Alf is a big soccer fan. At school, there are lots of children playing soccer. Alf really wants to be a soccer star, But he thinks he isn't good at soccer. He feels very sad. He always thinks about how to be a great soccer player.

    One day, Alf went to watch the school soccer match on the playground. Suddenly Alf shouted, “Look out!” Alf jumped up in the air and made a very good save(救球)！

    All the soccer players and the coach cheered. “What a good save, Alf! You're the best!” Everyone said.

    The soccer coach said, “Alf, come with me.” Alf stood in the goal(球门) and the coach took a shot(射门). It was a good shot, but Alf saved it. Alf saved the next shot, too. And the next one. All the children cheered.

    Now Alf knows he is a very good goalkeeper. He is good at playing soccer after all.

    Ten years ago, I lost my job in Hangzhou. I had to move to Shanghai to find another job. I left my wife and children behind. I missed them very much, so I went home on weekends to see them.

    A few days after New Year's Day, I drove my old car back to Hangzhou. On the way, my car broke down (发生故障). It was so cold and I didn't know what to do. Suddenly, a young man drove up. He tried his best to help me repair the car. He soon got it started.

    I was so thankful that I gave him all the money in my purse, but he refused. Then I got to know that he helped the drivers in trouble on the road every weekend. What a kind man! How lucky I was to meet him in my life!

    Many years later. I still often remember that great man.

    Many years ago, there lived an old man with his three sons, Dharma, Harrison and Keith, in a village. The man worked hard when he was young, so he had the largest farmyard and the most beautiful house in the village. However, his sons were all born to be lazy, which made him disappointed. He was worried that his sons would use up his money and starve to death.

    One day, the old man came up with a plan. He called his sons and said to them, "Look, my dear sons. There is lots of hidden gold in the land at the farmyard. If you work together, you may find it."

    In a wish to find out the gold, his sons worked hard from the morning to the evening digging and digging all through the land. Three days had passed, but they didn't find what they were looking for. They got frustrated and angry. They decided to give up and returned to ask their father.

    "There is no gold in the land. We are cheated."

    "Since the land has been dug soft, why don't you plant some crops there?" was the reply of the father to the sons.

    Off went the sons. Soon the whole once useless land was rich crops.

    "This is the real gold, my sons," said the proud father.

The erhu is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It is the most popular of the huqin family. In the Song Dynasty, musicians began to use this type of huqin to perform different kinds of music, and it became quite a popular instrument. With the rise of some forms of folk art, the art of the erhu developed quickly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It became an important accompanying (伴奏) instrument in different folk music. Now it is used in both traditional and modern music. It has even become a solo (独奏的) instrument. One of the most famous musical pieces played on the erhu is Erquan Yingyue by Abing.

The erhu used to be mainly played by common people, As the playing skills were passed down by oral (口传) tradition, there are few written records about the erhu that can be found. To study the history and the development of the erhu, historians usually turn to ancient paintings, sculptures and murals (雕塑和璧画). The earliest pictures of this instrument were found in Yulin Caves and Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves in Gansu Province.

Because of so many people's effort, the erhu becomes more and more popular around the world. In fact, we can hear the familiar sound of the erhu in many Hollywood productions, such as Kungfu Panda in 2012 and most recently, the Oscar nominated(提名)film Up in the Air(《在云端》). When people watch these movies, they also enjoy the special music of the erhu. The erhu is also called "Chinese violin" by many westerners, but in many ways, they are quite different.

My father was busy fixing Belinda's spaceship all afternoon. In the evening, I went to the landing place. "Dear Father," I said politely. "Have you found Belinda's parents yet?"

"Not yet, my dear." He shook his head.

I felt relaxed. I didn't want to meet Belinda's parents—they might be ten times as loud and bossy as she was.

But Belinda had followed me.

"Not yet?" she shouted. "Why not? I'll send them a message! They'll listen to me!"

Belinda ran to the radio. She shouted into it so loudly that I had to cover all my four ears. "Mummy! Daddy! I'm on an awful spaceship full of purple people! Come and find me now!"

"Poor Belinda!" my sister came and said. "Her parents must be missing her."

"Huh!" I snorted (发出哼声). "Missing her? You're joking! Who would want such a bossy kid back? They probably lost her on purpose."

Belinda's face clouded. I thought she was going to shout again, but she didn't. Instead, something very strange happened — her eyes began to water!

"Oh, help!" said Roa. "Is she dying?"

I felt terrible. "Don't die, Belinda! I didn't mean it."

Then Belinda opened her mouth wide and shouted, "What if it's true? What if they've gone away and left me here forever?"

We were all so busy comforting Belinda that we didn't notice the soft knock of a ship landing outside. We didn't see two tall people come out of it until Belinda ran out in excitement.

"Mummy! Daddy!"

Belinda's parents were even uglier than she was, but they looked polite. "Hello, dear," the female said. "We're sorry we kept you waiting."

We smiled as the three of them boarded their spaceship. "Goodbye!" shouted Belinda. "Goodbye! Thanks for taking care of our baby girl!" said her father.

None of us answered. We waved (挥手) cheerfully as the ship took off and went far away into the stars.

Mandy's family lived in a small village. They had a hard but happy life. Mandy was never lonely,1 many children played on the hill behind their house.

But one winter, Mandy fell ill. Her parents were too 2 to pay for the medicine. Mandy had to sit by the window, watching her friends outside.

One day, a spider(蜘蛛) came and began to spin(结网) down next to her. When Mom came in, she noticed the3 too." Please get out!"

" No, she is my friend. Please let her stay. Look! She's spinning 4 me."

How thankful the spider was!5 came. The family started to decorate(装饰) the tree. Mom prepared some eggs and Mandy started to paint on them. But after a while, she was tired. Mom helped her finish the 6 and hung them on the tree. Dad found some pieces of wood and cut a few stars, but without Mandy, it didn't feel the same 7 .

When the family were asleep, the spider began to 8 . She spun down to the floor, then carefully climbed every branch(树枝), leaving her web s behind.9 , she reached the top of the tree.

Before long, the 10 air blew under the door and turned the gray webs to silver—— real silver.

" Look! It's real silver!" Mandy was very 11 ." The best Christmas gift for me!"

" How is this possible?" Mom and Dad were also amazed at the 12 .

Mandy looked up at the web," It must be 13 spider friend. Thank you!"

The next day, Dad took the silver to exchange for coins. They were enough to pay for Mandy's14 . Two weeks later, Mandy was on the hill,15 with her friends again.