I started playing the piano when I was about eight or nine. But when I got to university, I stopped playing it. I just didn't have enough time and there were so many other things to do.

—Eliza

    When I was little, I thought I should play the guitar like my dad. But later I decided to try something else. I chose the violin. I want to be a musician when I grow up, but my dad says it's difficult to make a living from music. But I don't want to be a doctor like him. It's so boring.

—Robin

    Nobody likes living near someone like me because when I practice, I make a lot of noise! I''m sorry for that but I have to keep practicing. I have drum lessons every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, and I practice the drums every evening. I love playing them and now I play in a fantastic band.

—Lisa

    I''ve played the guitar as long as I can remember. I used to play in a subway station to make some money. Now I keep on playing it when I'm free, but I work as a cook in a restaurant to make a living.

—Carmen

    My name is Sam. I joined a club called" passing help" last month: Now let me tell you why I joined it.

    One evening this May, on my way home my-old car broken down. It was 25 miles from my home.

    I wanted to get a ride, but there was no car. It was also hard to take a taxi. I decided to take a bus home. I went to bus stop nearby.

    After a while, a bus came, but it did not go to my town. The bus driver was a young woman.

    She was kind and she told me which bus I should take. I waited there for about thirty minutes, but no bus came. At last a car came to me and a woman came out of the car. She was just the bus driver.

    "When I reached the bus station, I got to know that the bus to your town couldn't come, so I returned here. I just can't leave you here," she said, "Get in my car and I will take you back to your home," "It is a long way." I said." Come on, sir," she said," Let's go."

    On the way she told me a story. A few days ago, there wasn't .gas(汽油) in her car. An old man drove her up to a gas station and then back to her car.

    When we got to my home, I wanted to give her some money to thank her, but she didn't accept. "I only want to help others and do something nice for somebody. Pass it along. "She said.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (I) name is Xu Kun. I'm a {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (China) boy. I'm twelve. I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (be) from Dalian. Dalian is a big city. I'm at No. 2 Middle School. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (we) school is a very good one in Dalian. I'm in Class One Grade Seven. There are 48 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(student)，25 girls and 23 boys. Ms Lin {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (be) our English teacher. She is from {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (American). She is nice to me. I like English very much. And I'm good at it. LiXia is good at English too. Weare good {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (friend). My father is an English teacher. My mother is a Chinese teacher. My mother and I {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) in the same school. {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (our) love our school.

It was the final（决赛） of the national high school basketball game. For the first time in their history，a team from a small town faced last year's best team. The players thought they couldn't win and wanted to give up. Seeing this，the coach told them a story. 

Peter was a woodcutter. He was afraid he would fall ill and die. His wife told him that as long as his hands and feet were warm，he wasn't dead. 

One day，Peter went out to cut down trees. It was snowy and cold. After finishing his work，he noticed that his hands and feet were completely frozen. He thought he was dead，so he stopped working and lay down on the ground. 

After Peter had been lying for a while, some wolves came over. They ate all the food in Peter's food bag. The wolves then noticed Peter lying quietly on the ground. They were getting closer to Peter. Peter thought， "If I weren't dead，I would kill you all. " When the wolves saw Peter doing nothing，they ate him. 

As the coach finished the story，the players talked about how silly Peter was. At the same time，they realized what their coach wanted them to understand：the opposing（竞争的） team was like the wolves，and they were like the woodcutter. They should fight till the end，whether they were "alive" or "dead". 

Now pets play an important part in our life. More and more people keep pets in their families.

I have a dog called Huanhuan. She is really cute and friendly. She always brings happiness to my family. We all love her very much and we take her as our family member. When we have breakfast, she likes to jump to my mother's legs to ask for the food she likes. When we watch TV at night, she likes to sit on the sofa with us. When I am sad, she can do some funny things to make me laugh. When I make fun of her, she plays with me happily. Every morning, she always goes to do morning exercises with us. Now we can't be without her.

 We get lots of happiness from Huanhuan, but keeping pets needs time and money. So if you want to have a pet, you must spend time looking after it and you should be patient with it!