D

    Linda was Tara's best friend before, but now things are different. Tara is a member of Purple Girls Club and they have some rules about who they can be friends with. Linda isn't very pretty and doesn't wear cool clothes. So she can't be in their club. Now Tara is making a name list for her party, and she decides not to invite Linda.

    “Tara, come here.” her mother calls from the living room. Tara goes to her mother and sees the school report card in her hands.

    “Tara, what's the matter with you? You have failed(不及格)math and English and you did badly in all of your other subjects. You were such a good student before!”

    Tara sees the disappointment in her mom's eyes. She feels terrible. The activities of Purple Girls Club leave her very little time for studies. The girls get together almost daily for movies, shopping and surfing the Internet. She calls every friend in the club and asks them to help her. But they all refuse(拒绝）and say, “Who cares about studies now?” This makes Tara even sadder.

    Later, Tam's mom takes her to Linda's house across the street. Tara says sorry and Linda is glad to have her friend back. She happily helps Tara with her studies.

    Tara now has a new rule for friendship and it is that a friend that lends a helping hand is a true friend.

    There once lived a rich businessman who had a lazy son. The businessman wanted his son to realize the value of labor.

    One day, he told his son, "Today, I want you to earn something. If you fail, you won't have your meal tonight."

    The boy didn't want to find a job, so he asked his mother for help. She gave him a gold coin. In the evening, when the father asked his son what he had earned, the son showed him the gold coin. The father then asked him to throw it into the well (水井). The son did as he was told.

    The father guessed that the gold was from the boy's mother. The next day, he sent his wife to her parents' home and asked his son to earn something. Since no one helped him, the son had to go to the market to look for a job. A shopkeeper told him that he would pay him a coin if he carried heavy tools for him. The son accepted. As he returned home and gave the coin to his father, he was asked to throw it into the well. The boy cried, "Dad! My body is aching. I'm tired. How are you asking me to throw my hard-carned coin into a well?"

    The businessman smiled. He told his son that one feels pain only when the fruits of labor are wasted. The son realized the value of hard work. He promised not to be lazy any more.

Hi, My name is John Walsh. I'm1 Alberta. Do you know where Albert a is?2 a beautiful place in Canada. I'm a Grade Seven student. There are about 20 students in my class. My3 are very nice. They are11 to 12 years old. We all like4 . And our favorite sport is basketball. We often 5 it after school. It helps to keep us healthy and it's6 . My classmates and I want to make some pen friends. 

We want to 7 about books, sports and things at school with you. You can write to us at777friends@gmail. com. In your8 , please tell us about you. How old are you?9 do you come from? What's your favorite thing to do? And you can also ask us 10 . We are happy to tell you things about us. We hope (希望) to get your e- mail soon!

"Where was the cashier (收银员)?" I wondered. Feeling1 with having waited at the counter ( 柜 台 ) for at least 3 minutes, I quickly looked at my watch. I was afraid I2 had enough time to eat a sandwich and then rushed back to work.

When I looked around the nearly empty3 , I saw a woman cleaning a table in the corner. She looked at me coldly with sad, dark eyes.

I felt so angry that I was almost out of4 . Suddenly I remembered Mom's words. "5 you find yourself in an unpleasant situation, just think about what is missing. If someone is6 , then kindness is missing. If someone is hateful, then 7 is missing. If we will do what's missing, then we will provide whatever the situation needs."

And here I was in an unpleasant situation.8 should I do "what's missing"? What was missing was service. Should I just jump behind the counter to take the food I would order?

Just then the woman walked slowly towards me. "May I help you?" she asked, still 9 .

She looked so tired.10 , she was overworked.

I took a deep breath. With Mom's words still ringing in my11 , I gave the woman my order and smiled. "How are you doing today?"

My question seemed to 12 her. She looked at me for a second before answering. "Not too good."

"I'm sorry," I said, "I hope it gets better from right now."

She almost smiled as she handed me the food. "Thanks. I hope you're right."

I thought to 13 as I ate my sandwich. We're the same, really. We have problems and angers, we get tired and we hurt. We need to be14 to each other.

After eating, I cleaned the table cleaner than usual, and put the tray (托盘) back nicely on the stand. The woman was watching me all the time, with a big smile on her face.

"Do what's missing." What mum said really15 .I smiled back to her, too.

Life isn't always smooth. Everyone has a hard time in their life sometimes. However, some people make life better for themselves and1 for others. Why? They know how to take advantage of the difficulties. This is especially2 for Bradford and Bryan.

When they were young, Bradford and Bryan Manning were found to have a（n）3 . The doctor said they would go blind over a period of time. Now in their thirties, the brothers have both4  their central vision（视力）. They see mostly from the corner of their eyes. But while the two brothers may be going blind, their hope of helping others who have problems seeing is getting 5 !

The two brothers love soft clothes. While shopping for clothes, they often have to use their sense of 6 to choose what they want. Because they can't see things clearly, they have 7 a great sense of touch. This helps them to find the softest materials.

As a result, they 8 a clothing company called "Two Blind Brothers". The purpose of the company is to make the softest clothing in the world and 9 all the profits（利润） to help fight blindness. They also offer jobs to blind workers who have difficulty making a living. Now the company is known to more people. Many 10 are glad to buy its products for they love the story behind the company.

As you can see, when life closes a door, it can always open a window, for you, and for others.

Tom sat at his desk, looking out of the window for a long time. He had to finish his class project (课题) tomorrow. Everyone in his class had to write about their own special talent(才能). His friends finished 1 , but Tom still had a problem with what to write about. Earlier that month, Tom helped his2 with their projects. 

Betty came to ask for help and enjoyed Tom's wonderful 3 . Tom advised that she should write about drawing because Betty drew wonderful pictures. Betty went home 4 . 

A few days ago when Tom5 with Scott in the library, Scott was worried about his project. Tom advised him to write about swimming because he was a very good 6 . Scott hurried home to work on his project. 

Tom still couldn't 7 what his special talent was. He thought about his friend Ellie. Last week when they were 8 their way to school, she danced along beside him. Suddenly, Ellie stopped9 she was worried about her project. Tom told her to write about dancing. Ellie was so happy that she jumped into the air and danced the rest(剩余的) of the10 . 

However, Tom still couldn't decide on his special talent. 11 , he had an idea. The next day, everyone including Tom presented(呈现) their projects. "It 12 me a long time to decide, so I started to think I didn't have one. But… I do have a special talent. " 

"I'm good at 13 my friends, " he said, "All of the things I do are great fun because I do them with my friends. " 

The whole class clapped (鼓掌). His friends clapped14 than everyone else. 

"You forgot something15 , Tom, " said Betty, "You make the best drinks. " 

"Thank you, " said Tom.