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 Stephen Williams   Friday, June 21

  Today I went to the beach. It was my first day at the ocean for many years. The sound and smell of the ocean brought back memories of the great family vacations when I was a child. We always went to the beach for a week in the summer. I remembered playing for hours in the sand with my sister and crying when I couldn’t have any ice cream. Oh, and I remembered finding a huge jellyfish on the beach, and running away because I was scared! Amazing, really, the things you remember from your childhood.

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  Yeah, I remember going for long walks in the countryside. I guess I was only eight or nine. In the winter, my mom made soup, and I can still remember the wonderful smell! When we got home, I always went straight to sleep…

 Carla, Mexico

 What a great story! I remember going to the beach, too – on Christmas Day! My family lived in Australia when I was young. I remember waking up early. After we opened our presents, we always went to the beach and had a barbecue.

 Leung, Hong Kong

  The best memory I have is playing my first video game, Super Mario. I remember thinking that it was amazing, It was my tenth birthday and I still remember opening the box.

 Daisuke, Japan

    Stonehenge is one of the oldest places made by man. It took about 700 years to build the oldest part of it is now believed to be 4,800 years old. It is located in the south of England near a small town called Amesbury in an area which has many other ancient monuments.

    Stonehenge consists of several circles. Some of them are made of stone, one is a ditch(沟渠)and one consists of 56 holes in the ground called “Aubrey holes”. Because many of the stones have fallen over or have been moved, it is difficult to see the full shape. The outside circle of stones once had 30 enormous (巨大的) stones, each weighing about 25 tons. On top of them used to be 30 more weighing 7 tons each, so that they made a circle of huge arches (拱形).Inside this was a horseshoe shape of five even bigger arches in which each of the upright (直立的) stones weighed 45 tones. Inside this was a bluestone circle of 60 stones, then a bluestone horseshoe of 19 stones. Finally in the middle was an enormous stone called the altar (祭坛) stones. The bluestone came from some mountains in Wales, 385 kilometers away, and even the other stones came a distance of at least 50 kilometers. Carrying the 80 stones to form the main circles probably took several thousand men several years.

    Nobody knows why it was built. It may have been a kind of church; it may have been a meeting place for the people who lived near. Some people say that it was a means of predicting the position of the sun, the moon and the stars. It has also been discovered that Stonehenge is located on some mysterious (神秘的)lines called “ley lines ” that seem to join together ancient buildings and places in England.

阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。

    Once upon a time, in the forest there lived a baby elephant, who had no friends. ________________ of the animals wanted to be his friend because he was too large.

    One day, a wild fire happened in the forest. The animals ran to safer places. The dry trees caught fire and the fire was sure to go all around the forest. The baby elephant ran to the nearest river, collected much water in his trunk (象鼻) and rushed to the burning trees. He sprayed (喷) the water on the fire. Finally, he put out the fire.

    Later, while he was resting after the hard job, all the animals and birds came to him and expressed their thanks for his kind help in time. They were now ready to have him as their good friend and their hero. They said, "A friend in need is a friend indeed."

    The baby elephant was happy to get so many friends and played games with them. He walked through the forest, carrying several small animals and birds on his back.

    August has always been difficult for me. It is the time when I realize that the books my English teacher assigned(布置) to me are not going to read themselves and that I have a difficult month in front of me.

    You might think that I don't want to spend my summer reading, hut that's not the problem；I love reading. On the first day of summer holiday this year, I borrowed a Gathering of Old Men by African-American writer Ernest Gaines. I enjoyed it very much. I read all the magazines that my parents subscribe to(订阅) and spend about     minutes every day with the morning newspaper.

    So why do I hate summer reading for school？Because the books on summer reading lists are often slow-going and just uninviting(不吸引人的) . Teachers don't under-stand that summer reading can be interesting as well as educational. They choose books called "spinach books": good for you, but not much fun to take in. Every summer, I read them, hate them and get bitter about the experience.

    This bitterness started three years ago when 1 began high school. As preparation. my English teacher told me to read The Age of Innocence(《纯真年代》). At 14, I couldn't understand the love 100 years ago in the story. I only know my love for baseball. The Age of Innocence was completely different to my life. What is more, sometimes I guess teachers don't think exciting plots make for "good literature". To me, a good writer describes events and characters in a way that makes the reader want to know what happens next.

    If I were making up a summer reading list, it would include The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. These are all books that have literary value(文学价值) and can also entertain kids. If the teachers could add a little fun into the books they assign, my Augusts would be a lot more enjoyable.

    Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." These are certainly words that millions of volunteers around the world could agree with.

    In the US, April is National Volunteer Month, to praise and thank volunteers who lend their time, talent, and support to what they care about.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} People who volunteer spend their time doing things they feel strongly about. For example, animal lovers may volunteer at an animal centre to help improve the treatment of animals.

    Volunteering allows volunteers to meet new people, try out new skills and explore career choices. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Take Andrew Makhoul, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, as an example. Andrew didn't spend his last spring break relaxing. Instead, the 19-year-old boy decided to do something for people who were less lucky than himself. He travelled to an orphanage (孤儿院) in Guatemala in Central America. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And it depends on volunteers to stay open.

    Andrew doesn't speak much Spanish, but he found communication wasn't a problem, "You communicated with love," according to an article on his university's website. And what he gave out, he got back, "{#blank#}4{#/blank#}" Andrew's first time as a volunteer only lasted a week, but by the end of that week, he knew he'd be back soon — because he saw love and hope.

    US author Sherry Anderson once wrote, "{#blank#}5{#/blank#}" And this is perhaps why volunteers all around the world keep doing what they do — their work is "priceless".
 

A. It is in one of the poorest parts of the country.

B. You could see love when you looked in their eyes.

C. Volunteering means choosing to work without being paid.

D. It's a chance for poor children to get better care and support.

E. Life will be difficult, but I have the confidence to live a happy, full life.

F. For young adults, valuable lessons may also be learned through volunteering.

G. Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless.