An English traveller found himself in Norway with only enough money to buy the ticket for his journey back home. As he knew that it would take him only two days to get to England, he decided that he could easily spend the time without food. So he bought a ticket and got on the ship. The man closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell. When dinner time came, he didn't go to the dining room, saying that he was not feeling very well.

    The next morning, he still didn't have breakfast and at lunch time he again stayed in his room. But at dinner time he was so hungry that he went to the dining room and ate everything the waiter put in front of him. He got ready for the quarrel(争吵).

     “Bring me the bill,” he said. “The bill, sir?” said the waiter in surprise. “There isn't any bill. On our ship meals are included(包括)in the money for the ticket,'' said the waiter.

    A British man learned the skills to perform Beijing Opera, making people enjoy his lively performance of the Monkey King.

Ghaffar Pourazar, born in Iran, is full of interest about China. In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera which professionals from Beijing performed in London. Ghaffar fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costumes, excellent shows and so on. So after one year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera at a Beijing school.

At the age of 32, he had to learn with children every day. For him, it was difficult to learn the dialogue in Beijing Opera and it was even his biggest obstacle. But he never gave up.

Four years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King, a traditional character(人物) from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West. He arrived in the workroom an hour earlier than other performers and also bought books and CDs to better understand the character. He once got a top international prize(奖品) for performing the Monkey King.

To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the US, Britain and other countries. Ghaffar led(带领) a group of actors to perform 66 times in a month and a half in the United States. He also led a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed(已经表演了) more than 400 shows.

    Dean felt his arms and legs were burning. With each breath, Dean wondered if he should be done, but as he touched the wall at the end of the pool he turned for another lap (圈). "I can do one more. This is for Kevin," Dean told himself. He was starting his seventh lap.

    Dean and the other members of his swim team were swimming to raise money for Dean's best friend, Kevin Hawking. Earlier in the year, Kevin fell ill. He needed expensive medical care that his family couldn't afford. After Kevin's friends learned what was happening, they started brainstorming ways to help. Several of Kevin's friends were on the swim team, which led to the idea of swimming.

    For a month, Dean and the other swim team members had asked for pledges (承诺) from anyone who would help: family members, friends, and neighbours. Most people pledged a dollar or two each lap. Dean's grandmother said she would offer $ 10 for each lap Dean swam!

    Finally, as Dean completed his tenth lap, he knew he was too tired to keep going. If I try another lap. I'll end up lying in the middle of the pool, waiting for someone to come and get me, he thought. Dean pulled himself up onto the edge of the pool and sat breathing quickly for a couple of minutes, quietly resting before he tried to stand.

    Dean's father came over and said, "Wow, Dean," shaking his head in amazement, "I am so proud of you. That's farther than anyone else has swum today, and I know it's farther than you've ever swum before."

    Dean stood up and slowly walked with his father back to the seats where the other swimmers sat next to Kevin. "Thank you," Kevin said.

    "It's no big deal. I know you'd do the same for me," Dean said.

When Barbara was young, she dreamed of being a writer. In 1972, she {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a children's book and wanted to get it published. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, she failed. Barbara finally made the hard decision to give {#blank#}3{#/blank#} her dream.

Luckily, Barbara's grandson Chad made her dream come {#blank#}4{#/blank#} last Christmas. Chad discovered his {#blank#}5{#/blank#} old manuscript (手稿) by accident. Reading the pages, he was {#blank#}6{#/blank#} by the story. He decided to give his grandmother a perfect Christmas gift—the publication of her book.

{#blank#}7{#/blank#} Christmas morning, Chad handed Barbara a gift bag. As Barbara carefully opened the gift, she couldn't believe {#blank#}8{#/blank#} eyes. It was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} beautiful printed book! She was so excited that she didn't realize Chad was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a video. Since Chad posted the video online, it has had over 4 million views and about 800000 likes. "This is probably the {#blank#}11{#/blank#} thing someone has ever done for me." Barbara says in the video.

注意事项：

1）必须包含所提示的信息，可适当发挥，开头已给出，不计入总词数；

2）意思清楚，表达通畅，行文连贯，书写规范；

3）请勿在文中使用真实的姓名和校名。

To make more students know about Chinese culture, our school English club took part in Huazhao Festival in Qingxi Park on April 14th, 2024.