This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. As I searched the name, I found that there were two famous people having the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts（花生）, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice: let the coin decide. I flipped(掷) a coin and Ah! Tails (背面)! My report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

    Weeks later, I stood in front of the classroom and proudly read my homework. But things started to get strange. I looked around the room, only to find my classmates with big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes and my stone-faced teacher. I was completely lost. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

    Oh well, I dropped the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American War of Independence.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that my teacher meant that George Washington?

    Of course, my subject result was awful. Sad but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to the headmaster Miss Lancelot, but she said firmly(坚决地): No re-dos; no new score. I felt that it was not fair, and I believed I should have a second chance. So I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, I sat in the headmaster's office again, but this time a completely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the terrible moment at the beginning of the year when the headmaster told me I was good enough to skip(跳过) the 6th grade and started the 7th grade next term.

    Sixteen years ago a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.

    It was the early autumn of my first year at a middle school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to speak to anyone.

    Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart break. I couldn't talk with anyone about my problems.

    Then one day, when my classmates were talking happily with their friends, I was sitting at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy entered the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed by me and then turned back. He looked at me, with a smile.

    Suddenly, I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy and warm. That smile changed my life. I started to talk with other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.

    One day I asked him why he had smiled, but he couldn't remember doing so!

    It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think it is lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

    Little Bob was born in a poor village in New York. His father has been ill for a long time and can not do any housework at all. Bob's mother is very busy with the housework besides working. Bob understands how hard his mother works, and he always helps her with some housework. Though he has too much housework to do, his mother is still very strict with him. There are some family rules for Bob.

    He must take good care of his things in his room and keep them tidy. If he makes them dirty, he must clean them up at once.

    He is allowed to keep a parrot, a cat and a dog, but he must feed them often and give them water by himself every day. After school, he is allowed to play with his pets for a short time.

    As for his clothes, he isn't allowed to choose his own clothes. When his clothes are dirty, he should wash them by himself.

    On school nights, he can't go out alone and only on weekends, he is allowed to watch TV. Sometimes Bob hates the rules so much that he wants to break them, but he thinks the rules his mother has made are good for him, so he faithfully obeys them.

阅读下面短文,根据短文内容完成下列各题。

    Where is Love? How can we find Love?

    Once a little boy wanted to meet Love. He knew it was a long trip to where Love lived, so he got his things ready with some pizzas and drinks and started off. When he passed three streets, he saw an old woman sitting in the park and watching some birds. She looked very hungry. The boy gave her a pizza. She took it and smiled at him. Her smile was so beautiful that he wanted to see it again, so he gave her a Coke. Once again she smiled. The boy was very happy.

    They sat there all afternoon, eating and smiling, but they said nothing. When it grew dark, the boy decided to leave. But before he had gone more than a few steps, turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. The woman gave him the biggest smile ever.

    When the boy opened the door of his house, his mother was surprised by the joy（快乐） on his face and asked what had made him so happy. "I had lunch with Love. I has got the most beautiful smile in the world."

    At the same time, the old woman's son was also surprised at his mother's pleasure and asked why. "I ate a pizza in the park with Love, "she said," and he is much younger than I expected."

    If the world is full of love, we can enjoy a better life.

    31-year-old Michael Phelps has become a phenomenon(神话) in swimming.

    Phelps won four golds and one silver at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He ended his journey to the next Olympic Games and magic performance successfully. Within 12 years, from Athens to Rio, Phelps won 22 gold medals. He was one of the greatest athletes in the history of the Olympic Games.

    At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he won eight gold medals. That was more than the whole Australian team could put together. He beat(打败) Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven wins in the pool at one Olympics. Phelps has put his name next to seven world records.

    Michael Phelps started to swim at the age of 5. Guess which stroke(动作) he first tried, the backstroke. It's because he didn't want to put his face in the water. By the age of 7, he had taken part in a lot of swimming competitions. At 11, he met Bob Bowman who saw the kid's great talent.

    How did Phelps become so good? He was born with the body of a swimmer. He stands 1.87 meters high and has a wide wingspan(臂展). He knows how to use his body to full advantage. His hands and feet are like paddles(踏板) in the water and he has a strong kick. But that's not all; he also has the heart and will to win. He thinks that anything is possible as long as you keep practicing.

    Swimming is Phelps' life. Every day he spends five hours in the water, swimming about 11 kilometers. He never takes a day off. This is a young man who knows what he wants. "If I didn't swim my best, I'd think about it at school, at dinner, and with my friends. It would drive me crazy," he said.

    "There are no limits(限制). The more you dream, the further you will get."

    Yesterday afternoon Mr. Brown wanted to catch the 1:30 flight to New York to have an important meeting. At 4:30, Mrs Brown, his wife, got his phone call and he said that he was still at the airport.

    "What happened to you?" Mrs Brown asked in surprise.

    "Well," Mr. Brown said. "Everything was fine at first. I got my ticket checked, took my bags and waited in line to get on the plane. While I was walking across the runway to the plane, I saw my friend Jack Scott—he was a flight attendant. I shouted to him and a policeman caught me."

    "But why?"

    "I don't know. As soon as he heard my shout, he ran towards me and caught me."

    "What did you shout to your friend?"

    "All I said was 'Hi, Jack' ; you know that's the usual way we say hello to our friend."

    "But the sentence 'Hi, Jack' also means to take control of a plane by force(武力). Don't you know?"