A traveler was in a large desert, planning to walk across it in one month. Twenty more days passed the journey had been going on1. "Soon I'll be able to walk out of this desert," he thought gladly.

    But the desert was never friendly2travelers. In a short time, there came a strong sandstorm. He hurriedly3his head with the clothes, prostrate on the sand. After about ten minutes, the sandstorm4. He shook the clothes and stood up. At that moment, he found himself in a hopeless situation-the backpack with food and water was swept away by the5.

    As we know, it seems 6 to leave the desert without food and water.7, he had a pear left. He held it in his hands tightly. "Not too bad, at least I have a pear. I8I can walk out of the desert."

    Days and nights went by quickly, but the desert still looked endless. Besides, hunger, thirst and fear of9were always around him like ghosts,10, each time he was close to losing hope, he forced himself to stare at the pear that he had been11. "Not too had, at least I have a pear."

    A small pear became the12for his survival(生存). Three days later,13he saw a village not far away, he laughed with excitement. He felt completely relaxed-the "pear" brought him back to14.

    To keep hope is the best weapon(武器) for victory, so never tell you "15" because only if you try to search, you can always find a "pear" to pull you out of trouble.

    David was a middle school student. His father, Mr. Hill, was a rich farmer and he had a very big  1. They lived in a small village 2fifteen years. Later on Mr. Hill opened a shop in our town and 3a house here last month. Then his family moved to the new house and David began to 4in our class. But at first he had 5friends at school. He was always alone. His neighbor Cathy was a  6girl. She had many friends. When she found the boy

    7talked with others, she decided to 8him. She talked a lot with him and sometimes played with him. So very soon  9became good friends.

    One afternoon, Cathy said to David, "It'll be my 10birthday tomorrow. I'll have a birthday 11. Will you please come?" "Certainly, I'm glad to," the boy said  12.

    David got home and thought about 13he could give to Cathy. He was sorry that he  14 to ask the girl what she liked. At that moment Mrs. Hill came and asked, "What's the matter, dear?" "What would you like 15it was your sixteenth birthday, Mummy?" "Nothing," the woman said, "I just wish I were sixteen."

Eric was standing in front of a large grey house in the countryside. He had just been dropped off by his mum, who left after telling him that he was going to spend the next twelve days there with no TV, no mobile phone and — worse of all — no computer.

Suddenly, a man appeared at the entrance of the house. When he saw Eric, he went up to him immediately. 'You must be Eric. Welcome to the camp,' said the man confidently. 'I'm Tony, the camp leader, but you will call me "Sir". Now tell me why you're here.'

Eric quickly replied, 'My mum made me come!' When Tony looked at him angrily and did not say anything, Eric realized his mistake and added, 'Sir!'

'And do you know why your mother sent you here?' asked Tony.

'She thinks I spend too much time online. Sir,' answered Eric. 'It's not just her opinion — it's the truth! Look at you — pale, unfit, and definitely not getting enough sleep. You're here because you think the virtual world is much better than the real world. But you're wrong! The real world has much more to offer. At the camp, you're going to go hiking, rowing, rock-climbing and stay outdoors most of the time,' promised Tony.

Eric's heart sank.

'But it's not going to be all fun and games,' Tony continued. 'We have rules here. If you break them, you'll get punished. But you won't simply get detention (课后留校), and you can forget about suspension (停学) — you'll never be sent home early! Instead, you'll clean the toilets, wash the dishes or do an extra hour of exercise!'

'Oh Mum,' sighed Eric. 'What have you got me into?'

A lot of students are playing all kinds of sports on the sports field. A football game is{#blank#}1{#/blank#} on right now between Class 3 and Class 4. We don't know which team will {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Look at those people over there! Some students of Class 1 are practising the high jump. One of them is the best high jumper in the school. He {#blank#}3{#/blank#} hard every day. Many people think he will break the school record in the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} meeting next spring. Not far away from {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, some girls are preparing for a race. They will have an 800-metr e race in ten {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Now on the corner of the field, you can see another group of students. Their teacher is telling them how to{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the discus(铁饼). 

In schools, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} and more students love sports now. Sports help people to keep {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. They also help people to live {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. And while doing sports on the sports field, many people will become good friends too. Do you think so?

On a cold winter night, while I was waiting 1 the green light, I saw an old man walking toward me. He stopped me, and I felt a little nervous. The old man said 2 ," Excuse me. Could you please help me?"

Then the old man took out a 10- yuan bill(账单) and asked me 3 the money and buy one sweet potato from 4 old lady. She was selling something about fifty meters away in the corner.

" But why don't you go and buy it 5 ?"I was puzzled(迷惑的). The old man said," That old lady is my wife. And she 6 for six hours. Just now I called her. She told me that there was only one sweet potato left and she wouldn't go home until all the sweet potatoes were sold out(卖光). But I know she can't stand(忍受) the cold 7 her legs hurt. I'm very worried about her."

At that time, I could understand why the old man 8 me to buy his wife's sweet potato. I felt really warm. Without taking the money, I rode to the old lady 9 and bought the last one. As I waved goodbye to the old 10 , I could see him standing there with a big smile.

Old wives' tales are pieces of advice that are supposed to solve common problems such as the medical ones or some problems at home. They are usually passed down through talking，and there are only a few having been written down. Some of them sound ridiculous and have no scientific meaning at all，just like jokes，while others are more reasonable，which are realized to be true. 

Often，old wives' tales take the form of warnings and are a way to prevent poor behavior in children. For example， "Eating candy before bedtime brings you bad dreams" is a common old wives' tale that was probably thought up to stop children from eating too many unhealthy snacks. Similarly， "If you've been lying，your nose will be longer" is a trick trying to get naughty children to tell the truth. 

Other old wives' tales want to give advice about how to keep away from illnesses. "If you go outside with wet hair，you'll catch a cold" is an old wives' tale that's still commonly heard today. However，colds are not caused by cold weather or wet hair. Instead，they are caused by viruses （病毒）. 

"Feed a cold，starve a fever" means that you should eat plenty of food when you have a cold，but not eat when you have a fever. This piece probably comes from the fact that people with a fever usually lose their appetite （胃口） anyway. Medical science has found that the body stops eating much when you have a fever because little food makes your immune system （免疫系统） fight bacterial infections （细菌感染），while eating a little more makes your immune system fight against viruses，like colds. 

There are hundreds of old wives' tales. Although there may be truth in a few of them，if you bear one，it's best not to take it too seriously.