A

    Mr. White works in an office. He liked reading in bed when he was at school. It was bad for his eyes and now he is near-sighted. But he wouldn't want anybody else to know about it and he never wears a pair of glasses. It often brings him some trouble.

    One winter morning he was sent to a village school on business. He got off a bus at a stop in a small town. Then he had to walk there. The road to the village wasn't smooth. There were stones here and there. He fell over several times and it made his clothes very dirty. At last he got to the village. Suddenly it began to blow strongly and it got much colder. His hat was blown off while he was looking for the school. He had to run after it but he couldn't catch it. He was wondering why his hat ran into a house as if it had legs. And then he ran into the house, too.

    A big woman appeared and stopped him by shouting angrily, "What are you running after my hen for?"

      More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn't take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.

      I have been used to school life since I came here two months ago, and I am starting to enjoy most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o'clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o'clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o'clock. After lessons, we have  hours of activity time, when you can choose from a number of activities, including many sports, such as rugby(英式橄榄球) , football, basketball and tennis.

As a boarder(寄宿者), the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional company, and the quality of food is excellent, and they are always trying to make the diet healthy. One of the obvious advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don't have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!

    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.

    One night, a young woman was driving along a country road. It was dark and rainy. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding up her hand as if she wanted a lift(搭车).

   "I can't leave her out in such bad weather," the young woman said to herself. She stopped her car and opened the door.

   "Do you want a lift?" she asked. The old woman nodded and climbed into the car. After a while, she talked with the old woman. But the old woman didn't say anything. The old woman only nodded or shook（摇）head. She tried again." Bad weather for the time of the year" she said.  The old woman nodded.

    Then the young woman noticed that the old woman's hands, which were large and hairy (多毛的). Suddenly she realized(意识到)that" she" was a man! She stopped the car." I can't see out of the rear screen(后视镜)," she said. "Would you please help me clean it?

   "The old woman" nodded and opened the door. As soon as "she" was out of the door, the young woman drove off as fast as she could.

When she got to the next village, she stopped. She noticed "the old woman left "her" handbag behind. She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a gun(枪).