Esperanza lives in a poor Latino(拉丁美洲人) neighborhood in Chicago, .America. She dreams of having her own house one day. Her parents told her that when they moved from their last house, they would have a new' and shiny(亮闪闪的) house. But the house is small and old.

    Many people live in Mango Street in a big old house. Esperanza lives behind it with her family. A lot of the people who have come from Mexico don't speak English. Many miss their home country. Esperanza understands their sadness, but she also feels at home in America. She is an American, but her roots(根) will always be Latino,

    Esperanza is young. Like her friends, she has to grow up fast. She is stuck between being a girl and being a woman. In the poor and dangerous area where she lives, this is difficult for her. Mexican people usually live in a close neighborhood. This means that people live packed(挤塞的) in together. Everyone knows everyone else. So Esperanza knows other older girls that do things she is not comfortable doing. It is just a fact of her life.

    But Esperanza has good friends too. She becomes friends with two sisters named Lucy and Rachel. They ride bikes and have adventures together. Esperanza is also friends with a girl named Alicia. Alicia is afraid of the rats in her apartment. She shares her poems with Esperanza.

    Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But when a policeman walked into an apartment on Thursday night to answer a 911 call, a cat was lying by a telephone on the floor. The cat's owner, Gary, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

    Gary said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons(按钮)to call 911. He said he couldn't get up because of great pain from his chest(胸口). He also couldn't reach the medicine on the table.

    The policeman, Patrick, said police got a 911 call from Gray's apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out. That's why Patrick found Tommy next to the phone.

    Gary got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure (压力). He trained him to call 911, but unsure if the training would work. The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons including a speed dial (快捷键) for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone.

    "He's my hero(英雄)." Gray said.

注意：1.语句通顺，语意连贯；

2.词数：80~100；短文的标题已给出，不计入总词数。

When I moved to America in the 7th grade, I did not speak any English. I had no choice but to keep working hard. Although I made1 when I reached the 9th grade, people still found it difficult to understand me because of my accent (口音).

One day, at a party, I was invited to play a guessing game. When it was my turn, I tried to 2 the object that I had in mind. Suddenly someone said with a laugh, "What did she say?" I felt 3 . Out of kindness, a girl gently advised me to repeat it, but I got stuck on the word "purple"—I couldn't 4 it. This time, everyone laughed while I was trying hard to get the word out of me. This5 had its own influence on me. When opportunities were opened up for the summer program I had been looking forward to, I6 to attend (参加) the interview. Luckily, I got tons of encouragement from people around me. So I decided to 7 .

At the interview, the other students in my group spoke very 8 but I didn't speak that much. I knew that I could hardly be understood because of my accent. Besides when I was nervous, it would be even more 9 for me to pronounce words clearly. After the interview, I stayed, said "10 " and explained to the teachers. I didn't want them to think I wasn't interested or I was being unfriendly. But they appreciated (欣赏) that I expressed11 . "It's OK. You don't have to say sorry. Your accent does not make you less than others," said one of the teachers.

Surprisingly, I was accepted into the 12 . Imagine how I felt!

Up to now, I still feel 13 that I took that step. It is a sign that I have changed. I did not let my accent 14 me. I'm sure I will continue to feel nervous about speaking English with strangers. 15 that's OK. It will not stop me from trying to be better.

Once there was a young boy who was known as a fast runner in his village. He only1 winning every race and becoming more successful.

One day，the boy took part in a running race in his village. He won the 200，100 and 50- meter races without any problem. He was2 of himself and received great applause（掌声) . 

But his grandfather came and asked him to have a race with two unexpected competitors(参赛者), an old man and a blind girl. The boy thought it was 3 but accepted. 

In the race，the boy finished first,4 the old man and the blind girl were still far behind. With 5 , he waved(挥）his hands at the crowd. But they kept silent. 

"Why aren't people cheering for me like before? " he asked his grandfather. 

"Start the race again with them. But this time，all of you should 6 the finish line at the same time，" the grandfather replied. 

The boy was surprised but agreed to take part in the race. 

During the second race, the boy took the 7 of the old man and the blind girl. And he walked8 with them to the finish line. The crowd stood up and gave them applause. 

The boy asked his grandfather，"For whom are the people9 ? Is it for me or them? "

The grandfather smiled and said，"The crowd did not cheer for any one of you. They cheered for how all of you ran the race together. "

Facing the race of life，what10 is not just winning，but how you run the race. 

Hello! My name is Gao Shan. My 1 name is Gao. My English 2 is Joan. I'm 14, 3 I'm in Nanjing, China now. My phone 4 is 246-8901.

I have a happy family. My mom is Sally and my 5 is Paul. They are 40 years old. They' re 6 in a middle school. They teach English. I have one brother and one sister. 7 are John and Anna. John is 18 and Anna 8 16. They' re 9 but I'm not. 10 things are everywhere--on the bed, on the sofa and under the chair. I always ask my mom to 11 me look for things.

 Mary is my good 12 . She is in Beijing with her grandparents. Mary is in her room now. She is 13 tidy girl and her things are always in the right places. She likes 14 and there are many books in her bookcase. Her maths is good. She always helps me work out difficult 15 .