I first met Windy, a six-year-old girl, on the beach near where I lived. She was building a sand house there. She looked up, and her eyes were as blue as the sea. Every time when I felt unhappy, I drove to the beach.  

      "Hello, Miss Agnes," she said. I answered, but I didn't really want to stop her. "I'm building," she said. I saw that.

    "What is it?" I asked her. "Oh, I don't know. I just like the feeling of the sand." Oh, that's good, I thought, and took off my shoes to join her. A sandpiper (一种叫做鹬的水鸟) flew by. She told me that it would make me happy. I felt better then.

      A week later on my next visit, I learned that Windy lived in a cottage (小屋) and didn't go to school. Soon after that, my mother died, and I rushed to the beach to be alone. I didn't want to say anything when Windy came up to me. "Why?" she asked.

      I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" "Oh," she said quietly, "then today is a bad day."

      A month later, I went to the beach but couldn't find Windy. I missed her so much that I visited her house. I learned that Windy had died of leukemia (白血病), but she left a picture of a sandpiper for me.

    TFBOYS is a new young idol group coming out in the summer of 2013. It has three members: Wang Junkai, Wang Yuan, Easy Yang thousand seal. Now a lot of teenagers love TFBOYS because it is a group with great dreams and hard work. Ready? Let's learn something about every member of the group today.

B

    Last Friday, I agreed to meet some friends at 6：00 p．m. in a coffee shop.The weather was sunny, so I decided to walk there.I arrived ten minutes early.I ordered a cup of coffee and sat watching people.There were some boys playing football on the street, and a small boy was running after the ball as it rolled (滚) across the road.

    Suddenly (突然), there came a car.It was going very fast.When the driver saw the boy in his way, he braked (刹车) hard.But it was too late…The small boy was lying on the street without moving.To everyone's surprise, the car didn't stop.It drove away quickly.

    People ran to the boy.There was a cut on the boy's head and he lost a lot  of blood.The coffee shop owner (主人) telephoned the police.Soon an ambulance (救护车)arrived and took the boy to the hospital.

    At 6：30 p．m., the police arrived and started questioning people.About half an hour later, they asked me to go to the police station because I saw everything.I gave them all the information I knew because I really wanted them to catch the driver.I didn't leave the police station until 8：00 p．m. After that I went home because I didn't feel like talking to anyone.

    The next day, the boy's parents called me to say thanks.They also told me their boy was fine and the driver was in the police station now.

    There was once a man called Mr. Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life. He spent all his free time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions（比赛）. He tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup（银杯）for the Rose of the Year.

    Mr. Flowers' glass-houses were very near to a middle school. Boys of around thirteen of age were often tempted（引诱）to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flowers' glass-houses. So Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day.

    But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing that he had done had been useful. He had been to school to report to the headmaster; but this had not done any good. He had tried to drive away the boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from far away. He had even picked up all the stones that he could find around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others.

    At last Mr. Flowers had a good idea. He put up a large notice（布告）made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses. On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flowers had no further trouble; the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses.

    Originally from India, Krunal Shukla had been living in Edinburgh, Scotland for six years when he and his wife started to consider other countries to raise their two-year-old son. "We wanted our son to grow up in a place where he'd have a hot of recreational(娱乐的) activities. Canada was too cold and we weren't interested in Australia so we started to look into New

    "Zealand," Krunal said.

    "After receiving our visas(签证), we arrived in Auckland in March 2009 with on much of a plan. 1 found the job market to be difficult at the time. I have a Master's degree in Accounting(会计) and Finance(财经) and several years of experience as a manager in the financial field. I would spend about four to five hours a day applying(申请) jobs when we first arrived. After several months of searching, 1 approached (到达) the Auckland Chamber of Commerce where I met New Kiwis(新西兰人) Employment Liaison, Sheeam. She gave me a 1ot 0f guidance and helped me to target my job search. Sheeam also trained me through the interview process and within a week I received(得到) a couple of interviews," Krunal said.

    Krunai accepted a job offer as Business Analyst in the Finance Department of West Coast District Health Board in December 2009. He and his family packed up and moved to Greymouth on the South Island.

    He said, "We found housing quite easily and were amazed at how social the community was. In the first week neighbors were coming over and introducing themselves—extremely different to the UK where I hardly knew my neighbor who lived next door to us for six years."

    Krunal is presently on a visa sponsored(担保) by his employer and wants to apply for Permanent Residence(永久居住) in the future.

    "I love my job and it's been an exciting challenge working in the health industry. I've spent years in a commercial setting(商业环境) so I'm learning something new every day. My workmates have been extremely helpful and welcoming. My family has settled in well and we enjoy raising our son in such a safe and secure (安全的) environment. New Zealand is a beautiful country with plenty of chances for young families," Krunal said.

The history of chocolate begins with a plant whose name is cacao (可可豆). For centuries, people worldwide have been enjoying the rich favor of chocolate, a product made from cacao. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Americans eat an average of more than five kilograms of chocolate per person every year. The specialty （特产） shop shows the culture of chocolate and sells chocolates from different areas of the world. 

Historians believe the Mayan people of Central America first learned to farm cacao plants around 2, 000 years ago. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Then they grew them around their homes. They cooked the cacao seeds（种子）and pressed them into soft powder （粉末）. They mixed the powder with water to make a delicious chocolate drink. There are often images of cacao plants on Maya buildings and art objects. The rulers drank chocolate at ceremonies. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

The Aztecs also valued chocolate in the Aztec culture. But the cacao plant could not grow in the area where they lived. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They even used cacao seeds as a form of money to pay or give as offerings（祭品）to the gods. Only the very rich people in Aztec societies could afford to drink chocolate because cacao was so valuable. 

The explorer Christopher Columbus brought cacao seeds to Spain after his trip to Central America in 1502. The rich people of Spain first enjoyed the chocolate drink. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Nowadays, the English, Dutch and French all plant cacao trees in their own countries.