An artist went to a beautiful part of the country for a holiday, and stayed with a farmer. Every day he 1 out with his paints (绘画颜料) and his brushes and 2 from morning to evening, and when it 3 dark, he went back to the farm and had a good 4 before he went to bed.

    At the end of his holiday he wanted to5 the farmer, but the farmer said, "No, I do not want money, but 6 me one of your pictures. Because in a week the money will all be used up, but your painting will still be here."

    The artist was very 7 and thanked the farmer for 8 such kind things about his paintings.

    The farmer smiled and answered, "It's not that. I have a son in London. He wants to 9 an artist. When he comes here next month, I will 10 him your picture, and then he will not want to be an artist any more, I think."

    "I have lots of dreams," said Laurie. He lay down and looked up at the sky.

    "Tell us about your favorite one, Laurie," Meg said.

    "Only if you tell me about 1," the boy replied.

    The girls agreed, so Laurie began.

    "I want to travel around the world and 2 lots of places. Then I'd like to become a famous musician. 3 wants me to be a businessman like him. But I don't 4 money or business. I just want to enjoy myself."

    "5 don't you get on a ship and sail away?" said Jo.

    "No, Jo," said Meg quickly.

    "That isn't right. Laurie, you must do what your grandfather wants. He loves you."

     "Perhaps you are right, Meg," Laurie said. "My grandfather is old and he doesn't have 6 else. He only has me. Tell us about your favorite dream, Meg!"

    "I'd like a lovely house, 7 of all kinds of nice things — good food, pretty clothes and 8 furniture," Meg said." And lots of money, of course. I'd also like to help people."

    "And what about a 9 and some beautiful children in your lovely house?" said Jo, laughing. Meg looked at Laurie and her face 10 red.

    "I suppose you want horses and books in your house, Jo!" she replied.

    "You're right! Lots of Arabian 11 and rooms full of books," said Jo. "I want to 12 books and be a rich and famous writer. That's my favorite 13. And yours, Beth?"

    "I dream about staying at home with Father and Mother and looking after the family. I don't want anything else." said Beth 14.

    "My favorite dream is to be a(n) 15. I want to paint wonderful pictures." said Amy.

    "Let's meet again in ten years and see how many of us have got our wishes," said Jo.

—taken from Little Women

My husband, Tyler, and I decided to raise a guide dog puppy (幼犬). After attending several meetings with Anina Green, the guide dog club leader, I eagerly signed up to become a raiser and patiently waited for the arrival of my puppy. Then, one day, Anina informed me that I would get my puppy on April 27.

That day, Tyler and I went to Anina's house. In the kitchen, we saw the puppy. Escort, sleeping on the floor. Holding him for the first time was magical. He was so soft and sleepy—and huge! Escort was larger than a lot of full-grown dogs.

We attended a weekly puppy kindergarten to learn how to train Escort. From the time we got the puppy until he was about 6 months old, he was on a leash (牵引绳). When we were watching TV on the sofa or brushing teeth, the leash was always in our hands. During the first eight weeks. Tyler and I mostly stayed at home, taught Escort orders, and held his leash.

The guide dog club is really like a family—a family with a lot of wonderful, well-behaved dogs. We traveled to various places together with these dogs. Escort's first group outing was a trip to tour the city museum. We also went to a shopping mall, a baseball game. a fire station, and the airport to practice going through security. With all the help from our club, Escort went from a sleepy little puppy to a dependable companion (伙伴) when he was 8 months old.

When Escort was one year old, he could walk with a perfect loose (松的) leash, follow our orders and always make the right choices. It was time for us to drop him off at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus to go through more formal (正式的) guide training and get matched with someone who needed him. We had fallen in love with the puppy and couldn't bear giving him away. but we had to say goodbye to him.

When I see pictures of Escort with the woman he has been placed with. I feel very happy. It doesn't hurt that he's not with me—seeing him going on adventures with his new owner every day makes it all worth it. The thought that he will improve her life makes me very proud.

I'm Julia.Today I go to Mr.Smith's Clothes Store with my mother.There are shirts,trousers,shorts and many other clothes in the store.It has lots of) T-shirts for boys and girls.Some of them are nice and cheap(便宜的).I usually wear(穿着)size S because I'm short and slim. I also see some skirts.I like them very much.They are red,green and white.I meet my English teacher Miss Zhang in the store.She is Mr.Smith's friend.With Miss Zhang's help,my mother buys a blue T-shirt for my brother Peter,a white shirt for my father Jack and a red skirt for me.They are only 200yuan.My mother is very happy(高兴的).

Sarah was a shy and quiet girl when she started middle school. She found it difficult to make friends and often felt 1 One day, her teacher said that the school was organizing a talent show and encouraged everyone to2 it.

Sarah loved singing, but she was too afraid to perform in front of others. However, she decided to enter the show and make a 3 She practiced every day, hoping to be brave and confident. On the day of the talent show, Sarah was very nervous. Her hands were shaking as she stood beside the stage, 4 her turn. When her name was called, she took a deep breath and walked onto the stage 5 .

As Sarah started singing, her voice was a bit low. But as she continued, she got 6 , and her voice became stronger. The listeners were amazed by her talent and gave her a big hand.

After the performance, Sarah 7 a lot of praise and invitations to join singing clubs. She was surprised by the positive 8 and realized that it was worth making the change.

From that day on, Sarah became 9 and confident. She made many friends and started taking part in different activities. She learned that taking risks and 10 her fears could lead to personal growth and new chances.

Once, there was a small and poor village near the sea. Houses there were made of stone and wood. They were very 1 and could fall down（倒塌） at any time. A young man, named Harriet, lived in a wooden house, with his old 2 . Harriet dreamed of moving to a big city, but 3 never visited any of them.

His friends told him some exciting stories during their stay in cities. This made Harriet bored all summer long 4 he couldn't even go to the nearest city.

One day, Harriet walked into the house 5 and threw（摔） himself into the dirty brown chair. "Are you okay, dear?" His grandma asked. "No!" Harriet shouted. "My friends are taking trips to big 6 , and I'm still here!" Harriet's Grandma got a terrible 7 .

This unhappiness lasted for weeks. One morning, Harriet woke up. He walked outside to look at the sun 8 .

Soon after, his grandma came. "Listen, Harriet." She spoke. "Look at the 9 ," she continued（继续）. "Isn't it beautiful? When you' re in the big cities, you can't see that. Look at the beach, isn't it great? You won't find that in a city, would you?" This made Harriet know how nice life is, and he's 10 to live in a village. Next time, he would like to share the beautiful views with his friends.