I lived in a poor family with my wonderful mother. She often told me that no matter how poor a person was, he could still afford a dream.

    My dream was athletics. When I was sixteen, I started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and1anything that moved on the field.I was also2: my high school coach was John, who believed in me and taught me how to believe in myself. He taught me the difference 3having a dream and remaining true to that dream. One unusual4with Coach John changed my life forever.

    A friend helped me to find a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket for a new bike, new clothes and the5of saving for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to6up summer baseball and that meant I would have to tell John I wouldn't be playing.

    When I told John, he was7as I expected him to be. "You have your whole life to work," he said. "You don't have too many playing days in your life. You can't afford to waste them." I stood before him with my head8, trying to think of the9that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his disappointment in me.

    "How much are you going to make at this job, son?" he asked. "3.5 dollars an hour," I replied.

    "Well," he asked, "Is $ 3.5 an hour the price of a dream?"

    That simple question made me understand the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I decided myself to play sports that summer and within the year I was taken on by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was10 a $ 20 000 agreement. Two years later, I bought my mother the house of my dream!

    I am Frank. In our western countries, there are four seasons or 365 days in a year. Usually, we sleep 8 hours every day. So we have 122 days for sleeping. Then our study or work time is only 243 days left. But there are 52 weekends in a year. Each weekend is two days. We lose another 104 days a year for work. It takes up about one hour to have breakfast and supper. This comes to 15 days over a year. Four free hours each evening takes up 61 days. But we can't work all the time, so we need holidays. We have to remember that we get 2 days' holiday at Easter, 3 at Christmas and 1at the New Year. There are also 4 Bank holidays. Take those 10 days away and we have 32 days for work. But then we have one and a half hours' lunch every day, and half an hour's coffee break. That comes to 30 days a year. This means that we have only a few days left for study or work every year. What about you in China?

To Borrow Arrows with Thatched Boats

One day, Zhou Yu ordered Zhuge Liang to make 100,000 arrows（箭）in ten days. Zhou Yu thought it was impossible, but Zhuge Liang said, "Give me three days." Then he asked Lu Su to lend him 20 boats, and the soldiers put some scarecrows（稻草人）in line on the boats. He reminded Lu Su not to tell Zhou Yu what was happening. 

When Lu Su came again to see Zhuge Liang, he found nothing unusual. Nothing happened on the second day, either. In the small hours（凌晨）of the third day, Zhuge Liang invited Lu Su for a boat ride. The 20 boats were tied together with strong ropes. Zhuge's fleet went towards the camp of Cao Cao. The surface of the river was covered with thick mist（雾）all over. People could hardly see each other on the river. When Zhuge's fleet got close to the Cao camp before dawn（黎明）, Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to shout and beat drums heavily to pretend an attack. But Zhuge and Lu Su only sat inside one boat drinking wine to enjoy themselves. 

As soon as the Cao camp heard the shouting and drum beating, they mistook it for a surprise attack by the Zhou Yu camp. Since they could see nobody on the river, they had to order 3,000 soldiers to shoot arrows to stop the unexpected attack. The front of the scarecrows was quickly full of arrows. After a while, Zhuge Liang had his fleet turned around to get the other side of the scarecrows to face the Cao camp. When both sides were full of arrows, the day broke. Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to return. The soldiers shouted in excitement, "Thank you, Cao Cao, for your arrows." After they got back to their camp, they collected more than 100,000 arrows in total from the scarecrows.

My family has a new neighbor—a blind woman. Though she can't see anything, I can feel that she likes my children. She is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} quiet woman. When my children enjoy {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (they) in the garden, she would stand near them. At first, she was only a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (strange) to them. They {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (dare) not to go near her. But one day, when she {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (hear) my daughter cry, "Help! Help!", she rushed in and asked {#blank#}6{#/blank#} happened. My daughter said that her brother's leg got hurt. She quickly took {#blank#}7{#/blank#} her blouse, spread {#blank#}8{#/blank#} on the ground and put my son on it. She treated him {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (careful). After that, they became the{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (good) friends in the world. 

Hi! I'm Lingling. I'm 12 years old. I live in Sichuan {#blank#}1{#/blank#} my parents.

Sichuan has many different {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (kind) of tea. My dad enjoys {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (drink) tea very much. Sometimes, he asks me, "Lingling, would you like {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (have) a cup of tea with me?" I always say no, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (/bɪˈkɒz/ ) I don't like the bitter taste (苦味).

This evening, Dad makes tea again. Dad {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (put) some tea leaves (茶叶) in a cup and then some hot water into it. The tea leaves open slowly (慢慢展开). Then the water turns brown. It's like {#blank#}7{#/blank#} beautiful Chinese painting.

I take a cup and taste the tea. I find the tea tastes {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (well). I am {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (interest) in tea, too.

I think life is just like a cup of tea. Things around {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (we) are like the hot water and we are like the leaves. The leaves can only let out a great taste through hot water.