Last December it was very cold and it snowed a lot. One Saturday, John was playing on the hill near his house with a group of friends. Suddenly, he fell over and broke his leg. His friends ran to tell his mother. His mother and brother took him to the hospital.

    The doctor Said John had to stay in hospital for four to five weeks. John liked the doctors and the other children in the hospital because they were very friendly. At first he was happy because he didn't have to go to school. He laughed at all of his friends. They had to do a lot of homework. He enjoyed listening to music and watching his favorite television programs all day.

    But soon the Christmas holidays started. John was still in hospital. He was tired of watching television and listening to his CDs and he wanted to go home. "This is     " he thought. He felt sad so he started to cry.

    But then a man came to his room with a bag of gifts and a Christmas tree. John knew him from the television. He was a famous sports star who was visiting all the sick (生病的) children. And the man was not the only person who came that day. All the students from John's class came to visit him. And his math teacher brought him his "favorite" gift -- some math homework!

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    Tommy is from a poor family. His father is a worker and he is often ill. Tommy hopes to be an artist, but everybody says it is not possible for him to be an artist and makes fun of his family and his dream. But Tommy never gives up.

    One day, he heard there was a drawing competition the following week, and anyone aged 13 and up was welcome. The winner would get 10,000 dollars and some art equipment(设备). He thought for a minute and decided to take part in the competition.

    That week seemed like the longest week in his life. Every day when he got home from school, a pencil and a piece of paper were the first things in his hands. He practiced drawing for a long time. Then, the day of the competition came. He finished his drawing quickly.

    After two weeks, Tommy got a letter. Tommy was too afraid to open the letter. At last he opened it slowly. Just as he read the first sentence, he began crying. However, they were not tears(眼泪) of sadness. They were tears of happiness.

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    It was already the middle of April but there was not a raindrop in sight. Danny stood in his backyard alone looking at the 1 landscape(园林) in front of him. He could see nothing but sand and clear blue sky. "Even the cactus(仙人掌) is starting to 2," said Danny to himself as he bent down to take a good 3.

    All of a sudden, when he was walking back to his house, he heard the sound of thunder(打雷). He stopped and looked up 4. He was wild with joy to see that the 5 rain had finally come. Danny quickly ran towards the cabin next to his house, where he stored his rain barrels(桶). He was going to capture every single drop of rain to 6 the vegetable garden in his backyard. In the desert, rain is as 7 as gold. It had rained for almost seven days. The cactus looked much 8 than before. Snakes popped their heads from out of their holes and birds sang happily in the 9.

    Living in deserts can be very 10, especially when there is no source of water. However, life went on for Danny and all the desert creatures for another season, thanks to the spring rains.