A girl told her mom everything was going wrong for her, and that she always failed her math exam so that she wouldn't like to study at all．After hearing the daughter's words, the nice and patient mother thought of a good way to make her daughter happy．“I will make a delicious cake for you,” said the mom．She walked into the kitchen, and the daughter followed with her．When the mom prepared the cooking utensils (炊具) and ingredients（原料）, the daughter sat against the kitchen door, watching her．Her mom asked her, “My dear, would you like a piece of cake?” The daughter replied, “Sure, Mom! You know how I love cake!” “All right,” the mom said, “drink some of this cooking oil．” The daughter was very surprised and said, “What? No way!!!” “How about some raw (生的) eggs?” asked the mom and the daughter answered, “No way!” “How about some flour (面粉)?” “No, Mom! I will be sick!”

    The mother explained, “All of these are uncooked and taste bad, but if you put them together, they will make a delicious cake．Life works the same way．When we ask ourselves why there are so many difficult times, we don't realize what a success these terrible events will lead us to．Having a great day also means having a great CAKE! Keep the hope and one day your day is A PIECE OF CAKE!”

    Pablo Casals was a great cello（大提琴） player and music writer. He was born in Catalonia, Spain. He first heard the cello played when he was 11.Generally, he felling love with the instrument. So, he went to school at the Escuela Municipal de Musica. He focused on his studies and got high grades. When he finished school, he played the cello in the queen's palace. He became more and more famous. Soon, he began to play for audiences worldwide.

    After the events of the Spanish Civil War, Casals left Spain. He refused to go back. He went to live in Puerto Roco. He continued his work as a teacher. Healso recorded many albums（相册）. At the age of 80 he married his third and final wife, Marta Montanez.

    Casals died in 1973.The king of Spain had enjoyed Casals' music very much. He ordered a postage stamp to be made. It showed a picture of the cellist.

Helen was in the dance room. She needed to practice dancing. But her dancing shoes were left at home, so she had to{#blank#}1{#/blank#}them. She{#blank#}2{#/blank#} her key and then rode home. Her shoes were in a box under the bed. The box was so heavy that she asked her dad{#blank#}3{#/blank#} it for her. And then she went back to the dance room. Her dance teacher told her to remember{#blank#}4{#/blank#}her shoes with her next time.

I did not pass the boys' basketball tryouts (预选赛) in Grade 7. Joining the team was very1 to me, but my name was not on the list (名单). On the way home, I was both angry and unhappy. "I can't believe I didn't join the team," I said2 ."How did Alex make the team? He runs so slowly! Why is Jimmy better than me? He just stands around moving his arms!" 

"Adam!"my mum 3 me."I think, maybe you need a little more 4 . 

Suddenly, I knew she was 5 . It was nobody's mistake but my own. I decided (决定) to work hard for the team over the next year. 

I practised 6 every day and spent lots of time on it every week. 

When summer came, I 7 lots of basketball camps. Through camp after camp, I could do it better and better. I knew I was 8 for tryouts in the autumn. The day finally came. 

As 9 stood around the lists, I played quite well and waited for my chance (机会) to read the names. I slowly looked down the 10 . Not only did I make the team, but my name was the very first.

A father and his son went to a kite festival. When they 1 , there were many parents   and their children playing in the park 2 . The son was happy when he saw the sky fill with colorful kites. He wanted to fly a kite , too. So they went to a kite shop and 3 beautiful one. 

 The father was good4 flying kites. Soon the kite was high up in the sky. After a while the son said, "Dad, it 5 that the string (线) is stopping the kite from flying higher.6 we cut it, the kite will be free and fly even higher. Can we cut it? "The father said 7 but just cut the string off. The kite really went higher. This made the little boy8

 But then, after a few minutes, the kite started to 9 slowly. It soon fell onto the ground in the end . The son was 10 to see this. He asked his father, "I thought that after cutting the string, the kite would fly higher. Why did it fall down?

 The father smiled and said, "The role of the string was not stopping the kite from going higher, but was 11 stay in the sky, because the kite 12 can't fly up. You helped the kite go up in the right 13 by using the string. But when you cut the string, it could no longer support the kite. "

 In our life, we may sometimes feel like there are certain things that are holding us back and stopping us from growing.14 in fact, these might be the things that support us the most. We can really15 and become better by knowing the importance of these things.