Jack thought himself a basketball fan. He watched quite a lot of American NBA basketball games. Not only did he watch them, he spent much of his free time playing on the court too. Then came the final year of his middle school. All of his regular teammates stopped showing up on the court because they were simply too busy preparing for the high school entrance exam to play. He was, of course, under much stress himself, like everyone else. A good exam result meant a good high school; a mediocre(平庸的) score meant a mediocre school. Much was at stake. However, he loved basketball so much that he still found time to play, this time with a group of guys who were said to have skipped classes(逃课) before.

    Some of his teachers started worrying about him. They asked his mother to go to school to let her know that Jack was hanging out with problem kids. When his mother returned home that day, she wanted to talk to Jack. Knowing the purpose of her visit to the school, Jack thought his mother would punish him for befriending those bad guys. To his surprise, his mother was not angry with him at all. She wanted to hear her son's side of the story. So Jack told his mother about what he knew of Simon and Peter. Simon's parents were badly ill; Peter's father had lost his job. They both seemed to Jack to be normal kids. Jack's mother thought for a moment, then went on to say that she was OK with her son playing with them and that she and her son should think of ways to help these kids. Soon Jack's mum introduced some part-time jobs to Simon and Peter, which they accepted. She believed in her son and cared about those who were less lucky.

    Jack's basketball friends and he have left for different places, but they still keep in touch. He knows Peter is now a manager of a local bank.  Simon is currently a freshman at a university. Sadly, it is impossible to get together to play basketball again, but whenever they get on the phone, they talk about it all the time.

    There is an old man in a house. In the house there are many mice. The old man has a cat. Every day the cat catches the mice and eats them.

    One day, the old mouse says, "All mice must come to my room this evening. We must find a way to deal with (对付) the cat."

    All the mice come. Many mice speak, but they don't know what to do. At last, a young mouse stands up and says, "We must put a bell (铃) on the cat. When the cat comes near, we can hear the bell and run away. So the cat can't catch us." "Who can put the bell on the cat?" asks the old mouse. But no one answers.

    July is the time for some students to say goodbye to their mother schools. Every time it comes, I will think of my old deskmate, Xiaowei. She is the most unforgettable classmate in my junior high school life. It has been many years since I graduated, but she is still in my mind clearly.

    Xiaowei was a lovely girl with long black hair. On hot days, her hair was sometimes seen to be tied up. She was always wearing a sweet smile. She was an artistic(文艺范的)girl who showed up before me every day. She loved reading novels and drawing.

    She liked reading different kinds of novels, especially on history. She could finish reading a historical novel as thick as our Chinese textbook at an amazing speed.

    Whenever she had free time, she would take out a drawing note and start drawing cartoons with a pencil. She drew from characters' heads to eyes and to faces, but the characters were always long-haired and wide-eyed. One day I couldn't help asking," Why don't you colour them?" She answered simply, "Because I don't have enough time." She kept her works as a secret and never talked about them with others. When we were told that she had won a prize in the drawing competition in her group, my classmates felt surprised.

    There is a folk song called My Old Deskmate, which is sung widely among people of different ages. It was created because the creator, Gao Xiaosong, had never forgotten his deskmate. Whenever I hear it, I will think of Xiaowei. How are you, my old deskmate?

Reading books increases our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. To encourage people to find the fun of reading and pay tribute (表达敬意) to famous writers, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 联合国教科文组织) fixed April 23rd as World Book and Copyright (版权) Day in 1926 in Spain.

The idea of specially choosing a day to celebrate books came from Spanish writer Vicente Clavel Andres. In 1922 he suggested the idea as a way to remember Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. Four years later the first celebration took place on October 7th, because it is said to be Cervantes' birthday. But the celebration was then moved to April 23rd, the date of his death in 1930.

In 1995, the UNESCO decided to pay tribute to writers and books around the world as a way of encouraging everyone to read books. Choosing April 23rd seemed proper. Because it's not only the date of Cervantes' death, but also the date of the famous writer William Shakespeare's death. Besides, several famous writers were born on April 23rd, making the date special in the literature (文学) world.

Starting in 2001, every year, one city around the world would be the World Book Capital for a year. The chosen city always holds activities to encourage people of all ages at home and abroad to read and spread its values. Activities include reading books and plays, handing out bookmarks and announcing (公布) the winners of literary (文学) competitions.

It's 6:00 p. m. Kate's family are having dinner. There is rice, eggs, salads, strawberries and some vegetables like tomatoes, onions and carrots on the table. But Kate doesn't like vegetables. She doesn't want to eat them and puts her bo wl away.

" Kate," says her father.

" Where are my hamburgers?" asks Kate.

" Don't think about them. We need to eat healthily," says Mom.

" How about some ice- cream, then?" asks Kate.

" Kate," Dad calls her name again. He thinks the dinner is nice.

Kate takes a bite(咬一口) of the tomato and quickly spits(吐出) it back into the bowl.

" Kate! Room! Now!" says Dad. He doesn't like her bad eating habits.

Kate runs to her room and cries, but she soon stops. Usually, her parents will get her some other food she likes if she doesn't eat dinner. So she waits.

At about 7:00 p. m., Mom tries to get Kate to eat some vegetables, but she says no.

At 9:00 p. m., Kate wants to eat something, but her parents still don't give her anything to eat.

At 10:00 p. m., Kate goes to the kitchen and sees some vegetables on the table. They don't look so bad. And you know what? They don't taste so bad, either.

Kate learns that she should eat health y food and live a healthy life.

My name is Tony. I'm a1 student from a middle school in Zhuhai. In the past，I had some bad habits. I2 had breakfast，because I always got up late. I only exercised once or twice3 month，because I thought it was very tiring. In the evening，I always4 TV for more than two hours. Then I often surfed the Internet. I liked to spend lots of hours5 computer games，so I often stayed up late. My parents thought staying up late was bad for my health，so they were worried about6 . 

One day，I didn't feel well and suddenly fainted（晕倒）in a PE class.7 I woke up，I found I was in a hospital. The doctor said that some of my8 sent me here. He said that I was in poor health. And he told me to have breakfast every day and do more exercise. 

At that time，I realized（意识到）the importance of health，so I decided9 up my bad habits. Now I usually get up early and have a good breakfast. After school，I always play sports with my friends. It is fun and I have become much10 than before.