B

    Amanda Kitts is one of “tomorrow's people” people who have artificial (人工的) body pats. She has a bionic(电子操控的)arm.

    Now, Kitts runs a day-care center. Children run up to her happily as she comes into the classroom. She bends over to talk with a small girl. As she bends Kitts puts her hands on her knees. For most people, this would be easy. However, just a few years ago, this was impossible for Kitts.

    In 2006, Kitts was in a car accident. A truck crushed(挤坏) her left arm and the doctor had to cut it off. "I was angry, sad, depressed. I just couldn't accept it," she says. But then she heard about a new technique that could use the remaining nerves(神经) in her shoulder to contort an artificial arm.

    In a difficult operation, a doctor moved Kitts's nerves to different areas of her upper- arm muscles. For months, the nerves grew. Millimeter by millimeter, they moved deeper into their new homes. “At three months I started feeling little tingles and twitches(刺痛和抽搐),”she said. A month later, she got her first bionic arm. A research engineer worked with Kitts to make the computer programs match her real movements more and more closely.

    Today, Kitts's arm is great, but it's not yet perfect. She wants feeling in her hands. For example, she needs to feel whether something is rough or smooth. She also needs feeling to do one of her favorite things-drink coffee "The problem with a paper coffee cup is that my hand will close until it gets a solid grip,” she says. One time at a coffee shop, her hand kept closing until it crushed the cup. But Kitts says positively, "One day I'll be able to feel things with it, and clap my hands… to the songs my kids are singing”

The Bird's Christmas Tree

    It's a sun shining winter afternoon. In a small yard in Luss, Scotland, Kate and Effie{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (tie) the baskets to the branches（树枝）of the Christmas tree and filling them with corns. The children {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (work) busily but happily for many hours, making the little baskets for the birds.

    Many birds come in. Some are eating, and others are dancing.

    Even the pretty blue jay(蓝松鸦) {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(forget) to be pretty. When he has eaten his fill, he is flying away, crying "Thanks, thanks!"

    What a happy life the tree brings to the birds and the children! But two weeks ago, the tree {#blank#}4{#/blank#}nearly {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(cut) into firewood.

    Two weeks ago， the Christmas tree was once in the living room. Kate and Effie, and Sue and Tom, had a happy Christmas Day, for the tree was hung with gifts for them all.

    One day, when the children{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(play) games around the tree, John came and told them that he was going to carry it into the woodshed.

    "What {#blank#}7{#/blank#}you {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(do) with it, John?" the children asked.

    "I want to cut it into firewood," answered John.

    "Oh, don't!" cried the children. "Our beautiful tree! Let us {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(have) it a little longer!"

    "What will you do with it?" asked John.

    "We {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(put) it in the yard and make a Christmas tree for the birds," replied the children.

    So John carried the fir tree into the yard. There it {#blank#}11{#/blank#}(stand) in the white snow, spreading out its beautiful green branches.

    "Now" cried Effie, "let us make some baskets {#blank#}12{#/blank#} (fill) corns. Then we will tie them to the tree for the birds. "

    What happened next? As you can see at the beginning of the story, the birds are living happily. With the birds and the tree, the children are also very happy. It is hard to tell which are happier, the birds or the children. I believe the tree is the happiest of all.

Vince: Hello, may I speak to Susan, please?

Susan: Speaking.

Vince: Hello, Susan! This is Vince speaking. It's Sunday tomorrow. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Susan: Nothing much. Do you have any ideas?

Vince: The spring has come. I hear many flowers in the park blooming together. It must be very beautiful.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Susan: Good idea. My sister Lacy also likes flowers very much. Let's invite her to come with us.

Vince Why not? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}So we can take some wonderful photos.

Susan: Great. I like taking photos. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Vince: Let's meet outside the library at half past nine in the morning.

Susan: How shall we go there?

Vince: Let's go there by bike.

Susan Oh, my bike is broken. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Vince: All right. See you!

Susan: See you!

    Friends are an important part of our lives. We spend time with them, have fun together, and share our opinions, feelings and even secrets. Life would be boring without friends.

    Friends' influence who we are. help us learn, support(支持)us in good and bad times, and care for us even when we are not happy.

    Often. We have many happy moments with our friends. We need someone to share things with to make them more enjoyable. Being lonely for long periods of time is not a great feeling.

    That is why it is important to spend time making friends and nurturing (维持), a close group of friends.

    It is important to have a friend to talk to，whether(不论) it is about a sad or happy subject.

    In good times, it is wonderful to be able to celebrate with someone. It is also important to have someone support you if you have just had an unpleasant experience. Friends arc important pillars(中心人物)of support.

    Friends teach us important lessons. No one person is the same. As time goes by, we learn to respect one another's differences. This acceptance of others' differences is important as we meet more and more people in our lives, such as new family members, neighbours and new friends.