It's the day before Christmas. Karen Hartley, 33, was skiing（滑雪）by 1 at Powder Mountain in Utah. By mistake, she began to ski off the trail. Soon she 2. She shouted for help, but no one heard her. Night came, and the temperature 3 below freezing（凝冻）. Karen was very cold and afraid of 4. But she stayed calm. She played music in her mind and danced all night long to stay 5. She danced to old disco songs, pop songs, and Christmas songs. “It was either dance 6 die,” she said. “I kept on 7. I didn't give up.”

    The next morning, a helicopter began to 8 Karen. After 18 hours in the cold, she was 9 just before it's too late. Karen was very cold but all right. She 10 Christmas Day in a hot tub（浴缸）.

    J.K. Rowling is the writer of Harry Potter, which is now one of 1 sellers in the world. She was born in Britain on July 31st, 1965. She had one sister who was two years younger than her. Both girls liked 2 to their father's bedtime stories. They especially loved stories about magic. Rowling wrote her first story3the age of six.

    On a long train trip in 1990, an idea came to her. She wanted to write about a boy who had magic but he didn't know it. In 1992, Rowling began4 the first Harry Potter book for young5. It appeared in June, 1997. The book was a great success. And the film came out in November, 2001. Now the Harry Potter series (系列) is6with people of all ages and about sixty7books were sold in 200 countries. In this series, Harry is an ordinary boy: polite, friendly, brave and clever. So when children read about Harry, they can imagine being like him. That's8the Harry Potter series has been so popular. J.K. Rowling is very9with the success. Now she's really enjoying life. She said she would go on 10 children's books.

    Mr. Jackson was our science teacher. On the first day of class, he gave us a talk about an animal called wampus. He told us that the wampus lived on earth millions of years ago during the Ice Age and died out because of the change of climate(气候). We all listened carefully and took 1 of everything he said. Later we had a 2.

    When the exam paper was 3to me, I was surprised and sad, there was a big red "×" through each of my answers, I failed. But how come? 4, on the test paper, I had written down 5 Mr. . Jackson said in class.

    Then I realized that no one 6 the exam at all. What had happened?

    "Very simple," Mr. Jackson explained. "I had 7 all that story about the wampus. There had never been any such animal, so the information in your notes was not correct. Do you expect to get 8 marks for incorrect answers？"

    There was no need to say we were 9. What kind of test was this? What kind of teacher was he?

    How could we believe he gave us so much information about an animal that had not been there at all? How was it possible 10 us students to doubt what the teacher taught us?

    "The zeroes on your papers will be 11 in your grade books," he said. And he did it.

Through this experience, Mr. Jackson hoped that we would learn something. Teachers and books are not always 12. In fact, no one is. He told us not to let our mind go to sleep. Instead, we should keep thinking all the time and speak up if we think there are13in our teachers' words or in books.

    We should 14 the habit of doubting, and the ability to decide by ourselves. What a special 15 he gave us.

    It was more than 80 years ago, when an army quietly passed across the Yudu River in Ganzhou, Jiangxi. They were the Chinese Central Red Army. They decided to start a 1 and hard march. It was 2 known as the Long March. This year is the 83"' year of the victory of the famous march. Let's learn something about it.

    During the Long March, the Chinese Central Red Army passed many places. They 3from Jiangxi, passed through several provinces and finally arrived in Shaanxi. It is said that they 4 about 25,000 li (about 12,500 kilometers) during the Long March.

    At school, you may have learned in books that soldiers 5 many difficulties. They lived a 6 life and fought against the enemies. They crossed Chishuihe for four times, 7 many kinds of difficulties. In Sichuan, soldiers spent a hard time creeping(匍匐)across Luding Chain Bridge, which was 8 13 iron chains(铁链), in the middle of gun fire. They also climbed 9 the snowy Jiajin Mountain, which was 4,930 meters high. They didn't have enough food to eat, so they often went 10 for days. And they didn't have enough 11 to stay away from the cold. Many soldiers 12. About 86,000 people took part in the march, 13 only about 7,000 were left when they arrived in Shaanxi.

    Today, we can visit the places that they once passed through. This way, we may truly understand the 14 of the Long March：Never be 15 of difficulties and never give up hope.

    A long time ago, there was a seed. Because he was only a seed,1noticed him. So the seed thought he was not important in the world.

    One day, a wind2the seed and threw him on an open field. Later, he enjoyed the water on wet days and the3on clear days, which helped him grow. Years later, another day he saw a traveller sitting by his side.

    "Wow, how lucky I am! I can have a rest4a tree on such a hot day the traveller said.

    "What are you talking about "the seed quickly asked. He thought the man was making fun of him because no one ever spoke to him like that.

    "5just spoke?" the shocked man asked.

    "It's me, A seed."

    "The man said. Are you joking? You're not a seed. You are a big 6!"

    "Really?"

    "Yes! People often sit here to7your shade! Don't tell me you didn't know that."

    The traveler's words made him happy. The seed thought and8for the first time in his life.

    The years of torture by the sun and the rain helped him9grow up. "Oh! That means I' m not a little seed any more! In fact, I can make people feel10. Wow! That's great to be helpful."