Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s. The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach (菠菜) to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 per cent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people's diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.

    Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not-true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetables.

    People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.

    Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.

    It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.

    Curly is my big dog. He is so strong that he can carry everything on his back. He likes to run and play with me. He likes to follow my father around in the fields, too.

    One day my father took off his coat and put it on the ground under a big tree. Curly stood watching him. My father said, "Watch my coat, Curly." Curly sat down on the coat. My father forgot all about his coat and went home without it. Late in the evening I missed my dog. I looked everywhere for him, calling, "Curly, Curly" but Curly did not come. Soon my father wanted something that was in his coat pocket. Then he remembered what he had done. He went back to the big tree. What do you think he saw? Curly was sitting on the coat so that nobody could carry it away.

    Martina looked out of the window. A robin was singing a lively song in the tree. At this time, Grandpa, who lived with the family since Grandma had died, came in. He looked at the floor as if looking for something. He said, "When the robin sings..." he stopped, trying to remember what he had started to say.

    "Spring is here," Mum finished the sentence. "And I'm thinking of our spring cleaning," Mum suggested. "Martina, you can help me, right?" Martina agreed unwillingly.

    They cleaned the house. They cleaned upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside, until everything was clean. Then Mum pointed to Grandpa's sofa and shouted. "That old sofa has got to go. We'll buy Grandpa a new one."

    It was true and Martina had to agree. The sofa was really old. As they tried to move the sofa, Grandpa stood in their way. "You can't take my sofa," he shouted.

    "It's old," Mum said. Grandpa tried to push his sofa back into place. "We'll buy you a new one," Mum promised.

    "I don't want a new one," Grandpa insisted. Mum let go of the sofa. "We'll talk about it tonight when John gets home." John, Martina's dad, was still at work.

    "Why don't you let us take away the sofa? It's too old!" Martina asked when the family were having supper. Grandpa shook his head and said, "I sat in this sofa, with your grandma right here, when I asked her to marry me. It was so long ago, but when I sit in this sofa and close my eyes I feel she is near."

    "It's amazing," Martina thought, "how Grandpa can remember things from the past. These days he forgets almost everything."

    The old man smiled to Martina and went on. "And the night your father was born, I sat in this sofa. I was nervous when they placed the little baby into my arms."

    "I think I'm beginning to understand," Martina said. "Many years later," Grandpa continued, "I sat in this sofa when the doctor called and told me that your grandma was ill. I was lost without her, but the sofa gave me the comfort."

    "I do see now," Martina looked at Grandpa. "This is not just an old sofa. This sofa is more like a friend." "Yes," Grandpa added. "We've got through a lot together." The whole family agreed that the living room would be boring without the old sofa.

    A rich man had only one son. The man loved his son very much. He sent his son to the best school in his city. But the son fell into the bad company at school. He developed many bad habits.

    The man was much worried about his son. He tried his best to mend his habits but he did not succeed. One day he thought of a plan to teach his son a lesson.

    He went to the market and bought some fresh apples and a rotten(腐烂) one. He came back home and asked his son to put all the apples along with the rotten I one in a box.

    The son did the same. After some days the father asked his son to bring the apples. As he opened the box he was surprised to notice that all the apples had become rotten. He felt very sad.

    Looking at this, his father told him to see how one rotten apple had spoiled all the rest. In the same way one bad companion (同伴) could spoil all the others. The father's advice had the expected effect. The boy gave up the bad companion and became good again.

    It was raining heavily as I was walking up the hill towards the station at six o'clock on a Saturday morning. Just as I was crossing the road near the top of the hill, a car came around the corner. It was traveling very fast. Suddenly it hit a lamp post (路灯杆) and turned over.

    I ran to the car to help the driver at once. He was badly hurt and there was a lot of blood on his face. Many people came to see what had happened and there was nothing we could do. A young woman hurried into the station and phoned for an ambulance (救护车). A policeman arrived a few minutes later and asked me a lot of questions about the accident. After a while the ambulance arrived and the driver was sent to the hospital.

    On Monday morning I went to the hospital to see the man. The doctor told me that he was much better, and he would leave the hospital after a few days' rest.

It is a nice day. Kate is at home with her family. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She likes to read books very much. 

Her friend Mary calls her, "{#blank#}2{#/blank#} I have something for you. "

Kate goes to Mary's house, Kate sees a red note(便条) on the door. It reads, " Come in, Kate. And go to the sofa. " On the sofa, Kate finds a book. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It reads, " Go to my table. "

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Next to it, there is a yellow note. It reads, " Go to my bedroom. "

Kate goes to Mary's bedroom. And what does she see? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

" Happy birthday, Kate. " They say.