I was 10 the year my cousin Marley's parents gave her a painful Christmas surprise: they were getting a divorce(离婚). My aunt went to California, but my uncle decided to get her back. There was one matter: where to put his young daughter. Luckily, my mother loved Marley, giving her more attention than her family ever did.

    On that Christmas Eve, my cousin arrived on our doorstep carrying an old blue suitcase. Before she stepped inside, Marley said, “It doesn't matter. When my parents come back, we'll have a bigger Christmas than this.”

    Late on the night Marley arrived, my mom came into my room, her arms filled with packages.I knew they were my Christmas presents. “I know how you love surprises but we have to decide which ones to give to Marley.”

    My mother carefully opened the gifts. Wow! I saw ice skates, red leather gloves and a dollhouse. The last present was the music box we'd asked the lady at the local store to take down and play for us over and over again.

    “Which ones?” my mother asked. “She can have the ice skates,” I said reluctantly(勉强地). “That's good,” my mother said. She began to tape the packages up again. Then she stopped and asked, “Are you sure about these?” At that moment, I realized she expected more from me than I had already given. So I gave her the music box, too, and ___________. The next morning, Marley's eyes were resolute(坚定的). She expected nothing and wanted us to know she didn't care. But when she saw her name on the biggest box, she couldn't hide her excitement. I thought my happiness would be cut in half. Instead it was doubled.

    Over the last 40 years, Marley and I have grown apart(分离的). But the love we felt for each other that day still remains. Today Marley says, “They were the best presents I ever got.

    Peter felt  very sorry because he forgot  to say “Happy Birthday” to his uncle yesterday. So he wrote   a letter to his uncle : “My dear uncle, I'm very sorry because I forgot your birthday. But to teach me a lesson, you'd better forget my birthday on Tuesday, tomorrow.”

    At the end of the wedding party for Monica and Nick, Monica's mother gave her a new bank saving passbook (存折) as a present. She advised her to put some money in the bank when they had happy things in their life and wrote them down in the passbook. She told her to keep it as a record of her marriage.

    Monica shared her mother's idea with Nick. The following were their deposits (存款) after some time: 7 February: $300, first birthday celebration for Nick after we got married; 15 April: $500, Monica got a better job;…

    However, after years, they began to quarrel every day. One day Monica told her mother that they could not live together any longer and agreed to divorce. Her mother said, "Just do whatever you want to do. But before that, take out all the money in the passbook and spend it."

    So Monica went to the bank. While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. Suddenly the happiness in the past came up to her mind. She went back home, handed the passbook to Nick and asked him to spend the money before getting divorced.

    The next day, Nick gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new deposit of $5,000 with the words, "This is the day I notice how much I love you and how much happiness you've brought me."

    Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, destroying(摧毁) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged (破坏) that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.

    A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour. "I was eating with my wife and children," he said, "when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him, safe but very frightened."

    Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children. "There was no time to take anything," she said." A few minutes later, the roof came down."

    Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded (水淹的) area and the welfare department (福利机构) brought them food, clothes and shelter.

It was Saturday. After dinner, Mary would like to see a film with her 1 . But her mother said, "Could you please do the dishes, Mary? I have to go to 2 your brother."

Mary's brother Mike was ill in3 . Her father worked in another town and he was very

4 and couldn't come back. Mary had to help her mother do some chores. But her mother usually did everything and Mary didn't know 5 to do it.

Mary decided to 6 her friend a call first. On the phone, she told her friend to wait for her at home. Then Mary's mother7 her how to do the dishes. Before 8 , Mary's mother said, "Be9 , Mary. Don't drop them."

"Don't 10 , Mommy," said Mary. "They're light. I don't think they'll hurt my feet."

Judie's class were studying Chinese culture. One day her teacher went into the classroom with some kites. He told them that kites {#blank#}1{#/blank#} invented in China more than two thousand years ago. At the end of the class, he said," Chinese people make kites that mean something important to {#blank#}2{#/blank#} . I hope each of you to, make a kite that means something important to you. Then you will have a {#blank#}3{#/blank#}understanding of kites than before." 

 Judie decided to ask her dad for {#blank#}4{#/blank#} because it was her first time to make a kite." What can you think of when you see a kite?" her dad asked. Judie {#blank#}5{#/blank#}for moment and answered," Butterflies."

 Judie's dad agreed that it would be a good {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to make a butterfly kite. They made a cross with some wood sticks. Then Judie {#blank#}7{#/blank#} outterfly on a piece of white paper. Next, they stuck the paper on the cross. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} they tied a long tail to the bottom.

 The next morning, they took the kite to the park and tested it." Wow!" Judie cried proudly. " How {#blank#}9{#/blank#} it flies!"

" Judie, can you tell me {#blank#}10{#/blank#} you like butterflies?" asked her dad.

 Judie replied," To me, butterflies mean beauty and freedom!"