There is a zoo in my town. I often go there with my parents by 1 on the weekend. It usually takes my father about 2 minutes to drive there. We often leave home at about eight and 3 there at about twenty past eight.

    I like many kinds of animals, but I like  4 best. First, they are very cute. Second, they are friendly, and they are one of China's 5. but now pandas are in great danger, so we must  6 them.

    Now, I'm watching the two pandas in the zoo. I  7 want to go near and play with them. 8 I also want to give them some food. But 9 the rules in the zoo: 1. Don't go near tothe animals. 2. Don't give10 to the animals.

    To make animals live a happy life, everyone needs to follow the rules.

    A traveler came out of the airport. There were a lot of taxis. He asked every taxi driver about his name. Then he took the third one. It cost 5 dollars from the airport to the hotel. “How much does it cost for the whole day?” The man asked. “100 dollars,” said the taxi driver. This was very dear (昂贵的), but the man said it was OK.

    The taxi driver took the man everywhere. He showed him all the parks and museums in the city. In the evening they went back to the hotel. The traveler gave the taxi driver 100 dollars and said, “What about tomorrow?” The taxi driver looked at the man and said, “Tomorrow is another 100 dollars.” And the man said, “That's OK! See you tomorrow.” The taxi driver was very pleased.

    The next day the taxi driver took the traveler everywhere again. They visited all the parks and museums again. And in the evening they went back to the hotel. The man gave the taxi driver 100 dollars again and said, “I'm going home tomorrow.” The driver was sorry because he liked the traveler and 100 dollars a day was a lot of money. “So you are going home. Where do you come from?” He asked. “I come from New York.” “New York,” the taxi driver said, “I have a sister in New York. Her name is Susan. Do you know her?” “Of course I know her. She gave me 200 dollars for you!”

    I am a Special Agent (特工) for the FBI (美国联邦调查局)．In order to become a Special Agent, you must graduate from college and have some other skills, training, or important work experience．

    Special Agents receive training at a place called the FBI Academy, a special school for the FBI．The training is 16 weeks long．While they are at the Academy, they go to class and have homework just like you do! Special Agents take classes in science, law, and how to do investigations (调查)．New Special Agents are also taught how to use a gun safely．Once they graduate from the FBI     Academy, Agents must be treated on their shooting skills four times a year．

    You know how important it is to eat well and exercise, right? For Special Agents, it is no different．They must be healthy． If they don't pass tests that check their physical skills, they can't become Agents!

    At the FBI Academy, Special Agents learn self-defense (自卫) skills．These skills help them protect themselves from someone who tries to hurt them．They also learn how to arrest (逮捕) people without anyone getting hurt．

    The FBI has a training town called Hogans Alley． In this town, actors and actresses play bad people and new Agents are ordered to stop them from doing "bad things"．In this way, the Agents can practise the skills they learn in class．

    Whenyou enter my home for the first time, you will always be impressed with a smalland white envelope（信封）. No name, no address. Ithas hung on our Christmas tree for about 10 years.

    Itall began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn't hate the truemeaning of Christmas, but the commercial（商业的） way ofit, spending too much on the usual Christmas gifts, such as rushing into astore to buy a tie for Uncle Harry.

    Knowinghe felt this way, I decided not to buy the usual gifts, such as shirts andsweaters. I reached for something special for Mike. The idea came in an unusualway.

    Ourson Kevin, 12, was wrestling（摔跤） at the school. BeforeChristmas there was a match against a team helped by a city church, mostly poorkids. As the match began, I was surprised to see the other team wrestling onlywearing the old clothes because they couldn't afford the wrestling uniforms, whileour boys in their blue and gold uniforms. Of course, we ended up with beatingthem.

    Mike,seated beside me, shook his head sadly," I wish just one of them couldhave won. In fact, they could if they had worn the uniforms. They have talentfor wrestling, but losing like thiscould take the heart right out of them."

    Mikeloved kids-all kids and he knew them, having trained kids football andbaseball. At that time, I thought of the idea for the gift.

    Thatafternoon, I went to a store and bought some wrestling uniforms and sent themto the city church for the kids without leaving my name.

    OnChristmas Eve, I put the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mikewhat I had done and telling him that this was his gift from me. His smile was thegreatest thing about Christmas that year and the next years.

    Yousee, we lost Mike now. But every Christmas Eve I would put an envelope on thetree, and in the morning, three more joined it. Each of our children hadsecretly put an envelope on the tree for their dad.

    Mike'sspirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

    Long ago, people did not need money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    As time passed, people learned to raise animals and crops. Sometimes, families produced more than they needed, so they started to trade (交易) with other families. Later, people began to use money as a means of exchange. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They used shells, rice, salt, large stones, etc.

    During the 600s BC, people began using coins as money. They soon found that coins were easier to carry than goods (货物) and lasted a long time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The Chinese were the first to use paper money, probably as early as the eleventh century. The Italian traveller Marco Polo saw the Chinese using paper money when he visited China in the 1200s. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Today, we have many ways to pay for things. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Often, people prefer to pay for things by card. Paying with a card is easier and safer than carrying around a lot of "real" money.