"What's the matter, mum?" As soon as I enter(进入) the door, I find that my mother is  1. It's unusual--she usually opens the door and welcomes me with 2.

     "She's dying," mum says sadly. I 3 what she says. The tulip(郁金香), mother's favourite, is dying.

    A month ago, we  4 into our new house and mum bought a very beautiful tulip. Mum liked it very much. 5 she was free, she would sit in her armchair beside the tulip and 6 its beautiful colour and inviting (诱人的) smell.

    She 7 it as a baby and looked after it 8. She put the tulip by window and moved it from one place to another to give the tulip enough 9. The first thing she did when she 10 every morning was to water the tulip. Mum also fertilized(施肥) it many times.

    She hoped that 11 great care, the tulip would become more and more beautiful and 12. But the tulip was dying because of  13  sunshine, water and fertilizer.

     It's 14 that mother loved the tulip. But this kind of love can be harmful. Love can sometimes 15 what you love.

"I'm going shopping in the village，"George's mother said to George on Saturday morning．"So be a good boy and don't get into trouble．And don't forget 1good care of Grandma．"Then out she went．

    Grandma 2 in the chair by the window when she opened one little eye and said，"Now you heard 3your mother said，George．"

    "Yes，Grandma，"George said．

    George was bored to tears．He didn't have a brother or a sister．His father was a farmer，and 4farm they lived on was miles away from anywhere，5 there were never any children to play with．He was tired of staring at6pigs，hens，cows and sheep．He was especially tired of having to live in the house with his grandma．Looking after her all by himself was hardly 7way to spend a Saturday morning．

    "Go and make me a cup of tea for a start，8 sugar and milk．"Grandma said．Most grandmothers are lovely，kind，helpful old ladies，but not this one．George's grandma was a woman9was always complaining about something or other．She spent all day10on her chair by the window．George 11 that Grandma used to be a gentle lady，but as she grew older，she was not able to look after herself and even worse，she was easy to get angry．

    "We 12be nice to the old，George，"His mother always told him．

    Thinking of this，George 13into the kitchen and made Grandma a cup of tea with a teabag．He put one spoon of sugar and 14 milk in it．He stirred the tea well and carried it into the living room 15 ．

    Alvin wants a new laptop（手提电脑）. His family is8 poor because his parents lose their 1.

    Alvin can't ask his parents for a laptop. He decides to2his rich uncle Todd for help. He ride Todd's house. Todd's house is very3There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms in the house. And there are4paintings on the walls. Alvin wishes he could live there.

    Tod gives him something to5Alvin says, No, thanks. I already ate, "Tod asks him why he is6. Alvin does not know what to say. "My laptop is really old, and I need a new laptop for school. I would ask my7, but they don't have jobs anymore, "Alvin says.

    "I understand," Todd says. Todd8Alvin 5800, Alvin feels very happy. He jumps up and down He has never felt so9in all his life. His mom asks Alvin why be is so happy, Alvin doesn't say10. He doesn't want to make his mom feel bad.

    Do you have any interests in your childhood? In my seventh grade, I developed a/an 1 in solving a Rubik's Cube. I started by asking my brother to teach me and he asked me to solve a blue cross on a cube by myself.

    I spent around 20 minutes mixing the cube and finally got that little blue cross on the top. 2, I jumped up from the chair and raced into my brother's bedroom. After handing the cube to him, to my surprise, he mixed the perfect blue cross up. Making my work completely disappear.

    "Do it again," he 3 it back to me.

    "No, I won't." I was angry stepping out of his room.

    A few weeks later, my brother wasn't at home. "I'm going to 4 how to do this without him!" I promised myself. I spent the rest of my night watching a guy on YouTube teach me to solve the first few steps. I mastered those steps.

    The next day, I spent the whole school day secretly5 what I had learned the night before. When I made my way to my music class, I tried to find some spare time taking out the cube again and solving what I knew. Noah, my classmate, and also one of my best friends later, laughed at me.

    "Do you know how?" I sneered（讥笑）.

    "Actually yeah, let me see it. My fastest solving 6 is 15 seconds," he noted as he began solving the cube. It took him about 25 seconds to finish it.

    "Okay, that was cool." I started solving the cube again. I didn't know at that time this boy would be my inspiration for cube solving. He taught me each step, each day, and when I 7, he'd remind(提醒) me how to do it. He was the best friend I'd ever had.

    Sadly he's no longer with us now, but the memories of solving cubes together will be there forever. It was this boy who helped me with cube solving. It takes me around a minute to solve a Rubik's Cube. I am 8 that I can do something not many people can. Thank you, Noah.

    I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a town of Italy.

    As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat beside us. He called the waiter over, saying, "Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the  1."

    We heard his order with  2  and noticed that he was served one cup of coffee  3 he paid for two.

    When he left, the waiter put a piece of paper on the wall saying "A Cup of Coffee".

    While we were still there, two other men entered and  4  three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two but paid for  5. This time also, the waiter did the same thing. It was  6 unusual for us.

    After a few days, we had a chance to enter this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man  7  appeared homeless entered. He looked at the wall and said, "One cup of coffee from the wall."

    The waiter served a cup of coffee to this man with  8. The man had his coffee and left without  9. We were amazed to watch all of this as the waiter  10  a piece of paper off the wall and threw it into the bin.

    Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very  11  . The people of this town showed great respect for those people who needed help.

Just think about  12 this man wanted. He didn't have to lose his face to ask for a(n)13 cup of coffee.  14 asking or knowing who was giving him this cup of coffee, he only looked at the wall, made an order for himself,  15  his coffee and left.

    It's a truly beautiful thing – probably the most beautiful wall anywhere in the world.

    I looked at my watch. It was ten to six. There was just ten minutes left before we 1 leave for home. Suddenly the earth began to shake. In no time the shake became very 2. "Earthquake(地震)!" someone shouted. I 3 the others to the door but we couldn't get out. I stayed under a desk, covering my head and neck with my arms. "Will someone save me 4the building falls down?

Is this the end for me?" I kept thinking about that. Several minutes 5 the shake stopped. Two of my workmates tried to open the door again, and they made it! We ran quickly to the street. It was such a(n) 6 that we couldn't believe our eyes- the street was full of debris(碎片) and broken wood. More and more people came out and many were injured(受伤的). Lots of them did 7 but look up into the sky in shock. We walked a long way home not saying much. Some were praying(祈祷) and some were crying. 8 in such a situation was difficult. Our phones didn't work because of the earthquake. So it was 9 to find out if our friends were okay. I had no way of letting my family in China 10 that I was still alive(活着). I just hoped that they wouldn't hear about the earthquake until tomorrow.