“My dear lady，”says Holmes．“You're shivering．Are you cold? Do you want a cup of hot tea?”

    “I'm not cold，”the woman replies，“I fear for my life!”

    “We are here to help you．Don't worry about anything．I don't know you．But I know many things about you．For example，I know how you traveled．You came to London by train．You also rode to the train station on a horse—drawn wagon．''

    “Why，yes．You‘re right.But how do you know these things?”

    “I see a return ticket in your glove．I see fresh mud on the left arm of your dress. Now tell us your problem．''

    “My name is Helen Stoner，”she states，“My mother and father are dead．I am living with my stepfather．Dr．Grimsby Roylott．He comes from a rich family．But they are no longer rich．They have nothing except a small piece of land and a huge old house．We are living in the house. Dr．Roylott is using my mother's mone37 for expenses．Part of it was for my sister and me. It was for our marriages．”

    Holmes is sitting in his chair．His eyes are closed．He is listening carefully to Helen's story．He hears every detail.

    Helen continues. “My stepfather has no friends．He fights with everyone．He is strong and gets angry quickly. Everyone is afraid of him．”

    “He has no friends at all?”asks Holmes．

    “No．He talks to no one except the gypsies(吉普赛人)．They are poor people who travel from place to place．A band of gypsies is staying on our land right now．''

    “Are you and your sister afraid of the gypsies?”

    “My dear Mr．Holmes．You are making me so sad．My sister is dead．That is why I am standing here in this room．”    ，  .

    Stealing? Maybe, but in our 1  minds we were just enjoying nature's gift.

    As teenage boys, we were not thinking about whose the strawberries were. We 2knew the Jordan family had the best strawberries in the neighborhood.

    So on a Friday3 , we secretly went into the Jordans' backyard and started picking their sweet strawberries. We thought there was 4 that tasted better than the fresh strawberries. 5 we were enjoying the delicious strawberries, suddenly the Jordans' backyard 6  came on. It was terribly bright, so we hurried to cover our faces with hands. Then we saw 7 ran outside.

    “What are you boys doing out here?” he shouted 8  as my friends ran off in all directions. They were so9  that the older gentleman couldn't catch them. And at once all the boys ran away into the dark, except 10 .

    Mr. Jordan shouted at me as he ran after me all the way to my house, which my mother was in. My mother said11  over and over again. I felt so embarrassed (尴尬的). My friends said they could hear 12  she said to Mr. Jordan from our backyard. My friends laughed at me about it for days later.

    I was down and complained (抱怨) to my father. After hearing that, he said, “I don't think it's unfair at all. You took strawberries without 13 , and you got exactly the punishment you should have.”

    “But what about the other guys?” I asked. “They weren' t 14 at all!”

    “That should not be what you are thinking about,” said Dad. “You can't 15  what happens to other people, but you can do your own job well. You made a bad choice that night, and you were punished for it. ” That sounds completely fair to me.

Dear Mike,

    Thanks for your family photo. This is a photo of my family. I have a happy family. There are five people（人） in my family. They are my grandmother, my parents, my sister and I. The old（年老的） woman（女人） is my grandmother. The man（男人） is my father. His name is David. He is a teacher. And what about the woman? She is my mother. Her name is Linda. She is very nice. Look at the girl. That's my sister. She is in a middle school. Her name is Lucy.Do you know the boy ? It's me.

Yours,

Tony

    A teacher was giving a speech to his students on stress management. He held a glass of water and asked, "How 1 do you think this glass of water is?"

    The students' answers were from 20g to 500g.

    "It 2 how long you hold it. If you hold it for a minute, it is OK. If you hold it for an hour, you will 3 an ache in your arm. If you hold it for a day, your arm will become paralyzed (麻痹的). It is the same 4, but the longer you hold it, the heavier it will become," the teacher said. "What you should do is to put the glass down to 5 for a while before picking it up again."

    The students became silent, lost in thought.

    After a moment, the teacher 6, "The stresses and worries in life are like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit 7 and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel "paralyzed" and you 8 do anything."

    It's important to let go of your 9. You should put them down before going to sleep and wake up every day with a(n) 10 start.

   "Jane, please let me borrow a dollar," Jenny asked as they stood in the school lunch line." I have one in my jacket, but I don't want to1and lose my place."

   "OK," agreed Jane.

    Jane waited all day for Jenny to2back the dollar she borrowed, but Jenny always seemed to be3."She just forgets about it," thought Jane." I don't want to make her angry." Still, her money didn't go4. Some classmates, like Jenny, were5five dollars a week.

    Weeks went by. At last Jane got enough courage to ask her about the money.

   "Oh Jane, I6!" Jenny said." I'll bring the dollar tomorrow." The next day Jenny seemed to have forgotten again. During the noon hour, Jane saw her buying sweets for Mary and Ann. Jenny saw Jane looking at her.7she said something in a low voice to the other two girls. Jane felt8and asked her teacher if she could go back to the classroom.

    In the classroom, Jane saw two new pencils on Jenny's desk. An9came to her," Jenny's not10recently, and anyway, she really owes (欠)me. Besides, she has money to buy more. A dollar doesn't mean anything to her, but it means a lot to me."