Mary is a housewife with two 1. She is not good at 2 and it has always been the target (目标) of family jokes.

    One evening, Mary got ready for dinner a bit too 3. The kitchen started to fill with smoke and the smoke detector (烟雾报警器) went 4. 5 both of Mary's children had fire-safety 6 at school, they did not react (反应) to the alarm. Mary 7 annoyed (恼怒的). She stormed through the house in search of the two kids.

    She found 8 in the bathroom, washing their hands. Over the loud noise of the smoke alarm, she asked them 9 the sound was.

    "It's the smoke detector," they replied.

    "Do you know what that 10 means?" she asked.

    "Sure," the oldest replied. "Dinner's ready."

    One morning I met a man in my shop. He wanted to buy some new clothes. First I gave him a pair of trousers. He put them on to try, then ________ and gave them back to me and said, "No, give me a coat instead of them." I gave him a coat and told him, "This one is worth as much as the trousers." To my surprise he took the coat without saying a word and walked out of the shop with it. I ran quickly after him and said, "You haven't paid for that coat!" "But I gave you the trousers for the coat," he said. "They are worth (相当于……的价值) the same as the coat, aren't they?" "Yes," I said. "You didn't pay for the trousers, either!" "Of course I didn't!" answered the man, "I didn't take them. I am not foolish! Nobody gives things back and then pays for them."

    Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don't have enough time to relax or to stay with their family.

    Work hours are different from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1, 646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2, 159 hours a year. That means a Japanese worker works 513 more hours a year than a French worker.

    Why do people work so many hours？Some people work extra hours because they want to make more money. However, many companies don't pay overtime. Their workers don't get more pay for more work. Some people think it's their duty to work more hours. Some are afraid of losing their jobs if they don't work more hours.

    Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get five weeks of paid vacation a year. In Germany, they get four to six weeks, and in the United States, two weeks. One study shows fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In Great Britain, there is a saying, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull(迟钝的) boy. "If that is true, there must be a lot of dull people in the world.

Hello, boys and girls! I'm Alice. I {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(工作) in the Washington City Lost and Found Office. We get many {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (奇怪的)things every day. When people are in a {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(匆匆忙忙), they may {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (失去)things. So if you don't want to look for your things, be{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (小心的), please! Sometimes we have some lost pets, such as {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (鸭), and even {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (猪). When we can't find their owners, we'll send them to the pets'{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(家). And sometimes we even find two kilos of {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(香肠)! {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(谁的)are they? 

Ronny looked like every other kid in the classroom where I volunteered as the Reading Mom. However, he had a speech problem so he couldn't 1 like other kids in his grade.

I worked with all the students in Ronny's class one by one to improve their reading skills. On the days when it was Ronny's 2 , I'd give him a silent smile. That's why he sat very close to me and opened the book as if he was opening a treasure that 3 had ever seen.

I watched his fingers move 4 under each letter as he read out difficultly.

Every time he managed (完成) to read a word with a 5 pronunciation (发音), the biggest smile would spread across his face and his 6 would shine with pride.

A few weeks before the school year ended, I 7 Ronny a book—one of those Little Golden Books. A few days later, I returned to the school to visit. I 8 Ronny on a chair with the book. His head teacher said, "He hasn't 9 that book since you gave it to him." Deeply moved, I walked 10 Ronny, placed my hand on his shoulder and asked, "Will you read me your book, Ronny?" For the next few minutes, he read to me more 11 than I'd ever thought. The 12 were already dog-eared (卷角的), like the book had been read many times already. When he finished reading, Ronny closed his book and said with great 13 , "What a good book!"

At that moment, as a writer, I knew I would get 14 about my own writing and do what that writer had done, and probably still does—care enough to write a story that 15 a child's life, care enough to make a difference.

Recently we did a survey in our class in order to learn about students' dream jobs. 

I hope everyone can realize their dreams in the future.