Holmes said， “Somebody sent a letter with five pips (桔核) in it from India， and arrived seven weeks later to kill John's uncle. Then they sent five pips from Scotland and arrived three days later to kill John's father. Now they have sent five pips to John from London!”

    “The letters are all from sea ports. The writer was on a ship when he wrote the letters，” I replied.

    “Very good， Watson! And John's enemy is in London already!”

    “Well， I hope they won't kill young John，” I said.

    But they did. The next morning， we read in the newspaper that a policeman found him die near Waterloo station. Holmes was very angry about it.

    “He came to me for help and those men murdered him! I'm going to find them， if it's the last thing I do!” he said to me， and he hurried out of the house.

    At night， when he came back， he was tired， but pleased， he said， “I know the names of John's enemies! And now I'm going to send them a surprise! This will frighten them!” He took five pips from an orange and put them in an envelope (信封). On it he wrote “S. H. for J. C.”

    “I'm sending the pips to captain James Calhoun. His ship is called the Star. He and his men are sailing back to Georgia， USA.”

    “How did you find him， Holmes?” I asked.

    “Ship's papers，” he said， “I've looked at hundreds of them today. Only one ship， the Star， was in the three ports at the right times， this morning the Star left London to sail back to Georgia. I found out that the captain and two of his men， all Americans， weren't on the ship last night， so I'm sure they killed John. When they arrive in America， they'll get the pips and then the police will catch them!”

    Pablo Casals was a great cello（大提琴） player and music writer. He was born in Catalonia, Spain. He first heard the cello played when he was 11.Generally, he felling love with the instrument. So, he went to school at the Escuela Municipal de Musica. He focused on his studies and got high grades. When he finished school, he played the cello in the queen's palace. He became more and more famous. Soon, he began to play for audiences worldwide.

    After the events of the Spanish Civil War, Casals left Spain. He refused to go back. He went to live in Puerto Roco. He continued his work as a teacher. Healso recorded many albums（相册）. At the age of 80 he married his third and final wife, Marta Montanez.

    Casals died in 1973.The king of Spain had enjoyed Casals' music very much. He ordered a postage stamp to be made. It showed a picture of the cellist.

    A British man has learned the skills needed to perform Beijing Opera, making the audience (观众) enjoy his lively performance of the Monkey King.

    Ghaffar Pourazar, born in Iran, said he has been a big fan of Bruce Lee since he was a child and is full of interest about China. In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera performed in London by professionals from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Ghaffar said he fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costumes, excellent shows and so on. So after one year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera at a Beijing school.

    At the age of 32, he had to learn with teenage students every day, starting from the most basic training of the legs and waist. At the time, he was mostly troubled by the dialogue in Beijing Opera. To him, it was the biggest obstacle. But he never gave up.

    Four years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King, a traditional character from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West. He said he arrived in the workroom an hour earlier than other performers and also bought books and CDs to better understand the character.

    Ghaffar today is not only good a speaking Beijing dialect (方言) but has also built a fame for Beijing Opera. He once got a top international prize for performing the Monkey King.

    To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the United States, Britain and other countries. When he found that the language was difficult to understand, he started to translate Beijing Opera song lyrics. Ghaffar led a group of actors to perform 66 times in a month and a half in the United States. He also led a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed in more than 400 shows.

"I just want a normal(正常的) birthday party,"April told her 1 as they walked home from school. They knew what April meant. 2 April was born on Earth Day, all 3 birthday parties had something to do with the environment(环境).

At the age of 7, her parents asked her to 4 all newspapers and sold them to buy presents. Last year, at 8, she planted trees. This year, she just wanted to plan her own5 birthday party.

April decided to go to the6 with her friends and she was excited that she didn't have to think anything about the7 this time.

However, things were quite 8 . When they arrived, they felt sorry for what they saw. There was9 here and there. She couldn't have fun,  10 so much litter out there.

But April wanted a non-Earth Day birthday. After a long struggle(挣扎), she asked,"Can we 11 the litter first and then visit the animals here?"

"Of course!"said her friends.

April was 12 to hear that, so they began to collect litter and it didn't take long. 13 they made it. April looked at the clean square and 14 . "It felt good to do something for the earth," she thought.

"Happy Earth Day, everyone," said April. "Now I'm ready for my zoo."

"Happy birthday, April!"shouted her friends.

"Thank you all for always celebrating such 15 birthdays with me."

For many middle school students, leaving their home towns and studying in a foreign country may sound mad. For me, it's different.

Since the first day I came to school, all the teachers and classmates have been very nice. With their help, I've made much {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (进步) in Chinese learning and got better scores in maths {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(测验;考试). My host families are kind and loving. They regard me as a member of their family instead of a {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(客人;宾客), so I'm very satisfied with my host family. They not only {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (提供) me with delicious meals — Oh, I've put on much {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

(重量), haha! — and a comfortable bed, but take trips with me at weekends. We have {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (形成) close friendships. Besides, they invite me to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(庆祝) festivals together. Because of these, I have a better understanding of Chinese {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(文化).

I'm going {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(回到;返回) to my home town this summer, but it's certain that I'll stay in touch with all the people in my {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(名单). I'm sure I'll return one day.

I'm David. When I was 13, my parents decided that I should go to England to improve my English. I had never been to other countries before, so I felt a little worried. My parents prepared everything for my journey. My plane was due(预定) to leave at 9:30 am and arrive in two hours. I phoned the English family who I would stay with and they told me they would wait for me at the airport.

Unluckily my plane to London was delayed(推迟). I tried to phone the English family again but I couldn't speak to them because they had already left home for the airport.

When I arrived in London, it was already 1:30 pm. I went to get my luggage(行李) but I couldn't find it. I became very worried. Luckily, the airport workers were very helpful and efficient. I didn't wait long — they found it 10 minutes later.

My English family were quite kind. I learned a lot of English because I spent most of the days talking in English. I played computer games with the little boy in my English family. I also taught him how to play chess. Sometimes I told him stories I learned from my family.

I missed my family during my stay in London, but I also felt sad when my stay came to an end. My English family held a party for me. I enjoyed it very much. I'll never forget that summer in London! It is one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had.