Dear Ricky,
How are you {#blank#}1{#/blank#} on? Thanks very much for sending me the pictures and the English reading materials. From the pictures I can {#blank#}2{#/blank#} that your school looks very beautiful. The reading materials are very useful and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. I can learn a lot from them. Some stories are so interesting that I like them very much.
Now I don't have {#blank#}4{#/blank#} time for my hobbies. I am busy getting ready for the coming exams. I'm working hard at all my lessons because I want {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a better result.
I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours,
Wu Ming

（1）My{#blank#}1{#/blank#}  are   collecting old coins and flying the kites
（2）I am{#blank#}2{#/blank#} in the writer job
（3）Thanks for{#blank#}3{#/blank#} me to your house
（4）How long has your mother{#blank#}4{#/blank#} math at this school
（5）Our class is {#blank#}5{#/blank#}   a talent show to raise money for education.

Is it good to be in the middle? Sometimes, no, like when you're in the middle seat on a long car ride. But sometimes, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, like when you're in the middle of a great movie. What will happen next? Middle school is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} bit like that.

Middle school is called middle school {#blank#}3{#/blank#} it's in the middle of your school years. Elementary school is {#blank#}4{#/blank#} you. High school and possibly college still await(等待) you. Middle school often includes sixth, seventh, and eighth {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, but you might go to middle school earlier or later, depending on how it's done in your area.

    For a kid, going to middle school is often a big change:

       ·First, it often means moving to a new {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, which takes some time to adjust(调整) to.

      ·Second, it may mean taking a different bus, with different students.

      ·Third, the friends you {#blank#}7{#/blank#} in elementary school may end up going to different middle schools.

    All that can make you {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a bit scared on the first day of school.

Other things that probably will be different are the teachers and the work. Have you heard that middle school teachers are really mean and the homework is really, really {#blank#}9{#/blank#}? Oh, dear. We've heard those, too, but usually they're not {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. Yes, you'll like some teachers better than others, but middle schools are not special for teachers!

    I once had an unforgettable experience that has affected and directed the way I think and act now.

    When I was about seven years old, my grandfather {#blank#}1{#/blank#} me to a fish pond on a farm and told me to throw a stone into the water. He told me to watch the circles created {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the stone. Then he asked me to think of myself as that stone. “You may create lots of circles in your life, but the waves {#blank#}3{#/blank#}come from those circles will disturb (干扰) the peace of all the people around you,” he said {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. “Remember that your circle may spread to many other circles, meaning that your thoughts or actions may disturb others' {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You are responsible for what you put in your circle. If you want, the good or peace that comes from your circles{#blank#}6{#/blank#}to others. At the same time, the anger or jealousy (嫉妒) coming from your circle will also spread to other circles. You should allow the good feelings {#blank#}7{#/blank#} others, not the bad ones, because you are responsible for both.”

    That was the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} time I heared my grandfather tell me these. I had realized that each person's {#blank#}9{#/blank#}or anger can move out into the world. If we are filled with doubt or anger, we cannot create world peace. We spread the feeling and thoughts that we hold inside, whether we speak {#blank#}10{#/blank#} or not. These circles are spreading into the world. Creating beauty or making troubles to other circles of life.