George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work when he was only eight. When George was fourteen，he became his father's helper. He spent a lot of time learning about engines. On holidays, he often took one engine into pieces and studied each piece carefully. Soon he became a very good worker though he could not read or write.

    He began to learn the English letters when he was seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work，he walked a long way to have lessons from a young teacher.

    On his eighteenth birthday, he wrote his own name for the first time in his life. George invented many things in his life. The train was the greatest one among them. Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we will think of this great man—George Stephenson.

    Mr. Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn't see the red lights. He couldn't stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, "What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?" "l'm sorry, sir," said Mr. Brown, "l didn't see the lights turn red." Then he brought out a bottle of wine and gave it to the old man. "It's cold today, sir," said Mr. Brown. "Please drink a little, and then you'll get warm." The old man drank some wine and became happy. He asked, "l'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?" "l can't drink anything now, sir, "answered Mr. Brown "l'm waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards cause accidents, you know!"

When children read to Danny, he never stops them or corrects them. He just sits quietly and listens patiently. Danny is a "listening1 ". He is part óf a reading program for children. The name of the program is R.E.A.D.

This program helps2 children's reading and communication skills in a special way -' reading to dogs, but not any dog. R.E.A.D. dogs are therapy animals (治疗动物). " We all know that learning to read well is very3 . Teachers always ask children to read aloud.4 reading aloud in class is very difficult for some children. They are afraid that other children will5 them," says Danny' S trainer, Tony Nevett. But a listening dog like Danny won't make fun of them. The children will feel safe.It's also fun for them. They even start to6 reading aloud. As a result, their reading gets better.

This program7 helps the dogs. Many of them live in dog shelters and need a home. After some8 , the dogs learn to be comfortable with people they don' t know. This helps them to be9 for adoption (收养）.

The R. E.A.D. program started in the USA."We have many success stories," says Tony. He hopes the program will spread to more places. Children who10 the program learn to love reading. This helps them succeed in school.

One day Mr. Smith went to a dinner party. He was wearing old clothes. He came into the room, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} people in the room didn't look at him. They didn't ask him to sit{#blank#}2{#/blank#} the table. He wasn't happy. But he said{#blank#}3{#/blank#} （something）. 

Mr. Smith went home and put{#blank#}4{#/blank#}his best clothes. He went back to the party. All the guests in the room{#blank#}5{#/blank#}（stand） up and looked at him. They gave him good food to eat. Mr. Smith took {#blank#}6{#/blank#}his coat, and put it on the food and said, "Eat, coat！"

The other people were{#blank#}7{#/blank#}（surprise） and asked, "What are you doing? Why do you do that? "

Mr. Smith answered, "I am asking my coat to eat food. When I {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（wear） old clothes, the man standing at the door didn't let me in until I showed him my{#blank#}9{#/blank#}（invite）. When I came in, you didn't ask me to sit down. Now I am wearing these nice clothes and you give me good food to eat. Now I see, you give the food to my coat, not to{#blank#}10{#/blank#}（I）. "

Skiing(滑雪） is one of the most popular sports in the world especially in Norway (挪威). It is the best way to have fun in winter. Almost everyone can ski. Children learn to ski after they learn to walk. Long long ago in Norway, there were no buses, trains or cars. People had to find a way to walk over the deep snow. Skis were the right answer!

Although they love winter, the people of Norway are also happy to see summer come. They enjoy the outdoor activities at any time of the year. In summer they swim and sunbathe near the beach. 

Some people go cycling and go mountain climbing. Sail-boating is also very popular during the warm sunny summer months. 

The Norwegians (挪威人), like people everywhere, find many indoor ways to have a good time. During the long winter they also enjoy movies. They like to read books from the libraries in all seasons. Family life is very important to the people of Norway.