A man was walking along the street when he saw a woman carrying a large box. It was half in and half out of her car. So the man went up and said, “The box looks very heavy. Let me give you a hand.”

 “That's very kind of you,” the woman said, “I'm having a lot of trouble with it. Maybe it sticks (卡住) in the car door.”

 “Together we'll soon move it,” the man said. “I'll get in and take the other end.” And he got in the car.

 “Right,” the man said. “I'm ready,” and he began to push the box hard. For several minutes, the man and the woman tried to move the box. Soon they felt very tired.

    They rested for a moment. Then the woman said, “Let's try again. One, two, three!” They went on moving the box.

    At last, when they were exhausted, the man said, “I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any way to get it out of your car.”

 “Get it out?” the woman cried. “I'm trying to get it in! You know?”

    Running a marathon (马拉松) is difficult enough. Doing it with eyes closed for 26.2 miles is more difficult. But that's exactly what Mike Bruno plans to do during the Pittsburgh marathon.

    He's doing this for his 7-year-old daughter, Cassie, who doesn't like to communicate with others and has been blind since birth. “Having a blind daughter clearly has caused me a lot of trouble,” Bruno said. “ But it doesn't matter. I love my daughter. I hope to get a better understanding of how she deals with her daily life. I hope this journey will finally make me a better father to guide Cassie through her life.”

    “When the doctor told us 'Your baby is not going to see', that was the most terrible experience we had ever had,” said Bruno.

    “Sometimes I walk around the house with my eyes closed to see what it's like for her,” said Cassie's older sister, Carly, 9 years old. “It's kind of scary. You don't know where everything is.”

    But Cassie has fought against difficulties, and her father plans to do the same. “I closed my eyes, and I got ready, and then I tried running, just to see what it is like for her,” said Mike Bruno. “I want everyone to know it's OK. It's OK to ask us questions, but it's not OK to look at us and point to us with surprise. If you'd like to ask us, we will be happy to tell you our story. ”

    The village of Hengly was going to have the Bean Olympics. It was a competition to see which kind of bean would grow the fastest and the tallest. Everybody was excited. They couldn't wait to show their best plants.

    Cassie knew clearly which bean she would choose for the competition, for her family had planted a special "family bean" .It was a flat bean that her great-grandparents had brought from Sicily. Her grandmother planted the beans every year and served them at many meals. Cassie was sure they would be unbeatable beans.

    However, the plan did not work out that way. Although Cassie's bean plants looked healthy with beautiful purple flowers, they did not grow as fast or climb as high as any of her neighbours. These people chose beans from seed(种子)shops. Their beans had wonderful names like "Rocket "or" Top Crop". One type was even named "King's Bean". That was the bean Ivan planted, and his plants climbed almost to the top of the fence. Cassie's plants were just near the middle of the fence.

    On the day of the competition, Cassie was disappointed that her beans were in last place. Ivan laughed at her beans and said she could win a prize for the slowest, shortest bean.

    The organizer, Mr Williams, handed out medals for the fastest-growing and the tallest bean plants." Now there remains only one final test, and it is just as important: the taste test."

    Mr Williams cooked the beans from each competitor and chose five experienced villagers as judges(裁判).

    Cassie was nervous. Would her family beans lose another time？

    After the judges tasted the beans, Mr Williams counted the results.

     "We have a winner, "Mr Williams announced." The judges all agree that Cassie's beans are the winner."

    Cassie grinned at this unexpected result. Many of her neighbours, even Ivan asked for her seeds. They were all in favour of the good-tasting beans even though they didn't grow fast or very tall.

    Suzie goes to her art class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. She always looks forward to those days when she can do creative things all afternoon. She loves making bowls and cups out of clay(粘土).

    Last month she learned to put pottery(陶器) into a hot oven（炉子）, called a kiln, to make it hard and strong. What Suzie likes best about art is the good feeling she gets when she has finished working on a piece of art. And then when she takes it home to show her parents she feels so proud of what she has made.

    On Wednesday Suzie wrote an article about why she thought the school should have two short breaks a day rather than one long break. Lots of her friends thought that this would be a good idea too. Many teachers also agreed with Suzie's suggestion.

    The head teacher of the school asked everyone in the school to vote(表决)on Suzie's suggestion. During the vote, each person in the school had one vote. Together, the school decided that two short breaks would be better than one long break. All of this happened because Suzie wrote about her idea in the school newspaper.

    On the day the newspaper comes out, the first thing Suzie does is to check where her article is in the newspaper. And each month, at the beginning of her article, are the words: By Suzanne Jefferson.

    On the way home from school yesterday, Suzie got to think about how much art and writing are the same. In art class she thinks of creative things to make, and then spends a lot of time making it look just right.

    And when she writes articles for the school newspaper, she thinks of creative things to say, and then spends a lot of time making it sound just right. And when she has finished writing a really good sentence, she feels almost as if she has made a beautiful piece of art.

    Suzie rushed home so she could write something shortly before dinner. She already had lots of ideas for next month's newspaper. And she wanted to make sure that none of her creative ideas floated away before she wrote them down on paper

My name is Emma, My family like1 . My favourite part is when we go on a road2 by car. I like to wave at the people in the other3 . I like to look at the landscape. 

Last week my family went on a road trip to a big farm. We4 through the desert. It was hot,5  the landscape was beautiful. The mountains were red. I6 a horse by myself. It was a friendly7 . At night we ate dinner around a campfire. That was very fun. 

We're going to take a trip to the8 next Saturday. I like to pick up shells(贝壳)there, so I'm very9 .

The beach is far from our home. It will be a10 drive. We will stop for lunch at a restaurant. l like reading. Maybe I will11 a book in the car. My dad knows a lot of12 . Maybe he will tell a funny story. 

l don't know13 the road trip will be like, but I do14 it will be fun. Like my parents15 say, "Getting there is half the fun."