When I just moved to Los Angeles（洛杉矶）, I didn't have a car.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, but I wanted to prove（证明）them wrong.

    I asked my neighbor, Mrs. White, to take me to the bus station in the center of the city, so I could try taking the bus home.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. When I got there, I went inside and got a bus timetable（时刻表）. I looked at the map and worked out that I needed to take three buses to get home.

    I bought the tickets and went outside to wait at the bus stop for the Number 8 bus. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. I gave my ticket to the bus driver and took a seat. At the right stop I got off. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. I waited and waited. A man was also waiting for the same bus. He said that it wasn't unusual for the bus to be late. Half an hour later, it finally came. To make the matter worse, the third bus broke down halfway and the driver had to fix it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. So when I finally got home, I was very tired. Maybe getting a car in Los Angeles wasn't such a bad idea!

Archimedes and the golden crown

One day in ancient Greece, King Hiero asked a crown maker to make him a golden crown. At first, he was very1 with it.

"It's a nice crown, isn't it?" he asked his men. Later, however, he began to doubt2it was a real golden crown. "Is it made completely of gold?" he wondered. He sent it to Archimedes and asked him to find out the truth.

"This problem seems difficult to solve. What should I do?" thought Archimedes.

Archimedes was still thinking about this problem3he filled his bath with water. When he got into the bath, some water ran over.  

"That's it!" shouted Archimedes. "I know4 to solve the king's problem!"

Archimedes went straight to the palace to see the king. First, he5the crown and asked the king for some gold of the same weight.

Next, he put two pots into two big bowls and filled6pots with water. He put the gold into one pot, and some water ran into the bowl. Then he put the crown into7pot. This time, even more water ran into the bowl.

"Look at this," said Archimedes to King Hiero. "A crown8completely of gold displaces9water than a crown made of gold and another metal. This crown displaced more water than gold of the same weight, so I'm certain that it is not10made of gold. "

"The crown maker tricked me, didn't he? What a bad man he is!" shouted King Hiero. He then sent the crown maker to prison.

The elephant was lying and fast asleep on its side. A few dogs started barking at it. The elephant woke up in a terrible anger: it ran after the dogs into the village where they ran for safety. That didn't stop the elephant. It destroyed a few houses and hurt several people. The villagers were scared and angry. Then someone suggested calling Parbati, the elephant princess.

Parbati Barua's father was a hunter of tigers and an elephant tamer(驯兽师). He taught Parbati to ride an elephant before she could even walk. He also taught her the dangerous art of the elephant round-up —— how to catch wild elephants.

Parbati hasn't always lived in the jungle (丛林). After a happy childhood hunting with her father, she was sent to a boarding school in the city. But Parbati never got used to being there and many years later she went back to her old life. "Life in the city is too boring. Catching elephants is an adventure (冒险) and the excitement can last for days after the chase," she says.

But Parbati doesn't catch elephants just for fun. "My work," she says,"is to rescue men from the elephants, and to keep the elephants safe from men." And this is exactly what Parbati has been doing for many years. Nowadays, the Indian elephant becomes angry: for many years, illegal(非法的) hunters have attacked it and its home in the jungle has been reduced to small pieces of land. It is now fighting back. Whenever wild elephants enter a tea garden or a village, people call Parbati to guide the animals back to the forest.

I like reading. I love many different kinds of books, because they not only open my mind but also   {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(鼓励;激励) me a lot.

Up to now I have read a lot of books, such as magazines, storybooks and  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(长篇小说). But one of the books that I like best is The Story of My Life. Helen Keller wrote it in 1903. She was a blind and deaf  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(人). In the book, she wrote that she had not been able to see, hear or speak  {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(自……以来) she was one year and seven months old. This unusual thing made her very sad. Luckily, she  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(遇见) her good teacher, Miss Sullivan, at the age of seven. Helen was getting  {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(更高兴的) every day. Then, Miss Sullivan helped her learn how to write English words. At first, Miss Sullivan wrote some words on Helen's hands  {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(用……) her own fingers again and again. Helen was a very hard-working girl. She tried as much as possible to   {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (记住) words. After that, she wrote many famous works, which was a huge   {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(成功;成就) for anyone like her.

It shows us an important truth: Nothing is difficult if you put your  {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(心) into it! This is why I like the book best.

Vanilla is my best friend. She is a lovely girl with two big, beautiful 1 . But she always hides them 2 a pair of black glasses. 

One day, however, I 3 ended our friendship. I remember that day clearly. We were sitting in the 4 . The teacher was handing back our 5 exam papers. I had done very badly. I was never good at 6 maths problems. I felt so 7 that I wouldn't speak to anyone. At lunchtime, I stayed in the classroom alone. Suddenly, I heard a 8 . It was Vanilla. " You look very unhappy, " she said quietly. " What's wrong?"I looked at her for a while, but said 9 . I knew Vanilla had got a good grade in the exam. I thought she was 10 me. I stayed silent, but Vanilla didn't go away. She kept asking me questions, " Is it because of the exam? Do you want me to tell you the right 11 ?"I looked away from her. When I looked up again, Vanilla had gone. And so had my exam paper! I didn't know what to do. I looked for my paper everywhere, but couldn't find 12 . 

In the afternoon, Vanilla came up to my desk and gave my exam paper 13 to me. I looked at it and got a big surprise. Vanilla had written the correct answers next to every one of my mistakes. How 14 she was! My face turned red. I held her hands and said, "Thank you." That afternoon, 15 Vanilla and I were on the way home, I felt quite happy and thanked her again. We are still best friends. 

I live in a house1 the mountains (山). I have two brothers 2 one sister, and I am the youngest (最小的). My father is a3 . He teaches maths, and my mother is a4 at a big factory. My brothers are very smart and 5 hard in school. My sister is quiet, but she is very6 . She often helps others. My grandmother also7 with us. She comes from France. She usually8 French because she can't speak English9 . She is very old, but she is still very.10 . She cooks the best food!

My family are very11 to me. We do lots of things together. My brothers and I like to go12 long walks in the mountains. My sister is 13 in delicious food. She likes to14 with my grandmother. At weekends, we all play games together. We laugh and always have a good15 I love my family very much.