My parents took me to Japan when I was little. I lived there for five years.1 I came back, my Japanese was very good. "Can I do something useful with my Japanese?" I asked myself.

    Then, one day last spring, I got a good opportunity(机会).

    Everyone was afraid of SARS, so I stayed at home with 2 to do.

    My father brought me a Japanese book. "Why don't you translate(翻译)it into Chinese? It will be better than3computer games all day."

    I promised (许诺)to do 2000 words each day. But 4 I found it was hard to keep the promise.

    One day in May, the weather was beautiful. But I couldn't go out. Those 2000 words were still5 me.

    After translating only three pages, I had already lost interest in the book.

    I looked at it for a long time. But I couldn't make myself turn the pages. How I6 I could just go outside and play football with my friends!

    I counted the words again and again .I just wanted to give up.

    I felt as if two people were fighting7 my mind. One said, "Don't give up! Keep working hard , and you'll do well!" But then the other one said ,"Go and play! It will be more 8 than translating. Do your work tomorrow. "

    I stood up and would9the computer.

    But then I remembered 10my parents had told me: "Whatever you do, don't stop halfway. " So I sat down and went on with it .

    Do you think doing housework is a hard task for you? Have you ever thought of inventing something to make it 1? A boy named Sam Houghton did and he 2 a two-head broom (扫帚).

    Sam was just three years old when he came up with his 3. He saw his father sweep up (打扫) garden leaves and 4 brooms while trying to gather large leaves and litter.

    Now he is the poster boy for a new show at the British Library in London called "Inventing the 21st Century." To celebrate 5 and encourage new inventors, the famous 6 is telling the story of the most special inventions coming out of Britain in the past 10 years. Sam's broom is produced by big companies, and the brooms are very7 in England.

    Young Sam Houghton is now eight years old and has another invention. He has made a balloon popping machine (气球爆破装置) for play centers. He said, "We don't want children to cry because of 8 bangs (爆炸声) of balloons. I used a box to 9 the bangs so that they can't scare (惊吓) the children."

    Have you ever wanted to be a great inventor? Watch 10, think it over and work hard. Maybe you will be an inventor. Do you think so?

Vienna is called "the city of music". Itis in the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (中心)of Europe and it's the capital city of Austria. Many {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (音乐家) came to study and work there in the eighteenth the eighteenth {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (世纪).They wrote thousands of {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (首) of famous {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (古典的) music. Lots of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (作曲家), like Johann Strauss, father and son, and Mozart were all {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (欧洲的). The father, Johann Strauss the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (年长的), wrote and played music for traditional dances, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (叫作) the waltz. The son, Johann Strauss the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (小的), wrote the famous The Blue Danube waltz. {#blank#}11{#/blank#} (另一个) important person was Mozart. He could {#blank#}12{#/blank#} (演奏) the violin and the piano before six years old. His music is {#blank#}13{#/blank#} (完美的). But he became very {#blank#}14{#/blank#} (贫穷的) later and died in 1791. All of them were great. People around the world {#blank#}15{#/blank#} (仍然)love their music.

Usually I wouldn't cross the park at this time of night. But walking around the park would take more time, and it was raining so hard that I couldn't even see clearly what was right before me. So I entered the park. And that was the first stupid thing I did tonight. 

Soon after I walked into the park, I saw a man under a tree up ahead. My heart fell. The stories I'd heard about the park were all coming into my head at this moment. Anyone with a clear mind would just turn back. But me? No. I did another stupid thing: I decided to hurry past him. 

Just when I was passing the man, he raised his head and gave me the strangest smile ever. I got scared and started running. "Hey!"the man shouted from behind. "Wait! "He was running after me! 

I ran like crazy. I had hoped the trees would keep some rain off. And they did. But they also madethe park look even darker. I couldn't see what was ahead of me. Then, I ran into something. It was the man! 

"Don't kill me!"I cried. 

"What? I was trying to give back your bag! You dropped it."The man gave me my bag. 

Now, I felt saying that to the man was the stupidest thing I did tonight. 

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.

Hannay was nervous. His enemies (敌人) were searching for him. All around him were grassy hills without trees. He had nowhere to hide. How could he escape?

Hannay walked along the country road for a long time. Then he saw a road worker, who was working alone, fixing the road. Hannay could see the road worker was not feeling well. Hannay came up to him and said, "How are you?" "My head hurts," the road worker said. "I can't do it. I want to go home. My daughter got married yesterday, and I drank a lot of wine with my friends. That's the problem!" Hannay agreed that he should be home in bed. "Yes, and I would have been," he replied. "But yesterday I received a message saying that the new surveyor (测量员) was coming to check my work. If he comes and finds me away, I'll be in trouble." Suddenly, Hannay had a bright idea—he could act as the road worker and get away from his enemies. "You go off to bed," Hannay said. "I'll do your job until the new surveyor comes." The road worker was pleased with his idea. He gave Hannay his hat and his old coat. Then he went home to sleep and perhaps to drink a bit more. Hannay put on the road worker's hat and coat and began to fix the road.

About an hour later, he heard a voice. "Are you the road worker?" it asked. It was the new surveyor. He was a young man with a clean face. He sat in a small car. Hannay said yes. The surveyor told him about some work he wanted him to do before he came by again and drove off. Hannay continued with his work. Then a village boy came by. "What has happened to the road worker?" he asked. "He stayed at home today," Hannay replied. "He's sick."

At about midday, a large car came down the hill and stopped near Hannay. Three men got out of the car. Hannay's heart beat fast. He knew his enemies were coming.