One day, I was waiting for my friend at thebus station. A man came to sell1andI just smiled and said thank you. I didn't know if it was because of my smile,the young man came closer and stood2meand started talking to me. "You know, I wasn't born like this, sellingshoes. I had a family, but one day my life just3upside down and all was gone," he said. He told me that hiswife took away all his money, sold his car and the house. It was really a hardtime for him and he was4atthat time. He had nothing and then5tosell shoes to make a living. I stood next to him and listened, but I was still6how someone could be so open to a totalstranger like that. Then I realized that some people get7in that way. We often meet people withtroubles in their hearts. For some of them, there isn't anybody to listen tothem,8I've learned to be kind to them. Ialways spare my time to listen to them. By doing this, the one9listens can not only help othersbut also himself,because he gets to learn something from what others10andsee other sides of life. This will make the world a better place to live in forall of us.

    Bill andCathy wanted to go on a holiday. They chose a place called Maldives (马尔代夫). And they decided to1therefor two weeks in spring, because they heard that the weather there would beperfect at that time. They worked very hard for several2.Finally, they made enough money for their dream3.But their trip was more like a nightmare (噩梦)!

    Theproblem4when the flight was put off because ofbad weather. They couldn't leave5night. They finally goton the plane twelve hours later! But they6fly to Maldives becausethere was a storm. They had to fly to the capital city7.There they stayed in a small hotel8the airport.

    The hotelwas next to the sea, but the sea was9dirty that they couldn'tswim in it. And the hotel swimming pool was full of leaves! The food was awful10.For breakfast there was11bread and milk! The worst part was whenthe storm came, they felt really12. Because of the bad weather,they had to stay for13night in the small hotel. And they had14todo. It was so boring. Finally, they15in Maldives three dayslater. And someone told them the weather there had been wonderful all the time!

Our community library decided to offer a painting class. I told my friend Ella, and we both signed up.

On the big day, our first 1 was to paint a white vase of cheerful yellow sunflowers against a blue background.

We were asked to paint our canvas (画布) 2 . It was easy to follow the instructor to move the brush. Although I had never painted before, I could tell I was a 3 . I started thinking about where I would hang my new masterpiece.

Immediately after that, however, I began to run into 4 . The first curved (弯曲的) line of my vase looked perfect, but when I painted the line on the opposite side, my hand slipped (打滑). I tried to 5 that white streak (条痕) with blue paint, but it didn't work.

While I was busy fixing my messy painting, the instructor explained how to paint the sunflower leaves. Things went downhill fast after that. My leaves looked like fat, green caterpillars (毛毛虫). When I failed to clean my paintbrush, I accidentally made the sunflowers green. I felt 6 when I saw how good everyone else's paintings looked.

Ella sweetly praised my sunflowers, perhaps feeling sorry for me. When I said that hers were much better, she looked surprised. "No, they're not. I messed up in at least five places." After a few seconds, she asked, "Want to 7 paintings?"

Until that moment, I had felt only dislike for my painting. And yet for some reason, giving it away felt wrong. It wasn't a perfect painting, but it was mine—the first one I had ever created. I knew Ella must have realized that she felt the same way when she suddenly shook her head and said. "Never mind."

My sunflower painting still hangs directly above my bed. I often look at it. Every time I look at it. I 8 . It always brightens my day and brings warmth to my room. I really like it now.

It's Sunday today. Peter doesn't go to 1 . Now he is free and he wants to 2 computer games, but his mother Mrs. Smith 3 him to do his Chinese homework(家庭作业) first. Then he can do the 4 he likes. Peter isn't 5 . He asks," Mom, do you love me?"

 Mrs. Smith says," Yes, I do, my dear."

" Then why don't you 6 me play computer games?" says Peter." Why can't I do7 I want? Homework is important(重要)8 boring. I like computer games."

 Mrs. Smith puts 9 on the sofa and asks him," Dear, do you love me?" Peter says,"10 , I love you."

 Then Mrs. Smith says," Great! Dear, I don't want to do the washing(洗) because I don't like it. So I don't want to wash your socks. 11 do you always ask me to wash them? You12 play computer games after you wash them."

 Then Peter 13 at all the socks on the sofa. His face gets red and he says," Mom, I am very sorry. I should(应该) 14 you do some housework(家务劳动) at home. Let's do it together. Then I' ll 15 my homework. I love you."

 What a nice Peter! What a clever mother!

Once there lived a king in a small country. Every summer, the king went to his palace(王宫） near a1 , and then went back to his palace in the city in autumn. 

One afternoon, the king went 2 in the forest. He didn't tell anybody else where he went, so he was very happy to enjoy the peace as he swam. Suddenly, 3 heard a loud noise. Looking around, he saw a big bear coming towards( 朝 着 )him. The king was very4 . He jumped out of the water and ran away at once. He ran and ran until he was completely lost. Finally, he 5 an old house in the forest. He knocked on the door and an old 6 opened it. "I'm your king, " he said to the old man. "I'm really hungry. Bring me something to eat7 . "

The old man lived a hard life and his food was not good enough for the king. He had only three eggs, 8 the king was very hungry, the farmer had to cook the food and gave it to the king. The king felt much better9 he ate them. "Thank you, good man, " the king said. "How much should I pay for that?"

"Twenty pounds. "

"Twenty pounds? How10 they are! Are eggs rare(稀有的)here?" "No, " answered the old farmer, "but kings are!"

Last year Tom left school. He came to Taipei to1 a job. He went from one company(公司) to another but2 wanted him. Now he had little money. He had to go back to his small town. So he came to the station. He felt3 and tired. It was very late at night and4 was full of people. They were waiting5 tickets of the last train. He bought the last ticket, and he was very happy. 

At that time, a woman with a crying baby walked to him. She asked him to sell her the ticket. He gave her the ticket. He thought they needed it 6 he did. After 7 left, he sat on the bench(长凳) and didn't know 8 to go. Just then, an old man came and said, " Young man. 19 what you did to the woman. I have a big company. I need a good young man like10 . Would you like to work for me?"