A little girl thought she was not as beautiful as other girls, and nobody liked her. So she was 1 happy. She always stayed at home by herself and didn't talk to 2 .

    One day, her mother gave her a beautiful hair clip (发夹). When she 3 it, she looked much more beautiful than before. She decided to go to school in the beautiful hair clip.

    On her way to 4 , she found that everyone who saw her smiled (微笑) at her. Most of her schoolmates said hello to her, 5 this never happened before. She thought that the beautiful hair clip 6 them all to her. She was so happy 7 all of the wonderful things.

    Though all her classmates wanted to know 8 happened to her, she didn't want to tell 9 about her beautiful hair clip.

    When she went back home after school, her mother asked her, "Did you know you 10 your hair clip at home?" I found it by the door this morning.

    She was 11 to hear what her mother said. She understood that she didn't wear the hair clip to school 12 .

    It's not important what we wear or how we 13 . The most 14 thing is how we think about ourselves (我们自己). 15 we want to do a thing successfully, first try to be confident (自信). If we think we can, we can.

    Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and their children were going to begin their holiday one day, and they had to be at the airport at eleven forty in the morning. "It'll take us half an hour to get there in the car," Mr. Wilson said, "so we must leave before eleven o'clock. Don't be late."

    At ten minutes to eleven, they were busy doing things, except Mrs. Wilson didn't, she was sitting quietly on a chair in the garden and enjoying the sun.

    Her husband and children were very surprised. Why wasn't she busy, too. Mrs. Wilson answered, "Well, before I went to bed last night, I moved all our clocks and watches ahead twenty minutes. So now we can go to the airport quietly, Don't worry, then."

    Rene was born in an Indian village in Oaxaca, Mexicon. His family lived in a small house. They spoke an Indian language. Rene started school in the village when he was six years old. There was no school for older children in the village. So Rene went to Oaxaca City when he was nine years old. This was a big step for Rene. It was his first time in a city.

    Little Rene got a job in the city. He worked for a rich family. He took care of their big house. He worked during the day, and he went to school at night. He learned good work and study habits. He learned Spanish, and he grew up.

    When Rene was thirteen years old, he returned to his village. He had many brothers and sisters. His mother needed help. Rene felt bad. He could not go to high school.

    When Rene was twenty years old, he took a very big step. He went to Los Angeles. He worked as a cook. He took English classes in his spare time. Then he went to university. He studied very hard.

    Today, Rene teaches English. He tells his students," Learning English is not so hard. Having good habits is the most important thing! Be organized. Use your time well. Have a good time!"

    It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime—my first trip abroad alone, without my parents. I had organized everything myself and I would show them how independent I could be.

    I had arranged to stay in a farmhouse outside a village in southern Italy. My schedule said that the plane would arrive in Italy at five o'clock in the afternoon and it was a thirty-minute drive from the airport to the village. I wanted to get to my destination before it got dark, so I could have a drink, watch the sunset and enjoy an evening meal.

    The problems began at the airport. My plane was three hours late taking off. I walked around the airport, looked in the shops, and drank coffee in the cafes. I didn't eat anything. That was a mistake! When the plane finally took off, they gave me a cold, tasteless meal which I could not eat.

    We arrived in Italy in the early evening and I was feeling lightheaded from the Lack of food. The sun was setting as I was collecting my bags! I missed it completely! I went to the desk to find my hire car and that was when I discovered the next problem. The receptionist couldn't find my name in the computer and there were no more cars. There were no buses or trains to the village, and the taxis were in strike.

    The receptionist felt sorry for me. She phoned her brother, Alessandro, who agreed to take me to the village. I waited for Alessandro at the front gate and he arrived driving a very old car with smoke pouring out of the engine. We set off. Fifteen minutes later we broke down. I was tired and depressed and very, very hungry. I began to think my parents were right. Maybe I was too young to travel on my own. Luckily, Alessandro was a mechanic. After an hour, he fixed the car and we started driving again.

    It was nearly midnight when we arrived at the farmhouse. A man opened the door and smiled. "Come in," he said. "We have been waiting for you." I sat with a group of the friendliest people I've ever met and had a meal that was absolutely wonderful. And I'm glad to say that the rest of my trip runlet out to be exactly the same.

    In ancient times, there was a king who loved flowers. His palace was always decorated with beautiful orchids(兰花)and other flowers. As the king grew older, he knew that one day he would have to give up his throne(王位). He had to find someone new to rule the country.

    He came up with a competition. He asked his servants to travel to every part of the country and give every person a flower seed. He then announced that whoever grew him the most beautiful flower would take his throne.

    Everyone in the country then got their own seed. One young man named David was especially excited about the competition, as he had experience growing flowers himself,

    David planted his seed in a pet and put it in a place where it would get lots of sunlight. He took care to water it every day. But as hard as he tried, his flower simply would not grow.

    Finally, it was time for everyone to show their flowers to the king. David took his empty pot to the palace.

    "Your Majesty, I am sorry to say that I could not grow a flower this time at all, ________,"he said.

    The king was quite satisfied with David's honesty. Although he did not choose David as the new king, he gave David a job as a judge(法官). He believed that David's honesty would make him the right person to make sure the justice(公正)in the country.