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    When I was a little kid, a father was like the light in the fridge. Every house had one, but no one really knew what either of them did when the door was shut.

    My dad left the house every morning and always seemed glad to see every one again at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else at home could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself. 

    Whenever it rained, he got into the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription(处方) filled. He set mousetraps. He cut back the roses so the thorns(刺) wouldn't hurt you when you came to the front door. He oiled my roller skates, and they went faster. When I got my bike, he ran alongside me for at least a thousand miles until I got the hang of it. He signed all my report and cards. He took a lot of pictures, but was never in them. He tightened up Mother's sagging(松垂的) clothesline every week or so.

I was afraid of everyone else's father, but not my own. 

    Whenever I played house(玩过家家), the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, "I'm going off to work now," and threw him under the bed.

    When I was nine years old, my father didn't get up one morning and go to work, he went to the hospital and died the next day. 

    There were a lot of people in the house who brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before. 

    He never did anything; I didn't know his leaving would hurt so much.

    "Jenny" Lang Ping, was born in 1960, Tianjin. She is a former Chinese volleyball player and the former head coach of the US Women's National Volleyball Team. Her nickname is the "Tron Hammer".

    In 1987, Lang Ping moved to Los Angeles to study and serve as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of New Mexico. She keeps Chinese nationality although she has lived in the USA for more than 15 years.

    Because of her central role in the success of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team in the 1980s, Lang was seen as a cultural icon and is one of the most respected people in modern Chinese sports history. The Chinese Women's Volleyball Team with Lang was the first team to win the World Championship several times, including the1984 Olympics. She will always be remembered as one of the very first world champions for China. In 1989, she took over Modena, one of the top teams in the Italian League, and enjoyed great success there.

    In 1995, Lang became the head coach of the Chinese National Team and eventually guided the team to the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the second place at the 1998 World Volleyball Championships in Japan.

    She became the coach of the US National Team in2005. Lang guided the team to the 2008 Olympics, where the US team faced off with China in her home country. The US team won the victory against China 3:2. The US team went on to win the silver medal, losing to Brazil in the final 1:3.

    She was the head coach of the Chinese Women's National Volleyball Team in the World Volleyball Championships in Japan in 1998. In 2014, she was the only female head coach among the 24 teams' coaches in the World Volleyball Championships. On August 21, 2016, Lang Ping guided the Chinese Women's National Team to the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. With the victory, Lang Ping became the first person in volleyball history, male or female, to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games as a player in 1984(Los Angeles) and as a head coach in 2016(Rio).

    An eighty-year-old couple were having trouble with their memories. One day, they decided to see a doctor. The doctor told them that there was nothing serious, but he suggested that they should start writing things down to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.

    Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair and his wife asked, "Where are you going?" "To the kitchen." "Will you get me an ice cream?" asked the wife. "Sure." Then his wife asked him to write it down. "No, I can remember that," replied the husband. "Well, I also want some strawberries and cream on top. You'd better write it down, or you will forget that," said the wife. "No, I can remember that," the husband got a little unhappy and went into the kitchen.

    After about 20 minutes, the husband returned with a plate of fish. The wife laughed, "Haha! Your bad memory! I wanted some bread with cream."

    This was a very interesting story. I 1 thousands of classes since I started school nine years ago. But one class was 2 of all.

    It happened last term just after I had got a bad result in 3 exam. I was sad and had lost my confidence. I decided 4 to a class 5 can tell me how to be successful. The speaker walked into the room. 6 he did not start talking like a teacher. Instead, he held up a twenty yuan note!

    "Who wants this?" he asked. Unsurprisingly, 7 of us in the class held up our hands. The speaker smiled. Then he put up the note on the blackboard and asked the same question. Again, we put up our hands. The speaker kept 8, but said 9 . Suddenly, he threw the note onto the floor! Then he asked the same question for  10time.

    I didn't understand the speaker. Why was he asking the same question again and again? I didn't know 11 to do. I wanted the note, so I put my hand up again. "You have all just told me how to become successful." He said to us 12 the note in his hand. "The note is worth twenty yuan. It is always worth twenty yuan, even though I throw it on the floor. You are like the note. No matter what happens to you, you still have your worth."

    Hearing those words, I 13 deeply. Suddenly, I realized I was worth a lot. I may have failed, but it doesn't mean I 14 do well in the future. If I believe in15I will be successful!

A man had a lovely house. It was so1 that many people would pay double (双倍) its price to have it. He never said yes,2 . People wondered why, but he said3 about this. 

One day, the man's house caught fire(着火). The fire was to big to4 , so the man just had to watch it even though he5 the house most. Then, the man's6 son came up behind him. He said, "Don't worry, Father.7 paid an excellent price for the house yesterday, so I sold it." As soon as the man heard that, he got a(n)8 but soon became relaxed.

Soon, the man's second son came. He looked9 and said, "Here's bad news. The buyer only gave us a small amount (数量) of10 . I'm afraid he won't want the house now." The man had tears(眼)in his eyes. 

Then, his third son came.11 he said made everyone feel good. He said, "The buyer is a good man. He just told me he would still12 it. We couldn't know about the fire. He couldn't,13 ." After that,14 of them watched the burning house with no worries.

A man of his word(说话算话的人) should get the most respect(尊重). When he keeps his word he may15 something. However, he can always bring other people a lot more.

Keeping animals and planting vegetables at school? This is what the students are doing at Zhuxi Middle School in Yangzhou, Jiangsu. The school has a small farm. There are seven chickens, three 1 and a pig on the farm. There is also a place for students to 2 vegetables. "We have got potatoes and tomatoes here," says a seventh-grader. "In autumn, we can give 3 to the cooks at our school.

Zhuxi Middle School is not the 4 one to let students do farm work. In Chongqing No.1 Secondary School, we can also see vegetables on the top of the teaching building. Students grow them with the 5 of their parents and teachers. You can easily see their 6 faces when they are farming.

 "We feel so satisfied that we jump up and down happily when we see our hard work can really make the plants grow," a student says. "And it's really a good 7 for us to get close to the nature and relax at school."

Teachers 8 the students can know about subjects like biology more easily by seeing 9 they work in real life. They can know that good results (结果) 10 hard work. And they can also learn to be responsible (责任) by looking after the animals and plants.