Death Valley is a huge place. It is more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of the state of California, and across the border (边界) with the state of Nevada.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It can be dangerously cold during the winter months. The air temperature during the summer can be as high as 57℃. The heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor the climate. Death Valley does not forgive (原谅) those who are not careful.

    Death Valley was named by a woman in 1849. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Thousands of people from other parts of the country traveled to the gold mining (开采) areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did.

    Many people were not careful. They made bad choices or wrong decisions. One group of people had reached Death Valley by December. They avoided the terrible heat of summer, but there was not enough water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat. The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the valley. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They had to kill their work animals for food and began to walk out of the valley.

    As they left, one woman looked back and said, “Good-bye, death valley.” {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

A. Slowly, they ran out of food.

B. Death Valley has a long history.

C. The name has never been changed.

D. Death Valley is a beautiful but dangerous place.

E. That was the year after gold was discovered in California.

    One sunny afternoon, I went for a walk on the beach. There I saw a special crab (螃蟹). It had two claws (螯).一个螯比另一个人螯大得多、长的多。I had never seen such a crab before. So on my way home from the beach, I walked into the library.

    Luckily, I found a book named Come with me to the Edge of the Sea. It had many pictures of animals living near the sea. The pictures of male fiddler crabs (雄性招潮蟹) looked quite like the crab I found on the beach. I learned a lot about that kind of crab.

    Sometimes a fiddler crab puts the small claw across the big one. It looks like it is playing the fiddle (violin) when it does this, so some people call it the fiddler crab Sometimes it waves its big claw. It looks like it is saying hello. That's why other people call it the calling crab. Fiddler crabs' eyes are on long eye stalks (眼柄). They can put up their eye stalks to look around~ It makes them look taller.

    These crabs are very small. There are lots of other, bigger beach animals that want to eat them. They dig holes in the sand (在沙子里挖洞). The holes are their homes. They are safe inside them. Sometimes the sea water can bring food into their holes.

    My dream home is a house made of glass and it has a garden. It is not far from the sea. It is a smart house with a library. There are one million books in it! There is a big 3­D TV in the living room. How cool it is to watch my favourite films with it! It is never too cold or too hot in the rooms. When I walk into a room, the lights are turned on. The house can keep itself clean.

    There is a garden in front of the house. Many flowers are in it. And there is also a small lake behind the house. At weekends, I can watch the fish swim around or do some fishing by the lake.

    The house is far from the city centre, but there is a mini airport (机场) in it so I can fly to other places in my mini plane if I want to go shopping or do some other things. Does the house sound cool? Maybe in 20 years, my dream will come true.

    Hans Christian Andersen, a great Danish(丹麦的) writer, is very famous for his fairy tales. He wrote a lot of best-known stories such as The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly Duckling. His fairy tales have brought happiness to children across the world. The tales have versions(版本) of over a hundred languages.

    Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805. When he was still a young boy, he was already very clever and imaginative(富有想象力的). He created a small toy theatre and made clothes for his puppets(木偶). He also loved reading.

    After his father died, he learned to be a tailor (裁缝). Later he worked in a factory. At the age of fourteen, Andersen moved to the capital of Denmark to become an actor and gave performances(演出) in the Royal Danish Theatre. However, his voice changed when he grew older, so the job had to stop. Then he began to write poems and fairy tales.

    In the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of bed and didn't get well again. He lived until 1875 and died peacefully in the house of his close friend.

    Hans Christian Andersen is very famous for his {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. He created a small toy theatre and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} for his puppets. Andersen moved to {#blank#}3{#/blank#} become an actor. Andersen couldn't give performances because his {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in 1872, Andersen. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And didn't get well again.

    When all the housewives went to the new supermarket, they had one great hope in mind: to be the lucky customer. Then they did not have to pay for their shopping, for this was what the notice just inside the entrance promised. It said, "Remember, once a week, one of our customers gets free goods. This may be YOUR lucky day!"

    For several weeks, Mrs Read hoped to become a lucky customer, like many of her friends did, and she never gave up hope. Her dear husband tried to advise her not to do so, but he failed. She always dreamed of the day when the manager of the super-market would come up to her and say, "Madam, this is your lucky day. Everything in your basket is free. ”

    One Friday morning, after she had finished her shopping and had taken it to her car, she found that she had forgotten to buy some tea. She dashed（猛冲）back to the supermarket, got the tea, and went towards the cash desk(付款处). As she did so, she saw the manager of the supermarket come up to her, "Madam." he said and held out his hand, "I want to congratulate you! You are the lucky customer and everything you have in your basket is free!"