Dave is my friend. His family is rich. His parents always give him lots of pocket money(零用钱). But Dave thinks his parents work very hard and it's not easy for them to make money, so he always tries to save money. He has some good ways to do it.

Dave likes books. He tells me he often buys books online, because they're cheaper. And when he is free, he often goes to bookshops to do some reading. Dave has a bike. He usually goes to school by bike instead of(代替) taking a bus. Sometimes when it rains or snows, he walks. These two ways help Dave keep healthy and save money.

Dave brings a bottle of water to school every day. When others drink juice, he enjoys water. He says water is the cheapest and the best drink.

Some students think Dave is mean(吝啬的). But I don't think so. I think he is right.

    Peter and Mike are very good friends. They are in the same class at school. They often go to school and play t{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, and they often visit each other's home at weekends, too.

    Now they are b{#blank#}2{#/blank#} eight years old. Peter's mother has got a new baby. Peter is very glad to have a little brother, so he is always talking about his younger brother to Mike.

    At first Mike is very interested in the new baby because he doesn't have any sisters or brothers. But after some time he begins to get tired of Peter's endless talking about it. He also feels a little jealous (嫉妒) of his friend.

    One morning before class, when the two boys m{#blank#}3{#/blank#} at the school gate, Peter says to Mike cheerfully, "Do you know, Mike, my little brother, has put on nearly half a pound in weight this week."

    "That's not much at all," answers Mike. "I know a baby who can put on more than ten pounds a day."

    "Oh, that can't be t{#blank#}4{#/blank#}," answers Peter. "W{#blank#}5{#/blank#} baby is it?"

    "An elephant's," says Mike.

    Nearly 7,000 medical workers in the team supporting Central China's Hubei province left the capital, Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, and went back to their hometowns on Tuesday, March 31, marking the largest scale departure (离开) of medics (医学工作者)since the first group left on March 17. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has organized 51 planes to support the departure.

    More than 42,000 medics from other parts of the country have joined the battle with local medics to fight against COVID-19. The support teams came from 21 provinces, cities and autonomous regions(自治区) and some of them worked on several battlefields during the past months. The support team from the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, was among those in the group. Sixty members were in charge of treating COVID-19 patients in 100 beds in the Union Hospital and treated 174 patients who have been seriously ill since they arrived on Feb 10.

    Wang Zhenning, the leader of its support team, expressed his thanks to the Wuhan people who offered great help to them. "I am proud to witness and play a role in history. We've been here, seen it happen and become better. Wuhan is our second hometown. We will forever care about the city and the people fighting with us." he said.

    Wuhan city government showed great thanks to all medics in a letter, expressing their gratefulness of the medics' efforts to save lives in the battle. "Thanks to your arrival, Wuhan welcomes today's peace and stability. We will always remember your kindness!" the letter said. In it, the city government also invited the medics to visit Wuhan in the future for sightseeing. Local people volunteered to line up and see medics off as the medics left for home after finishing their mission(使命) in Wuhan. Wuhan traffic police led the way for medics to the airport.

    My neighbor is a doctor. He and his wife are some of the1people I have ever met. A few years ago, we started this kind of "favor war" where one of us would do something kind for the other, such as2the driveway or building a shed, and next time the other would3to top it with another favor.

    Yesterday morning, it snowed heavily and I remembered he shoveled (铲) my driveway for me. So I took out my shovel and took care of both our driveways and sidewalks because it was my turn to do a favor4. It took a while but I finished it and got into my car for work.

That night I got a5on my door, it was my neighbor. He immediately shook my hands and thanked me for shoveling his driveway and sidewalk, so that he was able to get to work earlier and6a boy.

    "As soon as I started the car early this morning, a call came through that a young boy in our neighborhood was seriously ill.7, my partner and I were only about 2 minutes away, but the closest ambulance 10 minutes," added he. "A young boy got to live his life because you did me the favor."

    It wasn't too much8to shovel a driveway, but what I did got a young boy to see his family again, go back to school again and live his life again.9favor is too small. Even the smallest favor can make the biggest10. One favor will always be followed by another.

Known as "soft gold", Gambiered Canton gauze (香云纱) is the only silk fabric (织物) that's still hand-dyed (手染的) using natural plants in the world today.

The skill has a history of more than 500 years. In 2008, it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage (国家非物质文化遗产). Ouyang Yongze is an inheritor of the dyeing skills from Guangdong. The man started learning the skills in 2017.

The dyeing process includes 30 steps. It can take up to six months and is done by hand with materials from nature. "The plant shuliang (薯莨), river mud, sunshine, and grass are all important in dyeing," Ouyang told China Daily.

To dye the fabric, workers put it in shuliang juice and let it dry on the grass. They repeat this many times until it turns brownish yellow. Then, they put river mud on it to help shuliang react fully. After washing and drying it again, the fabric turns black!

Mastering the skills is difficult, according to Ouyang, who put full effort into controlling the density (浓度) of shuliang juice. "Too much may cause color loss, and too little may nor lead to a dark enough fabric," he said. "Better control of the density comes after many failures."

Also, the job can be really tiring as workers have to be at work in the sun for 8 hours each day. Only a few people work in the industry, and skilled masters are getting older as fewer young people take part.

Considering this, Ouyang works harder to develop the traditional craft. He has got together other dyeing skills such as tie-dyeing (扎染法) and batik (蜡染) and has worked with famous fashion designers. They turn the silk into both traditional and fashionable clothes that are popular worldwide. He thinks this can help make the craft stay alive and drew people to the industry.