My family lives very happily on a farm near a small town. My father always learns some information about weather through the TV, the Internet and newspapers.

    One evening, he asked us to meet at the table after dinner. "I have some bad news," he said. "The weather reports on the television warned(警告)that we would face a typhoon tomorrow."

    At 6:30 a.m. the next day, the winds started and the rain was falling heavily. There were new warnings that the sea level could go up as much as 5 meters.

    The winds were terribly strong and tree branches were flying everywhere. Trees were falling down and the rain kept coming down.

    Just after 10:30, the wind stopped suddenly-it was strangely calm and the sun was shining. Then the winds came howling(咆哮)again, but this time more rain fell. There were more flying things and the storm came in. Everything within 1 km of the coast was flooded-there was fish in the streets. Now the winds were dying down, but the rain was still falling.

    After another two hours, the wind came to a stop at last. My home was in a mess and my mum burnt her arm when the hot water from the stove hit her skin. We were all frightened, but we were all safe, including the cat.

D

    Sally was a student. Her mother's birthday is coming. She wanted to buy her a nice and cheap present(礼物).

    She went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. After she looked for half an hour, she found a shop. It was selling cheap umbrellas, and she decided to take a black one.

    She thought, "Mom can carry it when she is wearing any clothes." So she bought a lovely black umbrella and took it to school with her.

    On her way home on the train she felt hungry because she ate little for lunch. So she went to the buffet car(餐车). She left the umbrella on her seat. But when she got back. She couldn't see the umbrella!

    Sally began to cry. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what was the matter. She told them she couldn't find the black umbrella, and she had to get off at the next station. After the three passengers heard this, they asked her for her mother's address(地址)so that they could send the umbrella to her if someone took it and brought it back.

    After a week, Sally got a letter from her mother. It said "Thank you very much for your lovely gifts, but why do you send me three black umbrellas?"

I'm Nancy. I live in a small but nice {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. In the center of our town is a hotel. It's on Center Street. The police station is on the{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, too.

 There are all kinds of shops in town. I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} buy food in Alan's food shop. And {#blank#}4{#/blank#} from the food shop, there is a pet shop. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the pet shop is a shoe shop. We also have a bank. It's near the pet shop. People can keep their {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in it. And next to the bank, there are two {#blank#}7{#/blank#}, Their food is very delicious and we can have {#blank#}8{#/blank#} drinks there. The clothing shops and the post office are in the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} of the town.

There is a small library near my home. Every weekend, my sister  {#blank#}10{#/blank#} going there to read books.

I love my beautiful town!

I still remember the terrible storm which came at 4:00 p. m. on February 15th. My parents and I were watching TV at that time when suddenly the lights {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(go) on and off for a few times. It was clear that there was something wrong {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the circuit (电路). Before my father went to have {#blank#}3{#/blank#} look, the room became completely dark. So we had to use the flashlight (手电筒) to find out what happened. 

There {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(be) strong winds and heavy rain outside. We could even feel the coldness through the windows. After several {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(hour), we realized the power (电力) wouldn't come back in a short time. When we were ready to go to bed, my sister cried out, "Look! It began to snow. " We all looked out in surprise. The snow was falling harder {#blank#}6{#/blank#} harder. It seemed that the snow would last for a long time. Since there was still no power, we went to bed earlier than usual. 

When I {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(wake) up the next morning, I found the trees were {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(cover) with snow and the road became icy. Many people went out{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(buy) some necessary (必要的) things while kids were playing {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(happy) in the snow. 

Tom came to his teacher and asked him, "Sir, I have a question. How many friends should a person have-one or many?"

"It is very simple," the teacher answered. "Get me that red apple from the highest branch（树枝）of the tree." Tom looked up and said, "It's too high! I can't reach it." "Ask a friend. Maybe he can help," the teacher suggested. Tom called another student and stood on his shoulders（肩膀）to reach the branch. "I still can't reach it, sir," said Tom sadly after the first try. "Don't you have more friends?" the teacher smiled. Tom asked more friends to come over. They stood on each other's shoulders, trying to make a human pyramid（金字塔）. But the apple was so high that they couldn't go higher and the pyramid fell. Tom still couldn't reach the apple. Then one of the friends went home, brought a ladder（梯子）and Tom finally picked the apple.

After getting the apple, the teacher asked, "So, do you understand how many friends a person needs?"

"Yes, I do," Tom said. "Many, so together we can work out any problem."

"Sounds good," the teacher said. "You need as many friends as you can. Among them, there will be at least one smart person who can think of a good idea, like getting a ladder!"