I first met Windy, a six-year-old girl, on the beach near where I lived. She was building a sand house there. She looked up, and her eyes were as blue as the sea. Every time when I felt unhappy, I drove to the beach.  

      "Hello, Miss Agnes," she said. I answered, but I didn't really want to stop her. "I'm building," she said. I saw that.

    "What is it?" I asked her. "Oh, I don't know. I just like the feeling of the sand." Oh, that's good, I thought, and took off my shoes to join her. A sandpiper (一种叫做鹬的水鸟) flew by. She told me that it would make me happy. I felt better then.

      A week later on my next visit, I learned that Windy lived in a cottage (小屋) and didn't go to school. Soon after that, my mother died, and I rushed to the beach to be alone. I didn't want to say anything when Windy came up to me. "Why?" she asked.

      I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" "Oh," she said quietly, "then today is a bad day."

      A month later, I went to the beach but couldn't find Windy. I missed her so much that I visited her house. I learned that Windy had died of leukemia (白血病), but she left a picture of a sandpiper for me.

    Frank is my brother. He is twenty-one years old. He is a waiter. He works in Green Restaurant. He works very hard. And he is kind to people. So his boss Mr. Green likes him very much. Every weekend he always gets some money from his boss. But Frank isn't happy because he doesn't like his job. He thinks it's boring. He likes singing. He sings very well and he can sing songs in English. So he wants to be a singer. He likes Jay Chou best and he likes his English song Thousands of Miles Apart.

Jim went to school to study history, but when he finished his first year, he didn't pass the exam and the teacher said to him, “You have to leave school.”

When the boy's father heard this news, he was much worried. He came to the school to see the teacher. He found the teacher in the office and asked the teacher to let Jim go on with his studies the next year.

“He is a good boy. He always does well in history,” said Jim's father, “and if you let him pass the exam this time, he will do better next year and pass the exam.”

 “No, no, that's impossible!” answered the teacher, “Last month I asked him when Napoleon（拿破仑）died and he didn't know.”

“Please sir, give him another chance.” said Jim's father, “You know we don't have any newspapers in our house, so nobody in our family knew that Mr. Napoleon was ill.”

    Martina looked out of the window. A robin was singing a lively song in the tree. At this time, Grandpa, who lived with the family since Grandma had died, came in. He looked at the floor as if looking for something. He said, "When the robin sings..." he stopped, trying to remember what he had started to say.

    "Spring is here," Mum finished the sentence. "And I'm thinking of our spring cleaning," Mum suggested. "Martina, you can help me, right?" Martina agreed unwillingly.

    They cleaned the house. They cleaned upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside, until everything was clean. Then Mum pointed to Grandpa's sofa and shouted. "That old sofa has got to go. We'll buy Grandpa a new one."

    It was true and Martina had to agree. The sofa was really old. As they tried to move the sofa, Grandpa stood in their way. "You can't take my sofa," he shouted.

    "It's old," Mum said. Grandpa tried to push his sofa back into place. "We'll buy you a new one," Mum promised.

    "I don't want a new one," Grandpa insisted. Mum let go of the sofa. "We'll talk about it tonight when John gets home." John, Martina's dad, was still at work.

    "Why don't you let us take away the sofa? It's too old!" Martina asked when the family were having supper. Grandpa shook his head and said, "I sat in this sofa, with your grandma right here, when I asked her to marry me. It was so long ago, but when I sit in this sofa and close my eyes I feel she is near."

    "It's amazing," Martina thought, "how Grandpa can remember things from the past. These days he forgets almost everything."

    The old man smiled to Martina and went on. "And the night your father was born, I sat in this sofa. I was nervous when they placed the little baby into my arms."

    "I think I'm beginning to understand," Martina said. "Many years later," Grandpa continued, "I sat in this sofa when the doctor called and told me that your grandma was ill. I was lost without her, but the sofa gave me the comfort."

    "I do see now," Martina looked at Grandpa. "This is not just an old sofa. This sofa is more like a friend." "Yes," Grandpa added. "We've got through a lot together." The whole family agreed that the living room would be boring without the old sofa.

注意：词数50~60字。

One weekend, my husband suggested we cook together. I had spoken to my mother earlier that day on the phone. I had told her about our life. She yawned(打哈欠) and we said 1 to one another. 

I didn't know then that just 16 hours later, my mother would die. 

My mother was my best friend. After she died, I felt 2 . She was the only person I wanted to 3 . The only person who could help me was the one who was missing. 

My mother gave me many things, 4 she had never taught me how to cook. She liked to eat more than cook. She loved to eat fish pie and 5 it to us for dinner. Almost every week, she would 6 a prepared fish pie. Then she would bring it home and make her own white sauce. 

My mother 7 taught me how to make a white sauce, and I never wanted to ask her. Since she was gone, I would have to teach 8 .

So this became my focus. For the first few weeks, I survived (生存) on cheap food. But one night, a fish pie mix 9 my eye at the store. 

When I got home, I 10 myself in front of our electric stove. Armed with a 11 , I tried to teach myself to make a white sauce. 

Halfway through the recipe, I couldn't believe it- I had made a white sauce on my own! Then I remembered: I had always 12 fish pie. 

Admiring my sauce, I wondered13 I wanted to make a dish I had hated for 25 years. Why was it suddenly so important?

I poured the sauce over the fish. Then I ate the pie. I realized that the act of 14 calmed me down. 

It helped me find15 .