The town of Pressure and the town of Pleasure were neighbors but they had nothing in common. Residents(居民) built walls to 1 influence from the other town.

    In Pressure, everyone wanted to be the very best. When women gave birth, they would compete（竞争、比赛） to have the baby with the loudest cry. There was violent competition in every aspect（方面） of life. Because 2 was the symbol（象征） of success. People were always busy making money, with no time for relaxation. Some young people couldn't bear the intensity(紧张) and chose to drink to escape（逃避）.

    In Pleasure, the motto（格言） was: If only you like it, do it. People grew up without pressure and could do anything they liked. Children played computer games day and night. At school, teachers didn't care 3 students came or not. Workers might sit around the office all day long drinking coffee and doing 4 .Thanks to the lack（缺乏） of regulations（规章制度）, nobody worried about losing their jobs. It was pleasure that mattered. The computers they used were old ones from the town of Pressure.

    Some of the young were addicted（上瘾） to drugs（药物）5 the emptiness（空虚） of their lives. Then, people in the two towns began asking themselves, “What is life 6 ?” But, just before life in the two towns completely7, there came a great person—Mr Reason. He went from door to door, talking with people and 8 advice. People in Pressure learnt to be satisfied with what they had 9 people in Pleasure began to make plans. They 10the walls between them and built a road to connect the two.

    Once upon a time, there was 1 old farmer. He loved money very much. He kept a lot of gold coins(金币)but 2 used them; he 3 not give them to others. He put them into a 4 box and put it in the ground. He came to the 5 every day to look at it. This made him happy.

    6, when he came to the place, he could not find the 7^. He became very, very sad. He began to cry.8 a man came to him and said, "Don't cry. Put a stone in the ground instead, and 9⁾ it is a box of gold coins. A stone will be still the same, 10 when the coins were there, you never used them. "

    Different things usually stand for different feelings. Red, for example, is the colour of fire, heat, blood and life. It is used for signs of 1 , such as STOP signs and fire engines. Orange is the colour of brightness, warmth and 2in autumn. People say orange is a 3colour. They associate orange with happiness. 4 is the colour of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing colour. In general, people 5 about two groups of colours: warm colours and cool colours. The warm colours are red, orange and yellow .When there are warm colours, people usually want to be 6. The cool colours are black and blue. When there are these colours, people are usually worried. Some scientists say that time seems to 7 more slowly in a room with warm colours. They suggest that a warm colour is a good 8for a living room or a restaurant. People who are having a rest or are 9do not want time to pass quickly. However, 10 colours are better for some offices if people working there want time to pass quickly.

    Paul is the owner(所有者)of the bookstore called Bookends. He 1 the bookstore four years ago. This year, because of his illness, Paul thought it was time for him to 2running the bookstore. If Paul sold the 3 to someone, he would get $39,000. 4Paul was not going to do that. He wanted to 5 it to someone.

    "I think it's better to see someone make their dream of 6 a bookstore come true," Paul said.

    Paul had a raffle(抽奖 )in his store. Over the last three months. If people 7more than $26 at the bookstore, they were able to take part in the raffle to win the bookstore.

    8Van from the Netherlands won the bookstore.

    "Van often visits my bookshop. I'm9 to know it was him —he wants to have it." Paul said.

Van now lives in Lammas, Wales. He plans to run the shop with a friend from Iceland.

    "It is such an amazing thing for10. We are sure to bring the store a bright future," Van said.

    Once there lived two brothers. The elder was called Simon and the younger was Victor. They1each other very much, and always took care of each other. Every day they worked from morning until night, getting as much grain as possible from their fields.

    One late autumn evening, after their work in the fields was done, Simon said to his wife, "Victor got married last month. He has many bills to pay. I think I should put a bag of rice in his barn(谷仓)." "Oh, that's a good idea!" said his wife." But please don't tell him, "said Simon." If he knows I put the rice there, he will2take it."

    So late that night Simon took a bag of rice to Victor's barn. The next day, while looking at his own barn, he found3 strange." I took a bag of rice to Victor's house last night, 4I still have the same number of bags in my barn.5 did that happen?"

    Simon decided to take another bag of rice to his brother's barn that night. But the next morning, he found the6number of bags in his barn again! "This is very strange," he thought.

    That night he 7 again. He carried a large bag of rice on his shoulder, and walked down the road to his younger brother's house. In the bright moonlight, he could see another person coming down the road. He was carrying something on his shoulder, too.

    "Younger brother!" Simon cried. "What are you doing?"

    "I was 8you," said Victor. "Your family is larger than mine. I thought you need more rice." The two brothers quickly 9 that they had been taking rice to each other. They 10what had happened. "It is good to have a brother like you," they both said.