A funny thing happened to my sister Tina last month. She lives in Japan and teaches English. In Japan, people don't usually wear their outdoor shoes in the house or in school, and a lot of buildings have places for shoes. So her school has a special place for shoes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}
Tina teaches English in the evening. One Friday, she went to school, and she put her shoes in the shoe box as usual. Then she had an interesting spoken English class with her students. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But to her surprise, her shoes weren't in the box. There was only one pair of those there, and they weren't her shoes! She had to get home in a hurry. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}
On Monday, at her next English class, her shoes were in a shopping bag on her desk! There was a note that said, “I'm so sorry. I took your shoes by mistake!” {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Somebody felt a lot of shame!

    I am Steve. I was born and grew up in South Wales. My favourite place to play was out on the hills where my imagination had plenty of space to expand (拓展).

    My family moved out of Wales when I was thirteen. I went to a new school. One of my subjects was

    French. Because I had never learned any French, my teacher told me to sit in the corner and write anything

    I was interested in. That's the time I started writing, just for myself, and I've been writing ever since.

    I have always loved BIG IDEAS, and so I enjoy writing fantastic stories. And I also write horror (恐怖) stories. I think they are like the old fairytales (童话故事), and can teach you important things.

    I am in my forties on the outside, twelve on the inside. I like rock music, Indian and Chinese food, and

    I enjoy drinking. I live in a small village with my wife Mary,ducks,cats, goats,hens and lots of rabbits. If you'd like to find out more about me and hope to buy my books, go to www.sbowkett.freeserve.co.uk.

Have you ever been sad because you failed in something? If so, please remember achieving(实现) what you expect(期望) is not the most1 thing.

One day after watching a science program, a little boy 2 to dig a deep hole behind his house. As he was working, a couple of boys stopped to watch. "What are you doing?" asked one of them. "I want to dig a hole all the way through the 3 !" the boy answered excitedly. The older boys laughed and told him that it was 4 to do it. Then they left.

The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly, a few small colorful stones caught his eyes.

He 5 them and put them into a jar and said 6 , "Maybe I can't finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process(过程) of digging!"

The boy's goal was far too difficult, but it pushed him to7 . And that is what a goal is for—to push us to keep working!

Not every8 will be fully achieved. When you can't achieve your goal, maybe you can say, "Yes, but there are so many wonderful things that have come into my life 9 I have tried to do something!" It is the 10 joy on the journey that really has a true meaning. Just like the little boy, it is in the digging that life is lived.

Do you like sports? Do you play basketball or baseball in your P. E. class or after school?

My sister and I like sports very much. We are in our school tennis club （俱乐部）. We play tennis in the morning. It's very interesting. First, we do some exercises （练习）. Then, the teacher teaches us to play tennis. We watch him carefully. Later, we play in pairs. Some boys can play very well, but we can't. They often come to help us. Our teacher is glad to see this. He says our school has many clubs. 

Sports are really fun, and they are good for us. 

Charlotte Liebling considers herself a "world watcher"-someone who carefully sees the world around her. When Liebling was in college, she volunteered at a 1 that sold secondhand goods. She saw people bringing in objects to donate, including soft toys. 

Liebling knew that the toys held great sentimental(情感的) value for their owners. So she felt 2 when the toys were sold very cheaply, or worse, thrown away.

One night when Liebling got home from work, she started doing some research. She 3 this wasn't happening only in her town. Millions of toys 4 in landfills(垃圾场)every year in the world. "If we can change the idea that soft toys lose their 5 after they've been used, then we can show people that these toys still hold important worth and can be passed on to others. That's how the Loved Before Company 6 ," Liebling says.

When someone wants to donate a soft toy, he can take it to the company. He is encouraged to write down the name of the toy and a story about it This can include the creature's likes and dislikes, and an adventure it's been on. Liebling believes that sharing what makes the toy7 helps new owners understand its value. Then the toy is cleaned, photographed, and packed 8 with its name and story. Every Monday, Liebling 9 the toys on the Loved Before website.

Since the company started in 2019, Loved Before has sold more than 50, 000 soft toys. But the company's 10 is more than "just trying to save some toys from landfills," Liebling says. "We hope to teach kids about the value of loving secondhand things again."