On Christmas Eve a few days ago, an English couple, the Hardens, got a very special call. It was only a 20-second call but it was very 1. The Hardens' 15-year-old daughter has gone 2 six months before. On Christmas Eve she rang them. ＂I'm phoning to wish you a happy Christmas,＂ she said, ＂I love you.＂ Ronals and Edwine Harden were so 3 that they started a special telephone service （服务）called ＂Alive and Well＂. The service helps 4 to get in touch with children who have run away from home.

    Young people can phone ＂Alive and Well＂ and leave a message for their parents. The telephones are answered by answering machines. So 5 can speak to the child or make him return home. Parents of runaway children who are 6 eighteen can ask the police to bring their children home. So children do not want to tell their parents where they are. Through ＂Alive and Well＂ they can telephone their parents and they do not 7 about this or give out their addresses.

    The Hardens and their helpers 8 the telephone messages and connect（联系）the addresses given. About 30,000 British teenagers have left home and many of them are probably in 9. For only two pence（便士）they can go into a telephone coin box and call their parents. They can dial 5675339 and 10 a parent worrying: Is he dead or alive?

    It is hard to imagine how a person is to spend the whole life when only the head and hands are able to move.

    Xu Ruiyang, an 18-year-old student from Kunming, has suffered (遭受) from spina muscular atrophy (脊柱肌肉萎缩)1she was 2 years old. At that time, the doctor said that most children with spinal muscular atrophy will only live a few years.

    The family did not give up, or even just2. To help Xu Ruiyang live with dignity (尊严), her parents 3her living and learning skills strictly. Opening a book or raising hands, some very easy actions for common people,4, are big challenges for Xu. She had to use her head or5to work together with hands to finish these actions.

    When she started learning to write, she couldn't even6a pen. But she never gave up. Once she lost the pen, she picked it up and7writing. Xu finally could write 500 Chinese characters before becoming a primary school student, after8 thousands of times.

    Over the past few years, Xu has overcome (克服) many problems, including the 9 caused by the disease. Her parents worried about her health and 10her to drop out of school, but Xu's answer was no. "11I read a book and do my homework, the pain is gone," said Xu.

    When asked by reporters on how to deal with difficulties, Xu calmly said, “Patience. When you can't change anything, crying is useless, so just be12."

    In Xu's opinion, her sunny and self-confident13comes from the love of her parents.

    "If we are not able to make her live longer, we can make her life wider," said Xu's father. They travelled across China and more than 20 14 over the world, including Italy, Thailand and Singapore. During these trips, she developed an interest in learning a 15language. "I think it's cool to learn about other countries' culture and express your feelings to others," said Xu.

    Last June, she finished China's Gaokao and received an offer from Sichuan International Study University.

Einstein has to speak at an important science meeting.  On the way there, he tells his driver that looks a bit like him, "I'm sick of all these meetings. I always say the same things over and over!"

The driver agrees, "You're right. As your driver, I attend all of them, and even though I don't know anything about science, I could give the speech in your place. "

"That's a great idea!" says Einstein. "Let's exchange our places then!"

So they exchange clothes. As soon as they arrive, the driver dressed as Einstein goes on stage and starts giving the usual speech, while the real Einstein, dressed as the car driver, attends it.

But in the crowd, there is one scientist who wants to show off and thinks of a very difficult question to ask Einstein, hoping he won't be able to answer. So this guy stands up and cuts in the speech by raising his very difficult question. The whole room goes silent, holding their breath, waiting for the answer.

The driver looks at him, dead in the eye, and says, "Sir, your question is so easy that I'm going to let my driver answer it for me."

    Hye-seung Hyun is a girl from South Korea韩国). She lives with her parents, sister and brother in Seoul. What is her school day like?

    Hyun gets up at seven. Her family usually eats breakfast at half past seven. Mom often makes breakfast.

    Hyun goes to school at 8:15. Classes in the morning are from 9:00 to 12:00. There are usually three lessons. Hyun loves art best.

    Hyun has lunch at school at 12:30. She doesn't have time to go home. Classes in the afternoon are from 13:00 to 15:00.

    After having a swimming lesson in the afternoon, Hyun has dinner at six. After dinner, she practices English and the piano. She goes to bed at 22:00. Before it, she talks with her family for some time.

Dear Mike,

How is everything? I am not happy these days. My parents are angry with me because they think I live an unhealthy life on weekends. They want me to spend my weekend like my sister Jenny.

I always get up late. So I usually have nothing for breakfast. I play basketball for an hour then. For lunch, I often eat out. Hamburgers and ice-cream are my favorites. I know they are not good for me, but they taste great. After lunch, I usually go to the movies with my friends. Sometimes, I sleep all the afternoon. In the evening, I either watch TV or play computer games. I don't go to bed until eleven thirty.

But Jenny is different. She never gets up after six thirty. Then she brushes teeth and does morning exercises. After that, she has milk and eggs. She does her homework all the morning. For lunch, she eats rice, meat, fish and vegetables. She studies for 3 hours before she eats dinner. Sometimes, she helps with housework after dinner. Then she goes out to take a walk. She reads and takes a shower before going to bed."What a great day I have!"Jenny always says.

It is weekend! I just want to relax myself well. I don't like to hear my parents always say the same words again and again to me. It's terrible to live like Jenny! What can I do?

Yours,

Leo