While he was at work in the grove, the birds came close to pick up the worms(蠕虫) in the fresh earth he dug up. At first, they kept their distance from him, but they soon found he was a kind man, and would not hurt them, but liked to have them near him.

They knew this by his kind eyes and voice, which tell what is in the heart. So, day by day their faith in his love grew in them.

All the birds of the grove were soon his fast friends. They were on the watch for him, and would fly down from the green tree tops to greet him with their chirp(叽叽喳喳叫).

When he had no work to do, he took bread with him, and dropped the pieces on the ground. Down they would dart(俯冲) on his head and feet to catch them as they fell from his hand.

He showed me how they loved him, He put a piece of bread in his mouth, with one end of it out of his lips, Down they came like bees at a flower, and flew off with it piece by piece,

When they thought he slept too long in the morning, they would fly in and_____________.

They went with him to church, and while he sang his hymns in it, they sat in the trees, and sang their praises.
So the love and trust of birds were a joy to the old man all his life long.

C

    I stood there listening to my father shout at top of his voice. The look on his face said that one of us had done something wrong.

    “Which one of you did this?”

    We all looked down at the step. There was child's handwriting in chalk there. I was very frightened. I hope no one could see it. Would he guess it was me? I was so scared. When he asked me, I lied, “Not me, dad.” The other denied(否认) it as well. Of course, we all knew that one of us must have done it. But as the youngest and smallest of the three, I just couldn't find courage to tell the truth.

    To find out who had written on the step, Father gave us each a piece of paper and a pencil. “I want each of you to write exactly what you see on the step.” I tried my best to write the words differently. I didn't want dad to be able to tell it was me.

    He gathered up our paper and looked at them. “Since none of you will say yes, then I will punish you all.” I stood there and said nothing. The last thing I wanted was for Dad to punish me!

    “I did it.” My sister walked forward and said she had done something she hadn't. She was punished for a month.

   We didn't talk about that day for many years. Not until we were all older and I knew it was safe to finally tell my dad it was really me. I always felt sorry because of it. That was the last time I let anyone take the blame for me. I told myself, “One must see to what he or she has done.”

    Mrs. Brown was very fat. Her husband(丈夫) thought she should go on a diet, and he made her not eat meat or cakes.

    One morning, Mrs. Brown made a nice cake for her husband, and he ate half (一半) of it. After he went out, Mrs. Brown cut a very small piece of the cake and ate it. It was very delicious. Then she cut a bigger piece and ate it, too. In a few minutes she ate up the cake. “My husband is going to be very angry, ” she thought. “What should I do？” She made another cake very quickly, ate half of it, and put the other half on the table. Mr. Brown came back later. When he saw the half of the cake on the table, he was very happy.

It's February. Anna is having a long and boring winter holiday. She doesn't want to be at home. It's not very cold,  1  it is rainy all the time. Anna doesn't like rainy days."I think I can go and  2  my grandparents in America. It is often  3  there in February, so I can make some snowmen and go  4  . It must be fun,"Anna thinks to herself. "Let me write an e-mail to  5  this evening."

When Anna is planning(计划) her vacation in  6  , she gets a call. It is  7  her friend, Susan. "Hi, Anna. Please spend your vacation in Australia with me. It's summer now. It's  8  and sunny. I know you love swimming very much. We can go to the beach every day,"Susan says on the  9  .

Anna doesn't know which  10  she should go to next.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}A. so B. but C. because D. or

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}A. visit B. show C. call D. miss

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}A. rainy B. sunny C. cloudy D. snowy

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}A. fishing B. shopping C. skating D. swimming

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}A. her B. him C. them D. us

{#blank#}6{#/blank#}A. Canada B. England C. Australia D. America

{#blank#}7{#/blank#}A. from B. to C. with D. for

{#blank#}8{#/blank#}A. cloudy B. rainy C. hot D. cold

{#blank#}9{#/blank#}A. computer B. e-mail C. phone D. radio

{#blank#}10{#/blank#}A. village B. station C. mountain D. country

If you were Anna, which country would you visit? Why? {#blank#}11{#/blank#}

It was half past seven on Monday morning: time to get ready for school. Jay Stone rolled out of bed. He did a couple of quick wake-up exercises and then he went over to his mirror (镜子) and looked at himself.

"Not bad, Stone, not bad," he said to himself and smiled. Maybe he wasn't ready for Hollywood, but with his dark brown eyes and his thick brown hair, he had the looks that turned girls' heads. He moved closer to the mirror and smiled, checking his teeth.

"Perfect," he thought. "Good enough for a toothpaste ad."

As his eyes moved down to his strong arms, he smiled again. The hours he spent in the gym and doing sit-ups have paid off.

But suddenly, the smile froze. His eyes moved from the upper part of his body down to his legs. His legs were short. Not just short, but far too short for his body. He had the upper body of a six-footer, but because of his legs he was much less than six feet! Six inches less! Sitting, he was as tall as almost anyone. Standing, he had to look up at most of the boys and even many of the girls.

Why didn't his legs grow with the rest of his body? He was one of the shortest boys in his class. He was the shortest in his own family, he was even shorter than his "little" sister—by three inches! Where did his legs come from?

He certainly didn't get them from his parents. They were both quite tall. Looking through old family photos, he found the answer. It was his grandfather on his mother's side. His short legs were a gift from Grandpa Tuttle.

Thanks a lot, Grandpa!

Of course, the kids at school all noticed Jay's short legs and they had a nickname (外号) for him: Stubs! Almost no one called him by his real name; they all called him Stubs. Stubs Stone, Jay didn't like his nickname, but he had to accept it. He had no choice.

But Jay couldn't see in the mirror what his legs could do. They were quick and strong. He was the youngest player on the Brewer High football team. He could run faster than anyone else in the team and, like a rabbit, he kept going and going. Even at basketball, where the other players were much taller than him, they were still afraid of him because of his speed.

Jay shook his head. "Stubs, Stubs Stone, the kid with stubby legs. Yeah, that's me," he said to himself with a little smile. Suddenly, he heard his mother's voice.

"Jay! It's breakfast time!"

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon—not just any afternoon, but my birthday afternoon. We had the delicious cake. My mum 1 it. It was time to open the 2 . To my surprise(惊讶), my parents gave me a new 3 this year. 

I liked my new baseball so much, and I wanted to take4 everywhere I went. 5 my parents didn't want me to take it to school. The next day I did it anyway and it was a big6 . 

Alice and I just played our first baseball game with some classmates. Alice hit a home run(本垒打), and I ran to 7 the baseball. I was so happy to catch it. I jumped up and down and the ball ran 8 my hands, into the bushes, rolling(滚动) and rolling. We 9 everywhere, but we couldn't find it. 

I felt very 10 the whole day. When I got home after school, my dad picked11 up from the kitchen counter(柜台). It was my baseball! My dad told me that he12 it in our front yard(院子) and asked me why it was there. I 13 answer. I was so happy that it was back. 

14 did it get to the front yard? Maybe it rolled all the way from my 15 to our home down the street. Maybe it decided to teach me a lesson to listen to my parents!