Amy is a 26-year-old single mother with a daughter. She was moving into her house in Atlanta early on the morning of March 12, when a man  1 her to her door, and put a gun(枪) to her side.

    "I started walking to my door, and I feltreally, really  2 ,"she said in a TV interview last week.

The man was Brian Nichols, 33 years old. He killed three people at an Atlanta courthouse on March 11.The police were3 him.

    Nichols tied Smith up with tape, but sether free after she begged(恳求) him not to take her 4 again and again. "I told him if he hurt me, my little girl wouldn't have a mummy,"she said with tears.

   "I just talked to him and tried to make him believe me,"Smith said.

    She asked Nichols 5 he chose her. "Hesaid he thought I was an angel 6  from God, and God asked him to do so."

Smith even 7  for the man before he allowed her to leave. Nichols was 8 when she made him breakfast and that the two of them watched TV, seeing the police looking for him. "I cannot believe that's me on the TV!"Nichols told the woman.

    Then, Nichols asked Smith what she thought he 9 do. She said, "I think you should turn yourself in. If you don't, more people are going to get 10 ."

    Finally, he let her go. Then she called the police.

    Many would agree that when we think of Christmas， we probably think of gifts， Christmas trees and Santa Claus. But behind all these things lies the true meaning of Christmas: the importance of sharing and giving love and joy to people around us. The story in A Christmas Carol is perhaps the best example of this.

    A Christmas Carol is a famous novel written by Charles Dickens. It is about an old man named Scrooge. He only thinks about himself and doesn't treat others nicely. He just cares about whether he can make more money. And he hates Christmas. One Christmas Eve， Scrooge sees the ghost of Jacob Marley， his dead business partner. Marley used to be just like Scrooge， so he was punished after he died. He warns Scrooge to change his ways if he doesn't want to end up like him. He also tells Scrooge to expect three spirits to visit him.

    That night， three ghosts visit Scrooge. First， the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his childhood and reminds Scrooge of his happier days as a child. Then the second spirit， the Ghost of Christmas Present， takes him to see how others are spending Christmas this year. Everyone is happy， even poor people. The last one， the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come， takes him to the future. He sees that he is dead but nobody cares. Scrooge is so scared that he wakes up in his bed and finds out it is already the next morning on Christmas Day!

    He decides to change his life and promises to be a better person. He happily celebrates Christmas with his relatives. He also gives gifts to people in need. He now treats everyone with kindness and warmth， spreading love and joy everywhere he goes. And that is the true spirit of Christmas!

    When I was about twelve years old, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to tell me about my shortcomings (缺点). Week by week her list became 1： I was very short, and I wasn't a good student, I talked too much, and so on. I tried to stand（忍受）all of these as long as I could. 2, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears(眼泪) in my eyes.

    He listened to me quietly, and then asked, "Are the things that she said true or not? Jane, have you ever 3 what you're really like? Now you have that girl's ideas. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are 4. Pay no attention to(别在意) the other things that she said."

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I found that about half of the things were true. Some of them I couldn't 5, like being very short, but a good number of them I could. I wanted to change the bad things in me, and for the 6 time I knew something about myself in a very clear way.

    I brought the list back to my father. He refused to take it. "That's just for you," he said, "You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself, but sometimes others' opinions are also important, so you 7 learn how to listen, and not just 8 your ears in anger and feel hurt（受伤害）. When something that is said about you is true, you'll find that it will be 9to you. Our world is full of people who think that they know you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to all of them, 10the truth and do what you think is the right thing to do." I have remembered my father's advice at many important moments. I have never had a better piece of advice in my whole life.

    One day, the students of Class 6 were reading in the classroom. Mrs. Brown came in and told the whole class that they would have to change a 1 in March. The naughtiest(调皮的) class in the grade could not 2 it. The pupils all disagreed with the decision, so they shouted when Mrs.

    Brown said it was because a new pupil would be3 the class. The class was in disorder. (杂乱地) "Why must we move to another classroom just because someone new is coming?". One of them asked 4 Mrs. Brown waited patiently before the class without saying anything. The students saw it and they became quiet. Mrs. Brown told them to be 5 to their new classmate and then she left.

    The following week, the class understood 6. The head teacher himself brought the new student to their class.7, Mr. White pushed the new student to the class because the student was disabled. Mr. White 8 the new student as Jeff and asked them to be friendly to him. He said that Jeff now was a 9 of the class and they should work together. He added," A house divided (分开) against itself cannot stand."10 could completely understand what Mr. White meant at first.

    Over time, they began to understand what their head teacher meant. Jeff was a 11 student and often lent a helping hand to students who did not understand 12 work. They felt very thankful to him. They took turns (轮流) to push him 13 they knew well that when someone did something for you, you 14 do something back in return (作为回报) .Their results 15 and their behavior (行为) became better. It was a special year Class 6 would never forget.

    As we all know there are all kinds of clubs in US middle schools, such as music club, sports club, chess club, swimming club. But do you know homework club? It is a popular club in many US middle schools. More and more students spend(花费) their afternoons at homework clubs. The US middle school students need a quiet place to study. But games, computers and TVs are all around kids at home. So the homework club is just for them to do their homework. The club is quiet and it's good for students to study. Some teachers are there, too. They can answer students' questions and help with their homework.

    After the students finish their homework, they can go home. Then they can play games or watch TV happily.