Suddenly, Jake and his family and all the others were no longer sightseers. They had to become rescuers. A few people ran towards the animal. They pushed and tried to force the whale back into the water, but it was no use.

    An animal rescue service team soon arrived in a truck with heavy lifting machinery, to help move the animal. Jack and his family couldn't do much on the beach, so they went back to their house and made sandwiches and hot tea for the rescuers. At least, Jake thought, they could help in some way.

    Back at the beach, they offered the food to the rescuers and were happy to see that it was needed. It was getting dark. Some people lined up their cars along the beach and shined the headlights on the sand. The rescuers would not give up. After trying many times they were finally able to lift the whale into the water. Everyone cheered when it headed out to sea. It swam out about a mile and then disappeared for a moment under the sea. Then, in what looked like a jump of joy, it rose high above the water—a thank-you to those who had worked so hard to save his life.

    On September 13th, I woke up in the best mood. It was a late start, so I got to sleep in. Not only did I get my full eight hours of sleep, but an additional two more hours as well. I got ready, danced in my room to my favorite music while I picked out my clothes, made my lunch, and was on my way to school. I arrived at 9: 50 a. m. Little did I know, in the next 20 minutes, my life would change forever. As I got out of my classroom, there he was, holding the gun.

    Although everything happened so fast, in a matter of about 4 minutes, I remember it clearly. I remember every face I saw, and I remember every sound I heard. I remember the fear and the panic of the unknown. And lastly, I remember running. Running for my life. I ran down the stairs, out of the school's front doors, and down the street to the primary school. I remember looking down at my feet. As I looked down I thought to myself, "How am I running so fast?"

    I finally made it to a safe classroom, and 20 other students and I settled in for lockdown. We stayed close to one another and cried. It felt as though the tears going down our faces would never stop. We passed our phones around to text our loved ones that we were safe and that there was a school shooter, shots were fired, and 4 students were injured thus far.

    The lockdown lasted about 30 minutes, even though it felt like forever. Our headmaster made his way to our room and explained that the shooter had been caught and we were all going to make our way to the football field.

    One Thursday afternoon, when I was in Grade 9, a new boy came into my classroom. He was short and thin. He walked up to the teacher and told her, very seriously, that he was new. His name was Christian. He sat down, took a look at me, and then looked away. I didn't think he was very nice and I was sure he wasn't the type I would like to make friends with.

    During that year, I didn't talk to him much, but he smiled at me when our eyes met, always shyly. He never ate lunch with anybody, and he never talked to anybody but me.

    But one day I joined those unkind kids who were making fun of him. We made fun of him though I thought it was wrong.

    "Haven't you got any friends?" a kid asked Christian, who had walked past us alone, with his head down.

    "No, he hasn't got any friends. He's too stupid and shy," I said. Then Christian looked up at me with the saddest dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt very sorry at that moment.

    That night, I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get Christian's face out of my mind. In the weeks that followed, be never met my eyes, in class and never smiled at me, It was really hard for me to decide to write him a note asking him. to forgive(原谅) me. But I thought I should.

    The next day in class, I wrote him a note telling him how sorry I felt. About five minutes later, I turned and saw tears in his eyes. "You will never realize what your apology(道歉) has meant to me, Jimmy," he said to me. "I hope we can become friends."

    We had lunch together that noon and we had the best talk I had ever had. Over the years at high school, we were close friends.

    When I think back, I realize that, if I had not apologized, I would never have known what a lovely person Christian was.

    Apologies can really change your life, so never miss the chance to tell somebody you are sorry.

    Charlie and his family don't always live in their house. Sometimes they live in a houseboat. There are 4 rooms in the bottom of the boat. One of them is his parents' bedroom. Another one is his bedroom. Then there is a kitchen and a bathroom. Charlie's bedroom is small, but he likes it very much. It has a small window. He doesn't open it because it's under the water. When the boat is in the water, Charlie can look out of his window and see many fish under the water. Once he saw an old car under the water. He thought it was funny to see the fish swim through the car windows.

    In the school year, Charlie's family keep their boat on the bank (岸) of the lake. In summer Charlie and his family often take their boat out to the middle of the lake. They stay on the lake for a few weeks. Then they go fishing for their food. Charlie's mother grows vegetables in pots on the boat, so they also have vegetables to eat. When it is very hot, they jump into the water and go swimming. Charlie thinks a houseboat is the best place to live in.

My classmate Thomas is 13. He is a basketball1 in our school.He can play basketball well.Thomas thinks basketball is2 interesting game.So he plays3 with his friends after school.He4 basketball games onTV.too.He plays basketball really5 .We like to play basketball6 Thomas.

Thomas eats well.He has good7 habits.He8 an apple and two eggs for breakfast.He9 eggs are healthy.For lunch.he eats rice,chicken10 vegetables.Thomas likes fruit and he always eats some strawberries11 lunch.In the afteroon,he likes12 and salad.But his teacher doesn't13 Thomas to eat hamburgers.He doesn't wantThomas to get 14 .In the evenimg.Thomas eats some vegetables for dinner.

So Thomas is15 .

We should learn from Thomas.

Hi, My name is John Walsh. I'm1 Alberta. Do you know where Albert a is?2 a beautiful place in Canada. I'm a Grade Seven student. There are about 20 students in my class. My3 are very nice. They are11 to 12 years old. We all like4 . And our favorite sport is basketball. We often 5 it after school. It helps to keep us healthy and it's6 . My classmates and I want to make some pen friends. 

We want to 7 about books, sports and things at school with you. You can write to us at777friends@gmail. com. In your8 , please tell us about you. How old are you?9 do you come from? What's your favorite thing to do? And you can also ask us 10 . We are happy to tell you things about us. We hope (希望) to get your e- mail soon!