"Why do I live? Why do I wish for anything, or do anything? Is there anything in my life that will not be destroyed by my death?" Like Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer, many people ask these difficult questions. Tolstoy spent his whole life trying to answer these difficult questions.

    As a young man, he thought people could achieve perfection if they tried hard enough. So he worked very hard to be the best in everything. He thought that he would find meaning and truth in success.

    In 1850s. Tolstoy wrote his first stories. He wrote about his life in the army. He also told stories about his childhood. These works were published and Tolstoy became a well-known writer.

    He earned the respect he always wanted. Many rich and smart men met and talked with Tolstoy. Some of them were writers like him. They talked a lot about faith (信仰) and the meaning of life. But soon Tolstoy recognized that these men were not perfect. Now he knew they could not answer his questions about faith.

    So in the 1860s, Tolstoy tried a different way to find the meaning of life. He opened a school for the children of his serfs-the people who worked on his land. These workers were very poor. He wanted to help them because he thought they were more honest than the rich people he knew.

    Tolstoy learned a lot from his workers. He understood how they worked hard to support their families. He began to believe that marriage and family would give his life meaning. So in 1862, Leo Tolstoy married a young woman named Sonya Behrs.

    The next 15 years were the best years of Tolstoy's life. It was during this time that he wrote his most famous books-War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Many experts say that War and Peace is one of the greatest books ever written. In these books, Tolstoy believed humans should live a simple life and take care of their families. Tolstoy thought this would satisfy him and bring him happiness.

    Leo Tolstoy is still a very respected writer today. His faith and writings have influenced many people all over the world.

Dave is my friend. His family is rich. His parents always give himlots of pocket money(零用钱). But Dave thinks his parents work very hard and it's not easy forthem to make money, so he always tries to save money. He has some good ways todo it.

Dave likes books. He tells me he often buys books online, because they'recheaper. And when he is free, he often goes to bookshops to do some reading. Davehas a bike. He usually goes to school by bike instead of(代替) taking a bus. Sometimes whenit rains or snows, he walks. These two ways help Dave keep healthy and savemoney.

Dave brings a bottle of water to school every day. When others drinkjuice, he enjoys water. He says water is the cheapest and the best drink.

Some students think Dave is mean(吝啬的). But I don't think so. I think he is right.

The singer and actress Eartha Kitt was born into a poor family in South Carolina in1927. When Eartha was eight, her stepfather（继父）didn't want Eartha to live with them. She was sent to New York City to live with an aunt. The relationship was difficult. The aunt helped pay for piano and dance lessons for Eartha. But she also treated the girl badly.

Eartha lived on the streets and worked in a factory as a young teenager. But she kept up her dance lessons. One day, she decided to try out for a famous African-American dance company called the Katherine Dunham Company. Soon, Eartha was performing in shows around the world with the company.

In Paris, Eartha left the dance company to sing in a nightclub. Her voice was unusual. People there liked her singing. She learned French quickly and had many French fans.

The film director Orson Welles discovered Eartha singing in Paris. He called her "the most exciting woman in the world". Welles asked her to play a lead part in a play that he was directing（执导）and also playing a part in. Later, Eartha returned to NewYork and appeared in the Broadway show New Faces of 1952. A humorous song she sang about a bored, spoiled woman became famous. Eartha appeared in the 1957 movie The Mark of the Hawk. She was very careful about choosing her roles in films. Her other films in the 1950s included St. Louis Blues and Anna Lucasta. Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Kitt recorded, worked in films, television, and nightclubs, and returned to the Broadway stage. In 1964, Kitt helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. In the late 1960s, she played "Catwoman" in the television series Batman. This role made her really famous.

Hello!My name is Kylie Brown.I'm eight years old.I'm from London，England.I love animals very much.There is a cat，a bird and a duck in my home.

The cat's name is Kopa.He is brown and he is three.He likes sleeping.Polly is my bird.She is green.She likes singing.And what is my favourite animal？It's the duck.His name is Snow.He is white and he likes swimming.

I think Snow loves me too.He follows（跟随）me all the time when I'm at home.Every morning，he stands on the chair and wakes me up（叫醒）

One day，a student asked his teacher，"What is greed（贪婪）1 ，but asked the student to walk through the chocolate2 next to their school and pick out（选出）the3 chocolate bar he could find. But there was a rule：as he passed through the factory，he could not turn back. 

The student went to the chocolate factory. 4 he walked，he saw a large chocolate bar. He liked it but thought he might be able to find an even bigger one if he kept going. He kept walking and saw5 chocolate bar. This one was a little bigger. But again，he thought he could find an even bigger one if he kept going. As he neared the end of the factory，he saw fewer chocolate bars6 of them were as large as the earlier ones. He started to7 his decision to keep going. Finally，he gave up. He went back to his teacher empty—handed and8 what had happened. The teacher told him，"You liked the9 chocolate bar，but you kept looking for a bigger one. And later，you realized that you had given up the best chocolate bar because you thought you could do better. That is called10 . "

Sometimes，we let go of（舍弃）good things in our life because we think we can find something even better. We should learn to make our choices wisely.