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.”

    Zheng Qi is twelve years old．She lives with her parents in the city．She usually rides her bike to school and sometimes takes the bus．At weekends，she often helps to cook meals at home．She likes different vegetables and tomatoes are her favourite．Now she is helping her mum cook in the kitchen．Her father is getting the table ready．

    Yang Bing is thirteen years old and he studies in a town．He likes reading and he is good at writing．He has got forty—three classmates．Last Saturday,Yang Bing visited a new bookshop near his home and bought two books．They are about body language in Europe．Some day,he wants to take a tour in some famous cities there,such as London and Paris．

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Dear Mr. Brown,

    My name is Tom. I'm not famous now. But maybe I can be famous someday! I can't sing or dance or act in movies, but I do many other things. I can play three instruments: the guitar, the violin and the drums. I think I can be in the music club. Maybe I can be a famous musician. I like to read story books and I can write stories. Maybe I can be a famous writer. I like sports, too, but I am not good at sports. Can I join you?

    Nadia Comaneci, a famous gymnast(体操运动员), was born in Romania in 1961.

    When she was doing cartwheels (侧手翻) on the playground at the age of 7, a PE teacher saw her. He told her family that she was very good and advised Nadia to train in the capital of Romania. Although it was a long way from her home, Nadia went because she loved gymnastics(体操).

    After that, she trained hard and took part in lots of competitions. In 1975, she was named as one of the Athletes of the 20th Century.

    In 1976, Nadia went to the Olympics in Canada. She was so fantastic in the competition that everyone waited for the score, a high score. But the score board showed 1.00!

    Everyone was surprised. There wasn't a sound for a moment. Then a voice came. "Ladies and gentlemen, Nadia Comaneci…10!"

    The audience cheered very loudly. So what happened? Well, when the scoreboard was built, no one thought a score of 10.00 was possible. The decimal point(小数点) was in the wrong place! In fact, the scoreboard only had three digits (数位) to show scores, such as 9.50 or 9.85 at that time.

    In the 1976 Summer Olympics, Nadia Comaneci scored a perfect 10, which was thought impossible before. From then on, she was looked as a hero. In 1984, she got retired (退休的).

    It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime—my first trip abroad alone, without my parents. I had organized everything myself and I would show them how independent I could be.

    I had arranged to stay in a farmhouse outside a village in southern Italy. My schedule said that the plane would arrive in Italy at five o'clock in the afternoon and it was a thirty-minute drive from the airport to the village. I wanted to get to my destination before it got dark, so I could have a drink, watch the sunset and enjoy an evening meal.

    The problems began at the airport. My plane was three hours late taking off. I walked around the airport, looked in the shops, and drank coffee in the cafes. I didn't eat anything. That was a mistake! When the plane finally took off, they gave me a cold, tasteless meal which I could not eat.

    We arrived in Italy in the early evening and I was feeling lightheaded from the Lack of food. The sun was setting as I was collecting my bags! I missed it completely! I went to the desk to find my hire car and that was when I discovered the next problem. The receptionist couldn't find my name in the computer and there were no more cars. There were no buses or trains to the village, and the taxis were in strike.

    The receptionist felt sorry for me. She phoned her brother, Alessandro, who agreed to take me to the village. I waited for Alessandro at the front gate and he arrived driving a very old car with smoke pouring out of the engine. We set off. Fifteen minutes later we broke down. I was tired and depressed and very, very hungry. I began to think my parents were right. Maybe I was too young to travel on my own. Luckily, Alessandro was a mechanic. After an hour, he fixed the car and we started driving again.

    It was nearly midnight when we arrived at the farmhouse. A man opened the door and smiled. "Come in," he said. "We have been waiting for you." I sat with a group of the friendliest people I've ever met and had a meal that was absolutely wonderful. And I'm glad to say that the rest of my trip runlet out to be exactly the same.

    Everybody has different hobbies that they like to do for fun or just to relax. There are many kinds of activities like volleyball, basketball, swimming, or baseball. It all depends on each personality. For me, basketball is a part of my life and it means a lot to me.

    Since I was a little girl, I started to play basketball in the school team and also with my friends in the neighborhood. My mother told me that I liked kicking the ball around and had so much fun with it when I was only about two years old. Since then, playing basketball is my favorite sport. It is my hobby whenever I have free time.

    Playing basketball also helps me to relax and be confident. I often play basketball with my classmates in the playground. After doing my homework or when I come home from school, I play a little bit with my friends outside of my house or we go to the park to play it.

    Whenever I play basketball, I feel healthier and stronger. Besides, I meet new friends from the neighborhood. I not only like playing basketball, but I also enjoy watching basketball games on television.