Early one morning, an old woman was carrying a big basket of potatoes on her head to the market. She hoped to1them to the people from town.

     The mountain road was narrow and the old woman was walking 2, because she did not want to have 3and lose her potatoes.

     Suddenly she 4 a loud bell, and a bicycle came round the corner.

     It passed her and went very fast 5the hill. The old woman had to jump to one side of the 6 so quickly that the basket of potatoes nearly fell into the valley.

     She looked up and saw that a young boy was on the bicycle. He was 7 on without even 8 round to see whether the old woman was all right. The old woman began to shout,“Come back, young man! You dropped something!”

     When he heard this, the boy stopped the bicycle so suddenly that he nearly fell off .

     Then he turned and began to 9the bicycle back up to the hill.“What is it?”he asked,“What did I drop?”“Little boy,”the old noman answered, “you dropped your 10.”

    The Americans were getting ready to send their first man to the moon, an old Irishman (爱尔兰人) was 1 them on TV in a hotel room. There was an Englishman in the room, 2. And he said to the Irishman, "The Americans are very 3, aren't they? They are going to 4 some men to the moon. It's a very long way from our world." "Oh, that's 5,"the Irishman answered quickly." "The Irishman are going to send some men to the sun in months' 6. That's much 7 away than the moon, you know. "The Englishman was very 8 when he heard this. "Oh, yes it is," he said, "But the sun is too 9 for people to visit."

    The Irishman laughed and answered, "Well, the Irish are clever, too, you know. We 10 go to the sun during the day, of course. We'll go there during the night."

    George lived with his sick mother in a poor village.

    One bright sunny1in July, he went early to the forest two miles away. He was asked to2some wood from under the trees. After working hard for half a day, he looked around for a3 place to rest and eat his lunch. Suddenly some fine red wild 4 caught his eyes.

    "How good these will be with my bread and butter!" thought George. He at once began to5all the strawberries he could find and sat down by the river, ready to enjoy them.

    Then just as he was lifting the6strawberry to his mouth, he thought of his mother. "Shall I7them for her?" said he, thinking how much they would make8happy, yet still looking at them with longing (渴望的)eyes.

    "I will eat half, and take the other half to her," said he. Then he divided the strawberries into two.9he found each half looked so small that he put them together again.

    "I will only taste one." Then seeing that he had taken the biggest, he put it back. Finally he 10 them carefully with some leaves, deciding to keep them all11his mother.

    When the sun was beginning to go down, George went home.12happy he felt that he had all his strawberries for his sick mother. The13he came to his home, the less he wished to taste them. As soon as he arrived, he ran to his14and happily offered his wild strawberries. Tears in eyes, she put her hand on his head and said15, "And you kept them for your sick mother, did you? God will bless you for all this, my child. "

   Could the eating of the strawberries have given George half the happiness he felt at this moment?

    Can you imagine trying to write music if you are deaf? Most of us can't imagine it. But for the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven, there was no1at all.

    Beethoven wasn't born deaf. He was2on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany. He lived a3life, and faced much sadness. One of his piano pieces, Fir Elise(《致爱丽丝》)，was written for a failed love interest—a woman4Therese Malfatti.

    At the5of about 28, Beethoven began to lose his6. Yet he was7to go on writing music through hearing vibrations(振动). After the performance of his famous Symphony NO. 9(《第九交响曲》)，people cheered and clapped(鼓掌). Beethoven could not hear them clapping, and when he turned8and realized, he began to9.

    Before Beethoven, most music was very controlled(克制的). He10this and created a powerful, violent sound. At first, many people hated his music, saying it was too emotional(情绪化的). But today, his name is a symbol for passion(热情)and genius(天才).

    Paul is the owner(所有者)of the bookstore called Bookends. He 1 the bookstore four years ago. This year, because of his illness, Paul thought it was time for him to 2running the bookstore. If Paul sold the 3 to someone, he would get $39,000. 4Paul was not going to do that. He wanted to 5 it to someone.

    "I think it's better to see someone make their dream of 6 a bookstore come true," Paul said.

    Paul had a raffle(抽奖 )in his store. Over the last three months. If people 7more than $26 at the bookstore, they were able to take part in the raffle to win the bookstore.

    8Van from the Netherlands won the bookstore.

    "Van often visits my bookshop. I'm9 to know it was him —he wants to have it." Paul said.

Van now lives in Lammas, Wales. He plans to run the shop with a friend from Iceland.

    "It is such an amazing thing for10. We are sure to bring the store a bright future," Van said.