Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird. It sat on a perch in the middle of the store, so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud of it and asked a high price for it.

    One day a man went into the store. “That's a beautiful bird,” he said to the pet store owner, “But why is it so expensive? Is it unusual bird?”

    “No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk,” the pet store owner said.

    “I see. How can I make it talk?” the man asked.

    The pet store owner asked him, “Do you see those string tied to each of the bird's legs?”

    “Yes,”the man answered.

    “Well, you pull those strings,” the pet store owner told him. “That will make the parrot talk.”

    The man asked, “Do you mind if I try?”

    “Not at all,” the pet store owner said.

The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, “Good morning.”

    The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, “How are you today?”

    “That's not very interesting, ” said the man. “Any parrot could do that.” Then he laughed, “But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?”

    “I'll fall off my perch, you fool!” the parrot said.

    As Sam slowly woke, he got a funny feeling in his stomach. He knew he would have to do something that he had been afraid to do for a long time.The school bus came on time, and he sat with his friend, Billy. They chatted about baseball. It was a great way to get his mind off what he had to do later. As they got close to the school, he could feel his heart beating. His hands were starting to sweat. He hated this!

    He entered Mrs. Owen's class. She was smiling, and saying hello to all her students as she did every morning.

    "Hi, Sam!" she said as he walked in."Hi," he said and quickly sat in his seat. Then the class began to take their spelling test. He looked at the clock. The time was near. He hoped he was not first! Mrs. Owens said it was time to begin their special day."Sam, you'll be first." Mrs. Owens said to the class, "Sam has worked very hard on his report on Hawaii, and I know it is very interesting."

    Sam nervously greeted his class. Then, he thought about the fun things he had read about surfing, volcanoes, and pineapples in Hawaii, and he started to talk. He talked in front of the whole class, and it was fun. The class clapped as he finished and Mrs. Owens was smiling. It wasn't terrible at all and he knew he would do better the next time.

    Liu Xiang is a famous runner in the world. He was the winner(获胜者) of the Athens Olympics(雅典奥运会). The Chinese people are proud (自豪) of him. He is a hard-working young man. He is still strong and healthy. Why is he in good health? He usually gets up early in the morning and exercises every day. He likes listening to music and he sings well. He has good eating habits. He never eats junk food and hardly ever smokes and drinks. He goes to bed early and sleeps 8 hours every night. He often says, "It is important(重要) for health to have a good lifestyle."

要求: 

1、不得出现真实班级、姓名。

2、要点齐全，表达清楚，语句通顺。

My best friend

……

I came to the United States ten years ago. At that time I always said that I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to study but things like work and kids would not allow me to start.

Actually, I knew that those were only excuses for me. What really stopped me was that I was lazy and nervous to start learning again.

One day, my son's friends {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to drop in on him, but my son refused(拒绝), because all of his friends spoke English but I didn't. He told me he was also sad {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I could never help him with his homework. That day, he also said, "Mom, believe in {#blank#}4{#/blank#} and start learning."

That night, I couldn't sleep. All night long, I thought about where I could go to study English.

The next day, I made an important {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. I tried to find a school for adults. But I failed.

After supper, I took the kids to the cinema. On the way back, we decided to take a new way to forget about the boring movie we just saw. But we were {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to find we got lost. I was trying to find our way home when I found a famous college. A week later, I went to that college. It was difficult for me {#blank#}7{#/blank#} I held on to.

One Saturday, my daughter was asked to write a story for her homework. It was about the person she admired {#blank#}8{#/blank#}. She said that the person was her Mom, because her Mom has started going to college although she was already forty.

At that time, I stood there, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} shocked. I studied {#blank#}10{#/blank#} from then on.