When I was twelve years old, my family lived next to a forest. Every evening, mockingbirds(知更鸟) would come and rest in the trees and sing. I enjoyed 1singing so much that I decided to catch a young bird. In this way, I 2 hear it sing for me every day.

    I finally managed3 one and put it in a cage. At first, the bird was very frightened, so it fluttered(扑腾)in4 new home all the time. Several days later, it was used 5 in this new home.

    The next day, the little bird's mother flew to the cage with 6food in her mouth. The baby bird looked very happy and ate everything 7the mother brought to it. I was so happy to see this, for the mother knew how to take care of her baby8than me.

    But9the bird morning, I found it died. I was terribly10and cried at once. I didn't know 11happened.

    Arthur Wayne, my father's friend, was a famous ornithologist(鸟类学家). She 12my father at that time.13she knew the whole thing, she explained to me," If a mother mockingbird finds her baby14in a cage, she will bring it poisonous berries(毒梅).She thinks it's better for her baby to die than to lose freedom."

Since then I 15any living animal in a cage. All living things have a right to live free.

    Mike lived in a small village near New York two years ago. He had a big brown dog. He liked the dog very much because once it saved a boy.

    One day, his dog stood next to an old well(井)." It stayed there for about half an hour," Bow-wow-wow," barked the dog. It barked and barked. Mike heard it and ran over to the well." Why do you stay here, my dear?" Mike asked. "And why are you barking?" The dog looked at him and looked at the well. "Bow-wow- wow ,”he barked even louder. Mike asked his friend Jim for help." Come here, Jim," he said." The dog wants to tell us something.”

    They looked down in to the well .They saw a. boy there. The boy couldn't speak. He was too scared(惊恐)。Mike went to get a rope( 绳)at once. He climbed down to save the boy with the help of the rope. The dog was really clever.

I am Jason. I am thirteen. My birthday is on July 15th. There are five people in my family. My mother is a clerk(职员) at a book store. She is busy but happy to sell books to students. Her birthday is on April 3rd, My father is a P.E. teacher in a middle school. He likes playing basketball. He always plays basketball with his students. Today is November 30th. It's my father's birthday. His students will play a basketball game with him. My grandmother is 57. Her birthday is on the same day as mine. She likes going to stores to buy vegetables and fruits for us. I like playing soccer, volleyball and basketball. So I am healthy. We always do things we like. We are very happy to be together.

Today I'd like to say something about my mother.

I often asked my mother for help when I had {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (difficult). But she always said, "Do it yourself, dear." I thought she {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (seem) to be the laziest mother in the world.

One day, I decided to {#blank#}3{#/blank#} some friends to my home. My room was not tidy (整洁的). Books were {#blank#}4{#/blank#} /ˈevriweə(r)/, and I didn't make the bed. I asked my mother to help me clean it, but she {#blank#}5{#/blank#} me and said "Do it yourself, girl." again.

Because of my "lazy mother", I had to {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (wash) my clothes and clean my room. I had to help my parents deal {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the housework. It was really hard for me to do everything well, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} I learned a lot.

Now, I know {#blank#}9{#/blank#} my mother always said that. Because of her "laziness", I became {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (help) and diligent (勤奋的). What a great mother!

One hot summer day, I bought a small boat when my family spent vacation enjoying the beaches of beautiful Gulf shores(岸). Both of my daughters played {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(happy) all day in the boat. Later the little one got tired. So I took her to our tent on the sand as my elder girl still played in the boat. But{#blank#}2{#/blank#}boat my elder daughter in was gradually moving far out from the shore. I called to her to come closer to the shore and she seemed to be {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (worry) and afraid. All she could do was to paddle(用桨划船) hard to one side, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}the boat was just making small circles.

I stood as far out in the water and kept {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(shout) instructions to her. Luckily, some{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(visitor) in a boat not far from her noticed and started to help her immediately.

I'm not a good swimmer but I decided to have a try. I didn't stop swimming until I couldn't feel {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(I) moving. But I always kept my eyes on her.{#blank#}8{#/blank#}the help of these kind people, I finally made my way back pulling her and calming her.

So far, I {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(learn) through the experience that maybe we think we are not strong enough sometimes, but{#blank#}10{#/blank#}we trust ourselves and take the first step, we'll have all the power we need.

One day, a hunter went hunting with his dog. He saw a rabbit running out of a bush not far in front and 1 raised his gun to shoot. The rabbit was hurt. It ran away 2 . The hunter waved to the dog to 3 it. The well- trained dog rushed like an arrow, running very fast and full of 4 .

The rabbit ran so desperately that it 5 not to have been hurt at all. However, the dog was surprisingly left behind. Gradually, the dog was losing sight of the rabbit. At last when the dog 6 empty- handed, the hunter was angry and blamed it," How 7 ! Unable to catch an injured rabbit! No supper for you." Feeling sad, the dog tried to explain for 8 ," Though I didn't catch it, I had done my best."

When the rabbit got home, all the other rabbits were surprised at its 9 . They were dying to ask," How did you 10 to run away when the dog almost caught you? It's unbelievable! " The frightened rabbit answered," The dog would only be blamed for not catching me at most,11 all it did was to do its best. The situation was completely different 12 me. I would surely lose my life 13 I was caught. I had to go all out(竭尽全力)!"

We can learn a lesson for our daily life from the story. Have we ever examined ourselves and asked 14 we did our best or went all out when we looked for a(n) 15 for our failure?