The Phone Call

        It was getting dark. Paul looked out of the window and signed (叹气). Dad said he would come home by 5:30, but it was almost 7:00. Even if Dad came back, it wouldn't be much fun playing 1 in the dark. Paul walked into his room and threw his baseball into the corner. He tried to do some homework, but couldn't.

      The phone rang at about 8:00. It was Dad: “Paul, I'm 2, but I couldn't play baseball with you tonight. I have to finish my work at

the office. Maybe we can play this weekend. Oh no. How about next weekend?....”

       Paul couldn't understand why Dad was so 3. He threw himself into the sofa and soon fell asleep. His book was still opened to the

 first page.

      The next day at school, Paul didn't hand in his homework and 4 a test. Mrs. Green, his teacher, asked him to stay after school. “Paul, you didn't do your homework. You didn't pass the test and only got a D. This isn't like you. What's wrong?”

      Paul just sat there5 . “Paul, if you don't want to talk, I will. I know that something's worrying with you, but you have to get it out. You need to tell someone.”

      As Paul walked home, he thought of what Mrs. Green said. Maybe he didn't do his homework because he wanted to get his dad's _6 . He knew Mrs. Green was right. He decided to take her advice.

      When Paul got home, he 7his dad. But there was no answer. Then it went to voicemail (语音信箱). Paul began talking: “Dad, I can't play with you next weekend. I've got lots of problems with my homework. Also, I really don't want to spend another day looking out of the window and waiting. Whenever you 8our plans, Dad, it hurts me. It's not too late to rebuild our relationship, but we have to start small. Maybe you can help me with my 9sometime. Dad, I love you.”

      As Paul ended the call, he felt much relaxed. He didn't know whether his dad would be different, but it didn't matter. He himself __10. He expressed his feelings to the right person. He had a clear head as he was doing his homework that evening.

    My father was born in a poor village in the north of Jiangsu, China. When he was a young boy, he went to school in the morning, and then 1 in the fields till sunset. And then he did his homework until midnight. Life was hard, because they had no 2!

    At the age of 14, my father heard of the United States of America. It was the 3 of gold, the land where poor people can become rich.

   “Why don't I go to America?” he thought to himself, full of 4.

    So, my father came to America. “I had thought it was easy to 5 money in America.” he told me. “But when I arrived there, I realized it's not 6. They didn't like to hire(雇佣) me because I spoke little English. Later, I worked in a small restaurant, cleaning up tables, 7 dishes and sweeping the floor. Life was hard for the first few years. I worked from 10 a. m. to 11 p. m. I wanted to go to school to learn English, but it's impossible. I couldn't 8 the schooling(学费).”

    My father 9 working hard，and reached his goal.

  “Alan,” he often told me. “If you want something, you have to work for it and never give up. Things do not come  10 in life.” That's what I learned from my father.

    The chicken and the duck are friends. They live on a 1They often walk around together and talk about many things. One morning, they play and 2near the pool together. The chicken and the duck 3talk about the cat. They think the cat is not 4 because he always looks at them with eyes wide open. “The cat is dangerous, so we must always keep our eyes 5when he is around.”

    Then they talk about the 6The dog is very friendly. The dog has lots of 7 It barks（狗吠） a lot and always runs 8What's more, the dog never runs after them. They both 9the dog.

    At last, they 10the farmer, a fifty-year-old old man. If they don't have the farmer, they have11to eat. He also feeds the cow, the pig, the sheep and many other12 on the farm. They like the farmer because he takes good care of everyone. “He is a 13 man and it's lucky of us to have such a farmer,” the chicken says to the duck 14 “We need the farmer and look forward to living with him forever 15 he can take good care of us all” says the duck. “I hope so” Answers the chicken.

    Mr Green is a teacher. He 1 from America. He is a tall man 2 a pair of glasses. He now works in a middle school in our city. He has fifty students. He often says his class is too big and it is difficult for him to 3 with every student in English. He is strict 4his students' studies. He often encourages his students 5 hard. He enjoys drinking black tea and green tea. He likes Chinese food very much 6 He doesn't like drinking milk. He likes playing football, but he 7well in it. His son and I are in 8 class.9 name is Jim.  We are10 We often study and play together.

    Teddy bears are one of the most popular toys all over the world. The first teddy bear came from a(n) 1 about America's 26th president, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

    President Roosevelt was a great hunter (猎手). One day, he traveled in Mississippi. Some people took him to go 2^. Things were not going well and President Roosevelt hunted 3^. Someone had an idea. He caught a bear and tied it to the tree for President Roosevelt to 4. The bear looked very 5 and tired, so Roosevelt refused to shoot it.

    The next day, a cartoon artist drew a picture about the scene. The Washington Post published the picture 6 November 16, 1902. Most Americans 7 the newspaper and knew the story, including Morris and Rose. Morris and Rose had a toy store and they decided to make a toy bear to 8 the president's actions. They called 9 "Teddy Bear". It 10 sweet and harmless (无恶意的). It became popular soon.

    One day a little mouse was thirsty. She looked everywhere for water to drink. She climbed up onto a table. And she saw a bottle on the table. The mouth of the bottle was1. The little mouse looked inside the bottle. "Aha, there is2milk in it. That's great!" She went into it and began to drink.

    She drank and drank. After a moment she had drunk enough. Her stomach was too big and she couldn't come 3 the bottle. She cried for help. Just then a cat camp up to the table. When the cat4 the cry he jumped onto the table so5, and said, "You'll be my nice lunch!" The little mouse was very clever and she6 for a moment and said. "Brother Cat, you mustn't roll the bottle."7?" asked the cat. "I would get dizzy (头晕目眩的)", said the mouse. The cat said that he would let her8 soon. So he began to roll the bottle. Suddenly the bottle fell down onto the floor and broke into9. The little mouse ran10  as fast as she could. When the cat jumped off the table and ran after her, the mouse had already gone into her home.