Mum's Christmas Surprise

    Molly ran back home from school and dropped her schoolbag on the sofa. Then on the table she saw “Mum's Wish Book” – a mail order catalog（商品目录） from a gift shop. “Mum,” she said excitedly to herself, “this year you'll get the gloves you want!” Molly had walked a dog for a neighbor and saved her 1 all year to buy Mum the gloves.

    She opened “Mum's Wish Book” and hoped that she could find these 2 in it. Teas ran down her face when she saw the gloves in the catalog. Mum wouldn't buy them for herself, because the family had a 3 time on the farm. She once heard Mum say to Dad, “Maybe some day, I'll have the money to get them.”

    Molly ran out by the back door and went straight to the post office. There she carefully filled out the order form torn from the catalog.

    “I need to buy a stamp to 4 the form.” She said to Mr. Smith, the only worker in the post office.

    “Umm, a pair of gloves?” said Mr. Smith, as he passed a stamp to her.

    “Yes, It's a Christmas gift for Mum, but please don't tell her. It's our 5, OK?” Molly didn't realize how white Mr. Smith's beard was until that moment. In face, he reminded her of Santa Claus.

    As Molly walked back home, she decided to tell Dad her secret. “You've got to check the mailbox every day,” said Molly 6 to Dad. He nodded, with a big smile.

    Coming home from school every day, Molly peeked at （偷看） Dad when Mum wasn't 7, but every time he shook his head.

    On Christmas Eve, Dad came back from mailbox, still empty handed. Molly felt 8 when she went to bed, because she didn't have the gloves for Mum.

    Before Christmas dinner, as Mum took the apple pies out of the oven, Molly began 9 the table. Suddenly, they heard someone pulling up the driveway. From the window they saw Mr. Smith making his way to the door, with a box in his hand. Mr. Smith 10 Mum the box, “I believe this is yours.”

    Mum looked from Dad to Molly and opened the box. Her eyes lit up when she saw the gloves. “Oh, who bought these for me?” she asked.

    “Santa did,” said Molly smilingly.

    “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!” Mr. Smith, with a loud laugh.

    It was Christmas that no one would ever forget.

Just outside a village, there was a pretty but small Fir tree. He lived in a very beautiful forest with a lot of sunshine and fresh air. However, he didn't care about that, and always wished for something more interesting instead of enjoying the simple things in his life. 

One day, the largest trees were cut down. They would be made into masts. The Fir tree thought happily, "I want to be a mast. It seems so cool. "

The air and the sunshine heard the tree and said, "Don't wish for another life. Be happy now. You have warm sunlight. You have a health y trunk. "But the tree did not understand them.

This year, some young trees were cut down. They would live in a warm room and were decorated(装饰) with so many colors and lights. The Fir tree was very interested in this and really wanted to be like that. 

Again, the sunlight and the air said to the tree, "Do not be so silly. Your life in the forest is the best. Be happy with that. "But the tree didn't listen to them.

Finally, the woodcutters came to cut down the Fir tree and put him into a large room. 

On Christmas Day, many servants came in. They decorated the tree. On its top, there was a large golden star. Later, all people came in and sang Christmas carols together. The tree enjoyed watching all of this. 

"This is all for me!"thought the tree, "I will live my life in this warm room. The sunlight and the air were all wrong. "He felt very good about his future.

However, the next morning, some servants came into the room. They put him into a dark room. He was forgotten. 

As many lonely nights passed, the door to that dark room finally opened. Two servants came in and took the tree outside. 

"This is wonderful. "thought the tree. "My new life is beginning. "He relaxed in the sunlight. Just then, he discovered something terrible. His branches were all yellow. They were weak.

At that time. Some children were running around the garden They cned, "Look! The Christmas true is old and ugly. But it still has the yellow star on top of it. "One of the children took the star from the tree. Now, there was nothing beautiful about the tree anymore.

Soon, a gardener came with an axe. He chopped the poor Fir tree into pieces. Then, he placed each piece into a fire. The poor tree burned in the flames. As he burned, he could see the children playing. They were playing with his golden star. But it was too late for regrets now. 

"This really is the end, "thought the tree.

Li Hao is a Chinese boy. He is thirteen years old. He is from Guangdong but he works as a volunteer（志愿者）in Hangzhou during the 19th Asian Games（亚运会）. He is a middle school student and his telephone number is 234﹣223. 

Betty King is his best friend. She is an English girl. She is twelve years old. She is also a volunteer in Hangzhou. They are both in Grade 7. Li Hao is in Class 4 and Betty is in Class 14. Her favorite color is pink. So many of her things are pink，her bags，pencil box

There are many people at the Asian Games. Li Hao's families also go there to stay with him. He has a small family. They are his parents，his brother，his sister and him. He loves his family!

This story is about a young man. He worked hard at his lessons. He was too busy. He didn't have time to rest, so he was ill. Every night, when he went to bed, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. But he couldn't. He thought, "I must go to see the doctor." He said to the doctor, "I can't go to sleep at night." "Try counting numbers. When you reach one thousand, you'll be asleep."

The next day the man came back to the doctor's office. "Well," said the doctor, "how are you today?" 

"Yes," he said. "I tried counting one, two, three … up to （直到)one thousand. But when I reached five hundred and sixty-nine, I began to feel sleepy. I had to get up and drank some tea. Then I went on counting up to one thousand. But I still couldn't fall asleep." 

Long time ago, there was a king(国王) in England. He was kind but too lazy(懒惰) . He would do1 except(除了) eating and sleeping. Soon he became 2 and heavy. Later, he couldn't even move his body. He thought he was ill.3 no doctors in his country could help him. 

One day, an4 man heard about the king's story. He wanted to give him a 5 . The king decided to let him try. 

The old man lived far away. He said to the king, "I'll try6 best to help you. You need to come to me for treatment(治疗) tomorrow. But you have to walk here." " Certainly, kind man. I'll do so, " the king answered(答复，回答). 

The next day the king went to the man's house early. After he arrived, the king found only the man's7 was at home. The son told the 8 to come the next day. He came every day for two weeks, but he 9 saw the old man.10 the king became angry, he found he became light. He realized(明白) why the old man asked him to walk far. 

Walking can exercise people's body. It's easy and doesn't cost money.