Everybody has his own hero in mind and is always trying to copy his behaviors in life. As for me, my 1 is just that man. My grandfather had a small farm. He also worked in a 2.

    One autumn, most of the farmers in the village were 3 so he promised to help his neighbor harvest（收割）the corn as he often did.4 after harvesting his own corn, Grandpa's little corn machine broke. What was 5 the factory where Grandpa worked made the workers have extra work. He had to 6the farm early and didn't get back until very late. It now seemed 7 to help out his neighbor because he really had no free time.

    One night, Grandpa 8 that he wouldn't let his neighbor's harvest rot（腐烂）in the field. Without a9 he'd harvest it by hand.

    “I don't think you'd have time to do it,” said my grandma. “10 it would be too dark to do anything at night.”

    “I know of one night that I could do it!” he 11 “There's still one more full moon in October. If the12 is clear, I think I can do it.”

    A few days later, after a long shift（轮班）at the factory, my grandpa went to the 13The weather was cold but clear. He cut all the corn through the night to 14 his word.

    Sometimes, when I want to put off responsibilities, I'd see my grandfather 15 corn in the light of the harvest moon. Behind him, row after row of corn stocks（玉米秸秆）stand at attention in respect for a man who keeps his word.

    My mum works on Saturdays, so every Saturday my aunt, Jenny, takes me somewhere interesting. For example, once she took me to the sea museum, and then she made me do a project (专题研究) about my favourite 1.

    Last Saturday, Jenny took me to an old people's home. She was a volunteer there, so she 2 went there in her free time. There were a lot of old people there. Jenny introduced 3 to some of them. Then she asked me if I would like to read the newspaper to them. I was glad to do that. I read 4 so they could hear me. They said my reading was excellent. I felt really 5.

    Later, Jenny and I had 6 with them. I sat at a table with one man and two women. During lunch, they told me stones about their lives. The man had been a guide. The two women were from other 7. Mrs Wang came from China, and Mrs Guleed was from South Africa. They 8 their lives in their hometowns. It sounded different.

    After lunch, Jenny 9 the piano. Some of the people sang along to the music. The people there were very kind to me. I liked them so much that I began to 10 them as soon as I got home.

    One day, Mr John, a rich and fussy man, walked into a restaurant. He would like to have a meal there. The waiters of the restaurant felt terrible when they saw 1. They knew he always wanted the best but would only pay 2.

    A waiter gave the menu to Mr. John and he decided to order a bowl of oxtail soup. The waiter took the order and left as 3 as he could.

 4the dish was served. Mr. John tasted it and then called the waiter. All the waiters knew he would ask 5 the proof that the soup was made of real oxtail, 6, the smart waiter just smiled and went over. After listening to Mr. John's question, the waiter went into the kitchen and then he brought an ox with no tail. Mr. John had 7 to say but to go on with his meal.

Judy is from the US. She is twelve years old. She  {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(study) at No. 14Middle School. She likes China. She  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(learn) Chinese now. She says Chinese is interesting but very difficult. 

Yesterday  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(be) Sunday. She got up very early. She  {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(run) for a long time. Then she cleaned her room and  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (stay) at home. She studied maths in the morning and played sports in the afternoon. 

I'm a middle school student. In the past. I was {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（害羞的）, so I had few friends. To make some changes, I decided to join the school sailing team. When I first got on the sailboat, I thought it was {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（令人愉快的）. But it was difficult to steer the boat, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（尤其）for me. I felt really afraid. The boat kept shaking left and right. It didn't move forward. At that time I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} （理解）that many things were not as easy as I thought. 

In the beginning, I really wanted to give up. Mr Li was my {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（教练）. He taught well but I still often made {#blank#}6{#/blank#} （错误）. That made me sad. Luckily, my mother always encouraged me. She would always {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（建议）me to listen to Mr Li more carefully and try to remember the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} （句子）she said, "All things are difficult before they are easy!"

Then I kept training. Day by day, I could do better. Mr Li was {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（满意的）with my improvement. At the same time, training in the team gave me the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} （机会）to make friends with the teammates. I'm so glad that I joined the sailing team. 

Zhang Li, a 12-year-old boy, from Sichuan, was lazy before. He hardly ever did any housework. But now, things have changed. Washing dishes, cooking and making the bed... all of these have become important parts of his daily life.

This big change is the result of a new program at his school. Starting from last term, his school asked all the students to do housework. It wanted to help students to improve their life skills.

At the beginning of each month, every student gets a list of housework to do every weekend. Their parents help keep an eye on their performance. They can do housework, such as washing cups and cooking food. On holidays like Mother's Day, students should prepare gifts for their mothers.

Wang Dan, 13, has learned several life skills through the program. "I was afraid of fire," she said. But she tried to overcome her fear(害怕) and finish her cooking tasks. At the same time, she also learned how tired her mother is after doing housework every day. On Mother's Day, she made a cake for her mother to show her thanks. "I've begun to know better about my parents and want to help them more." she said.

Other schools in Sichuan are also developing (发展) programs to teach their students life skills. On May 2, another middle school held a life skill competition. Students had to finish many tasks, such as cooking and washing clothes. They showed their skills and proved that they are growing up.