Ever since I was a child，my mouth has caused me trouble．I'm not a bad person；I have just had a hard time learning when to keep my mouth closed．

My mom has told me again and again，"Robert，your constant bad words are hurting me．If you continue to be this rude，you will get into big trouble．"

    It's been a problem at school several times，too，when teachers have told me something I didn't want to hear．I used to feel it was my duty to stand up for myself and tell them ______ off．

    One day in English class I began working on my homework until I heard a classmate talking behind me．It was Nathaniel，talking to himself as usual．

I said ever so nicely，"Nathaniel，would you be quiet?"

Nathaniel continued talking to himself．I quickly shouted，"Nathaniel，shut up!"

    For the next five minutes，we threw hurtful words back and forth at each other．

"At least I don't have an ugly lazy eye like you!"I shouted．

    I knew this would bother him deep inside．It would hurt his feelings and shut him up．

What I said filled him with anger．He tried to reach over my seat and grab me as he shouted．"That's it! That's it!"

    Surprised at his reaction，I sat back in seat．Never had I seen Nathaniel act like this before．

Later on，we were taken to the principal's office．

There，the principal told US to discuss the matter．It wasn't until then that I finally found that when I hurt someone physically，the wounds(伤口)eventually heal．But when I hurt them with my words，sometimes the pain never goes away．

    At the end of the discussion，I said sorry to Nathaniel．

    When I headed back to my room，I spent some time praying． I began to think about how often what I said hurt others．But I believe that as I keep praying and asking God to help me，he'll tell me when to keep my mouth closed．

    It was summer. A duck was sitting on many eggs in her house. Her little ducks were going to come to the world. One little duck after another came out from the eggs. The last baby was big and ugly. His brothers and sisters weren't willing to play with him because he was too ugly. Even his mother hated him too. And the girl who fed them kicked him.

    The poor little duck was so sad that he ran away from home in the winter. On his way, a big dog appeared, but the dog did not come close to him. "Oh, I am so ugly that even the dog won't bite me." the duck said to himself.

A kind farmer took him home when the weather got colder. He stayed there for a whole winter and left when the spring came.

    One day, he met three beautiful white swans (天鹅) when he was swimming in a lake. They swam toward him. He was afraid to make friends with them. But what did he see in the clear water? He was no longer a dark grey ugly duck. He was a beautiful swan himself. How amazing! He never dreamed that he could be so beautiful.

Three fish lived in a pond. They were named Plan Ahead, Think Fast and Wait and See. One day they heard that a fisherman {#blank#}1{#/blank#} was well-known in the village for his excellent fishing skills was going to cast (抛)nets in the pond the next day. 

Plan Ahead decided to swim down the river that night. Think Fast was sure he would come up{#blank#}2{#/blank#} a plan. Wait and See just didn't want {#blank#}3{#/blank#} think about it at that time. 

When {#blank#}4{#/blank#} fisherman cast his nets, Plan Ahead had gone. But Think Fast and Wait and See {#blank#}5{#/blank#} caught. Think Fast quickly turned over and played dead. The fisherman thought he was bad and threw him back into the water. But Wait and See ended up in the fish market. 

The sun is shining and the birds are singing around. On such a 1 morning, a UFO lands in a forest. A boy called Bill is just watching it behind a tree. 

Suddenly, a tall alien* comes out of the UFO. He wears a silver suit and starts picking up 2 . One by one, he takes photos of them with a camera. When he finishes, he puts the flowers into a large box.

The alien thinks he sees something move and asks, "Is anybody there?" Bill doesn't answer. 

The alien 3 the looker and sees the boy behind the trees. "Oh, there is someone. Hello!" the alien says, "It's all right. You can come closer." 

"What are you doing?" Bill asks. 

"I'm 4 flowers," the alien says.

"Flowers? For what?" asks Bill.

"I'm going to take them back to my planet*," says the alien. 

"Aren't there any flowers on 5 ?" asks Bill.

"No, our planet doesn't have flowers for a long time." The alien says 6 , "We have too much litter, we cut down too many trees, 7 now it's like a desert*. There is almost no water any more. All of the flowers and trees that lived on our planet are gone." 

"That's terrible," says Jim "Is anyone doing 8 about it?" 

"Yes ... That's 9 I'm here and we want to find plants from other planets. We use them to learn about water. I believe someday water will come back to our planet." 

"Wow," Bill said. "What's the name of your planet?"

It's called Rozul," the alien says, "Long ago, it was very beautiful. If we work hard, someday Rozul will be 10 again." And then the alien goes back to the UFO. Bill says goodbye as the UFO slowly goes up into the air and flies away.

Anna comes from Russia. She is 17 years old. She's going to stay with the Black family for a year. Anna comes to England because she wants to study England. She helps Mrs. Black to do housework in the house and goes to English {#blank#}1{#/blank#} every Wednesday and Friday afternoon. 

Anna is now in London. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} is new to her. She finds life is different from that in Moscow. Some things are nice in London, but many things are not so nice. The shops are {#blank#}3{#/blank#} in London than those in Moscow. So it's very expensive to enjoy {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in London. It's expensive to have a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} at a restaurant or go to a cinema. 

Now Anna has got used to(习惯）many things, but she can't get used to the breakfast in England. "The England eat so much in the morning, " she often says, "fruits, porridge, eggs, tea and bread. How can you face all that food so early in the day?"

One day five fishermen go fishing. They are lucky. Each fisherman gets a big fish. 

"What a fine dinner we will have!" says one fisherman. "Now let's go home. "

"Are we all here? Let me count first, " says another. "One, two, three, four. Oh, no! One of us is missing(失踪的)!"

"It cannot be!" says another. So he begins to count. "One, two, three, four. I see four fishermen, too! One of us has drowned(溺死)!"

All the fishermen are heartbroken. They cry and cry. 

Just then a little girl comes by. "Why do you cry?" she asks them. 

"One fisherman is missing, " says one fisherman. 

"One, two, three, four, " he counts again. 

The little girl sees his mistake right away. So she says, "Will you give me your fish if I find your missing friend?" asks she. 

"Yes! Yes!" say they. 

"Now jump into the river one at a time, " the little girl tells them. "And I will count you. "

The fishermen jump into the river one by one. One! Two! Three! Four! Five!

"Five!" the fishermen shout, "You find our missing friend!" Then the fishermen give the little girl all their fish. They have no fish for dinner, but they are all happy again.