My father was born in a poor village in the north of Jiangsu, China. When he was a young boy, he went to school in the morning, and then 1 in the fields till sunset. And then he did his homework until midnight. Life was hard, because they had no 2!

    At the age of 14, my father heard of the United States of America. It was the 3 of gold, the land where poor people can become rich.

   “Why don't I go to America?” he thought to himself, full of 4.

    So, my father came to America. “I had thought it was easy to 5 money in America.” he told me. “But when I arrived there, I realized it's not 6. They didn't like to hire(雇佣) me because I spoke little English. Later, I worked in a small restaurant, cleaning up tables, 7 dishes and sweeping the floor. Life was hard for the first few years. I worked from 10 a. m. to 11 p. m. I wanted to go to school to learn English, but it's impossible. I couldn't 8 the schooling(学费).”

    My father 9 working hard，and reached his goal.

  “Alan,” he often told me. “If you want something, you have to work for it and never give up. Things do not come  10 in life.” That's what I learned from my father.

Dear Tony,

    I'm glad to1you．Now let me tell you something about my2life．I was born in3village．It was not big but4was beautiful and clean．There5a big garden．Near the garden was my first school，6I walked to school.My first teacher was7 and nice,but she was also8us.My best friends are Wang Mai and Li Dong.Wang Mai was good at all9and he was the top pupil(尖子学生)．Li Dong was good at football and he was a member of our school football team．

    I am looking forward to going back to my school and 10 my teachers and friends．

Yours，

Du Ming

The Phone Call

    It was getting dark. Paul looked out of the window and signed ( 叹气 ). Dad said he could come home by 5:30, but it was almost 7:00. Even if Dad came back, it wouldn't be much fun playing1in the dark. Paul walked into his room and threw his baseball into the corner. He tried to do some homework, but couldn't.

    The phone rang at about 8:00. It was Dad, "Paul, I'm2, but I couldn't play baseball with you tonight. I have to finish my work at the office. Maybe we can play this weekend. Oh no. How about next weekend?

    Paul couldn't understand why Dad was so3 He threw himself into the sofa and soon fell asleep. His book was still opened to the first page.

    The next day at school, Paul didn't hand in his homework and 4 a test. Mrs Green, his teacher, asked him to stay after school. "Paul, you didn't do your homework. You didn't pass the test and only got a D. This isn't like you. What's wrong?"

    Paul just sat there 5"Paul, if you don't want to talk, I will. I know that something's worrying with you, but you have to get it out. You need to tell someone.

    As Paul walked home, he thought of what Mrs Green said. Maybe he didn't do his homework because he wanted to get his dad's 6He knew Mrs Green was right. He decided to take her advice.

    When Paul got home, he 7his dad. But there was no answer. Then it went to voicemail(语音信箱). Paul began talking, "Dad, I can't play with you next weekend. I've got lots of problems with my homework. Also, I really don't want to spend another day looking out of the window and waiting, whenever you 8our plans, Dad, it hurts me. It's not too late to rebuild our relationship, but we have to start small. Maybe you can help me with my 9sometime. Dad, I love you. "

    As Paul ended the call, he felt much relaxed.  He didn't know whether his dad would be different, but it didn't matter.  He himself 10 He expressed his feelings to the right person. He had a clear head as he was doing his homework that evening.

    We began our hunt for the treasure. At the top of the hill, we sat down to rest. Suddenly, a1from trees started singing: "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

    The pirates were2. Their faces turned white, and some of them jumped up.

    "It's Flint!" cried one.

    "Someone is playing the 3 on us," said Silver.

    The men started to feel better at these words. 4 the voice called out again.

    "Darby McGraw," it called out several times. "Fetch the rum, Darby!"

    The pirates5where they were, looking around in fear.

    "Those were Flint's last words before he died," whispered one.

    "6 here except us knows about Darby," said Silver. "I'm here to get the treasure. I was never afraid of Flint when he was 7, and I'm not afraid of him now. There's 700,000 pounds a quarter of a mile from here. I'm not going to 8."

    "You're right, John," said one of the pirates. "And that voice 9like Flint's voice. It was more like…"

    "Ben Gunn!!" shouted Silver.

    "Yes!" cried another10. "It was Ben Gunn! And nobody is afraid of Ben Gunn, dead or alive."

    With this, the men's spirit returned. They picked up their things and we carried 11walking.

    We were now close to the tall trees. I was worried about Silver. I was sure he could easily kill everyone to keep the treasure for 12.

    "Hooray!" shouted one of the pirates and they all started running. Suddenly they stopped. When Silver and I reached them we saw13.

    In front of us there was a very big hole. At the 14of the hole there was a broken wooden box. On one of the sides I saw the word Walrus—the15 of Flint's ship.

    It was clear that the treasure was not there.

    A girl complained to her father about her hard life. She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up. She felt tired for fighting and fighting, one problem had been finished but another came.

    Her father, who was a cook 1 her into the kitchen. He poured water into the pans (锅) and boiled it. When the water was boiling, in the first pan he put some carrots, in the second he put some eggs and the last he put with coffee. He 2 them a few minutes without any words.

    The girl closed her mouth and waited impatiently, not knowing 3 her father was doing that. After about 20 minutes, her father turned 4 the stove, took out the carrots and put them in a bowl. He took the eggs and put them in another bowl. After that the 5 was poured into a cup. Turning back to his daughter, he asked, "What do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she answered.

    Her father told her to 6 her eyes and let her touch the carrots. She did and felt that the carrots were soft. After that he asked her to take the eggs and 7 them. Then she got boiled and hard eggs. At last, the father asked her to smell the coffee. "What is the meaning, Father?" He  __8 that each one had the same experience -the boiled water, but 9 had a different reaction(反应). The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak after being in the boiling water. The eggs became hard after being cooked. The coffee was very special and it changed the water. "Who are you?" asked her father, "When calamity(厄运) 10 your door, what is your reaction? Are you carrots, eggs or coffee?"