An old carpenter(木匠) was ready to retire. His boss was 1 to see the good worker go. He asked the carpenter 2 he could build just one more house. The carpenter said yes, 3 his mind was not on his work any more.

    He used poor materials and worked on the house 4 . When the carpenter finished his work, the boss 5 the front-door key to him, "This is your house," he said, "A 6 for you."

    What a surprise! What a 7 ! If he had known he was building his 8  house, he would have done it differently. Now he had to live in the house he had poorly built.

    9 it is with us. Sometimes we build our 10 carelessly. At important points we do not try our best. Then with a shame we look at the situation we have 11 . We find that we are now living in the house we have poorly built. But we don't have a 12 to make it all over again.

    Think of 13 as the carpenter. Think about your life. Build it 14 . It is the only life you will ever build because life is a do-it-yourself project.

    Your life today is the 15 of your attitudes and choices you made in the past. Your life tomorrow will be that of your attitudes and choices you make today.

    Three small fish lived in the sea. When they were very young, their parents died. They had to 1 each other day after day. Finally, they grew up and are 2 enough to swim deeper and further.

    One morning. the three fish were 3 to a shallow (浅) water by a big wave (浪). A small boat was taken there, too. It was hard for the fish to go back to the sea because the boat was right in front of them. The largest fish realized that they were 4 and said they had to find a way to leave there as quickly as possible. The second largest fish 5 with his elder brother, but the youngest one did not. He said that there was much 6 for their activities, so he would not worry at all and still swam around 7. At last, the largest fish returned to the 8 by jumping over the lowest part of the boat. The second largest fish also succeeded in 9 his elder brother in the other side of water. But the youngest one didn't follow them and still swam joyfully.

    Two hours later, when the 10 rose up, the water in the small shallow corner dried up. The fish who did not try to return to the sea died of lack(缺乏) of water.

    Do you have any interests in your childhood? In my seventh grade, I developed a/an 1 in solving a Rubik's Cube. I started by asking my brother to teach me and he asked me to solve a blue cross on a cube by myself.

    I spent around 20 minutes mixing the cube and finally got that little blue cross on the top. 2, I jumped up from the chair and raced into my brother's bedroom. After handing the cube to him, to my surprise, he mixed the perfect blue cross up. Making my work completely disappear.

    "Do it again," he 3 it back to me.

    "No, I won't." I was angry stepping out of his room.

    A few weeks later, my brother wasn't at home. "I'm going to 4 how to do this without him!" I promised myself. I spent the rest of my night watching a guy on YouTube teach me to solve the first few steps. I mastered those steps.

    The next day, I spent the whole school day secretly5 what I had learned the night before. When I made my way to my music class, I tried to find some spare time taking out the cube again and solving what I knew. Noah, my classmate, and also one of my best friends later, laughed at me.

    "Do you know how?" I sneered（讥笑）.

    "Actually yeah, let me see it. My fastest solving 6 is 15 seconds," he noted as he began solving the cube. It took him about 25 seconds to finish it.

    "Okay, that was cool." I started solving the cube again. I didn't know at that time this boy would be my inspiration for cube solving. He taught me each step, each day, and when I 7, he'd remind(提醒) me how to do it. He was the best friend I'd ever had.

    Sadly he's no longer with us now, but the memories of solving cubes together will be there forever. It was this boy who helped me with cube solving. It takes me around a minute to solve a Rubik's Cube. I am 8 that I can do something not many people can. Thank you, Noah.

    I live in a big city. It's noisy and dirty and I am very1. At weekends, I like to leave the city and get some2air and a good rest. A few weeks ago I decided to go to visit my3.

    I was really looking forward to it.

    My parents live far4. I went to visit them with James, a friend, and we drove away on Friday night. In the middle of the journey, it began to rain. The road became very5and it was difficult to drive. We arrived at my parents' home after midnight, feeling very6.The next7it was still raining. James took his8to a garage(汽车修理厂) which was very good.

In the afternoon the9became better, so we wanted to go for a10. My parents lent us their car. That was no good. Their car didn't11.We rang up the garage. "Oh," they said, "your car12be ready till tomorrow." So it wasn't13to go for a drive. We decided to play a word game. When we didn't agree about a word, we looked for a dictionary. But it wasn't there.14my mother remembered, "I lent it to your sister. She took it with her when she left."

    The word game wasn't any good15a dictionary.

    On Sunday my mother dropped a heavy box on her left foot and we had to hire a taxi to take her to a hospital. When James and I drove back, we got stuck in a car accident. Next time I want a rest,

    I'll stay at my home.

Dear Tony,

I go to a new school in Cambridge now. I like it very much. I'm making a lot of new friends. 

I'm studying new subjects, like science. It's very interesting. We're using computers and learning how to use the Internet. We write e-mails(电子邮件) to people in different countries. I'm learning how people live in different countries. It's great!

We do P. E. on Wednesday in the afternoon, Sometimes we stay in the sports hall to do sports and I like that too. I play basketball after school on Mondays. I like playing basketball a lot. I'm enjoying my new school!

Write and tell me what you're doing in your school in China!

John