Ray was thought to be a strange boy. One day when he was flying his kite, he said to himself," Did anybody ever try to fly a kite at night? I think it must be very fun. But the kite can't be seen in the dark. What if I tie a light to it? That would be really good. I {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(try) it tonight."

As soon as it was dark, he {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(take) his kite and lantern, and went to a large field about a mile from his home. He tied the lantern to the tail of his kite. The lantern {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(make) of paper. The kite flew higher and higher. He tied the string (线)to a tree, and then he stood there, staring at his kite. It floated (飘) high up into the air. How wonderful! While Ray {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(enjoy) his special kite, some people in the village also saw it.

"Look! A light{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (fly) in the sky," one person said. "It can't be a light," said a man.

"Perhaps it's a big firefly (萤火虫) ,"said another,

"Maybe it's a comet (彗星),"said another man.

"How strange!" said a boy.

"Let's find out what this strange light{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (be)," the last one said. Then they went to the field.

Ray, who had gotten tired of standing, was sitting behind a tree. He{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (see) the men as they came, but they didn't see him. When they reached under the light, and saw what it was, they looked at each other and said, "There is nothing unusual {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(happen)! This is just a trick of some naughty boys, but it {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (fool) us all.

Let's keep the secret. "Then they laughed and went back to the village. When the men had gone, Ray thought it was time for him {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(go), so he went home, too. When his mother heard what he had done, she hardly knew whether to laugh or scold (责备), but just told him to go to bed.

Good morning. My name is Lucy. I am twelve. I like sports, and I often play them 1 my friends after school. I can 2 tennis and ping-pong well. I think they are3 . I have a great sports collection(收藏品). I 4 a ping-pong ball, two ping-pong bats, three soccer balls and four tennis balls. 

Lily is my sister. She likes5 , too. She doesn't like tennis,6 she likes basketball and volleyball. She often plays7 at weekends, and she plays well. Lily has a great sports collection,8 — five basketballs, seven volleyballs and four baseballs and bats. But she doesn't have any ping-pong balls.

Lily and I are in the9 school, and we are in the same class, too. We10 an interesting name in our school— "Sports Sisters". That is fun.

Andrew has a mental illness. He doesn't speak. He had used a picture chart to communicate. The pictures stand for words—people, places, food and activities.

Years ago, Andrew's parents discovered that he could communicate more by a letter board. He could point to and spell out words and thoughts. Using the letter board needs time and effort for Andrew. He hated to use the letter board, so his parents always offered it to him.

On Andrew's 15th birthday, his mother took him to a shoe store. After buying the shoes, she said. "It's Andrew's birthday today. Fifteen! Now we're off to celebrate."

The salesmen said happy birthday to Andrew. Instead of having Andrew point to the "thank you" on his picture chart, his mother held up his letter board and asked Andrew how he'd like to respond. Andrew pointed to each letter one by one on the board— "Thank you." Andrew's mother smiled.

One of the salesmen asked what it was. "This is a letter board that Andrew uses to communicate," his mother replied. "We've practiced it for years. It's amazing. It's changed everything for us." Then the salesman told them he had a brother called Jason. "Jason is 30 and doesn't speak," he said.

"Andrew, what do you think?" his mother turned to Andrew. Andrew started pointing to letters, "Tell Jason..." She was excited. Andrew continued, "Tell Jason he will change everyone's opinion of him in 26 letters." Andrew's mother and the salesmen were all moved and happy.

Months later, Andrew's mother returned to the shoe store and learned that Jason is now using a letter board to "speak". This is how Andrew affected another person's life in a split second (瞬间).

That year I went to the college. On the first day of the term, I was so surprised because our teacher introduced an old lady to us in our class. She sat by me. She was very old, but she looked very energetic（精力充沛的）.

I was interested in why she came to the college at her age. "In fact, I always dreamed of having a college education（教育） and now I am getting one!" She told me later. We became friends. Every day we studied together. I always listened to her when she shared her stories with me. And she often asked me some problems about the lessons.

At the end of the term, we asked the lady to give a speech（演讲） to our class. I' ll never forget what she taught us. She said, "We do not stop working because we are old; we grow old because we stop. Do you want to stay young, be happy and successful? Never lose your dream and never give up."

The old woman's words touched all of us. And I still remember her words all my life, so I'll go on my dreams and try my best to make them come true.

 That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was walking home at I am in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away,I was still learning my lines(台词). I was having trouble dealing with my part- time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.

 As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away any possible robbers(强盗). Very few people were still out except a few sad- looking homeless people under blankets(毯子).

 About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.

 Suddenly I wasn't cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I'd heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.

 Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside," Alisa Camacho?"I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red- haired man with a cheerful look in his eyes." Is this what you' re looking for?" he asked, holding up a small square shape.

 It was nearly 3 am by the time I got into bed. I wouldn't get much sleep that night, but I had got my wallet back. I also had got back some enjoyment of city life.

Lightning(闪电) flashed through the darkness over Sibson's bedroom window. Sibson was woken up 1 he knew what was happening. The storm had moved directly over his two-floor wooden house. Then he heard the smoke alarm 2 .

Sibson rushed down the stairs to check : he opened the door to the basement(地下室), and it was on fire. Sibson went back upstairs 3 to call 911 from his bedroom.

"The room had a separate outdoor stairway(楼梯), so I felt 4 at first ," he explains. But the phone didn't work, and when he tried to go down the outdoor stairway, he was 5 by the big fire. Now Sibson realized he was in danger.

Sibson's house was three kilometers off the main road and was so well hidden by trees that he knew shouting for help would be 6 .

Up a hill nearby lived Sibson's neighbor, Huggons. He was lying in bed when something like a smoke alarm came into his 7 . He jumped out of bed, took his flashlight and phone, and headed down toward the 8 . Then he saw the rolling heavy smoke.

Huggons called 911, and the operator warned him not to 9 the house. But Huggons said, "There is no way I am going to listen to Sibson 10 in that fire."

"Anyone there?" Huggons called out. Then he heard"Help! I'm 11 the house!" coming from the second floor balcony(阳台). He tried to get into the house many times, but soon had to run back to catch his breath 12 the thick smoke.

Several minutes later, the wind blew away the smoke so that it was just enough for him to see Sibson. He noticed a 13 with the help of the flashlight. He took it over to the balcony and 14 Sibson before the house fell off.

Sibson is still 15 when he tells the story. "I almost lost my life that night," he says, "Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Huggons."