Maria is a beautiful young girl. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. But she is still very insecure(缺乏信心的). She often thinks most of her friends are more beautiful than her. One day a new girl joined her class. Her name is Sarah. She has dark brown hair and green eyes. Maria thought the new girl was beautiful and wished she looked like her. One day she decided to take action.

    She went out and bought some hair dye（染发）. When she returned home, she told her mother what she planned to do.

    "It's your decision," said her mother sadly. "But I think you look beautiful as you are."

    Maria didn't hear what her mother said. She spent a few hours dyeing her hair dark brown. She felt much better and went to school happily the next day. As she reached her class she saw a new blonde girl sitting near the front. Later she knew it was Sarah. Sarah dyed her hair blonde. It was almost the same color as Maria's was before. Sarah turned around and Maria spoke to her.

    "Why do you dye your hair?" asked Maria.

    "Well, I always love your hair' said Sarah.

    Maria sat down and sighed(叹气).

    Do you often eat out？Do you often like to use disposable (一次性的) chopsticks？Do you think the chopsticks are safe？ {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    China produces 80 billion (十亿) pairs of such chopsticks every year. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Can you imagine how many trees have to be cut down every year？20 million. Can you imagine how old the trees are？20 years old.   

    Many people choose to use such chopsticks because they think they are cleaner. In fact，they're not safe. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Several months ago, Huang Bo, a popular actor, wrote a message on his micro blog (微博)．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Once he went to a restaurant with his friends. He tried to wash the disposable chopsticks. He was surprised to find the chopsticks turned the water yellow and gave off a bad smell.

    That's true. The smell show that they may be dealt with sulphur (硫磺) and other chemicals (化学制品)． That's very bad for people's health.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. It is not only good for our own health but also helpful to save the environment.

    A Greeting is a way of saying "Hello" to．someone．People in different countries greet each other in different ways．The following are some examples．

    In the United State，people usually shake hands．The handshake has an interesting origin(起源)．It started long ago as a way of showing people that they weren't carrying a weapon(武器)．Shaking the person's right hand while looking him or her in the eye is the usual way．

    Handshakes are also common in other parts of the world，including Britain and Russia．In Russia, a man often holds another man's hand very strongly during the handshake．Most people in New Zealand also greet each other by shaking hands．However，the Maori people in New Zealand greet each other by pressing their noses together．

    In other countries，such as France and Belgium，hugging and kissing are more common when two people meet. In those cultures，people kiss each other on the cheek(面额)．The number of kisses is different from country to country．In Saudi Arabia，men might hug and kiss each other(but not with a woman)on the check．In some Eastern countries，including Japan，bowing is the traditional way of greeting people．

    Friends are very important in people's live.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} I think it's very easy to make friends with other people and build a friendship between each other. However,{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So what is true friendship? In my opinion, true friendship includes:

    First of all, true friendship must treat their friends loyally and help each other. In other words, you must not take advantage of your friends,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, some unfriendly people make friends in order to cheat money and feelings, or get a certain secret and so I don't think these are true friendships.

    Second, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}For example, if a friend is really in need of money to escape from some troubles, true friends might lend it and help him or her.

    Third,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}One of the greatest men once said:" If you tell your happiness to your friend, you will get double happiness. If you tell your sadness to your friend, you will get half.

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous artist who was born in Italy. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern life. Although Leonardo hated war. he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war. Besides, Leonardo spent days thinking about how to save time. He developed ideas for something like cutting machines.

Leonardo was a strange man. He never ate meat. That was very unusual in those times. He never published(发表) discoveries about science. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like usual writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left side。

Only a few of his paintings are left today. Many paintings were not finished because he thought they were not perfect.

Leonardo was talented and creative. He was regarded as one of the most intelligent men in the world.