Simon was a smart boy in a single-parent（单亲的）family. Last year, his mother 1 him to learn the piano from me. Simon said that it was his mother's  2 to hear him play the piano.

    Simon played very hard, but he was really not good at it. He still went on 3.

    One day Simon 4 coming to my lessons. He called me and said his mother was in hospital  5 he needed to look after her.

Two weeks before a show from the students, Simon 6 my school. He told me he  7 stopped practicing the piano. He told me that he wanted to join us in the show. I saw something special in his blue eyes, so I said OK.

    Simon did very 8 in the show, and the show was on TV in the end. Later, Simon told me that his 9  was born deaf（聋的）, but she became better after watching the show on TV. It was a(n)   10 thing, wasn't it?

    Jack had a very strange dream yesterday evening. He dreamed that he lived in a jungle (丛林) in Africa with many 1. He made friends with monkeys, snakes and giraffes. Every day he woke up early in the morning and went 2 for food. He ate fruit and insects. After breakfast, he had a meeting with the monkeys. They spoke to him in a (n) 3 language but he was able to understand them. Then he met the snakes for lunchtime. During lunchtime, they discussed 4 to do about the tiger. The tiger was their enemy (敌人).It wanted to eat 5 of them and they were afraid of it. Finally, they thought of a plan. The monkeys and the snakes' 6 was that Jack should try to catch the tiger while it was sleeping. So, when the tiger was taking its afternoon nap (打盹), Jack took his 7 and quietly walked towards the tiger. Jack was very quiet, but the tiger was sleeping very 8.The tiger opened its eyes, looked at him and gave a loud roar (咆哮). Jack was so afraid that he forgot to run away. The tiger jumped on him and 9 as it opened its mouth to eat him, he woke up. When he opened his 10, Jack found that his pet cat was licking (舔) his face. He was so relieved (宽慰的).

    It was Sunday afternoon. My brother and I were alone at home. My parents went for a party and asked me to look after my brother. I was doing my homework while my younger brother was watching TV. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Ding-Dong! My brother thought that it was our parents, so he opened the 1soon.

    A tall man wearing a black raincoat stood outside. He said that he came to sell books and asked politely2 our parents were at home.

    Without thinking, my brother said, “No.” Then the man asked if we would like to 3some story books. I refused him. When I wanted to close the door, he suddenly pushed the door very 4and came into our house. He took out a 5and ordered me to tie up my brother's hands with a rope. I tied up his hands in a special way so my brother could untie 6easily. The man then tied my hands up and locked 7of us in the kitchen. Soon, he went upstairs to 8money. I taught my brother to untie the rope on his 9. He then untied me. I rushed to the telephone to call the police,10the line was dead. The doors were all locked from the outside. It was lucky that the man 11to lock the kitchen window. We got out of the house through the kitchen window and went to the 12 pay phone to call the police

    Soon 13came to our house and the man was caught. By that time, my parents had come home. We told them the whole story. My parents were 14that we were not hurt. They told me that I should stop my brother from 15the door to strangers. I learned a lesson on safety.

    Irene sat quietly by the window and sighed, "Where are you, Fluffy? Please 1 soon."

    Her mother came in, sat beside her and stroked (轻抚) her head, "Don't worry, Irene, we'll find her." Irene hugged her mother and cried.

    Fluffy was Irene's pet dog. When she came home from school, Fluffy would be the first one to 2 her. After finishing all that needed to be done, Irene and Fluffy would play a 3 of catch. Fluffy knew when Irene was too 4 to play, and she would sit 5 on her knees and let Irene stroke her. Irene felt that Fluffy was the only one who 6 her. So Irene loved her with all her heart.

    Then one day, 7 terrible happened. Irene came home and found Fluffy was gone. Her mother had no 8 where Fluffy was. Irene searched and called but Fluffy was still not around. Her father went out and looked for Fluffy. However, he came home empty-handed. That night, Irene 9 sleep at all. She thought she would 10 see Fluffy.

    The next morning, as soon as she walked into the living room, she saw Fluffy sitting on the sofa. What a surprise! Irene ran forward and hugged her.

    Young Scottish brothers take on a list of 500 adventures

    For Ollie and Harry Ferguson, life is an adventure. For the past four years, the brothers have been working to1a list of 500 challenges and experiences.

    "The idea came about actually from the boys," their father, MacNeill Ferguson, said. "The boys were just asked one day if they could2 some cool things for us to do as a family. They put forward some impossible ideas firstly, like going on a trip to Mars, International Sausage Day and all kinds of3 kids requests. They built the list to a hundred, then kept finding new things we wanted to go and try ... until it got up to 500." They're all listed on the brothers' Facebook page.

    So far they have built an igloo, explored the wilderness, and sent their Lego men to the depths of the ocean and into outer space. Perhaps their biggest 4is playing out right now on the high seas. Last year, Ollie and Harry launched(使下水) a toy ship from the Scottish coast. The ship named "Adventure" sailed across the North Sea to Scandinavia. It then began a ride on a Norwegian boat and was launched 5, this time off the coast of west Africa. It's equipped with a tracking device(跟踪器), allowing the brothers to6every step of the sailing.  But the battery(电池) on the tracking device is becoming weak, so Harry and Ollie hope a passing ship 7 their boat and is able to recharge(充电) its battery, allowing the adventure to continue.

    "Harry, where would you like the boat to go?" Ferguson asked. "Without (a) 8 , that would be China because we all love China." Harry answered. He thought that even there are so many difficulties, the boat will reach China.

I used to hate scary films. I didn't understand 1 some people wanted to scare 2 on purpose. But now I love them. Sometimes I watch them by myself; sometimes I watch them with my sister. 3, I will have a cushion(靠垫) nearby to 4 my face especially for bad parts, but I still enjoy watching them. As a 5, I have to watch something "happy" afterwards to take my mind off them,

    Watching scary films is 6 going on a roller coaster(过山车). Many people ride it for the 7 that comes from being scared without actually being in 8. As I am truly scared of the roller coaster, watching scary films is my way of 9 this. And it is interesting, especially 10 it is a film you haven't seen before. You can try and 11 what's going to happen.

    12 I saw a film called The Strangers by myself. In the film, a group of people with scary masks(面具) attacked(攻击) a couple's house. 13 some reason I had to keep stopping the video and doing 14 else, like checking e mails or reading a bit of my book. It took me five hours to finish seeing the film. It's hard to believe, isn't it?

    Scary films make me 15 but excited, I know I will continue to scare myself.