Once upon a time, there was a family with 18 children living in a village. Two of the children, both boys, loved painting very much, but the family was so poor that it was impossible to send both of them to study at art school at the same time.

    After many discussions, the two boys finally worked out a plan. They would toss(抛) a coin. The loser would go down into the mines(煤矿) and, with his money, pay for his brother's college tuition(学费).Then, when the brother who won the toss finished his studies, he would pay Tor the other brother to study at the college.

    One of the brothers, Albrecht Durer, won the toss and his brother Jack went down into the mines. Durer worked with all his heart and his paintings were much better than those of most of his teachers. He was beginning to make a lot of money for his paintings.

    Durer returned. When he told Jack he could go to art college, Jack said softly: "The four years in the mines have done too much to my hands. It is too late. Now I can't even hold a glass."

    To show his great love and respect for his brother, Durer drew his brother's hands with palms(手掌)together and thin fingers towards the sky. He called his drawing The Praying Hands, which became very famous years later.

    The next time you see a copy of that touching work, take a second look. Let it be your reminder: No one can ever succeed alone!

It's true that most children don't enjoy doing housework.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#}But in Australia, Jim and Robert's mother, Mrs Black, has good ways to get her children to do housework. Here is an example.

"Mum, have you worked out next week's housework? Let Jim and me choose the cards. I can't wait. It's fun!"

  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}On the cards, there are some words like these, "sweep the floor, clean your bedroom, help Mum cook, wash vegetables, make the bed, feed the fish, cut up the wood, clean the bathroom" and many others. Jim and Robert chose two cards each day from Monday to Friday. Then they would hang them on weekday task board(工作板). Jim likes to clean the bathroom, so he picked up the card"clean the bathroom".   {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Jim again picked up "wash vegetables" and Robert chose"feed the fish". Soon the two boys were happy to take away all the cards.

 {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Of course, the parents did the housework at the weekend and gave Jim and Robert two days to have a rest.

Who did the housework at the weekend at the Blacks'? (回答不多于5个单词){#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

Aunt Ann is a police officer. After breakfast, Ann puts on her badge (微章) and goes to work. Ann and her partner, Jim, are on duty today. At the police station, the sergeant (巡佐) talks to them. "Last night, a bear ran away from the zoo!" he says. "Be careful!"

They pick up the keys to their patrol car (巡逻车) and drive around the west side. At the corer of Main and State, there is a traffic jam because the traffic light is broken. Ann stops her car and tells the drivers when to stop and when to go. Jim calls the station about the broken traffic light on Main and State. Soon, the station calls Traffic Repair.

In the afternoon, they walk down Elm Street. Everything looks quiet. Suddenly, Ann sees a little boy crying. The boy's name is Adam. He gets off the bus at the wrong bus stop. Ann shows him her badge so he knows she is a police officer. "Where do you live?" Ann asks. Adam does not remember, but he brings his ID card with him. He opens his backpack and shows Ann the address on the card. Jim calls the station and the station calls Adam's house. Ann and Jim drive Adam home.

A moment later, a call comes in from the station. "Check out the strange noise at 203 Cedar Drive!" Ann and Jim are on the way. At 203 Cedar Drive, the rubbish bin is turned over, Ann looks in the bin. It is the bear that ran away from the zoo. Ann closes the bin quickly and asks Jim to call the zoo. Two zoo keepers arrive to pick up the bear. Soon everyone is safe and so is the bear.
    Ann and Jim go back to the station. After work, they hand in their keys and write their police report.

Saturday, April 23rd

Today was a sunny day. In the morning, we rode a bike for three people. Max sat in a basket on the front of the bike. That was fun! We took pictures of the beautiful countryside. We bought some gifts and ate some delicious food. 

In the afternoon, Mum ate some bad fruit and didn't feel well. So we stayed in the hotel. Dad and I wanted to make her happy. We dressed up(打扮) and made a funny play. Robin played the part of a dog. He was so cute. Max liked him so much. He jumped on him and licked(系) him. Of course, Robin didn't like it. We laughed and laughed. 

It was a bad day but also a good day!

It's 2:10 in the afternoon. Tom meets his friend Jenny at the school gate. They ride1 bicycles to school every day. They are in2 same grade, but in different classes. They go to the classroom3 together after greeting each other. When they walk by the school hall, they see some4 in front of the bulletin board(公告栏). 

5 there any new notices today?" Tom asks. " I don't know. Let's go to see it, " Jenny says. Then they walk there. "Oh, our school will have two fun activities next month. There is a ping-pong game and a school party. It6 we can have a great month. I can play ping-pong well and I want7 in the ping-pong game. What about you?" Tom says happily. 

"I can't play ping-pong, 8 I can sing and play the guitar. I'm learning a new song these days. I'd like9 it then. Oh, that is the bell. Let's talk10 it later, " Jenny says. Then they run to the classroom building.