One morning I met a man in my shop. He wanted to buy some new clothes. First I gave him a pair of trousers. He put them on to try, then ________ and gave them back to me and said, "No, give me a coat instead of them." I gave him a coat and told him, "This one is worth as much as the trousers." To my surprise he took the coat without saying a word and walked out of the shop with it. I ran quickly after him and said, "You haven't paid for that coat!" "But I gave you the trousers for the coat," he said. "They are worth (相当于……的价值) the same as the coat, aren't they?" "Yes," I said. "You didn't pay for the trousers, either!" "Of course I didn't!" answered the man, "I didn't take them. I am not foolish! Nobody gives things back and then pays for them."

Whenever I'm invited to somebody's house for the first time, I'll take a close look at their bookshelves. What they keep on their shelves, in my eyes, is a reflection(反映) of their personal tastes and interests. The books on a bookshelf tell the story of a life.

My own shelves are a kind of road map through my life, telling a chronological tale. First up come my favorite childhood reads, like Water ship Down and His Dark Materials. The collection then moves on to teenage things I read in school — Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale and A Clockwork Orange. Finally, we come out of full-time education and enter the real world, and this part is a reflection of my professional( 职业的) life, from the first exciting days of their work experience to the present.

If you pointed to any book on my shelves, I could name the year I got it, where I was working, and probably where I was living at the time.

▲ It is an easy way to get to know about his hopes, dreams and interests. And a big part of that story is how we arrange our books, and get on with them. It's such a personal thing, different from each other. Some want to be with their books in every room, others have them on shelves, behind glass or simply lining their floors. Each home has a story to tell through the way they live with their books.

It's often said that what we read says something about who we are. The way we fill our bookshelves might also send a message about ourselves. From the pile of books on your bedside table to your well-organized shelves, whether we notice it or not, our book collections are telling a story before a single page has been turned.

Something unexpected happenedin the summer of my eleventh year. The home I had grown up in burned to the groundin the middle of the night. Thankfully, my mom, dad, grandma, brothers and I escapedalong with my dogs. Yet, we had nothing but the night clothes we were sleeping in.I spent the rest of that night with a friend of my family. I tried unsuccessfullyto sleep in the bed in his house. I was too scared.

    The next day my mom brought me a few T-shirtsand pairs of jeans that another friend gave to her. One pair of them was too shortand the other pair was too long, but I didn't care. At least I had some clothesagain. My dad returned to our broken home to see what he could find. The only thinghe could save was my mom's rings.

    To spend the summery dad rented us a big houseon the same road as our old house had been. As we moved in, our friends and ourcommunity continued todonate (捐赠) all they could to help us to get back on our feet. There were moreclothes, furniture, food money, and even some books for me to read. Love was aroundus.

    Looking back now I am thankful for all we wentthrough that summer because it taught me so much about life, love and people. Itshowed me that when you have nothing left but love, for the first time you see thatlove is enough.

Once upon a time, there was a spider with the name Anansi. He knew that he was very clever but he also knew he wasn't wise(英明的).He didn't like this, but he did not know what to do. One day he had an idea. He went around the village with a basket and asked each person to give him some of their wisdom (智慧).The people laughed at Anansi because they knew that he needed wisdom the most. So each person put a bit in his basket and wished him good luck.

Soon his basket was full, but Anansi was worried that his neighbors might be jealous (嫉妒) of his wisdom and take it from him. He decided to hide it at the top of a tall tree. He tied the basket to the front part of his body and tried to climb the tree, but it was too difficult. He tried again and again without success.

Then his youngest son walked by. "What are you doing, Father?" he asked and Anansi told him. "Why don't you carry the basket on your back instead?" his son said.

Anansi put the basket on his back and climbed the tree easily, but he wasn't happy."I walked all over the village and collected so much wisdom that I am the wisest person ever, but my baby son is still wiser than me. Take back your wisdom!" he said. And he threw the basket of wisdom into the air and went home. And that's how wisdom went all over the world.

One early morning, I woke up by a telephone call. It was from a taxi driver. He told me he had my {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（friend）cell phone（手机）.My friend Michael {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（leave）it in the taxi the night before. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} driver called others, but I was the first one to answer his call.

It was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a rainy morning. For taxi drivers in this big city, it's the best time{#blank#}5{#/blank#}（make）money. He asked me where he could drop the cell phone off. I told {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（he）the street where I lived. Then I {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（quick）jumped out of bed and got dressed, so I could meet him at the corner.

When he arrived, I thanked him. And I was even {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（happy）than my friend. He moved to this country a few weeks ago— and I could only imagine（设想）how important his cell phone was to him!

I asked the taxi driver for his name, so my friend could thank him. He said my {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（thank）were all that he needed. Then he drove off.

I e-mailed my friend telling him I had his phone. In the evening, he came to my home and I told him {#blank#}10{#/blank#} I got it. My friend was very excited to get back his cell phone. He said he would help others as much as possible.

Sonia is 14. She couldn't stand Beijing Opera（京剧） in the past. She thought it was boring. Like most of other students, Sonia liked popular music. This year her parents got new jobs in Beijing, so she came to Beijing with them. Then she started to study at No. 15 Middle School. 

Sonia learns Beijing Opera in music class every Friday. She learns a lot about Chinese history from Beijing Opera. Little by little (一点点地) she gets interested in Beijing Opera. Now she likes to see Beijing Opera on TV. And she joins her school Beijing Opera club. "Beijing Opera is a kind of Chinese old art, " Sonia said. "If one goes to learn it, he or she will like the country more. "