On a snowy evening, a rich lady was standing by the road. She was worried. Her1had broken down. Just then a poor man named Robert came. He was on his way back home from work as usual.

    The lady wondered, “Is the man going to2 me? He looks very cold and hungry.” But to her surprise, he stopped and said with a smile. “What's wrong, madam?” The lady told him what was happening.

    After a while, the car was at last fixed by Robert. The lady wanted to pay him. “No, that is 3madam.” he said, “I was just helping someone in 4 If you really want to pay me back, I hope whenever you see someone in trouble, you should give him a hand.” A few minutes later, the lady 5 a shabby(破旧的)house by the road. She remembered Robert's words, so she stopped. The hostess(女主人)warmly asked her6. The lady could see that was a 7family and that they needed help. When the hostess was making tea in the kitchen, the lady8 500 dollars on a table and went away quietly. Robert came home later than before, thinking how 9 their life was. Their baby was to be born the next month but there was not 10 money. His wife went up to him, gave him a kiss and said softly, “Don't worry, dear! A stranger has helped us out!”

    Let's always be ready to help others because helping others is helping ourselves.

    Ben would hear strong winds outside his home in Alabama Black clouds were making the s{#blank#}1{#/blank#} very dark. The winds strongly b{#blank#}2{#/blank#} and beat against the house. With no l{#blank#}3{#/blank#} outside, it felt like midnight. The news on TV r{#blank#}4{#/blank#} that a heavy rainstorm was in the area.

    Everyone in the neighborhood was b{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Dad was putting pieces of wood over the windows while Mom was making sure the lights and radio were {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Ben was helping his mom make dinner when the rain began. After dinner, they tried to play a card game, b{#blank#}7{#/blank#} it was hard to have fun with a serious storm happening outside.

    Ben could not s{#blank#}8{#/blank#} first. He finally fell asleep when the wind was dying down.

When he w{#blank#}9{#/blank#} up, the sun was rising. He went outside with his family and found the neighborhood in a mess. Fallen trees, broken windows and rubbish were everywhere.

    They joined the neighbors to clean up the neighborhood.

    Although the storm broke many things apart it brought families and neighbors c{#blank#}10{#/blank#} together.

A woman in New York had two sons. She was very 1 about them, especially the younger one, Ben, because he was not doing well in school. Other boys in class often 2 jokes on him because he seemed so slow. The mother decided to help her sons 3 herself. She told them to go to the 4 to read books and reports for her twice a month. One day, in Ben's class, the teacher held up a rock and asked 5 someone knew it. Ben put up his hand and the teacher 6 him answer it. All the classmates whispered (耳语). "What could he say? He 7 said anything in class." To their surprise, Ben not only knew all about the rock, but also had a lot to say about it. He even knew where the teacher 8 it. Ben learned it by 9 his reports. Later Ben became the top student of his class. 10 he finished high school, he went to Harvard University. And he became one of the best doctors in the United States.

A few years ago we moved to a new city, so I had to change schools. On the first day at my new school, I was really {#blank#}1{#/blank#} . I found it hard to make new friends and hardly said a word to anyone for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} . When the morning break started, I went outside and stood on my own. I was feeling really lonely. Towards the end of break, a girl walked up to me. She introduced {#blank#}3{#/blank#} as Monica and started chatting right away. She was also quite new at the school and we soon {#blank#}4{#/blank#} we had a lot in common. We watched the same TV shows, listened to {#blank#}5{#/blank#} types of music, and we were both learning to play the guitar. Also, we lived just a few minutes' walk from each other! 

Monica and I have been really good friends since that day. Naturally we sometimes argue like everyone does but we're very close. 

Gina is a new teacher in a middle school in the US. She lives in San Diego, just fifteen minutes' walk from the beach. So she always 1 along the beach after work.

Last week was busy but happy for Gina. She had a lot of work from Monday to Friday. When the weekend came, she hoped 2 a good rest. Her weekend began when she met her friends at Sam's Chinese Restaurant on Friday night." My friends and I all like Chinese food, so we often eat together at that restaurant." said Gina 3 .

On Saturday morning, Gina helped a friend move to a new house. In the afternoon, she went to her tennis class. She was new to the sport, 4 she played well. After dinner, Gina went to the Red Onion and danced there until 10:00 p. m. She really enjoyed 5 .

On Sunday, Gina got up at 8:00 a. m. and she went to 6 expensive restaurant near her home for breakfast. She 7 the food there was delicious. Then she spent the whole morning reading books. In the afternoon, she went swimming 8 her cousin. For lunch, they had9 special— seafood noodles. In the evening, she went to the San Diego Folk Festival. She thought it was 10 of all the festivals. And Gina had great fun there.

What a busy but wonderful weekend Gina had!