It was Sunday afternoon. My brother and I were alone at home. My parents went for a party and asked me to look after my brother. I was doing my homework while my younger brother was watching TV. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Ding-Dong! My brother thought that it was our parents, so he opened the 1soon.

    A tall man wearing a black raincoat stood outside. He said that he came to sell books and asked politely2 our parents were at home.

    Without thinking, my brother said, “No.” Then the man asked if we would like to 3some story books. I refused him. When I wanted to close the door, he suddenly pushed the door very 4and came into our house. He took out a 5and ordered me to tie up my brother's hands with a rope. I tied up his hands in a special way so my brother could untie 6easily. The man then tied my hands up and locked 7of us in the kitchen. Soon, he went upstairs to 8money. I taught my brother to untie the rope on his 9. He then untied me. I rushed to the telephone to call the police,10the line was dead. The doors were all locked from the outside. It was lucky that the man 11to lock the kitchen window. We got out of the house through the kitchen window and went to the 12 pay phone to call the police

    Soon 13came to our house and the man was caught. By that time, my parents had come home. We told them the whole story. My parents were 14that we were not hurt. They told me that I should stop my brother from 15the door to strangers. I learned a lesson on safety.

    In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte, the ruler of France, had a problem. He'd 1 his sugar-growing islands in the Caribbean. He couldn't buy 2 from his enemies (敌人). So where was he going to get sugar to keep his people happy?

    Napoleon knew that years before, a German scientist had 3 that all plants have sugar. And he had even found one almost as 4 as sugarcane (甘蔗)—the white beet (甜菜)!

    Napoleon ordered his science team to 5 how to get the sugar out of the beets. They soon did. This 6 everything! Sugar beets could 7 in the cold north, instead of on tropical (热带的) islands. And because beets (unlike sugarcane) could be stored for a long time, they could be shipped far away. So sugar factories didn't have to be near the 8.

    Soon, sugar beet farms spread all over Europe and Russia, and later in the United States. Even Napoleon's enemies 9 cheap beet sugar.

    During WW Ⅱ, farmers in both America and Germany were asked to grow sugar beets so that their countries would have 10 sugar.

    Today, about half the table sugar in the world comes from beets, and half from sugarcane.

    There was once a young man who began to feel self-satisfied after some small achievements.

    One day, the young man took a walk with a 1 man from the town. On the way the young man was bragging(吹嘘) about himself, 2 the wise man didn't say a word. When they3 a peak(山峰), the wise man asked, "Look down. What do you see?"

    "I see trees, houses and people as 4 as ants working in the fields," the young man said.

    "What do you feel?" the wise man asked.

    "Everything is 5 me. I feel I rule the world," the young man answered.

    The wise man said nothing. After a minute, he asked the young man to look 6 "What do you see this time?" the wise man asked.

    "I see 7flying around high mountains, the white clouds on the mountains and the blue sky above the white clouds," the young man answered.

Then he asked the wise man's 8.

    "I feel small and powerless," the wise man answered. "A person who knows to look upward can 9 understand his position(位置). When a person knows the blue sky is always overhead, he won't be so luck as to believe he rules the world."

    The young man felt foolish for his pride. From then on, he looked up at the sky and remembered 10 small he really was.

    Try to look upward when you feel too good about yourself.

Try Something New

One day, I tried out for the school volleyball team, but I failed. It made me {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (充满) of sadness. After getting home, my mother tried to cheer me up but I still sat {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(寂静) in my room. 

In the next day, my mother invited uncle Gerry to our house. Because it was my{#blank#}3{#/blank#} （十二） birthday. The bell{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(发出铃声) and I opened the door. Uncle Gerry said "Still sad?"I guessed my mother had told him all about the{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(真相). I didn't want to say yes, but I felt better.

Later on. he gave me some advice. He said, "Tommy, I am so proud of you. You know what I do?{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(无论什么) difficulties I meet, I will find some new ways to solve them. Every year, I make a promise to try one new thing,{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(包括) a new sport, a new book or a new hobby. So perhaps you{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(推测) to try new things. It helps you grow as a better person. "

It sounded great. I decided to try new things on my way home that day. 

One day, while I was walking by a school, I saw some kids playing baseball. I thought about what my uncle had said, so I went to the kid. It took some {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (勇气), but soon I had fun playing with them. 

A year later, I became a player on our school baseball team. Now I'm still having fun playing baseball with my friends every week. In {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(整体), I found this happiness because I tried something new.