Debbie is a very busy woman. She has ten children. Every morning she wakes up at 6: 00. The older children get up at 6: 30 and the younger children get up an hour later. After the older children leave for school at 8: 00, Debbie spends most of the day at home with her babies, cooking and cleaning. She doesn't have time to go out to work, but she doesn't mind. Debbie's husband Bob works in a bank. He doesn't enjoy it, but he makes lots of money. Debbie spends most of it on food and clothes for the children.

    Debbie likes the evening best. After dinner, she sits down in the living room and tells the children stories before they go to bed. She doesn't read from a book. She reads her own stories. Once the children are asleep, Debbie can relax. But she doesn't sit and watch TV with Bob. She writes stories in a notebook.

    Bob sent one of Debbies' stories to a competition and it won. The organizer of the competition said Debbie should become a writer, but Debbie wasn't sure. However, the children thought it was a great idea, so she decided to try. The children like elephants best, so Debbie wrote a story about them. One book company (公司) loved it and published (出版) it. People can now buy her book in shops.

    In life, there will always be some people or things that deeply touch you, or even change some of your ideas.

    On my way to school, I always see some people w{#blank#}1{#/blank#} in orange color and sweeping the street. They are city cleaners. People always d{#blank#}2{#/blank#} them as beauticians of the city. However, their work is really hard!

    Last week, our school carried out a social practice activity. I f{#blank#}3{#/blank#} a sanitation (环卫) worker Aunt Hu to experience. As we walked, we w{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Aunt Hu went to clean up the rubbish when she saw it. I also c{#blank#}5{#/blank#} some leaves and waste paper into a plastic bag. After five minutes, I felt a little tired. It was very hot. How I wanted to find a cool place to have a rest! But Aunt Hu didn't mean to stop even though there was much sweat (汗) p{#blank#}6{#/blank#} over her face. Just at this time, a banana peel fell on the ground. I looked up and saw that it was t{#blank#}7{#/blank#} by a fashionable girl! I was very angry, but Aunt Hu picked it up silently and put it in the dustbin. At this moment, I was touched d{#blank#}8{#/blank#}. She left the dirt and tiredness to herself and the tidiness to us, but the girl turned a blind eye to her job!

    City cleaners are worth our high regard. Thanks to them, the public environment has become clean and c{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. The news reports how the public respects the touching news of these lovely people. We are glad to see the public's a{#blank#}10{#/blank#} to the little people.

An old farmer lived with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was always up early to read. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! What good does reading do?"

Grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out(漏出) before he got back home. Grandpa laughed, "You'll have to move a little faster next time." This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. It was an impossible task.

The old man said, "You're just not trying hard enough." So the boy tried a third time and failed. He said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless? Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had turned from a dirty coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

"You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read, you will be changed, inside and outside."

①" Class, this is John Evans, " Mrs. Parmele introduced him to us, trying to give him a warm welcome. We saw a boy in old clothes. John looked around and smiled, hoping somebody would smile back. Nobody did. He kept on smiling anyway. I held my breath as Mrs. Parmele looked around the classroom, hoping she wouldn't notice the empty desk next to mine. She did, and pointed him at that desk. He looked over at me as he sat down, but I looked away. 

②By the end of his first week, John was at the bottom of our class. I told my mother one evening at dinner, " He even doesn't know how to count. " However, as I ate lunch with him the next day and listened to him, I realized that it was pleasant to be with him. After lunch, I decided that I would be John's friend. 

③One night, as Mother came into my bedroom, I said, " Mom, tomorrow is John's birthday, and he's not going to get anything. Nobody cares. "" Don't worry, " Mom said as she kissed me goodnight. "I'm sure everything will be fine. "

④I wished John a happy birthday in the morning, and his smile showed me that he was glad I had remembered. By mid- afternoon I had almost decided that birthdays weren't that important. Then, as Mrs. Parmele was writing on the blackboard, I heard a familiar(熟悉的) voice singing the birthday song. I looked up and saw Mother coming through the door with a tray(托盘) of cupcakes and a present in her hand. Mrs. Parmele also joined in. Mother found John looking like a rabbit in car headlights. She put the cupcakes and the gift on John's desk and said, " Happy birthday, John. " John stood there with his mouth open, unable to believe what was happening. While John ha ppily shared his cupcakes with the class, taking the tray from desk to desk, I caught Mother watching me and she smiled. 

⑤John Evans moved away soon, and I never heard from him again. But I always remember the happiness in a boy's eyes, and the taste of the sweetest cupcake. 

My Days in Nanjing  Xi'an, Shaanxi →Nanjing , Jiangsu

The first day

Breakfast: milk and bread   Lunch: rice and fish     Dinner: vegetable salads

Trip: visited the Confucius Temple (夫子庙) in the morning watched a lantern (灯笼) show in the Qinhuai Lantern Festival

The second day

Breakfast: Xiaolongbao and vegetable soup     Lunch: beef noodles and salad

Dinner: hamburgers and juice

Trip: went to the Nanjing Museum from 9:00a. m. to 11:30a. m. 

The third day

Breakfast: sandwiches and milk          Lunch: dumplings and vegetable soup

Dinner: tomato soup and salad

Trip: went to Xianfeng Bookstore in the morning went shopping and bought some gifts for my friends in the afternoon

Feeling about the trip