I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.

    "What for?" I asked.

    "I'm going to sell some of my stones," he answered.

    Nick was fascinated with stones and had collected many stones from all over. "I'm too busy to do that for you. Go and ask your mum for help," I said.

    A short time later, Nick, returned with a sign, reading, "Stones, One Dollar Each". He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.

    After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn't. Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn't hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.

    I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted, "I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar—if you believe in yourself, you can do anything."

    I was driving after school on Monday from Dublin to Drogheda and on my way home, I saw a wallet lying on the roadside. I thought the wallet must belong to the driver in front of me, because he had smoked there. I shouted to him twice but he didn't hear. So I stopped and picked up the wallet. I checked the wallet to see if I could get any phone number to call. I found and called two numbers but I was told they were wrong numbers.

    Later, I found a driving license and decided to drive to his house in Termonfeckin according to the address on the license. It is a 30-minute drive away from Drogheda. When I got to his house, I saw his wife and the first thing she asked was if I had found a wallet. I started smiling and said yes. The lady was really happy and called her husband. He ran to us at the gate and welcomed me to their house. After giving the wallet to him, he checked to see whether everything was inside. They offered me 20 dollars for gasoline(汽油) but I refused.

    Hi, everybody. My name is Alice. I have worked as an airhostess(空 姐) for China Eastern Airlines for five years. I have some useful tips for you on taking flights.

    All passengers must arrive at the airport two hours before the departure time. You have much time to check everything. If you have never been to another country, don't forget to take your passports, air tickets and your suitcases with you.

    Have you got your boarding card(登机牌) yet? You must get it as soon as you arrive at the airport. Have you checked your suitcases and put name tags on them?

    If the suitcases are too heavy, you can find a trolley(推车). Have you exchanged(兑换) some US dollars? If not, there are a few banks at the airport.

    You can also have a meal at a restaurant before boarding. When you want to go upstairs, you can take the escalator.

    If you have any questions, you can come and ask me. We hope you will have a pleasant flight!

    Mark and Betty are brother and sister. They love to play on the1. They think it's very2to play there. They go to the beach by3every weekend. They live far away from the beach, so their father usually4about two hours driving them there.

    Last Sunday their father was very5and couldn't send them to the beach. Mark and Betty6very bored at home. They thought they must solve (解决) the7quickly.

    Then Mark came up with an idea and said to his father, "I have a good8, Dad. We can live near the beach. Then Betty and I can go there every day, and you don't need to drive us there."

    His father looked at him up and down and smiled, "Sounds really good. But the houses near the beach are very9. I must work hard to buy a10. Then you can go to the beach every day."

Lu Xun is one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th century. Besides his famous stories, he also wrote many influential(有影响力的) articles about the life of Chinese people. 

Born in a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (wealth) family in 1881, Lu Xun had a happy childhood. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (unlucky), his father became seriously ill and died in 1896. From that tine on, his family were no longer accepted by their relatives and friends. These early {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (experience) deeply influenced his writing. 

When he studied at university in 1899, he already believed that Chinese society had to change and become modern. In 1902, he went to study in Japan. There, he began writing articles {#blank#}4{#/blank#} several Chinese student magazines to make a living. He showed a gift for writing and translating and he even wrote several books, though none was popular. He returned to China in 1909 because {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (he) family was in need of money. 

After working for several years as {#blank#}6{#/blank#} teacher in Beijing, Lu Xun again returned to writing. In 1918, he created his famous short story Diary of a Mad Man {#blank#}7{#/blank#} was the first Chinese novel to use the everyday language. So it came out to be a great success. And his other novels, such as The True Story of AhQ and Kong Yiji, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (read) by Chinese young people in that period. 

Although successful, Lu Xun still worried greatly about China' s future. In 1926, he moved to Shanghai and gave up {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (write) stories in order to focus on articles which could call on people to fight for a better country. 

Since his death in 1936, Lu Xun' s influence {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (grow) with time. Today, many of his writings are included in school textbooks and his works are valued by millions around the world. 

Is your school strict?