Every year on my birthday since I was 11，a white gardenia （栀子花） was sent to my house．No card ever came with it．Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all．After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower，in soft pink paper．

    I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be．Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming（幻想 ）about the sender．My mother encouraged these daydreams．She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone．Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped．As a girl，I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met．

    A month before my high school graduation（毕业），my father died．I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance，and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not．My mother，in her own sadness，would not let me miss （过） any of those things．She wanted her children to feel loved．In fact，my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia：lovely，strong and perfect．

    My mother died ten years after I was married．That was the year the gardenia stopped coming．

    On the first day in her new house，Mouse wrote a letter to her old friend.

    On the way to the post office, Mouse saw Beaver. He gave Mouse a big smile.

   "Perhaps I should say hello, "thought Mouse." Beaver's teeth are so long and sharp（锋利的）. Beaver wouldn't make a good friend. Not like Vole, whose smile was kind." So Mouse left without saying hello.

    After lunch, Mouse heard a knock on her door. Then she peeked（偷看）out the window. It was Squirrel.

   "Perhaps I should invite her in for tea, "thought Mouse." But Squirrel talks a lot. Squirrel wouldn't make a good friend. Not like Vole, who always listened." So Mouse didn't open the door.

    That night, Mouse looked at a picture of herself and Vole. She thought back to the first time she met Vole. She remembered feeling afraid-afraid of Vole's eyes and Vole's large size.

    In fact, Vole had seemed so different that Mouse almost decided Vole wouldn't make a good friend.

    Mouse realized something." I made a mistake!" she cried.

    The next morning, Mouse made some cakes and put them in a basket.

    She went to Beaver's house first, and next to Squirrel's house.

    When Mouse returned home, she was smiling. She went to her desk and wrote a letter to Vole.

Some ways to celebrate (庆祝) the birthday

Everyone has his or her birthday. It's a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (有益的)way to have a birthday party to celebrate the birthday . But do you know other ways to celebrate the birthday {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (好地)？

Have a big dinner with your family. It's a good time for you to talk with your family when you have dinner on your birthday. Tell your parents your problems or ask some {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（问题） about your study and life . They may help you. You may have dinner at home or in a restaurant.

Go on a {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（短的）trip. If your birthday is on Saturdays or {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (星期天)，why not take a trip ? With a friend of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (你的 ) , you can go to some places near your house . For sure , July and  {#blank#}7{#/blank#} （八月）are the best time to take a trip . Always remember to take a camera（照相机） and you can take some nice {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（照片）.

See a movie (电影). To celebrate your birthday ,{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (怎样) about seeing an interesting movie with your parents or friends ?

Do some housework(家务). You can help your parents do some housework. They  {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (需要)you in their life . It will let them know you are one year older and can help them more.

One morning, when I was leaving for my business, a middle-aged man came up and asked me for help. He said he had no money to get food for his large family. "You look1 . Why don't you work?" I asked. "Simply because I cannot get work, sir." "If I give you work, what pay do you want?" "As long as I can get bread for my family, sir." he answered.

I decided to find out if he really meant what he said. "OK. I'll give you one pound an hour, if you 2 a brick（砖块）under your arm and walk around the square for five hours without stopping." "Thank you, sir. I will."

I found a brick and started him on his walk before I went to my 3 . I never thought he would do what he had said.

When I came back five hours later, I saw him still 4 , with the brick under his arm. I stopped him and gave him five pounds. He thanked me and told me that some people had5 to help him when they knew why he was doing all this. He said they would give him work directly, but he6 . Before leaving, he asked if I would give him the 7 , I did.

Several years later, a well-dressed man greeted me on a train. Seeing I was not sure who he was, he 8 that he was the brick man and had his own business now. "You know, I still keep that brick and always consider it as the most9 thing I have because it has brought me luck and success."

In fact, it was not the brick that made the man successful, but his faithfulness（坚定）in doing 10 a very little thing.

Cai Xuzhe dreamed of flying high when he was young. He was a new face on the Shenzhou-14 team. He spent 12 years as an astronaut（宇航员） getting ready for his first trip to space.

"I am happy and proud but feel more about my duty（责任）," Cai told reporters. Cai and other two team members, Chen Dong and Liu Yang, left the earth on board the Shenzhou-14 spaceship in June of 2022, for a six - month stay in space. They finished the work of building the Tiangong space station.

Cai was born in 1976 in the countryside of Shenzhou City, Hebei Province. He showed interest in planes as a child. When he heard a plane flying past, he ran out and looked at it till it flew away.

Cai went to an Air Force flight college（空军飞行学院）. After finishing college, he began to work at an airport. The airport was in poor condition. However, he studied and trained his flying skills there carefully. InMay 2010, Cai became a Chinese astronaut and underwent（接受） hard training. He did best in his training and finally became a Shenzhou-14 team member. He tried his best to make his dream come true.