One day, there was a blind man called John sitting on the bench with a hat by his feet and a sign that read, "I am blind. Please help me.”
A creative publicist(广告员)named Tom was walking by the blind man and stopped to see that the man only had a few coins in his hat. He put a few of his own corns in the hat. Without asking for permission, took the sign, turned it around and wrote a new message. Then he put the sign by the feet of the blind man, and left.
   Later that afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was almost full of bills and coins. The blind man recognized(识别)his footsteps and asked if it was he who had changed his sign. He also wanted to know what the man wrote on it.
The publicist said, "I just wrote the message a little differently.” He smiled and went on his way.
   The new sign read, "Spring has come, but I can't see anything.”

D

    "My dear lady," says Holmes. "You're shivering. Are you cold? Do you want a cup of hot tea?"

    "I'm not cold," the woman replies, "I fear for my life!"

    "We are here to help you. Don't worry about anything. I don't know you. But I know many things about you. For example, I know how you travel. You came to London by train. You also ride to the train station on a horse-drawn wagon(马车)."

    "Why, yes. You're right. But how do you know these things?"

    "I see a return ticket in your glove. I see fresh mud on the left arm of your dress. Now tell us your problem."

    "My name is Helen Stoner," she states, "My mother and father are dead. I am living with my stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott. He comes from a rich family. But they are no longer rich. They have nothing except a small piece of land and a huge old house. We are living in the house. Dr Roylott is using my mother's money for expenses(开支). Part of it was for my sister and me. It was for our marriages."

    Holmes is sitting in his chair. His eyes are closed. He is listening carefully to Helen's story. He hears every detail(细节).

    Helen continues. "My stepfather has no friends. He fights with everyone. He is strong and gets angry quickly. Everyone is afraid of him."

    "He has no friends at all?" asks Holmes.

    "No. He talks to no one except the gypsies. They are poor people who travel from place to place. A band of gypsies is staying on our land right now."

    "Are you and your sister afraid of the gypsies?"

    "My dear Mr Holmes. You are making me so sad. My sister is dead. That is why I am standing here in this room."

    From Feb. 8 to Mar. l is our winter holiday. I think everybody did a lot in the holiday. But it seems that I did nothing and it was my most unlucky holiday.

    I spent a lot of time on my homework. Every morning my mother woke me up early and I had breakfast in a hurry. Then I had to do my homework almost the whole day! I'm not a very slow person but the homework was too heavy!

    I was also unlucky when playing. During the Spring Festival, I played fireworks but my finger was hurt because I was careless to light the fireworks. I began to fear playing with fireworks from then.

    I was still unlucky on my friend's party. On my friend's birthday, unusually I woke up at 10:50 because my parents went to visit my grandmother early in the morning. The party would start in 10 minutes! So I hurried to my friend's home without breakfast. I returned very late that day and when I got home, my parents were very angry with me.

    Another worrying thing was Toy weight. Last term, I was 46 kg but now I am 51 kg! I have to consider losing weight!

    Jack is 10 years old, and I am his pencil. I'm Jack's helper（助手）.

    Jack's pencil box is my home. I have some friends here. They are seven crayons, a ruler, a pencil sharpener and an eraser. Because Jack loves me, I'm the king（国王）in the pencil box. My friends and I are happy every day.

    Today, I am not happy because a pen comes in. It's new and beautiful. It's a music pen. It can not only write（写） but also sing（唱歌）. But I'm old and I can only help Jack to write. Jack likes it so much! The new pen is his helper now. It's the new king. What can I do now? Shall I go to a new home?

Tom and Jerry

    Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse are two of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. In the short cartoons, Tom is always trying to catch Jerry, but he never has any success. Almost every cartoon ends with Tom in trouble and Jerry laughing at him. The stories are full of fun and have a long history.

    William Hanna and Joseph Barbera both worked for MGM in the late 1930s. Their boss told them to make funny cartoons. Together they thought of the idea of a cat and a mouse. They thought it would be funny if the mouse was clever and always got the cat into trouble.

    The first Tom and Jerry cartoon was shown in cinemas in 1940. It was a great success. Over the next 17 years, they made many Tom and Jerry cartoons. Most of them are around seven minutes long.

    In total, Hanna and Barbera made 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons. The cartoons were so good that they won a number of awards. The famous cat and mouse remain popular today, as the cartoons are still shown on television around the world.

With a birthday usually comes a party, as well as a cake, presents and wishes from friends. But beyond these, what does a birthday 1 mean?

One year I spent my birthday alone in a completely new place. Calls and messages poured in as usual.2 , I was uncertain what to do. I had nowhere to go, nor did I know anyone with whom I could go out and share the 3 of the event.

At that moment, my mother called me, asking, "What are you 4 for your birthday?"

"I'm not sure, Mum. There's 5 here," I said in a low voice.

"You don't always need a lot of people for your birthday. Just follow your heart and make this day yours." What Mum said made me feel less 6 .

Then I picked up a book and lost myself in it, with music on. I did exactly as my mother told me and 7 "my own day". Unexpectedly, I got connected with my inner self. It was a 8 but satisfying day. I realized for the first time that I had fully grown-from the preschool child who shared chocolate with the whole class on my birthday to someone who could now 9 it with myself.

When I lay in bed that night, I remembered my mother's words. "You came into our lives this day," she said. Her voice was filled with joy and 10 for the coming of my life. And indeed, that is the true 11 of birthday celebrations-the valuable gift of life itself.

I spent a birthday 12 a party. It made me realize the spirit of birthday itself.