A lot of boys and girls in western countries are wearing the same clothes, and many boys have long hair, so it is difficult to tell whether they are boys or not.

      One day an old man went for a walk in a park in Washington and when he was tired, he sat down on a chair by a swimming pool. A young person was standing on the other side of the pool.

     “Oh!” the old man said to the person sitting next to him, “Do you see the person with the loose clothes and long hair? Is it a boy or a girl?”

     “A girl,” said the person, “She is my daughter.”

     “Oh!” the old man said quickly, “Please forgive me. I don't know that you are her mother. ”

     “I'm not,” said the person, “I'm her father.”

    Mr. and Mrs Jones seldom(很少) go out in the evening , but last Sunday Mrs Jones said to her husband , “ There is a good film at the cinema this evening . Can we go to see it ? ”

    Mr. Jones was quite happy about it . So they went there and they enjoyed the film . They came out of the cinema at 11 o'clock , going into the car and began to drive home . It was quite dark . Then Mrs Jones said , “ Bill , look , a woman is running along the road very fast and a man is running after her . Can we help her ? ''

    Mr. Jones said , “ Yes , I can .''  He drove the car slowly near the woman and said to her , “ Can we help you ? ” “ No , thank you , ” the woman said , but she didn't stop running . “ My husband and I run home after the film , and the last one will wash the dishes at home .”

    John Brown, an office worker, lives in Washington. He inherited $1,000,000 after his parents died. He didn't feel happy at all. His college friends were looking for their first jobs, but he didn't have to. John decided to keep living a simple life like everyone else. He didn't tell any of his friends and gave$100,000 of his money to a charity that helped poor children. Today he is 36, and he still wears cheap clothes and drives a small car only, but he is much happier.

    So far, John has helped 15 children from poor countries all over the world, $200 a month for each. The child does not receive the money in cash（现金）. The money is paid for the child's education, food, medical care and clothing. John receives a report each year on the child's progress. They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English.

    Once John went to meet a little girl he was helping in Africa. He said that the meeting was exciting." When I met her, I felt very happy. He said. "I saw that the money was used for a very good plan. It brought me closer to the child in a way that only giving money cannot." "I want to do everything I can. I will go on helping those children in need." he added.

    A taxi hit a truck. A policeman spoke to the taxi driver and to the truck driver. He also spoke to Tom. Tom was a witness(目击者). This is what they said.

    TRUCK DRIVER: I was driving from the airport to Newton. A car crossed the road, so I slowed down. I did not stop. A taxi: hit the back of my truck. Nobody was seriously hurt but both the truck and the taxi were damaged(损害).

    TAXI DRIVER: I was driving behind a truck a few kilometers from Newton. The truck stopped suddenly. The driver did not give me a warning(警告). I was driving very slowly. I could not pass the truck because there were two cars coming near from Newton. My taxi hit the truck, and some glass cut my left hand.

    TOM: I was watching the traffic about a kilometer from the airport. A truck was going to Newton. It was going fast. When the truck slowed down, the taxi hit it. The taxi driver was not looking at the truck. He was looking out of the window at something. My friend saw the accident, too.

Tom's friend spoke to the policeman and agreed with .Tom.

Our community library decided to offer a painting class. I told my friend Ella, and we both signed up.

On the big day, our first 1 was to paint a white vase of cheerful yellow sunflowers against a blue background.

We were asked to paint our canvas (画布) 2 . It was easy to follow the instructor to move the brush. Although I had never painted before, I could tell I was a 3 . I started thinking about where I would hang my new masterpiece.

Immediately after that, however, I began to run into 4 . The first curved (弯曲的) line of my vase looked perfect, but when I painted the line on the opposite side, my hand slipped (打滑). I tried to 5 that white streak (条痕) with blue paint, but it didn't work.

While I was busy fixing my messy painting, the instructor explained how to paint the sunflower leaves. Things went downhill fast after that. My leaves looked like fat, green caterpillars (毛毛虫). When I failed to clean my paintbrush, I accidentally made the sunflowers green. I felt 6 when I saw how good everyone else's paintings looked.

Ella sweetly praised my sunflowers, perhaps feeling sorry for me. When I said that hers were much better, she looked surprised. "No, they're not. I messed up in at least five places." After a few seconds, she asked, "Want to 7 paintings?"

Until that moment, I had felt only dislike for my painting. And yet for some reason, giving it away felt wrong. It wasn't a perfect painting, but it was mine—the first one I had ever created. I knew Ella must have realized that she felt the same way when she suddenly shook her head and said. "Never mind."

My sunflower painting still hangs directly above my bed. I often look at it. Every time I look at it. I 8 . It always brightens my day and brings warmth to my room. I really like it now.