"I have some exciting news, class," said Mrs. Pike.

    It was almost lunchtime, and Jenny Archer was hungry. She drew a piece of apple pie in her notebook. Sometimes Mrs. Pike's news wasn't very exciting.

    Once, Mrs. Pike had said it would be exciting to watch a filmstrip (幻灯影片) called Tommy Tooth and the Whole Truth about Teeth. But it wasn't.

    "We're going to have a contest(竞赛)," said Mrs. Pike.

    Jenny put down her pencil.

    "The whole school will take part," Mrs. Pike went on. "We're going to collect empty tin cans to sell. We'll use the money to buy a video camcorder and a TV monitor for' the school. "

    "What kind of contest is that?" asked Clifford Stern. "Just collecting cans?"

    "The class that collects the most cans," said Mrs. Pike, "will use the camera first. We will make our own class movie. You could all be star!"

    "Me, a movie star!" Jenny said to herself. Now, that was exciting.

    "The person in the class who brings in the most cans will direct the first movie," Mrs. Pike finished.

    Wow! Directing a movie might be even better than starring(主演) in one. The director could make up the whole story. He/She would choose the actors and tell everybody what to do. Jenny loved to make up stories. And she was good at telling people what to do.

    She was sure she'd be a great director.

    The whole class was noisy at once. She looked over at her friend Beth. Beth's eyes were bright.

    "You can be the star of my movie," Jenny whispered to her.

    "Your movie? What do you mean?" Beth asked.

    "I mean when I win the contest," Jenny said.

    "What if I win the contest?" Beth said.

    "But I have to win," answered Jenny. "I've always wanted to make a movie."

    "Since when?"

    "Well, I realised it just now," Jenny admitted. "But don't you think I will make a good director?"

    “I think I might make a good director," Beth said.

    Beth was one of Jenny's two best friends. Jenny didn't want to fight with her. But she really wanted to direct the class movie.

    "Let's not fight." Jenny said. "We will both be good directors."

    "You're right," Beth said. "We won't fight. Let's just say, may our friendship last forever. "

    Jenny shook Beth's hand. "May our friendship last forever," she repeated.

    A few days ago, I walked into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry to him, and we were very polite. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye.

    Later in the kitchen at home, as I cooked our meal, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very quietly. When I turned around, I nearly knocked her down. "Get out of the way!" I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I lay in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some flowers there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them herself, pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply, "While meeting with a stranger, I was calm and polite; but with my daughter, I was not patient (耐心的). I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    I quietly went to Betty's bed, "Wake up, my dear," I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She smiled, "I found them by the tree. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue. " I said, "I am so sorry that I treated (对待) you that way today. " And she whispered (悄声说), "Mommy, that's okay. I still love you anyway. " I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers. "

    That day Betty gave me a lesson on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't realize how important family life was. I decided to do better in the future.

    "It looks so good on you," said my friend. I was trying on a bathing suit. Then the topic of conversation turned to going on a diet(节食).

    I wanted to become pretty and thin. So I decided to stick to the diet. I didn't eat my lunch. Some people asked me where my lunch was. I lied to them and made up excuses.

    I did the same with breakfast. I tricked(欺骗) my dad into thinking that I ate my bread, but I fed it to the cat. My weight dropped fast, but when I looked at myself in the mirror, I still thought I was not thin enough.

    Finally, dark circles formed under my eyes. I wore thick clothing in hot weather, but I was still cold. That didn't matter. I still needed to be thinner.

    About a month after I bought the bathing suit, I tried it on again, and it fell right off me. My mother told me to look in the mirror. I could see my eye sockets(眼窝). That was the day I realized how skinny I was.

    I went to see a doctor. My total weight loss was about twenty-five pounds in one month. It took one year for my body to start working normally again.

    Sometimes I want to go back to being thin, but I will never do what I did again. It's not worth it. Please don't go on a diet when you're young. You will regret it. Don't judge and compare yourself with others. Try to love yourself for who you are, not for what you look like.

It's December 28th New Year's Day is 1 Ma Li is in a 2 shop She wants to buy a blouse 3 her mother She is happy because she 4 a blue blouse It looks pretty She thinks it 5 her mother's trousers well So she asks the shopkeeper what the 6 is "198yuan, "says the shopkeeper Ma Li is suprised(吃惊的), "Too 7 ! What is it made of?"The shopkeeper tells her the bl ouse is made of silk "Good things always 8 much, "he says

"But I have only 190 yuan. Can it be cheaper(更便宜的)? I want to buy it for my mother. "

"9 198yuan is the last price But I will lend you 8 yuan "

"10 ? We don't know each other "

"Because I love my mother too, "says the shopkeep er with a smile.

My favorite sports star is Quan Hongchan. There {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 9 people in her family. Her parents are farmers. She is very young, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she can swim very well. She comes {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Zhanjiang, Guangdong. Her birthday is on March 28th. She likes watching TV, running and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. She is good {#blank#}5{#/blank#} diving（跳水）. It's not {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to be a good diver（跳水运动员）. Quan Hongchan has to have a good eating habit, so she always {#blank#}7{#/blank#} healthy food. She likes vegetables, eggs, rice {#blank#}8{#/blank#} milk. She has a good friend. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} name is Chen Yuxi. She likes math best. She is a good diver,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}.

As an old saying goes, "The last leg of a journey marks the halfway point." This is exactly the case with me.

There was a time when I wondered how I should express myself and explain my opinions 1 . My parents and teacher gave me a lot of help, 2 didn't work well. And I often got low marks on writing and failed 3 proper words to express my ideas. So I 4 to make every effort to improve my writing skills. I read ancient poetry loudly every morning. At first, I made great progress, But as I continued, it became much 5 for me to improve myself.

Although 6 process was difficult, I never considered giving up. 7 important writing is! And 8 classmates supported me powerfully. They told me the saying, "The last leg of a journey marks the halfway point." I 9 by the words and I kept going. At last, my teacher was pleased 10 my writing.

I would not ignore (忽视) the value of this experience, because Rome was not built in a day. We have to put in more and more efforts as we reach success little by little.