Long ago, people did not need money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    As time passed, people learned to raise animals and crops. Sometimes, families produced more than they needed, so they started to trade (交易) with other families. Later, people began to use money as a means of exchange. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They used shells, rice, salt, large stones, etc.

    During the 600s BC, people began using coins as money. They soon found that coins were easier to carry than goods (货物) and lasted a long time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The Chinese were the first to use paper money, probably as early as the eleventh century. The Italian traveller Marco Polo saw the Chinese using paper money when he visited China in the 1200s. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Today, we have many ways to pay for things. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Often, people prefer to pay for things by card. Paying with a card is easier and safer than carrying around a lot of "real" money.

    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.

    On Christmas Eve (平安夜), Simon usually has a party with his family in his house. They buy a Christmas tree and decorate(装饰)it with flowers, toys, lights and cards. After they finish, it looks very beautiful. Then they have a big Christmas dinner. There is turkey, hot drinks and much other Christmas food on the table. After dinner, they sit under the Christmas tree and sing songs happily. They all have a lot of fun.

A Kind Grandmother

Mrs. Wallace had two grandchildren. They lived near her house. They visited her house every day after school.

She was very good at making things. One day she made some beautiful

dolls and gave them to her grandchildren to play with.

The grandchildren wanted some pet rabbits, and Mrs. Wallace said she

could make a hutch to keep them in. The children went to ask their parents.

"Can we please have some pet rabbits?" they asked.

"Where will you keep them?" their father asked. "You need a hutch for them."

"Grandma will make a hutch for them," the children said.

The father and mother talked about it. They told the children they could have two rabbits. But they must put them in the hutch.

Mrs. Wallace went to a shop and bought wood, paint and nails (钉子). She worked all daywhen the children were at school. After school they came to watch and help.

The next day Mrs. Wallace finished (完成) the hutch and painted it. Then she thought about how to get it to the children. It was too big to put into her car.

"I know," she thought. "I'll put it on the wheelbarrow(手推车) and wheel it there. It's not far."

On the way to the children's house, aman saw her and said. "That's very nice. Did you make it yourself?"

"Yes," she said happily." I made it for my grandchildren." "Really?" he said. "I thought it was for rabbits!

Grace, Helen, Eric and Bob put their pencil boxes and jackets on the desk. The pencil boxes are white, blue, red and black. We know the boys' pencil boxes aren't red and the girls' pencil boxes aren't black. What color is Grace's pencil box? I don't know. But I know it is not blue. Bob says, "My pencil box is white." Then what color are their pencil boxes?

The green jacket is Grace's. The size(尺码) is L. The red jacket is Helen's. The size is L, too. The white jacket is Eric's and it is M. What color is Bob's jacket? It's brown. Its size is smaller(更小的) than Eric's. Do you know what size it is?

A farmer had four lambs (羊羔). One was black, and the other three were white. The black lamb was friendly to the others. But the white lambs often laughed at (嘲笑) him. They thought he was ugly . Also, the farmer did not like him. He gave bad food to the black lamb.

One winter morning, the four lambs went out to eat grass. They went far away from home. In the afternoon, it began to snow. It was such a heavy snow that the ground (地面) became white soon. They couldn't find their way home.

When the farmer found that the lambs were not at home, he went out to look for them. There was snow everywhere . So it was difficult for him to find his lambs. Suddenly（突然）, he saw something black. He went to it. Oh, it was his black lamb! And the white lambs were there, too. The farmer was very excited. He said happily, "Because of the black lamb, I can find you!"