I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. The best gift I ever received was presented to me 1 a stranger. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him 2 less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed 3 way I think about people and about Christmas.

    I hate Black Friday sales. It's often a gathering of people 4 are there for many different reasons. Some are looking for one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their purpose are completely have 5 to do with the festive time of year, and can merely be summed up with one word, "Cheap!"

    It was several years ago when my wife asked me 6 her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child's bike 7 she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle（口哨）. I told my wife 8 we got a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.

    As 9 bikes began to gradually（逐渐）decrease in size, I saw my "polite" opportunity to reach my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I 10 it and suddenly felt some mild resistance（阻力）. I looked up to see one of 11 gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not the word to describe his appearance. He was wearing lots of straps of metal spiked leather（带有铆钉的皮带） around 12 arms and even his neck and he had tattoos（纹身）too.

    I started to return the box 13 he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping car. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Merry Christmas." All the way home I 14 that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all prejudice（偏见） I may have had of certain types of people. The softness of a human heart can be seen in a simple act. I will never 15 it.

    Once an old man who had four lazy sons fell sick and was counting his last days in bed. He was very worried about his sons' future because they always believed in luck {#blank#}1{#/blank#}of hard work.

    The old man decided to play a trick{#blank#}2{#/blank#} he died to make his sons realize the importance of work. He told them that he would leave them a treasure box {#blank#}3{#/blank#} gold coins and wanted them to share the treasure.

    The young men asked where his father had placed the treasure. The old man replied," I can't exactly remember{#blank#}4{#/blank#}place. However, the treasure is buried in our land."

    After a few days, the old man died. The sons decided to{#blank#}5{#/blank#}the land to find the treasure box. They worked very hard, but they couldn't find the box. They dug even{#blank#}6{#/blank#}, but they still got nothing.

    Later, one of their neighbors {#blank#}7{#/blank#} by and saw the loose (松的) soil. He suggested that the sons should turn it into a farm. Soon, good fruit and vegetables grew out of the land. The four sons sold them at a good{#blank#}8{#/blank#} and made lots of money.

    Then they realized that the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} box their father mentioned was hard work in fact. The father successfully played a trick to {#blank#}10{#/blank#} his sons how important it was to work hard. What a clever father!

We are looking for this man. He is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} and of {#blank#}2{#/blank#} build. He has a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} face. He has {#blank#}4{#/blank#} hair and a tattoo(纹身) on his right {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. He also wears an earring in his left ear. He usually {#blank#}6{#/blank#} a sweater and {#blank#}7{#/blank#}. If you see him, please call the police.
 

A.  B.  C. {#blank#}8{#/blank#}

While we were growing up, our parents often said things like, "Look at that boy, he swims so well! He is such a talent(人才)．" Such words made us believe that if we were not born a talent, we would never do things well. So we were afraid to try new things, and were afraid of making mistakes or failing. But in fact, failures(失败) and mistakes are as important as success.

Sarah is lucky. She has a great father. As a child, her father asked her the same question every weekend. "What did you fail at this week, Sarah？" He did not care too much about her grades. He cared more about what she had tried but failed at. When she told him about her failures and mistakes, he would give her a high five(举手击掌)．

Do you realize what her father was doing? He was trying to make her believe that failures and mistakes are just fine. And they were a huge part of our growth and success. Most importantly, her father was telling her that she would still be loved and trusted even if she failed. Encouraged by the weekend communications, Sarah has grown into a successful businesswoman.In her journey, she has tried many new jobs and had many difficulties，but she never lost heart. Because she knew her failures and mistakes would be embraced(接受) on the weekend.

So go ahead and ask yourself and your children, "What did we fail at this week？"

 Sally is from Canada, but she is in Hangzhou now. Sally lives with her parents near her school. 

 Sally is thirteen years old. She is a 1 in No. 12 Middle School. Her student ID number is 202475039. She is very 2 and her teachers and classmates like her. She likes swimming very much. So she often 3 after school. She also likes to listen to music when she is free. 

 On her first school day, her classmate Yang Fang says to Sally, "Hello, I am Yang Fang. Nice to meet you! Do you like 4 school?"

 Sally says, "Yes. But I miss(想念) my old 5 and friends in Canada. "

"Can you tell me about your friends?" says Yang Fang. 

"Yes, sure, " Sally says. "I have 6 good friends at my old school. They are Lisa and Alice. We are in the same class. We all like7 . Every Saturday we go to play basketball. "

"It's 8 to have friends, isn't it?" says Yang Fang. 

 Sally says, "Yes, but I can't see them now. "

"Well, it is good to have 9 friends too, " Yang Fang says. "We can be friends. AndI10 like basketball and we can play it together. "

"Yes, " Sally says. Now she is happy. 

One day, a little boy asked his father, "What does the word ‘great' mean? Who are great people and how do they become great?" The father asked the boy to bring two young1 home. Then he told him to plant one of them inside the house and the other outside the house. The boy did as his father2 .

The father asked his son, "My boy, which of the two trees do you think will be 3 ?" The boy answered, "The one inside the house will be safer4 it will grow bigger. But the tree outside the house is not safe at all. No one will be there to 5 it. And animals may eat it."

The father smiled and said, "Let's wait and6 . We will know the answer one day." Then the boy left for study and after four 7 he came back. He said to his father, "Look,8 happens to this young tree inside the house and it is safe." When the boy went outside, he was very 9 to see a very big tree. The boy couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't 10 how the young tree outside was able to grow much bigger than the one inside the house.

"The tree outside the house 11 many difficulties!" The father told his son 12 the tree outside was bigger. "The tree inside was safe. It didn't face weather changes, and it didn't get 13 sunlight, so it didn't become big."

Here is the answer to the question about being14 : To become a great person, one must meet many 15 and try to solve (解决) them. Only after that he or she is able to become great.