Tom lives in New York. His father has a shop and his mother is a doctor. He is seven years old now, and begins 1 to school this autumn. It's far 2 from their shop and his father 3 him to school every day. So he 4 never late for school and his teachers all like him.

    It's Monday today, Miss Hunt is teaching them to 5 from one to ten. Sam is studying hard. Soon he can count 6. Miss Hunt is happy and 7,“How many people are there in your 8, Sam?”

      Sam stands up and says, “Two, Miss Hunt.”

    “9 are they?”

    “My father and my mother.”

    “Oh?” Miss Hunt is surprised. She says, “There are three people in your family.”

    “But now I am not 10. I am at school, you know!”

    Mark and Rosa wanted to go on holiday in a place called San Antonio. They worked very hard for several years. Finally, they made enough money for their dream 1. But their dream was more like a nightmare(噩梦)!

    They decided to go for two weeks in the spring2they heard that the weather was perfect there at that time.

    The problem3when the flight(航班)was delayed(延误)because of bad weather. They couldn't leave until night. They 4 got on the plane twelve hours late! But they 5fly to San Antonio because there was a storm. They had to fly to the capital city instead. There they stayed in a small hotel 6the airport.

    The hotel was next to the sea, but the sea was so dirty that they couldn't swim in it. And the hotel swimming pool was full of leaves! To make things7, the food was awful, too. For breakfast there was 8bread and milk! The worst part was when the storm arrived. They felt really9because of the wind and rain.

    Because of the weather they had to stay another night in the small hotel with10to do. They arrived in San Antonio three days late in the end. And someone told them the weather there had been wonderful all the time.  

    It was a hot afternoon and Tom was feeling sleepy in his English class. It was a grammar lesson. He 1grammar. He wanted to leave school and work. Tom looked out of the 2. He looked at the trees and flowers. Then he started daydreaming.

    After ten minutes the teacher stopped 3. He asked the students to do some grammar exercises. The students took 4their exercise books and pencils, and started writing. The teacher looked at Tom. He saw that he wasn't writing, so he said, "Why aren't you 5, Tom?"

    "What, sir?" Tom said.

    "6, don't have a daydream, Tom!" the teacher said, "Why aren't you writing?"

    Tom thought for a moment and replied, "I aren't got a pencil."

    The teacher looked at Tom and said, "You aren't got a pencil? You mean you don't 7a pencil?"

    Tom didn't understand the English teacher, 8he said, "Sorry, sir."

    The teacher said in a(n) 9voice, "I don't have a pencil. He doesn't have a pencil. She doesn't have a pencil. We don't have pencils. They don't have pencils. Tom, do you understand?"

    Tom thought for a while and he said, "My goodness! What happened to all the 10, sir?"

    In a far-away place, there was a village. The village was1 in potatoes than anywhere else in the country. At the end of every growing season, 2potatoes were dug out of the ground, and readied for market. In each home, men and women would3divide the potatoes into three groups, large, medium and small.

    One year, there was a young man4received his share of the potatoes. As the other villagers5, he walked around the village laughing and talking.6villagers thought he was lazy, and they worried that this man would never get7potatoes ready in time. When it was time for the villagers8to market, they were greatly surprised to find that the man's potatoes9perfectly into three groups.

    After 10the man how he did it, they understood he was not lazy, 11very clever. He had put all his potatoes in a cart and pulled it along the village's rough dirt road. As the cart moved up and down over the road, the potatoes moved12. The small potatoes moved to the bottom, the larger potatoes rose to the top and the medium potatoes rested13 the middle.

    Life14like this too. The rough roads we travel along can also15us.

    It was my 14th birthday and I would have the biggest party ever. The number of the 1 had quickly grown from seven to seventeen. Nearly every girl in my class was 2.When each guest excitedly 3 the invitation, I was especially happy.

    The 4was full of shouts and laughter. We had just finished a game of Twister when the door bell rang. I was so 5 and I could feel my face turning red, because when I6the door, there at the front door stood Sarah Westly the quiet girl who sat next to me in music class﹣and she was holding a 7.I thought about the guest list. How did I 8to invite Sarah？

    I remembered that I only added a name to the 9 when someone showed an interest in me. But Sarah had 10 done that. I accepted the box, a gift from Sarah, and asked her to join the party. "I can't 11," she said." My dad's waiting in the car. "At that moment I felt bad about forgetting to invite Sarah and really wanted her to rest for some time in my room." Thanks, but I have to go, "she said, turning 12 towards the door. "See you Monday."

    I didn't open the box until the party was 13. Inside the small box was a ceramic(陶瓷) tabby cat. It was the best gift I had received 14 I didn't like cats. I later 15 that the gift looked exactly like Sarah's cat, Seymour. I didn't know it then, but now I realize that Sarah was my true friend.