In a small town, a shopkeeper works hard every day. But one day he closed his shop in the

    1and went home. He was very tired, he didn't have supper and went to bed at once. At that time the telephone 2 . A man said, “What time do you open your 3 ，sir?” The shopkeeper was unhappy. He thought the man played a trick on him. He did not answer it and went 4 to bed. A few minutes 5 the telephone rang again. He 6 and went to pick up the phone and found that voice (声音) was the 7 man and he asked the same question. The shopkeeper 8 answered. “You needn't ask me that because I can't let you 9 my shop. It's late now.”

    “No. I want to go out.” the man said, “My wife 10 me at home for dinner now.”

    One afternoon, my son Adam asked me, "Are all people the same even though they are different in colour?"

    It was a serious question. I1for a while, and then said, "I'll explain it sooner. Let's go to a fruit shop. I have something interesting to show you."

 At the fruit shop, we bought some apples in different 2—red, green and yellow ones. After we got home, I told Adam, "It's time to 3your question now." I put one apple of each kind colour on the table. Adam 4them carefully. He had a 5look on his face.

    "People are like apples. They come in all different colors, shapes and sizes. On the 6, some of the apples may not even look as delicious as7." While I was talking, Adam was8each one carefully. Then, I took each of the apples and peeled(削皮) them, placing them back on the9, but in a different place.

    "Okay, Adam, tell me which is which."

    He said, "I10tell. They all look the same now."

    "Take a11of each one. See if that helps you decide12one is which."

    He took big bites, and then a huge smile came across his face. "People are13like apples! They are all different, but once you take off the outside, they're pretty much the14on the inside."

    He totally15it. I didn't need to say or do anything else.

I never knew that one little"I'm sorry"could mean so much. I never thought that one moment in time could 1 the rest of my life.

I was sitting in class one day when a short and 2 kidnamed Victor came in. He sat down next to me, looked at meand looked away. When our eyes met, I 3  talked to him, but he just smiled at me. So I didn't think 4  was the person that I'd like to become friends with.

One day I joined the unkind kids in 5  him, although I knew it was wrong."Do you have any friends?"a kid asked Victor, who 6  past us alone, keeping his head down.

 "No, he hasn't got any 7  . He's too foolish,"I said. Victor looked at me with sad eyes. That night, I couldn't sleep 8  I couldn't get Victor's face out of my mind. In the next week, he never 9  my eyes in class or smiled at me.

It was really hard for me to ask him to forgive me. I couldn't forget his sad 10  every time I saw him. The next day in class, I wrote him a note telling him how 11  I felt. About five minutes later, I turned and saw tears12 his eyes. Later he told me that I would never realise how much my apology(道歉) had meant to him. He said he hoped that we 13  become friends.

We had a very pleasant talk over lunch that noon. And then, we became close friends. When I think back, I realise that my apology made it possible for me to 14  good friends with Victor, a lonely person.

So never 15  a chance to tell somebody you are sorry. Apologies can really change your life.

The girls spent the rest of the day preparing a play. The sisters often performed plays for their friends. A lot of girls arrived about six o' clock and took their places in the big bedroom. The play was a great success. Everybody enjoyed it very much. The girls were still laughing and clapping when Hannah came in and said," Supper is ready."

A surprise was waiting for them on the dining room table- dishes of ice cream, pink and white, fresh fruit, cakes and real French chocolates. And in the middle of all this delicious food there were four vases of beautiful flowers. The girls couldn't believe their eyes.

" Did the fairies bring the supper?" asked Amy.

" No, Santa Claus brought it," said Beth.

" Mother did it," Meg said.

" No! Aun t March sent it!" cried Jo.

" You are all wrong," said Mrs. March." Old Mr. Laurence sent it."

" The Laurence boy's grandfather!" Said Meg." Why did he do that? We don't know him!"

" Hannah told one of his servants(仆人) the story of the Hummels. Mr. Laurence was sorry to hear about your poor Christmas breakfast, so he decided to give you a surprise."

" My mother says he's very proud," said one of the girls at the table." She says that he doesn't like mixing with his neighbors. His grandson has to stay in the house and study all day. We invited him to a party once, but he didn't come. He's very shy."

"I am going to talk to him one day," said Jo." He needs to have some fun. I am going to invite him to our next play!"

 From Little Women

Do you know Borrowing Arrows （箭） with Straw（稻草） Boats？This is a famous{#blank#}1{#/blank#} about two smart men﹣﹣Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. 

One day，Zhou Yu gave Zhuge Liang an impossible task. He asked him to make 100，000 arrows in ten days. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}，Zhuge Liang accepted it at once. "No problem，" Zhuge Liang said. "I'll bring you 100，000 arrows in three days. "

Zhuge Liang asked his soldiers to fill 20 large boats{#blank#}3{#/blank#} many straw men. On the early morning of the third day，Zhuge Liang's soldiers sailed the boats towards the camps of Cao Cao's army on the other side of the river. The soldier shouted and beat their drums{#blank#}4{#/blank#} . 

While Cao Cao's soldiers{#blank#}5{#/blank#} sailing on the river，they heard the sounds. At that time，they{#blank#}6{#/blank#} they were in danger. But they could not see through the{#blank#}7{#/blank#} fog （雾） on the river. Cao Cao asked his soldiers to shoot arrows towards the sounds of the{#blank#}8{#/blank#} and the shouting. Zhuge Liang's boats were soon full of arrows. 

Zhuge Liang's soldiers then turned the boats around and shouted， "Thank you for{#blank#}9{#/blank#} arrows，Cao Cao. " Zhuge Liang took all these arrows to Zhou Yu. There were{#blank#}10{#/blank#} than 100，000 of them. Zhuge Liang made the impossible task possible. That's why the story is so famous. 

Once upon a time，there was a boy named Tim. He lived in a small 1 with nice mountains（山） and rivers. It was great to play there，2 Tim was always busy with his computer games and never noticed the beauty around him. 

Tim's grandfather was worried and always 3 about how great the nature（自然） was with him. "What clean and beautiful lake it is!"，his grandfather often said. One day，his grandfather asked Tim to go on a trip with him. Tim agreed，but he was not very 4 . 

As they walked in the village，Tim's grandfather pointed out many 5 things，such as colourful flowers with bright leaves，mother birds flying back homes with food to 6 their babies. They even climbed to the top of the hill so that they could see the sights 7 . His grandfather also told him some stories behind each place. Some of the stories were really funny and made Tim 8 all the time. Tim got to enjoy these beautiful things for the first time. 

At the end of the trip，Tim's grandfather told Tim not to 9 the small things in life，like a sunny day or a friendly smile. From that day on，Tim learned to enjoy every moment and be thankful. 

He thought that there was much more to life compared to 10 . Tim decided to spend more time outdoors and take short trips with his grandfather more often.