It was summertime. Donna walked into the classroom." Good afternoon, everybody!" That was a joke Donna told every day. Usually the class started with only two or three students in the classroom, and then the other students came as the minutes went by.

    Donna knew that the students didn't like studying English. The head teacher had told her the reason. The students thought English was confusing.

    Donna waited until all the students were sitting in their seats. She smiled and said," Okay, well. Let's get started. Please turn to Page 36. Today we're studying participles as adjectives（分词作形容词）. Students often feel confused when they learn about the present and past participles, so we need to practice a lot. Today, we're just going to practice using present participles as adjectives." Donna looked at all the blank faces around the classroom. Then she wrote two sentences on the blackboard.

    "The present participle tells us what kind of emotion the subject（主语）is causing. For example, when we say 'grammar is boring', we mean that the subject—grammar — causes an emotion of boredom. If we say, 'The movie is interesting', we are saying that the movie causes an emotion of interest. Any questions so far? Is anyone confused?"

    The classroom was quiet. Donna knew it would take some time for everyone to understand what she was talking about. After a while, Donna got a little excited because she saw looks of understanding on some of the students' faces.

Many people go back to work in big cities at the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(开头) of the new year. They want to live in cities because of these {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(优势).

First of all, you can go shopping for almost everything in shops or online. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(百) of people shop in supermarkets every day. There you can buy {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(新鲜的) fruit and vegetables. Many people like {#blank#}5{#/blank#}( 比较) the prices before buying something. Some shops are {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(开着的) for the whole day. If you buy something online, you {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(收到) it in just a few days. Second, in big cities, students can have more interesting lessons each term. They have a better chance of getting good {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(分数) than students in the countryside. Besides, it's easy to get {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(到处) in big cities. That's because people can take the underground to someplaces that are far away. And it is usually {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(便宜的).

So where do you like to live, in big cities or in the countryside?

My best friend Marcela and I are schoolmates. If you ask me to 1 her, I will say she is very pretty. She has long black 2 , round eyes and a small nose. She is not very tall, but not short either. 

Marcela and I like 3  interesting things together. She is a funny person and always makes me 4 .

We are interested in the 5  things. We both enjoy listening to music, playing the 6 and singing. The guitar club is our favorite place. We also like going to the 7 to see movies. Sometimes during the summer holidays, we go to the beaches with our family. We usually 8 most of the day swimming or walking. Sometimes we go fishing, although we can hardly get any 9 .

Since I am better at math and science and she is better at English, we can always 10  each other with our homework. I can't imagine(想象)my life without her. I hope that our friendship will last forever(永远)，

A student asked his teacher, "Sir, I have a question. How many friends should a man have, one or many?"

"It is very easy, " the teacher answered. "Get me that red apple from the highest(最高的) branch(树枝) of the tree. " The student looked up and said, "It's too high! I can't get it."

"Ask a friend to help. " the teacher said.

 The student called a friend and stood on his shoulders(肩膀) for the branch. "I still can't get it, Sir, " said the student sadly after the first try.

"Don't you have more friends? " the teacher smiled. The student asked more friends to come over. They stood on each other's shoulders, trying to make a pyramid(金字塔) to get higher. But the student still couldn't get the apple. Then one of the friends went home, brought a ladder(梯子) and the student finally got the apple.

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

"I do," the student said. "Many, so together we can work out any problem."

"Sounds good, " the teacher said. "You need as many friends as you can. Among( 在······之中) them, there will be at least(至少) one clever man. He can think of a good idea, like getting a ladder!"