A young lady was driving alone through the street. It was dark and rainy. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding up her hands as if she wanted a lift(搭便车). “I can't leave her out in this weather,” the young lady said to herself. She stopped her car and opened the door.

    “Do you want a lift?” she asked. The old woman nodded and got on the car. After a while, she said to the old woman, “Have you been waiting for a long time?” The old woman shook her head, “Strange” the young lady thought. She tried again, “Bad weather, isn't it?” The old woman nodded.

    Then the young lady noticed the old woman's hands, which were large and hairy. Suddenly she realized the woman was a man! She was frightened at first. Then she stopped the car. “I couldn't see out of the rear screen(后挡风玻璃),”she said, “Would you mind cleaning it for me?”

    “The old woman” nodded and opened the door. As soon as “she”got out of the car, the frightened young lady drove off as fast as she could.

    When she got home, she noticed “the old woman” had left her handbag behind, she picked it up and opened it. Inside there was a gun.

    Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor^ Palace. Although Marco Polo was young, he was very clever and could speak some foreign languages. The Emperor was impressed by him. He asked Marco Polo to serve in his court (宫廷) and sent him to do many important tasks across the country.

    Marco Polo was amazed by the beautiful China. He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace, especially the Summer Palace which he described as "The greatest palace that ever was..." The walls were covered with gold and silver and the hall was so large that it could easily seat 6,000 people for dinner.

    There were inventions and developments in China which were not used in Europe at that time. He was puzzled (困惑的) by the black stones people used to bum to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco Polo had never seen coal before!

In 1295, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco Polo returned to Italy. He was then a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down the stories that Marco Polo told him in a book called The Travels of Marco Polo.

    Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco Polo's stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco Polo always stood by his tales. Just before he died in 1324, Marco Polo was asked the question, "Were they all true?" And this was his answer, "I have only told half of what I saw!"

It was half past five in the evening when Sarah came home from work. She walked into the living room and looked after three children. The children were fourteen, thirteen and 'nine years old. They were watching TV. The room was dirty and untidy. There were empty glasses and dirty clothes on the floor. There were cakes on the sofa. Toys were everywhere. 

Sarah got angry. "How dirty and untidy this place is!" she said to her children. "I can't work all day and then do housework all evening. I'm not doing the housework!" And so, Sarah didn't do the housework. She didn't clean. She didn't do 'the dishes. She didn't wash the clothes. Every evening she sat in the sofa and watched TV. 

Two weeks later, every dish in the house was dirty. All the children's clothes were dirty, too. Every trash can,（垃圾桶）was full. The whole house was dirty and untidy. 

Then one day Sarah got very surprised when she came home from work. The kitchen was clean. The children cleaned the kitchen! The next day, the living room was clean, and the children were washing their clothes. Sarah told the children. "OK, III do housework again. But you must help me."

Now Sarah and the three children do the housework together. Then they all sit in the sofa and watch TV. 

There are many happy and sad moments in our life. But they don't always 1 us. We forget things every day. What should we do? For me, 2 is a good way to help us deal with this problem. Now, I'm still learning more about it. I enjoy recording(记录) my daily life with my 3 . 

I started to learn about photography in seventh grade. One day, my 4 took me to see a photo show which was held by a famous photographer. When I saw the amazing photos, I felt quite 5 . They looked like oil paintings and were true to nature I fell in love with them at once. 

After I saw the photos, I 6 asked my father to buy me a camera on the way home. To my surprise. he agreed . But he said seriously, "Promise me that you will keep 7 photography. Never give it up. " After I got my new camera, I went out to 8 everything I saw. Flying birds, walking people, blooming(盛开的) flowers-anything I liked. 

It is like a close friend to me and it helps my 9 stay. My photos aren't always that great, but I still 10 photography. I feel good to record city life with my "good friend"-my camera. 

 One morning, I was on the underground going to work. A voice came from the speaker(喇叭). It said, "This1 is Shady Grove Park." I heard a little voice repeat(重复) it and then I looked 2 . A young girl said it again, "This stop is…"3 and slowly, and with a little roll of her hand, she said it over and over again. It was like she was 4 a little child.

 Then I understood. She wasn't teaching a child. She was teaching her 5 ! I listened and heard the mother6 someone in English. She said that she was Japanese and that she was learning 7 from her daughter. The mother could talk in English, but she8 had a long way to go. Being Japanese, she said that she found it not easy for her to 9 "th" and" t" clearly. Luckily, her daughter was very patient(耐心的). When she 10 got them right, her daughter smiled and gave her a high 11 .

 At the next stop, the mother said the name of the stop with12 pronunciation, "This stop is the Railroad Station."

 It was a lovely start to 13 day. All day, I thought of that girl and her mother and felt14 . The girl could speak three languages — Japanese, English, and Spanish. And she could speak English as well as native speakers! With a(n)15 , she taught her mum English very patiently all the way. Most special, however, was the mother's willingness(意愿) to learn from her daughter.