My friend Alan did not have a rich family. He did not have much money. Sometimes Alan 1 had to accept money and gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me 2. He was not the kind of person who never 3 the money he should. He was always very 4 with the money he spent.

    A few years ago, he won the lottery (中了彩票) and got a huge 5 of money. He was very excited. It changed his life. The 6thing he did was to buy a very expensive new car. Then he 7 spending money on unnecessary things or the things that he normally would not buy. It seemed that he had money to 8. He had more money than he needed and it was burning a hole in his pocket. He wasted his money 9.

    When we got together for a  10 at a restaurant, he would always pay the bill.  He 11 me the money made him feel very happy.

    But, Alan soon 12 out all of his money. He was as poor as a church mouse again. His last dollar was spent and he had no money   13.

    I admit (承认) I do feel  14 for my friend. He had enough money to live like a king. 15, he is back to living a hard life. He was wise about small things, but not about important things.

    A few days ago, I ran into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry1him, and he said, "Excuse me too, I wasn't even noticing you,"2this stranger and I were polite. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye

    Later in the kitchen at home,3I was cooking our supper, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very4. When I turned around, I nearly5her down. "Get out of the way! "I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I6in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some7 there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them,8— pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply. While9with a stranger, I was calm and polite. But with my daughter, I was not10. I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    Then I went to Betty's11, "Wake up, my dear," I said." Are these the flowers you picked for me? "She smiled." I found them by the tree, I knew you liked them,12the blue ones." I said, "I was so rude13I treated you that way today. Betty, I am so sorry." And she said, "Mummy, that's okay--I still love you anyway." I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers."

    That day Betty gave me a special14on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't15how important family life was. I decided to do better in the future.

    I put my bag in the luggage area, and sat down in my seat. Just before taking off, a line of soldiers came and filled the 1 seats.

    After flying 2 about an hour, it was announced lunches were available for $5. As I 3 for my wallet to buy one, I heard the soldier ask his partner 4 he planned to buy lunch. "No, the lunch seems too expensive. I'll 5 till we get to Chicago. " His friend agreed.

    I looked around at the other soldiers. 6 were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane, and handed the flight attendant a $50 bill. "Take a lunch to all those 7,"    After eating, I went to the restroom. A man stopped me. "I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this. " He 8 me $25.

Soon after I returned to my 9. I saw  the Flight Captain coming down the aisle （过道）. When he got to my row, he stopped and said, "I want to 10 your hand. I was a soldier. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of 11 I never forgot. " I was embarrassed when applause （掌声）was heard from all of the passengers.

    Later, a man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake 12. He left another $ 25 in my hand.

    When we landed in Chicago, I 13my bag. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me and put something in my pocket. 14$25.

    Upon entering the terminal, I gave $75 to the soldiers. "It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You. " I said. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them some 15. It seemed so little.

Being home to the largest second-hand bookstore in the world, Hay-on-Wye is more than just a small town in Wales — it's a book heaven on the earth.

The history of Hay-on-Wye as the"town of books" began on the April Fool's Day of 1977.A man called Richard Booth jokingly called himself King of Hay and said the town was now a country! Since then, he has succeeded in building a healthy tourism industry about books. Today thousands of visitors come to Hay-on-Wye every year to look for whatever books they need.

Before Booth's great idea, Hay-on-Wye was a slowly dying town having less than 2, 000businesses. The king of Hay-on-Wye opened his first bookstore in 1961, and later encouraged his friends in the trade to come to Hay. After a few. years, he filled almost every building with books. Hay-on-Wye now has over thirty bookshops, many selling second-hand books, which has made the town pleasant for book collectors.

Hay-on-Wye has its special honour with over one million books sold here every year. Unlike other book dealers(交易商), Richard Booth doesn't centre on any one topic. He buys any type of books believing that every book is valuable and someone in the world wants it. Book lovers from all over the world come to Hay-on-Wye because a large number of books here are at low prices.

Since 1988, Hay-on-Wye has also been the place for a famous literary(文学) festival, now supported by The Guardian, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to see and hear big literary names from all over the world.

Once a dying small town, Hay-on-Wye is now a pleasant tourist town, with ten percent of its population working in the book business, and local businesses benefiting(得益于) from the waves of

tourists coming here in search of books.

Being part of the basketball group in high school helped me learn the personal and social communication(交际) skills I use today. As a child, playing basketball was my favourite activity or hobby. It was also the way I met a lot of friends that I have now. All my close friends I have met are through(通过) playing basketball. Whether they were on my team, the opposing(对方的) team or just fans in the crowd who liked my play. Basketball not only helped me get friends, but also taught me a lot about life. There are many things of life like basketball. For example, basketball is a team. Like in life you have to work together with other people. The communication skills I learned from basketball help me communicate with friends, parents and bosses at work. 

I started playing basketball in the fifth grade in my primary school. At that time, I was just a 10-year-old boy and I was very quiet and shy. I hardly talked to my teammates. As the years went by, I learned how to communicate with my teammates and my coaches and began to break out of my shell to speak. I started making more and more friends. Basketball helped me meet a lot of new people. By the time I left high school, I had already had a group of friends that I met from playing basketball. 

I remember my every day of high school like it was yesterday.

Mary had a nice summer vacation last year. She went to Hawaii （夏威夷） in July. Mary likes fruits, and the Hawaiian bananas and oranges were great. The weather was very fine, but sometimes it rained heavily. On Monday she went to the museum. It was an interesting place and not very crowded （拥挤的）. On Tuesday she went to the mountains. On Wednesday she visited an old friend. They went to the movies in the evening. 

The movie was so funny that they laughed again and again. On vacation she felt like that she was a flying bird！The vacation cost （花费） her about 600 dollars, but Mary had a fun time.