I noticed an old couple as they walked into the second-hand store. Just before that I had dropped off a bag of clothes and a few other things I no longer needed.

    The couple moved 1 around me in search of things they had on a list.

    “Can I help you 2 something?” I asked curiously.

    They stopped, looked at me and said, “We're looking for 3 things that look new.”

    “Every year in the past, we tried to 4 the year with new things. It was a goal (目标) to have new things around us so that we had a new 5, new hopes and dreams for the new year,” said the old man. “But nowadays we also believe that even though something is old, it 6 be new to someone who has never seen it before.”

    “So, at the end of each year we search for things that are 7 to no one but new to us,” the old woman added.

    “What have you found so far?” I asked.

    The man showed two things: a small frame made of sticks and one baby boot.

    “We still need one more thing,” he said.

    “Got it!” I heard a loud 8.

    “What did you find?” the old man shouted, too.

    The old woman walked slowly towards us 9 something in her hand. “Look! It's a flower vase. Well, it looks 10, but it's new to us!”

    They then headed for the checkout without saying another word.

    Everything that you see for the first time is new.

    Jackie Chan is one of the most popular TV and film stars, not only in China but also in the world.He was born in 1, on April 7^th, 1954.His parents left Mainland of China 2 Hong Kong a short time before he was born.His parents named him “Chan Kong-sang”, which 3 born in Hong Kong.They wanted to celebrate a 4 trip to Hong Kong.

    At first, Jackie's family 5 in the French Embassy(大使馆).His father worked as a cook, and his mother was a housekeeper.They were not very rich.Then Jackie was seven years old, his family 6 to Australia.There his father 7 a job in the American Embassy.Later, they went back to Hong Kong.Jackie's father 8 him to the China Drama Academy.But he couldn't give his son enough 9 .Jackie had to do some part-time 10 after school.He studied and 11 for 19 hours a day.The students 12 Kungfu and learned how to do many stunts there.

    When Jackie was only 17, he began to do 13 stunts for films.In the early 1980s, Jackie went to Hollywood, 14 he wasn't very successful.He went on to act in films in Hong Kong and had great 15.Finally in 1995, Jackie Chan became famous in the United States.Today, Jackie Chan has both Chinese and American fans, and he earns millions of dollars from his films.

    I was living in a house with a long history in Halifax, Nova Scotia five years ago. One day one of my friends from the West Coast came out to visit me. He was1for 3 weeks so he brought a lot of bags and suitcases, and other things like a2. I told him he could sleep on the bed in the front living room.

      One morning after a late night of drinking, my friend ran into my room shouting" Fire, Fire". Without3, I jumped out of bed. The floor was4against my feet as I ran into the hallway, right behind my friend. I couldn't see the fire anywhere, 5as we ran towards the front door, I could hear the6making a loud noise all around me. It was inside the7. We ran out into the front yard and looked8at the house, seeing black smoke coming out of the9house.

      We were standing there watching the house when I looked down and10all of my friend's bags and suitcases11lined up on the front grassland, including his basketball. 12he noticed the house was on fire, he took all of them out to the grassland before coming back to13me about it. That fire had started in the basement（地下室）, and it spread up into the walls and was burning the14we were standing on. The floor and much of the house fell down not long after we came out. The firemen said we were very15.

Of course，we are not friends anymore.

    A small "shop" by the road in Japan has a dog "shopkeeper". It's selling roasted(烤的)Sweet 1there.

    The friendly dog is 2 Kenkun. Because the shop is a self—service one, what the dog should do is just to be cute for customers and he does well3that. The roasted sweet potatoes are kept in a heated "box" outside the shop. So customers can help4directly They need to5100 yen(日元)into the money box for each potato they take. It seems to be working fine now. 6, who would steal a dog? Actually, the three-year-old dog is a good "shopkeeper. It's 7cute and lovely that some of the customers come to see him and of course, they will leave with 8 one or two potatoes.

    People online have different opinions about this. Some of them think that's interesting and they say the dog is the 9 one they've ever seen. But others think it's crazy to keep a dog 10 near a "box" for several hours a day. In their opinion, dogs should run and play hers and there in the sun.

    Rudi Matt lived in a small village in the Swiss Apls in 1865. What he wanted most in the world was to climb the1peak(山峰) in the Alps, Rudi's mother and his uncle, Franz, a mountain guide, wanted him to stop climbing and start working in a hotel. Rudi would not2his dream and secretly got in touch with an English mountain climber who was planning to climb the highest peak.

    Franz was very3when he found out what Rudi had done, but he finally agreed to let Rudi go if he went climbing too. Franz also didn't want Emil Saxo, a guide from another village, to go to the top4him.

    Rudi turned out to be a very good climber, but as they got close to the top, the Englishman got sick and could not go farther. Franz stayed behind to take care of him, but Saxo continued, wishing to be the5to the top. Rudi went after Saxo, hoping to beat him to the top. When they met, Saxo fought with Rudi and fell down by accident. Saxo was helpless and hurt. Rudi must6whether to carry Saxo back down to safety or to continue alone to the top.

    He decided Saxo's life was more important than his dream and helped him down.

    During that time, the Englishman and Franz continued the climb, and finally they reached the top. Later, when they returned to the village, they told people that Rudi was the real conqueror(征服者) of the mountain.