Last Friday, I was just in France to visit my 96-year-old grandmother who is very dear to me ­­­­­­ 1   lives alone. I don't visit her very often, so every time I go to see her,   2of us think that it might be the   3    time we see each other. Last time I visited her in December of 2014, I did some video interviews about her life. I asked her  4   it was like to grow up with her father in the 1920s, to live with two young children, with her husband   5  in a prisoner's camp (集中营) in Germany. I also asked her about her greatest   6  . I learned a lot of amazing new things about her that I never know before.

     This year, I did not really have questions to ask. I only wanted to tell her how loved she is. So, I cooked for her and read stories. I gave her a foot massage （按摩）.   7    leaving, I wanted to leave something  8 behind besides the memory of our time together. So I wrote her five different love and thank notes to let her knows how much she means to me. I   9 them in different places where I knew she would  10  find them. One of them was under her pillow. 11    one was hanging from the lamp shade by which she reads in the evening.  Another one was by her toothbrush. One was in her mailbox which she has to check every day. And the last one was in her car. She still  12  to the nearby village a couple of times a week!

       I knew that these cards would surely cheer her up after I left. Really she called me as I was catching my plane back to the US. She said, “ I found your three cards! By the time I discovered the third, I was laughing out loud! They did me so much good. Thank you so much!” I smiled to myself, 13  she still has two more to go! It is Sunday today, so my guess is that she hasn't  14   her mailbox or driven her car! I can  15  how happy she will be when she finds them.

A few years ago, my husband and I were in a village for the weekend with our daughters. One day when we walked around the 1 and didn't know what to do next, our daughters told us 2 what they wanted to do. "We want to 3 the rose garden", said Lisa and Emma.

As soon as we walked into the garden, we saw thousands of nice 4 . They all came out in the sunlight. My girls were jumping up and down 5 surprise, and I knew we made the right 6 to come to the garden. They had so much 7 !

I turned to the gardener working there 8 I was curious (好奇的), and asked, "How 9 do roses blossom?" She said, "About ten 10 . And in their short life, they make the world a more beautiful place." "Wow, only a few days!" I was so amazed, "I 11 thought about roses like this. Thank you."

After we said goodbye, I still remembered what the gardener 12 us. She was 13 . We all have something to 14 the world with the time we have. When we do what we can to take care of each other every day, we can make a 15 to our world. We have our own way of making the world a little better for everyone.

I'm Cindy. I'm in Grade Nine in Yucai School. I have a white cat. His name is Simba. I get him from my grandfather. Now He is three years old.

Simba is my first(第一) cat. I don't know how to feed (喂养) him at first. I like eating vegetables and rice. I think they are good for me, so I give the same food to Simba. But he doesn't eat them at all. A good friend tells me cats love fish. Oh, she is right. Simba likes fish a lot and he eats it every day.

Simba likes playing with dogs. But he doesn't like to go out. When I go to school, he likes to sleep(睡觉) at home. He likes to play with me, too. When I do my homework, he is usually next to me. He is my best friend. I am very happy to have a cute cat. 

It was snowy and dark on a New Year's Eve. Many people {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(get) together in their warm home at that moment. A poor little girl {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(walk) in the streets with no shoes. There were some matches (火柴) in her hand. 

"Matches! Matches!" the little girl cried in {#blank#}3{#/blank#} low voice. No one heard her while they {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(pass) by. The wind was blowing strongly and the snow{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(fall) down on her long hair. She felt cold and hungry. But she was afraid to go home without selling one box of matches,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} her father would blame (责备) her. 

"A burning (燃烧的) match may warm me up!" she thought. She lit two matches. But she still felt cold. Then she lit the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(three) match. While the match was burning, a kind old woman {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(stand) there. 

"Grandmother!" cried the little girl. "Take me {#blank#}9{#/blank#} you." Her grandmother held the girl in her arms. On the morning of the New Year, the girl {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(lie) against the wall, dead. It's a sad story. 

Emma Dreams Big

 Emma looked out of the window, thinking about her little horse, Sunny. At the same time, the other students were excitedly sharing their dreams for the future in the class meeting.

1 Mrs. James called out. "Emma! Can you tell us what you want to do when you grow up?"

"Em... I haven't thought about it yet, "Emma 2 back and said.

"What are you interested in, Emma? "asked Mrs. James.

"I really like riding horses, and my little horse Sunny brings me so much3 , "Emma said. "But what can I do with that in the future? "

"Well, maybe our special guest(客人) today can help you with it, "Mrs. James said."Now, class, let's4 Doctor Landon. He is a vet(兽医), and he came here today as part of our Career Explorations( 职业探索) project. "

"On most days of a week, I travel across the county to 5 horses. It isa lot of work, but I love it. "Doctor Landon said.

 Emma's mouth fell open. "What a life that is, "she thought. At that moment, Emma could see her6 . She was going to be a vet and take care of horses, too!

 After school, Emma made new plans. She would7 an hour studying math before riding her horse Sunny. She also8 to study science even if she didn't have any homework about it. Doctor Landon said those were important9 to study if you wanted to be a vet.

 When Emma got home after school, she told her parents about her big dream. They were very happy and supportive. That night, Emma had a 10 dream, and in her dream, she became a vet. It's so good to have a dream.