Hello! I am Jack. I am a student in Class Two, Grade Seven. I am thirteen years old now. I have a telephone. My telephone number is seven two three, eight one three.

    This is my friend. Her name is Cindy. She is my classmate(同学). She is fourteen years old. She has three new books. They are on the desk. She likes to read books very much and she likes to draw, too. Her telephone number is eight five four, two seven eight.

    Sydney Fredette is very busy. Not only is she a high school student, but she has also set up her own organization（组织）, Beary Merry Christmas. She volunteers(志愿) to offer services to poor children and families in Orange Country in California, US.

    To remember her best friend who died of cancer nearly 10 years ago, Fredette decided to offer services to those in Orange Country who are less lucky than she is.

    She began with the easy idea of collecting donated(捐赠) Build-A-Bears, the popular toy animal that is made by children themselves in the stores' workshops. Fredette then gave them as presents to the homeless children in California during the holiday season.

    With donations at more than 100 bears a year, Fredette and volunteers hold activities every year, where volunteers not only give out the bears, but also clothing, meals, and other things.

    Not wanting to limit(限制) the giving to just the holiday months, Fredette held other activities for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Halloween, offering the chance to her volunteer team to make a difference through the year.

    "I love making friends with the people I offer services to," Fredette said. "It's so cool to hear their stories and see how happy they are."

    Fredette even built a public food bank and offered a self-development class to students in her school.

    She plans to stay local and continue to help out in her hometown.

    An Englishman was showing a foreign visitor around London" What's that strange building?" asked the visitor. " That's the Tower(塔)of London" " I see. How long did it take to build it?" "About 500 years." "In my country we can build it in five months. "said the visitor. A short time after that they came to St. Paul's Cathedral (大教堂). "Very interesting!" said the visitor. "How long did it take to build it?" "Nearly forty years, "said the Englishman. "In my country we can finish it in forty days." said the visitor. This went on all day. They visited most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they saw a new one, the visitor asked what it was and how long it took to build it. Then he said that they could do the same thing much faster in his country. At last the Englishman got angry with the visitor though he tried not to show it. A few days later they came to the House of Parliament(议会大厦)and the visitor asked his usual question. "What's that?" The Englishman answered, "I've no idea. It wasn't there last night. "

I was feeling a little blue because my mother had lost her job.

One day, while I was 1 in the street, I heard the piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people. I walked more slowly to 2 where it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady siting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love, 3 yourself and keeping on trying. The way she was singing made me a little comfortable. I stood there 4 , watching her playing on such a crowded square. I thought that she must be 5 enough to perform in front of so many people. She noticed me. I walked over and told her how good her 6 sounded. "Thank you," she said.

"I have been going through a hard time recently, 7 you've made me hopeful again," I said to her.

"I'm glad that I could help," she replied. "Why are you so 8 ?"

"Well, my mum has lost her job, and I'm not sure what to do…"

"Did you notice the 9 you were walking? Your head was down," she said. "Don't be upset, because 10 comes in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it. You should 11 more, and lift your head up."

I looked 12 her, amazed at how she was encouraging （鼓励） me. "13 are you playing the piano here?" I asked her with a smile. She 14 that she saw a lot of unhappy people in the world and she tried to cheer 15 up by playing music.

I smiled a little wider, realizing that no difficulties could stop me from going on.

To personal trainer Sammy Callari, 13-year-old Parker Seward is more than a client (客户). He's his "little brother. Over the past year, the pair have developed a close 1 . They play basketball together, share meals and dance to hip-hop like no one's watching. 

Last spring the trainer was asked to work with Parker, who had Down syndrome (唐氏综合症), 2 his co-worker (was out of town. Callari had never worked with someone with a (n) 3 by himself before. He was stressed the first day he met Parker, but Parker's wide smile and cheerful introduction made him 4 at once. 

Parker reminded Callari of himself when he was a (n) 5 . As a high schooler, Callari described himself as a weak, thin kid. When it came to sports, he always 6 to be noticed. His dream of playing basketball in college quickly died. He then turned to another new7 . His younger brother trained him to become a Kung fu artist. Callari took part in five matches. Out of those fights he was considered to be the 8 , but he won three times. 

 "Society tells you ‘you can't do this', or ‘you can't do that', "says Callari. When it comes to Parker, Callari 9 to accept the word "can't". 

The friends meet twice a week to train. They train together with biking and boxing. Parker has a short 10 span (持续时间), so it's Callari's job to keep him focused. Callari 11 videos of himself and Parker's exercising online-12 , with the agreement from Parker's mom. 

 "It's clear that it is Parker who 13 me," Callari says. "He's made me a better trainer, and he's also made me a better person," Callari adds. "A lot of people see him as different, but I've 14 looked at him like that. If anyone is 15 , it's me."

Many years ago, a Spanish officer named Coronado he ard the story of seven great cities. "The walls of these cities are made of gold, " his friends told him. "The people eat meat from golden plates and wear 1  clothes, " they said. They called these cities the Seven Cities of Gold. Coronado believed what his friends said 2 . 

Coronado thought to 3 , "The things in these cities must be worth a lot of money. " So he decided to 4  the Seven Cities of Gold. He brought some men, horses, and food, then they headed west. Coronado and his men 5  for many days. Then they saw some cities. "We found the Seven Cities of Gold!" his men shouted, 6  Coronado wasn't happy. He had a different 7 , "These can't be the Seven Cities of Gold. They're made of dirt!"

Coronado was 8 . The cities were dirty and brown. The people ate food from 9  bowls. Their clothes were also very common. Coronado saw the cities as old places. "What 10  to the cities of gold?" he thought. "Did someone 11  come and take the gold?"

That night, the people of the cities entertained(款待) Coronado and his men and served them food. They 12  Coronado to go home. "There is no gold here, " they told him. Coronado was angry. Did his friends lie(撒谎) to him?

Coronado 13  the next morning when the sun rose. He looked back 14  the city one more time. The sun sh one on the dirty houses. Coronado thought he saw a bit of gold. Were his friends right after all?"No, " he told himself. "It's just the 15 . " Then he turned away and went home.