One day, the old man came up with a plan. He called his sons and said to them, "Look, my dear sons: in the land we have at the farmyard, there is lots of hidden gold. If you should work together, you may find it”

  In a wish to find out the gold, his sons worked hard from the morning to the evening digging and digging all through the land. The days had passed, but they didn't find what were they were looking for. They got frustrated and angry. They decided to give up and returned to ask their father.

   “There is no gold in the land. We are cheated.”

“Since the land has been dup soft. Why don't you pant some crops there?”was the reply of the father to the sons.

  Off went the sons. Soon the whole once-useless land was rich crops.

  “This if the real gold, my sons.”Said the now proud father.

    My family lives very happily on a farm near a small town. My father always learns some information about weather through the TV, the Internet and newspapers.

    One evening, he asked us to meet at the table after dinner. "I have some bad news," he said. "The weather reports on the television warned(警告)that we would face a typhoon tomorrow."

    At 6:30 a.m. the next day, the winds started and the rain was falling heavily. There were new warnings that the sea level could go up as much as 5 meters.

    The winds were terribly strong and tree branches were flying everywhere. Trees were falling down and the rain kept coming down.

    Just after 10:30, the wind stopped suddenly-it was strangely calm and the sun was shining. Then the winds came howling(咆哮)again, but this time more rain fell. There were more flying things and the storm came in. Everything within 1 km of the coast was flooded-there was fish in the streets. Now the winds were dying down, but the rain was still falling.

    After another two hours, the wind came to a stop at last. My home was in a mess and my mum burnt her arm when the hot water from the stove hit her skin. We were all frightened, but we were all safe, including the cat.

    More than 2,000 years ago, a favourite wife of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty died of illness. The emperor missed her so much that he didn't want to do anything. One day, a minister (大臣) saw children playing with dolls. The shadows on the floor were interesting. The smart minister had an idea.  He made a puppet of the favourite wife and painted it. As night fell, he asked the emperor to watch a puppet show behind a curtain. The emperor was very happy and became interested in it. In this way, puppet shows began.

    Shadow puppets were first made of paper, later from the hides of donkeys (驴皮). That's why their Chinese name is "pi ying". Shadow puppet plays were very popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties in many parts of China.

    Today, shadow puppet plays face extinction like other traditional art forms such as Nuo Drama. We should do something to protect them. Shadow puppet plays in Shaanxi are the most famous. The Academy Gate Cultural Street in Xi'an is a wonderful place for you to choose shadow puppets. Here you can choose from hundreds of figures (人物) in different sizes and poses(姿势).

    Mrs. White asks Monica, "Do you like to have a treasure hunt(寻宝游戏)?" "Yes, Mom," Monica says. Mrs White gives(给) her a green notes(便条). It says, "You can find books in it." Monica comes to the bookcase and sees a yellow note in it. It says, "You can sit on it."

    Monica comes to her bed, but she can't find a note. She comes to her chair and sees a red note. "You can put(放) your tape in it," it says.

    Monica comes to her tape player and sees an orange note next to it. It says, "Call 786-0987." Monica comes to the phone on the table and calls 786-0987. "Monica comes to the phone on the table and calls 786-0987." Hello? This is Aunt Maria."

    "Oh, Aunt Maria, my treasure is you!" says Monica.

    A crow, having stolen a piece of cheese, held it firmly in her mouth and stood in a tree. A fox, who was very hungry, took the following ways to get the cheese for himself.

    "How handsome is the crow!" he said. "How beautiful is her shape and how fair her feather! Oh, if her voice were only equal to her beauty, she might rightly be called the queen of birds!"

    This he said in a soft voice. The crow, anxious to show that her voice was equal to her other attractions, made a loud caw, and dropped the cheese.

    The fox caught it as it fell. "My good crow," said he," your voice is all right, but your brain is not good."

    My father is tall and has short, gray(灰白的) hair. He wears glasses with heavy, black frames（框架）. But I just see a picture of him from 1968. What a surprise! In the picture, he's 15 years old. He's short and he has glasses with small, round frames. He has long, yellow hair and it's really straight. He's wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt with the word "Love". I'm 15 years old now. I'm medium height and I have short hair. My hair isn't yellow, it's blue. My dad thinks it's strange(奇怪的), but my friends think it's great. I wear glasses, but my glasses have bright red frames. They're so cool! I have an earring(耳环) in one ear, too. Dad really can't understand(明白) that, I never wear blue jeans. I like big, baggy(松的) pants and long T-shirts. Most of my T-shirts have pictures of my favorite rock bands(摇滚乐队) on them.