One day I got into a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were1on the right side when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of 2 . My taxi driver stopped at once and missed the other 3 by just inches ( 英寸)！

  The driver of the other car turned his head quickly4 and started shouting at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really5. So I asked, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost broke your car and sent us to the 6!" This is when my taxi driver 7me what I now call “The Law of the Rubbish Truck”.

He explained that many people are like rubbish trucks. They run around of rubbish, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their rubbish grows, they need a place to empty it and 8they'll empty it onto you. Don't9it personally, just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take the rubbish and 10it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

    Every day after school, Jack locked himself in his bedroom. He was working on a(n)1project. He didn't tell anyone what he was doing, not even his best friend Larry.

    Jack finally 2. He made a robot. It looked like Jack. The robot had orange hair and wore glasses. The robot and Jack both talked in a special voice. "Life is going to be 3 now!" shouted Jack. "I will send my robot to school while I will 4 at home and play."

    The next morning the robot ate breakfast. Then, he took the bus to school. After school, the bus sent the robot back home. The robot knocked on the door.

    "Sweetie, I'm so glad you come back. I really5you!" said Mum. Then she took the robot into the kitchen and gave him a snack before6.

    "I had lots of 7 at school today," said the robot. "I went to a space museum. I got to 8a real spacesuit. It was too big for me. "

    Jack was 9 outside the kitchen. He was10. He wanted to be an astronaut. He thought this wasn't a good idea. So the next day, Jack went to school himself.

Sam is my friend and he is a {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(法国的) boy. He can speak English very well. I heard from

him yesterday. He told me lots of {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(绝妙的) things in the email. He visited the US with his family last week. They {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(花费) four days in New York and three days in Los Angeles. In New York, they went to the {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(举世闻名的)Metropolitan Museum of Art. They took lots of {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(照片) there, In Los Angeles, they went to Disneyland first. Sam was {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(兴奋的) to see his favourite Mickey Mouse. The next day they {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (放松) in the hotel during the daytime. In the evening, they went for a walk when all the {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(灯) were on in the street. On the last day, they went to the Hollywood. They {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(遇到) some movie stars there. After that they went home{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (乘)plane. It was a really fantastic trip.

Derek was born in Brazil in 1992. His father 1 him Derek after a famous surfing (冲浪) star because he wanted Derek to become a surfer. However, there was a problem.

When Derek was seventeen, he learnt about his 2 dream. From that moment, Derek tried his best to become 3 surfer. He went to the beach every day and started taking surfing lessons with a coach. Derek kept 4 and finally, he learned to surf! 5 unbelievable it was! Derek says that he can't see, but he can hear the 6 when the waves are coming. He says none of the waves make the same noise, so he knows which way to surf in.

In 2012, he flew to Hawaii to surf one of 7 waves in the world. Local surfers were very surprised to see the confident young man surf the big wave 8 no problem at all.

There will be a film about 9 on show next year. Derek's story in the film teaches us that nothing is impossible 10 we believe in ourselves!

Have you ever heard of the Silk Road? Do you know what an important role it plays in the whole world? Did you visit any famous places along the road? The Silk Road went through Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It was 6,500 km from Xi'an to Rome.

My dad is very interested in the Silk Road and he has told me many things about it. Last summer, my family got away for a holiday and went to some places on the road.

We started at Lanzhou and went on to Wuwei. Wuwei was a very important city on the Silk Road. It connected(连接) three main cities in the area. In ancient times, it was also a capital. It's now a modern city, but you can still get a feeling of history when you visit it.

The next stop was Jiayuguan. It was also an important place on the Silk Road. It was a busy city with a lot of people coming and going. Even today, it's a city that many business people travel through. An important part of the Great Wall was also built here.

After that, we went on to Yumenguan. I first found out about Yumenguan in the famous poem written by Wang Zhihuan. It was in the Gobi Desert and was the only connect ion between Central Asia and China . I wonder how people ever made it through the hot desert so long ago.

This trip wasn't just a scenic(观光的) journey. It helped me understand the history of the area and see how people from different places influenced (影响) each other in many ways.

Ken is a worker in a newspaper. He works hard and is self-confident (自信) when he works as an advertisement salesman (销售员). Every time Ken begins his work, he will do some preparation (准备). He closes the door, stands before the mirror and reads the bosses' names ten times. But this time, his workmates think the task is very hard and it is impossible to finish. 

With his great effort (努力), three bosses change their mind and make a deal with him the first day. Three days later he finishes another three tasks. One month passes, only a boss still refused to cooperate (合作) with him. 

Ken works harder. He tries to learn something about his company and his family, and visits the boss every day. Every morning, when the boss opens his door, he sees Ken outside his company smiling to him and waiting for his answer.  ★  He keeps on visiting him every day. The boss asks him why. 

"It is like having a class. You're really a good teacher. You're teaching me how to keep it up when I want to do something important,"Ken answers. 

The boss nods, "In fact, you're my teacher. You're teaching me what is the power of perseverance."