I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world. Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she would say again, “it's for Elizabeth.” I never saw her be angry, and never saw her cry. I knew she loved me—she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”. As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment(失望), then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not. Now the present of her desk told, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

     In April 2004，Sharon Tirabassi got more than$10 million by winning a lottery (彩票抽奖)．She became very rich．But just in nine years，she spent almost all the money．Now she even has to work hard to make enough money for everyday use．

    Before she won the lottery,Sharon lived in a small house with her three children and didn't have enough money for a car．After she won it，she was unprepared for the change to her life．She spent most of her time shopping with her friends and paid for everything．She bought a big house in the richest part of town and four cars．

    Today Sharon lives in a rented(租来的)house on a quiet street—not far from where she started．She doesn't have the big house or the expensive cars．She goes to work by bus or by bike．

    But Sharon says she's happier now than before，and she lives life more fully than she did before．"When l was rich．I spent all my time shopping．But now other things are more important to me，"says Sharon．Now Sharon works hard and often talks with her children．"I'm trying to get them to learn that they have to work for money"she says．

根据材料内容完成下列任务。

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    O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison（监狱）. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales（故事）were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader's surprise.

    Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Italy. He is best known as an artist today. One of his famous paintings is called Mona Lisa. However, Leonardo had many other natural abilities. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern day life. Although Leonardo hated war, he invented many different machines used for wars. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war many years later.

    By watching the way birds fly, Leonardo tried to find out the secret of f lying. Among his sketches we can see several objects. We consider them as modern flying machines.Leonardo spent many hours thinking about how to make good use of time. He developed ideas for labor-saving machines like cutting machines.

    Leonardo was a strange man. He didn't eat any meat, which was unusual in those times. He never published his ideas and scientific discoveries. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left.

    We have very little of his work today. Leonardo finished only a few of his paintings. He left many unfinished because he thought they were not perfect. No one in his life time knew how great Leonardo was. We now believe, however, that he was one of the cleverest men the world has ever known.

    Do you remember when your grandma told you the story of Snow White? Ah, the happy days of childhood! But did you know that Snow White comes from Germany? It's just one story from the 20 in Grimm's Fairy Tales(《格林童话》).

    The Grimm brothers started to collect (收集) fairy tales in 1806. Six years later, their first book came out. Why are German fairy tales so interesting? Maybe it's because they comes from a great place famous for its stories—the Black Forest.

    The Black Forest is in southwest Germany. It's the largest forest in the country and one of the most beautiful. It's famous for its trees and lovely views. There are valleys and waterfalls there It's a good place to start a story.

    Don't forget to bring something back if you visit. People there are good at making clocks, musical instruments and watches.

    Zhou Xun is a famous (著名的)film star(明星) of China. She has an English name—Jue. She was born on October(十月) 18th. She comes from Zhejiang Province(省). She is 1.60 meters tall, and she is slim and beautiful. She has black hair in two bunches. She likes watching VCD and sleeping. Her favourite colors are black and blue. She also loves running. Living a happy life is her wish(希望). Lots of students and young people like her.