This story is about a young man. He worked very hard at his lessons, so he was too busy to have a rest. At last, he couldn't go to sleep every night. When he went to bed, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.But the more he tried, the more he stayed awake.

    After a while, he decided to visit the doctor."I just can't go to sleep at night. What should I do?" "I have a suggestion,"said the doctor, "try counting numbers. By the time you reach one thousand, you'll be asleep. I'm sure of it. The next day the man returned to the doctor's office."well," said the doctor, "How are you today? Did you try my suggestion?"

    The man still looked tired, "Yes,"he said, " I tried counting one, two, three…up to one thousand. But when I reached five thousand and sixty-nine, I began to feel sleepy. I had to get up and drink some tea so that I could go on counting up to one thousand, but then I still couldn't fall asleep.

    One story about Jack, an Irishman（爱尔兰人）, who was not allowed into Heaven because he was stingy（吝啬） with his money. So he was sent to hell地狱. But down there he played tricks on the Devil (Satan) （魔鬼撒旦）, so he was kicked out of Hell and made to walk the earth forever carrying a lantern.

    Well, Irish children made Jack's lanterns on October 31st from a large potato or turnip（萝卜）, hollowed out with the sides having holes and lit by little candles inside. And Irish children would carry them as they went from house to house begging for food for the village Halloween festival that honored the Druid god Muck Olla（督伊德神）. The Irish name for these lanterns was "Jack with the lantern" or "Jack of the lantern," abbreviated as " Jack-o'-lantern" and now spelled "jack-o-lantern."

    The traditional Halloween you can read about in most books was just children's fun night. Halloween celebrations would start in October in every elementary（小学校） school. Children would make Halloween decorations, all kinds of orange-paper jack-o-lanterns. we went together to neighbors' houses, ringing their doorbell and yelling, "Trick or treat!" meaning, "Give us a treat (something to eat) or we'll play a trick on you!"

    The people inside were supposed to come to the door and comment（评价） on our costumes. Oh! here's a ghost. Oh, there's a witch. Oh, here's an old lady. Sometimes they would play along with us and pretend to be scared by some ghost or witch. But they would always have some candy and maybe an apple to put in our "trick or treat bags." But what if no one come to the door, or if someone chased us away?

    Then we'd play a trick on them, usually taking a piece of soap and make marks on their windows. And afterwards we would go home and count who got the most candy. One popular teen-agers' Halloween trick was to unroll a roll of toilet paper and throw it high into a tree again and again until the tree was all wrapped in the white paper. The paper would often stay in the tree for weeks until a heavy snow or rain washed it off.

    No real harm done, but it made a big mess of both the tree and the yard under it. One kind of Halloween mischief.

Stand Straight and Stand Tall!

    High school was wonderful, but I had always felt uncomfortable as one of the taller members of my class, standing a head above the other girls and bowing at the back of the line to avoid sticking out.

    I especially hated being around large groups of people, like during the social hour after the church services.

    My grandfather watched me grow increasingly uncomfortable, but he didn't laugh at me or try to comfort me. Instead, he would warn me. "Stand straight and stand tall, " he would say, as I tried to shrink（退缩）.

    And each time, I would obey him. Even at age 15, I understood that his advice was about more than just feet and inches. My grandfather grew up in war-torn（饱受战争摧残的） Europe. When German soldiers took his hometown, the beautiful and exciting city of Tarnow, Poland, he joined the Soviet army for his country's freedom. "Stand straight, stand tall" meant something else since then. I trusted my grandfather more than anyone else in my childhood. And whenever I was afraid of something, he would tell me stories of his life.

    After the war, he took a boat for America on January 27, 1947. All alone in a new country, he was frightened about his future. Soon he met other European immigrants（移民）, each of whom tried to find his or her own way.

    If they could do it, why couldn't he? "Stand straight, stand tall," he would tell himself. At first my grandfather refused to enter an American church. He was angry with God for the loss of his whole family in Europe. But soon he felt his self-confidence returning. When he walked into the church the first time, he walked in proudly.

    My name is Lucy. I am now in China. I am a student of No. 4 Middle School. There are some clubs in our school. They are an English club, an art club, a music club, a ball game club, a swimming club, a chess club and a computer club. There is a "Show Yourselves (你们自己)!" Festival in our school. On that day, students from different clubs show their talents in difficult ways (用不同的方式). They can sing English songs and draw. They can play the guitar, the violin, the piano and drums. They can also play chess and show us their swimming skills (技巧). They like this festival very much. I join the art club. I draw many nice pictures for the festival. That makes me very happy.

    Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history？Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28.Although he lived over 2, 000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today, Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

    Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but (Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

    Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that we all have some advantages. "When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them."

    He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. "All study but no thinking makes people puzzled(困惑的).All thinking but no study makes people lazy."

    Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important theories are about kindness and good manners. "A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others," he said.

If you ask people of different countries" Could you tell me the way to the post office?", you will get 1 answers. 

 In Japan, people 2 landmarks(路标) instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to 3 , " Go straight down to the corner, 4 left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop. "

 In Kansas, America, there are no 5 or buildings within(在…之内) miles. So instead of landmarks, people will tell you 6 and distance(距离). 7 , people will say, " Go north two miles(英里). Turn 8 , and then go another mile. "

 People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because few visitors 9 the Greek language. They will often say, "10 me. " Then he or she will take you through the streets of the city to the post office. Sometimes 11 a person doesn't know the answer to your question he or she, like a New Yorker, might say, " Sorry, I have no 12 . " But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one13 "I don't know. " People there think"I don't know" is not 14 . They usually give an answer but often a 15 one. A visitor can often get lost in Yucatan!