Jed and Matt were walking home from school. It was the first really cold day of winter. "The 1 on the river is hard!" Matt shouted. "Let's take a shortcut (捷径) across. "

    Jed made a face. "It started to freeze," said Jed. "I don't think it's 2." "You're afraid of everything," said Matt with a laugh. "3 you want to walk all the way to the bridge, go ahead.  I'm going to 4 here." Then he ran toward the river. Now Matt was near the middle of the river. "Are you still 5, Jed?" he laughed. "Look how 6the ice is." Matt jumped up and down a few times to 7 his point.

    Crack! Loud sound filled the air. Matt looked down. In all directions, the thin ice was8away from his feet. Another crack, and Matt was in the river! "Help!" Matt screamed. His wet clothes pulled him down.

    Jed felt the ice, 9 testing the area around him. Using the feet, he pushed 10 slowly toward the hole in the ice. Gripping (抓牢) the ice with his feet, Jed took hold of Matt's 11.

    Little by little, he dragged (拖) Matt out of the water and then across the ice. After what seemed like hours, they reached the 12.

    A police car came up to them. Officer Crane helped Matt into the car. After hearing the story, Crane said, "Well, Jed, it sounds like you are a 13. Maybe I should call the newspaper. Someone from the paper can come and take your picture and write an article. "

    "Good idea," said Matt.  He was feeling a lot  14.  "I have never had my picture in the paper."

    "I was talking about 15 picture," said Crane.  "He is a hero."

C

    I'm a 34-year-old man. I lived in a nice house and have a successful career. But my life was not always so great. I had trouble learning from an early age. The school life was difficult for me.

    My life improved quickly when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to an art school and became good at making things with dough. Here I learned my first important lesson: although I had trouble learning, I could still be smart and well express myself with dough. And I became confident from then on.

    I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was frightened from the start. After about five years of climbing, I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

    Later I decided to learn how to read. Every day I practiced reading. After two hard years, I did well in it. And reading changed my life a lot.

    After learning art, rock climbing, and reading, now I've learnt that when we face difficulties, we should not give up. God closes a door for you, and will open another window for you.

    Kevin lived in a village in Africa. One morning, the teacher came into Kevin's classroom with a new girl. "Hi, guys! My name is Jenny. I am from America. I came to Africa with my dad. It's nice to meet everyone," the girl said.

    Kevin noticed (注意) that he looked different from Jenny. As soon as school was over, he ran home to ask his mother, "Mom, there is a new student Jenny in our class today. She comes from the US. Everyone in Africa has curly hair, right? Then, why is Jenny's hair straight?"

    Mom thought for a minute and said, "It's always hot in Africa. Curly hair is like a sponge (海绵) with many holes (洞), so the air can get in and out easily. If your hair was like Jenny's straight hair, you wouldn't be able to stand the heat (热). Our curly hair is necessary (必要的)!"

    Xie Wanying (October 5, 1900-Febrary 28.1999), better known by her pen name Bing Xin, was oneof the most well-known Chinese writers of the 20^th century. Many ofher works were written for young readers. Her pen nameBing Xin carries the meaning of a pure heart, and is taken from a line in aTang Dynasty poem by Wang Changling.

    Bing Xin was born in Fuzhou, Fujian, but moved toShanghai with her family when she was seven months old, and later moved yetagain to the coastal port city of Yantai, Shandong, when she was four.Such a move had akey influence on Bing Xin's personality and philosophy (哲学)of love and beauty, as the hugeness and beauty of the sea greatly opened youngBing Xin's mind and heart. It was also in Yantai, Bing Xin first began to readthe classics of Chinese literature, such asRomance of the Three KingdomsandWater Margin, when she was just seven.

    In 1913, Bing Xin moved to Beijing. She started herwriting career as she wrote for a school newspaper at Yanjing University whereshe was a student and published her first novel. Bing Xin graduated fromYanjing University in 1923 with a bachelor's degree, and went to the UnitedStates to study at Wellesley College, earning a master's degree at Wellesley inliterature in 1926. She then returned to Yanjing University to teach until1936.

    In 1929, she married Wu Wenzao, her good friend whenthey were studying in the United States. In literature, Bing Xin founded the"Bing Xin Style" as a new literary style. Shecontributed a lot to children's literature in China such asA Myriad ofStars (1923),Spring Water (1923),Six-one sister(1924),ToYoung Readers (1926),Homeward South (1931),The Collected Worksof Bing Xin(1932-1933). Bing Xin's literary career was productive. Shewrote a lot of works — prose, poetry, novels, reflections and so on. There is aBing Xin Literature Museum in Changle in Fujian Province. The Bing XinChildren's Literature Award is named in her honour.

Tigers are fierce animals. They are the bosses of the Asian jungles with their cleverness，quickness and strength. A pussycat，on the other hand

As a mother，the Chinese﹣American writer Amy Chua is definitely a tiger. Her book，Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother （虎妈战歌） tells of the strict upbringing she gave her two children. She thinks that being  strict is the only way to d {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a child's potential and to make them strong，i{#blank#}2{#/blank#} and successful. Her kids were not allowed to watch TV or play video games. They were not allowed to "hang out" with other kids after school. They had to be the top students in their classes. And they had to p{#blank#}3{#/blank#} the piano and violin for hours every day. As a result，her kids became successful. She admits this caused a lot of tears and anger but she has few regrets （后悔）. 

Chua says，like her，most A{#blank#}4{#/blank#} mothers are tigers because they believe their children can a{#blank#}5{#/blank#} a lot if they're pushed hard enough. She says American mothers are really cats. They care more about their children's self﹣esteem （自尊）. They don't want to push their kids too hard for fear of hurting their feelings. W{#blank#}6{#/blank#} soft words and understanding，they encourage their children to find their own path. 

So，is a tiger mom better than a pussycat? Perhaps it depends on the differences between Asian and Western cultures. It may also depend on the child himself. Some kids need to be pushed w{#blank#}7{#/blank#} others respond to a gentler hand. 

To growl or to purr? There is no easy answer.