As I was leaving to meet Lynne, my roommate told me that I'd better take some money. But I didn't listen to him. I thought that Lynne would pay because she had invited me. I arrived at the restaurant exactly on time. I'd been told that Americans expect you to be on time. Lynne and I sat at a table in the corner of restaurant and a waitress came and took our order.

    The dinner was a great success. I talked a lot about Saudi Arabia and Lynne told me all about herself. After two hours, the waitress finally came and asked if we wanted one check or two. Lynne said two. We went to the cashier and Lynne paid her check. I was embarrassed (尴尬) when the cashier gave me my bill. I had no money to pay for my meal. Then I had an idea. I pretended to look for something in my pockets and said, “Oh! I forgot my wallet! Can I call my roommate, please?” The cashier showed me where the phone was and I quickly called my roommate. In a few minutes, he arrived with some money, but he couldn't hide how he felt. He laughed all the way home. Now, I think it's funny too, but at that time I was terribly embarrassed. I thought that an invitation to have dinner in the United States meant the same thing as that in China. I guess you have to understand that your customs are only your customs. When you visit a foreign country, you have to learn about their customs, too.

    John James Audubon loved all kinds of birds. He spent his life studying them. He painted all the birds of North America.

    John James Audubon was born in Haiti in 1785. When he was a young boy, he moved to France with his family. His father was in the French Navy. He had a farm in the United States. When John was 18, his father sent him to the farm, hoping John would take care of it. But John didn't want to do that. He wanted to hunt, fish, and draw birds. John drew lots of pictures of birds. He wanted to make them look real.

    In 1808, John married Lucy Bakewell and they moved to Kentucky. John and a friend went into business there. They ran a shop. John really didn't like working in the shop. The business soon failed. John wanted to paint full-time. Lucy agreed to help. She got a teaching job to support the family. By that time, they had two young sons.

    John wanted his bird paintings made into a book. He finally did find someone to print his bird pictures in a book. Many people wanted John Audubon's book. Although his book was a great success, John wasn't happy with it. He wanted to show every bird found in North America. By 1838, John finished a great work. It wasn't just one book. It was an amazing set of four books called The Birds of America. It had many paintings. Today, these paintings are very famous.

I'm Cindy. I'm in No. 3 Middle School now. We are very{#blank#}1{#/blank#} this term because we have many{#blank#}2{#/blank#} to do. On September 21st, we{#blank#}3{#/blank#} an art festival. It's very interesting. Then{#blank#}4{#/blank#} English teacher, Jack's birthday party is{#blank#}5{#/blank#} September, too. I like October and December{#blank#}6{#/blank#} we have two ball games. The soccer game{#blank#}7{#/blank#} on October 10th and the volleyball game is on December 18th. Volleyball is my{#blank#}8{#/blank#} sport. It is really fun. And many{#blank#}9{#/blank#} love November because we have a school trip on November 8th. That's relaxing! I love my school. What about{#blank#}10{#/blank#} school? Are you busy this term?

 Late that night, we started our final part of the climb. Nervously we carried on after a short rest. Everyone looked  1 . Outside of the tent it was totally black. It was just after  2 . Snow was falling. It was freezing.

 The group climbed silently through deep snow. I could not think. The height of the mountain was playing tricks on my  3 . I tried to keep concentrated(集中思想) by watching my feet and counting to ten  4 .

 People around me were just standing still as they tried to get their breath.I tried to encourage them to keep walking. My friend looked at me 5 . He was really tired. He kept trying to lie down and go to sleep. If he did, he would freeze to death. I told him to keep moving. He climbed on. When I checked my  6 , I saw, with surprise, that I'd been walking for three hours already. I felt as if I was fighting every step of the way. All I wanted to do was to turn round and go down — but I must reach the top!

I began to wonder if I was not strong enough. I was losing my mind. My breathing was very rapid. Each  7 I took made me more and more dizzy(晕眩的). Someone told me we had another hour and a half to go.

I forced myself to  8 . I had to be more careful because one careless step could make me 9 .

Then I saw Gilman's Peak up ahead of me. Someone at the top was telling me to make one last effort. The sun was beginning to  10 above the clouds. I climbed up the last few meters and suddenly I realized I'd done it!I was there! I was at the top of Africa!

My name is Steve. I'm thirteen years old. I'm a high school student. The girl in pink is my sister, Mary. And the girl in red is my sister, too. Her name is Jane. They look the same. They both(两者都) have big eyes and blond hair. The boy in white is my friend, Jack. He has a big nose and short hair. We are in the same class.