People normally think of dogs as man's best friend, but to Brian Wilson, his two pet parrots are his best friends.

    It all began in 1995, when Brian was still a firefighter. A car accident caused serious damage to his brain. After several months of treatment, Brian's doctors said that he would never talk again and that he would have to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home.

    However, according to Brian, his two pet parrots didn't give up easily. They kept talking to him day and night, until one day, he said one word, then another, and all of a sudden was talking like a normal person again!

    Brian was so thankful that he decided to set up a home for birds which are not wanted by their owners. Now, his house is home to about 80 birds, including a great variety of birds like several macaws, cockatoos and African gray parrots. The birds fly around from room to room, some cackling (咯咯叫), others talking like humans. Though they all have big cages, Brian lets them fly freely inside the house.

    Over the years, Brian has developed a special relationship with birds. The birds that bite other humans, seem to like him and can get along with him well. He is now called a bird whisperer (鸟语者). Brian pays for most of the costs of looking after the birds with his own money, but has recently established a foundation (基金会) to accept donations. He and his birds also earn money by performing at birthday parties, weddings and other social events.

    For people who want to adopt (领养) Brian's birds, they have to volunteer at the foundation for three months before they can take the pet home.

    A lady and her husband in usual clothes walkedinto the president of Harvard's outer office. "We want to see thepresident," the lady said softly.Looking at the usual couple, the secretary said, "He'll be busy all day."" We'll wait," the lady replied.

   For hours, the secretary did nothing for them,hoping that they would finally go away. They didn't. "Maybe if they justsee you for a few minutes, they'll leave," the secretary finallytold the president.

   The presidentlooked down at the couple.The lady told him, "We had a son that hadstudied in Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. But he was accidentally killed.And my husband and I would like to build something for him in Harvard. "Madam," the president saidangrily, "we can't put up a statue forevery person who attended Harvard and died."

   "Oh, no," the lady explainedquickly, "we mean we would givea building to Harvard." The president lookedat their usual clothes, and then said, "A building! Do youknow how much a building costs? It took us over seven and a half million dollarsto build Harvard."

   The lady turned to her husband and said quietly,"Is that all it coststo start a university?" Her husband nodded.Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California wherethey built a university with their name—a memorial（纪念）to a son that Harvardno longer cared about.

   You can easily judge the character of others byhow they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.

I live next to a school. There's a wall between my neighborhood and the school. 

One day, on my way home, an apple flew towards 1 . It just landed(掉落) in front of my feet. How lucky I was! I guessed a troublemaker(捣蛋鬼) on the other side threw 2 apple over the wall. Thinking it was a small accident, I didn't care 3 it. 

A week later, when I 4 the same place, an apple came flying again. This time it landed on the roof(屋顶) next to the wall. I was a bit angry, 5 again, I did nothing. 

Yesterday, while I was walking back home, I saw another apple. It was flying so fast! Seeing that, I was 6 than I was last time. If he kept doing this 7 action might hurt others. So I decided to teach him a lesson. 

I told my friends about it first. They advised me 8 the apple back next time. But I didn't want to do that. An eye for an eye ends up 9 the whole world blind. 

Finally I planned to call the school to find out who was the troublemaker. And I wanted all the 10 to learn from his mistakes. 

Hi, friends! I'm Lily. Welcome to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (I) home. Look! This is a photo of my family. In it you can see {#blank#}2{#/blank#} American girl. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} is she? Well, she is my cousin—my uncle's daughter. Her name is Linda Smith. These are my {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(parent). They work in a middle school. My father often plays games {#blank#}5{#/blank#} his students. The students like {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (they) very much. Look at this boy. He is my brother—Bill. Where is he now? He is in his room and e-mailing his friend, because he lost his soccer ball. He wants {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (know) where he can find it. He {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (love) to play soccer, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} he doesn't like baseball. It's difficult {#blank#}10{#/blank#} him. Can you find me in the photo? Yes, the girl in red is me. I like my family. 

Today is a big day for Chen Ming. His parents ask him to meet a new English teacher, Miss Green. 

"Miss Green is not in Beijing, " Mum says. "She is in London. You can have an English class with her on the computer. "

Chen thinks it is great. He sits in front of his computer and waits for Miss Green. It is time for class. He sees Miss Green—she has long brown hair and big blue eyes. Miss Green sings the Hello Song to Chen first. 

Then Miss Green says, "Hello, my name is Jenny Green. What's your name?"

"Hello, Miss Green! My name is Chen Ming, " Chen says. 

"Nice to meet you here. Let's learn how to learn English well today. . . "

The class is very interesting. Soon（很快）, ____. Chen likes Miss Green's class very much. He wants to see Miss Green again and wants to be her friend. He thinks English is his favourite subject now.