King Akbar was in the habit of putting riddles and puzzles to his people. He often asked 1 which were strange. His people had to use words in a 2 way to answer these questions.

    Once Akbar asked a very strange question. He looked at his people. As he looked, one by one the heads began to hang low in search of a(an) 3. It was at this moment that Bribal entered the palace. Birbal  4 the habit of the king. He understood the 5 at once and asked, “May I know the question so that I can 6 for an answer?”

    Akbar said, “How many crows(乌鸦)are there in the city?”

    Without even a moment's thought, Birbal 7, “There are fifty thousand five hundred and eighty nine crows, My Lord. "

    “How can you be so 8?” asked Akbar.

    Birbal said, “Make your men 9, My Lord. If you find more crows it means some have come to visit their relatives here. If you find 10 crows it means some have gone to visit their relatives somewhere else. "

    Akbar was pleased very much by Birbal's wise answer.

    David grew up poor. He started working in the 7th grade, and when he was in high school he was only going to school half days, 1 at 11 am to go to work.

    Lack of money meant lack of educational chances, but he had a hunger to learn. In his  2  time he read books that he thought it would   3 him succeed somewhere down the road.   

    He worked very hard, and he tried his best to provide for his family,  4factory life had a bad effect on his body and spirit, he had an unhappy life. It was, in his mind, killing him like a slow poison.

    In 1995 he bought his first computer, and a few months later, he discovered the Internet. He wanted to be a part of it, and worked 48 or   5 hours a week in the factory, and  6  another 40 or more hours a week teaching  7  computer skills. He worked harder than he  8  had in his life, surfing the Internet over 100 hours a week.

    David wanted to begin jobs in the Internet and computer fields. He was refused many times, but he never 9 . He had a goal and kept after it10  he didn't like it at all, because  11  else seemed so hopeless. Soon he got a fast return. David left the 12  and took a job in the computing field.

    This is a true story about believing in yourself; a story about finding  13  you love to do and following your dreams.

    My hope in writing this story is that, if you have a dream, you'll be  14  enough to see it through. It's up to you to make it. Remember that even the farthest  15   always starts with the first step.

    I had never noticed her. She was not the kind of girl who could draw attention. She was not tall 1 looked ordinary. In class, she liked sitting at the back, reading or writing notes. One day I asked her 2 aloud the text. When I heard her standard （标准） American English, I looked at her with new eyes. And I remembered her name﹣Kelly. Later on, the National College Speech Competition would be held. One student in our school 3 to attend. I thought it over and filled in her name. Kelly practiced 4 for the competition. However, I was a little worried 5 she was always too quiet. Could she really 6 well in the competition?

    7 the night of the competition, I sat in the front row of the hall very early. I told her to take it easy. Her face turned red and she said nothing. 8 seemed that she was really nervous. I felt upset, but I just patted her on the shoulder and 9 her go to draw lots （抽签）. As a result, she drew No.9 while No.8 was a boy who was very good at giving speeches.

    Sure enough, No.8 was very 10. The whole audience made a warm applause.

    While they 11 about his speech with excitement, Kelly appeared on the stage. I with no courage to look at her. It was her 12 time to go up the stage, so I couldn't be angry with her for any small mistakes. But at that moment, I found 13 I was so afraid of her failure（失败）.

    The strong spotlight and large hall made her so small that nobody seemed to notice she had been on the stage. I felt 14.

But the moment that surprised me came. I clearly heard a voice, a very loud voice, "Now, please focus on me."

    Three times in all, louder and louder.

    The whole audience fell silent.

    I could hardly believe that loud voice came from the girl, who was usually soft-voiced and didn't catch attention at all. She gave a perfect speech.

    I think I will never forget this touching lesson which my student taught me-never underestimate（低估） the power of the 15 people.

B

    Bobby likes wearing hats. Hats make him feel cool. Hats1the sun out of his eyes. His favorite hat is a baseball hat.

    Last year, Bobby saved money every month to buy the baseball2 . After a few3 , he had enough money for the new hat. Although it4 him some months to buy one, he was excited.

    Bobby bought a new red hat because his favorite baseball team wore  5  hats. When he put on his new hat, he felt he was a part of the team. When Bobby's father saw the new hat, he was kind of6. He didn't think his son could save so much money.

    One day Bobby's father got two7tickets, so he planned to take his son to watch a baseball game. Bobby was very happy to wear his new red hat to the8. He was very excited to watch his favorite team. He thought he was one of them, 9 all the team wore the same red hats.

    His team won the game, and Bobby was very happy. The new hat was good and it10 his favorite team good luck. And it was really good to spend time with Dad.

    Tom is a student in No. 5 Middle School. He likes nice shoes. But his parents don't have much money to 1 them for him. So he always goes to the 2 and look at them for hours.

    3 a Sunday afternoon, Tom comes to the shoe store again. Looking down at his 4 shoes, Tom feels unhappy. He really wants to have a new pair of shoes for his birthday, 5 he knows that his parents can't buy them for him.

    Tom doesn't go home because he doesn't want his 6 to see his sad face. He goes to the park to relax himself. There he 7 a girl sitting in a wheelchair(轮椅). Tom wants to know 8 the girl is like that. He comes to the girl and finds that 9 has no feet! He looks down at his feet and says to himself, “It's much better to be without(没有)shoes than without feet.” Tom goes home happily, thinking he is happier than many children.

    Being 10 is the first thing for everyone. Nothing is more important than that.

    What comes to your mind when you hear the word "twins"? Born on the same day? Looking almost the same? Or having the same hobbies? I have a twin brother who was born on a1day from me. We do not 2very much alike and we are always3in different things.

    Twelve years ago, my brother, Wayne, was born at eleven fifty-eight4the night of May 28. Five minutes later, I was born—on May 29. Since the5we were born, I have always been heavier and6 than Wayne, so people usually think I am the elder brother.

    But Wayne is always smarter than I. He7reading and learns many things quickly. He knows a lot about animals, although he does not8much time playing with our9and birds. He knows a lot about10, but never likes to ride bikes as much as I do. Though we are very different, I love my brother very much. I hope both of us are having a happy life. We are sure we will have a good future.