Once upon a time in Greece, there lived a young man called Narcissus. He lived in a small village on the sea and was famous in the land because he was quite handsome. Villagers would turn up on the streets to stare at the beautiful child.   

    When he grew up, people always said "How handsome Narcissus is!" Villagers thought that Narcissus could not be any more handsome than he already was. But as years passed Narcissus became a teenager. His beauty grew and became so great that he was known all over country of Greece.

    As he grew, Narcissus was very proud of his good-looking face.

    "Oh! You are so handsome, Narcissus!" Narcissus said one day as he looked into a pool. "There's nobody more handsome in the whole world! I'd love to kiss you. And that's just what I'll do!"

    He leaned closer to the water. Suddenly he lost his balance and fell into the pool.

    Narcissus tried to reach the bank of the pool, but he could not swim and he drowned.

    A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apples he grew.

    One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it. The farmer was pleased with the gift, but when he got home, he did not know where lo plant it.

    He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come al night and steal some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit.

    Finally he planted the tree in his woods (树林) where no one could see it. But without sunlight and good soil, the tree soon died.

    Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place. "What's the difference?” the farmer said angrily. "If I had planted the tree near the road, strangers would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields, my neighbors would have come at night and stolen some of the apples. If I had planted it near my house, my own children would have taken the fruit.”

    "Yes," said the friend, "but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed (抢夺) everyone of the fruit, but also you have destroyed (摧毁) a good apple tree!"

Lisa is serious about the chores in her house. She gives her children things that they 1 . do according to their age. She started by asking John, the2 of her two sons, to help with the dishes. It is now an easy cho re3 . the 15-year-old. His13-year-old brother, Dave, now4 John, too. They take turns (轮流) washing the5 each week. The boys also clean their study tables, make their beds and6 food from the market on Sunday mornings. Besides(除了) these, the boys also know how to cook easy meals 7 their parents are not at home.

The family of 8 live in a big house but they do all the housework themselves.

Lisa says," When I was young, my father wanted us to do things on our own(独立地)and learn how to9 ourselves. Now I'm doing it to my kids." John says," Doing chores is10 . You learn important life skills and responsibility(责任)."

Daisy forgot to set the alarm clock (闹钟) so she had to run to catch the bus. This made her feel tired and rushed when she started her science test. After she handed in her test paper, she was certain that the test had not gone well. With a heavy heart, she left the classroom.

That afternoon, Daisy left school to work part-time at Beckman's. After she finished her work, Mrs. Beckman called her into the office. "Daisy," she said, "you have been a great worker. But business has been slow; we have to let you go."

Feeling down, Daisy left the office. As she walked slowly towards her aunt's house, she tried to think about the new hairstyle her aunt had promised her. When she arrived, Daisy showed her aunt a picture of the style she wanted.

"Well, you're done. What do you think?" Her aunt asked about an hour later.

What Daisy saw in the mirror left her speechless. It was nothing like the picture! How could she possibly go to school again?

The next morning, putting her things in her locker, she ran into Ms. Wilson, her science teacher.

"I know, Ms. Wilson, I did very poorly on the test. It's just that I forgot…"

"What are you talking about? Daisy, you did a great job!" Ms. Wilson said. "What I wanted to ask you is if you would be interested in working a few days a week after school as a lab assistant (助手). I need some help organizing all the materials." Daisy happily accepted.

"Daisy!" she heard as the rest of the students began to enter the building. "Where did you get your hair done?" She was so excited about her test and new job that she had completely forgotten about her hair.

"Wow! That is so cool!" she was told. She couldn't believe her ears. Everyone loved her hair.

What a couple of days it had been! Walking home, she smiled as the radio of a passing car played the song "What a Difference a Day Makes".

My name is Wang Jialing. My English name is Alice. I'm a 1 in a middle school in Beijing. I have a good friend 2 school. Her full name is Mary Smith. Mary is her3 name and Smith is her family name. She is 4 English girl. She is from Lon- don, but now she is in Beijing with her mom and dad. They are English teachers in our school. Mary and I are in the same class. We often go to school together (一起). She often 5 me with my English, 6 . She wants to learn Chinese well, 7 I often help her with 8 Chinese. Now she can speak some Chinese.

Mary is a 9 girl. Mary likes China very much. Sometimes we talk with each other(互相) in English, sometimes in Chinese. Mary and I often help each other. I'm very happy to make 10 with her.