He was an old manwho fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.

      The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.

      “Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. “I could go with you again. We've made some money.”

        The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

      “No,” the old man said. “You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”

      “But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”

      “I remember,” the old man said.

     “It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”

     “I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

       "He hasn't mush faith(信心)"                       

     “No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven't we?”

     “Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace?”

    “Why not?” the old man said “Between fishermen.”

Mary had a little lamb.

His hair was white as snow.

And everywhere that' Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day,

That was against the rule.

It made the children laugh and play,

To see the lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned him out,

But still he stayed near,

And waited patiently about,

Till Mary did appear（出现）.

And then he ran to her and laid,

His head upon her arm.

As if he said, "I'm not afraid—

You'll shield me from all hams."

"What makes the lamb love Mary so?"

The little children cried:

"Oh, Mary, loves the lamb, you know,"

The teacher did reply.

"And, you, each gentle animal

may bind（联合）,

And make it follow at your call,

If you are always kind."

    My daughter Eyen is ten years old. She is in Grade Three in a primary school. She is a cute girl though she has some strange ideas sometimes.

    One day she asks me, "Mum, what is your favorite subject?" I think for a while and answer," It is difficult to tell. I love singing, so music is my favorite. And I am good at English. My history teacher also says I am excellent. Well, I can say I don't like Science. But Science is important for us, you know. So you must do well in it. What is your favorite subject, Eyen? Tell me something about your subjects, dear."

    I like Chinese. It is easy. I like English because my English teacher likes me very much. I can't stand Maths. It is serious and sad."

    "Do you mean your Maths teacher is serious and sad?"

    "No, it is Maths, not the Maths teacher."

    "Why do you think so?"

    "Because Maths has so many problems! Isn't it sad all day?"

A grandma, Xu Xiuzhen, became famous for videos of her talking with foreigners on the Internet. In these videos, she speaks different languages with them. Grandma Xu has worked as a tour guide and vendor(摊贩) in Yangshuo, a county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region (自治区) since 1998. Grandma Xu left junior school in the third grade. To make a living, she began to learn different languages to encourage more foreigners to buy things. Over the past twenty years, Grandma Xu has taught herself 11 foreign languages, including English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. It makes her popular, and her excellent language skills have also made it easier for her to communicate with foreign tourists.

Grandma Xu said she learnt how to pronounce the words from different foreigners first and then she memorised them. She would repeat the words in her head before going to bed and after waking up. Gradually, her hard work made her talk with foreigners better and better.

Grandma Xu has also become one of the busiest tour guides in Yangshuo. Her popularity draws a large crowd of tourists every day, especially foreign visitors who come to meet the special guide out of admiration. "More and more foreign tourists are coming to Yangshuo, and I hope they will feel at home here with my help," she said.

Nelson-Mandela was one of the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (great) leaders in the world. He was born in Transkei, South Africa {#blank#}2{#/blank#} July 18th, 1918. He died on December 5th, 2013 at the age of 95. What bad news! Nelson Mandela was an important person all over the world. 

When Nelson Mandela {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (be) young, he went to school and studied at school. In the 1950s, almost all black people didn't go to school. Only a few black people had rights {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (go) to school. Nelson Mandela was {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (luck). He finished his schoolwork {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (successful). After graduation he became a lawyer. 

Nelson Mandela was elected President in 1994. He became his country's {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (one) black president after spending 27 years in prison. He loved his country {#blank#}8{#/blank#} served it with all his heart. He tried to bring people of different races together. He once won about one hundred{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. (prize). The most important prize was {#blank#}10{#/blank#}Nobel Peace Prize. HE won the prize in 1993. 

In Chinese culture, a baby's first month birthday needs a celebration. It is a big event for the family, who usually have a big meal together. I found this out after going to my 1  Heng Yi's first month party. 

All of us went to a big 2  in Orchard Road to celebrate. On the way there, I realised that we hadn't 3  a present for Heng Yi. My mother told me that for the first- month celebration, instead of a present, we should give the baby a red packet(红包) with 4  inside. But to me, a baby would like a toy better than money that he 5  use yet. 

When we got there, there were 6  many people. We pushed our way through the crowd(人群) to 7  Heng Yi and his mother, Aunt Eng. We hadn't seen Aunt Eng 8  she gave birth to the baby. Heng Yi was very small and had a round red face. He didn't cry and was very 9 ! It seemed that he was always listening to us. Throughout the evening, everyone 10  the mother and her baby. 

After the big dinner, Aunt Eng and Uncle Loke gave each family a hard-boiled egg dyed(被染色的) 11  as gifts. The eggs are a symbol of happiness and new life, and red is a 12  colour in Chinese culture. 

Mum told me, "In ancient China, only a few babies could live over one month, 13  the first month party was important. " Later that night, Mum even took out many old photos and showed me pictures from 14  own first-month celebration. I was so glad to see what I looked like then. 

As I went to bed that night, I thought about the children in 15  times, and I was thankful that life was much easier and better today.