I have had the pleasure of meeting a few neighbors . They seem to be quite kind people . For Christmas , I thought I would do something nice for each of the neighbors that I knew . I sat down and counted . There were nine neighbors , and I also knew which houses they lived 1 .

    However , I decided to add one more person to my list , the lady I met every morning walking to work when I drove down the street . She always gave me a sweet smile and a friendly wave（挥手）, 2 I had no idea about her address .

    My gift idea was to make small 3 baskets and leave them on each of my neighbor's front porches（门廊）the night of Christmas Eve . I kept the last one for the friendly lady because I was still not sure about where she lived . It was 4 the house down about where I met her each morning . Finally I decided to put it there . My neighbors really enjoyed the baskets and a couple even came by to thank me .

    This morning I got a Thank you card.

    The card said , “ Thank you for those lovely apples and strawberries you left on the porch of Thomas . He 5 on January 19 , but he never stopped 6 about how nice it was that he was remembered in his time of illness . He really enjoyed it . ”

    I was very 7 . Why he sent a card to me ? I had no idea 8 Thomas was or that he had been seriously ill . I had left that nice lady's basket on Thomas' porch by accident . I believe Thomas never expected to have that basket . I feel sorry that the nice lady didn't get a basket from me , but I believe if she knew what had happened , she would 9 me .

    I feel lucky to have helped Thomas be more cheerful in his last days . This just makes me further believe that sometimes 10 in life are beautiful .

    Mr. Black has a big shop in the city center. He tells all his employees (雇员) to be 1 to the buyers and he gets a lot of money.

    One day an old woman went to the shop to buy a silk blouse. When she came 2of the shop with the blouse, she left her wallet in it. A girl3and found there were nearly five hundred dollars in it. She looked around and 4 saw it. She put it into her pocket 5. Soon the old woman came back to look for it, of course she 6 . That evening Mr. Black was told about it. He was very angry and sent the girl away. Then he decided to employ7 honest man to take her place. Several young 8 came, but none of them could satisfy him.

    This morning a young man came into9 office. He asked, “Do you smoke, sir?”

    “No, sir,” answered the young man.

    “Do you drink?”

    “No, sir.”

    Mr. Black asked him the other questions, and the young man's answers satisfied him.10 he employed him, he asked him the last question, “You have no shortcoming(缺点), do you?”

    “No, I don't, sir,” said the young man. “I only like telling lies (撒谎)”.

    Maria Mitchell was born in 1818 during a time when many people thought that woman did not need to learn . But , Mitchell's father thought that both boys and girls should go to school .1 he tutored her at home as well as sent to her to school .

    Mitchell's father , recognizing her interest in astronomy (天文学) at early age , encouraged her interest and taught her how to use a telescope . As an 2 she worked as the first librarian at the Nantucket Atheneum library from 1836to 1856 , all the while still looking at the sky at night , studying the stars and the planets.

    In October 1847, Mitchel saw a bright star through the telescope . She was sure that she had 3seen that star before. Excited , she ran to tell her father . She carefully wrote notes about the star. The next night , it looked as if the” star” had 4It also seemed to have a tail (尾巴)！Now , Mitchell was sure that she had found a comet , not a star.

    At eh time , the king of Denmark was offering a prize to the first person to find a comet that could only be seen through a telescope . Mitchell won the prize! It was a gold medal . But , she won something else too . She won people's respect when they saw that she was 5her work . Later , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences voted her in as its first female member .

    In 1856, a new college just for women opened . It was called Vassar College , and Mitchell became a professor there . She was the first female professor to teach astronomy , or the science of stars and planets . Because of her , female students learned that they could be scientists too . Women could make valuable 6to help understand our world .

    Teddy bears are one of the most popular toys all over the world. The first teddy bear came from a(n) 1 about America's 26th president, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

    President Roosevelt was a great hunter (猎手). One day, he traveled in Mississippi. Some people took him to go 2^. Things were not going well and President Roosevelt hunted 3^. Someone had an idea. He caught a bear and tied it to the tree for President Roosevelt to 4. The bear looked very 5 and tired, so Roosevelt refused to shoot it.

    The next day, a cartoon artist drew a picture about the scene. The Washington Post published the picture 6 November 16, 1902. Most Americans 7 the newspaper and knew the story, including Morris and Rose. Morris and Rose had a toy store and they decided to make a toy bear to 8 the president's actions. They called 9 "Teddy Bear". It 10 sweet and harmless (无恶意的). It became popular soon.

    J. K. Rowling is the writer of Harry Potter, which is now one of the best-sellers in the world. She1born in Britain on July 31st, 1965. She has one sister who is two years2 than her. Both girls liked3to their father's bedtime stories. They especially loved stories about magic. Rowling wrote her first story4the age of six.

    On a long train trip in 1990, an idea came to her. She wanted to write about a boy who had magic but he didn't know it. In 1992, Rowling began5the first Harry Potter book for young6. It appeared in June, 1997. The book was a great success. And the film came out in November, 2001. Now the Harry Potter series (系列) is7with people of all ages and about sixty8books were sold in 200 countries. In this series, Harry is an ordinary boy: polite, friendly, brave and clever. So when children read about Harry, they can imagine being like him. That's9the Harry Potter series has been so popular.

    J. K. Rowling is very10with the success. Now she's really enjoying life. She said she would go on writing children's books.