I think that I am very lucky because I have a lot of friends. My best friend is Mai. She is 16 years old. She is 2 years older than me. We live in the same village. She is my neighbor and we are now classmates, so we have been friends for so long. Mai is tall and thin. With long black hair, she has got an oval(椭圆形的) face with big bright eyes, a high nose and a small mouth. Mai is very beautiful, especially when she smiles.

    She is always helpful, polite and honest（诚实的）. When her friends have difficulties, she always tries her best to help them. Although we have the same hobbies and interests, we have different personalities（个性）. I am sociable and enjoy telling jokes. My classmates think that I'm rather outgoing(外向的). Unlike me, Mai is quite serious and prefer quietness to noise. However, we can keep secrets together, so we are close friends. Mai is one of the best students in my class and she works hard. I like doing homework with her. She always tries her best to help me with my studies. I think as time goes by, our friendship will be deeper and deeper.

    A long time ago，some farmers lived in a small village.And there was a farmer1 had four sons.

    The farmer raised the four boys on his own.He hoped that his sons could learn not2 opinions about things too quickly.So he gave his four sons 3 question in turn asking them to go to see a pear tree at a distance in different seasons.The sons promised they would not let their father 4.

    The first son5 out in the winter，the second in the spring，the third in the summer，and the youngest in the autumn.

    One year passed.When all of them returned home，the farmer called them together to describe6they had seen.

    The first son said the tree was7bent and distorted.It wasn't worth seeing at all.And it seemed that it wouldn't bear any fruit，8.

    The second son said it was not like that. But the tree was covered9 green buds and made people feel full of hope.

    The third son disagreed，saying that it was full of flowers which smelled so sweet and 10 so beautiful.And he had never seen such beautiful scene that everyone would love it.

    The last son disagreed with all of them，saying that it 11 with fruit，full of life and content.People would be satisfied with it.

    At last，the four sons'eyes were fixed12 their father.The father smiled.Then he told his four  sons that13 they were all correct，they only saw the tree in one season.He told his sons that14 could not judge a tree or a person only by one season，and that the essence of a person could only be measured when all the seasons 15 over.

    If you just give up in winter，you will miss the hope of spring，the beauty of

summer and the harvest of autumn in your life.

My uncle Mike is a music teacher. He always gets up very early. He usually gets up at five o'clock in the morning. After he washes his face, he often plays baseball with my aunt. Then he eats his breakfast. After that, he often plays the violin. At about 7: 50, he takes the Number 6 bus to his school. He has no classes on Thursday or Friday. He usually goes to the violin club. There he helps kids with the violin. Oh, my uncle plays the violin very well. Do you love to play the violin? Do you want to join the violin club? Please call my uncle at 116-3886. 

 Dana loves to read." If you' re reading, you can be in your world and do almost anything you want," she says.

 The Harry Potter books are her favorite. To Dana, all books have their own magic(魔力). She joined a book club at her school. One holiday, she did some research(调查) about books with her classmates. She learned that in richer places, each family had about 10 books. However, in poor places, there might be only one book for every 300 kids. Some kids never visited a library. She decided to change this.

 At the age of thirteen, Dana started a club called Reading Heart to share her love of reading. People donated(捐赠) books to her club. Then Dana and her friends gave them out to kids in schools, hospitals in poor places. In four years, they gave away nearly 400,000 books!

 After kids chose their books, they could keep the books. But when they finished reading, they shared them with a friend.

 Dana thinks that sharing books is like building small libraries for each kid. She enjoys helping others find the magic of reading.

Four students are talking about the books they have ever read.

 Tom,13

I have finished {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Little Women. It is written by an {#blank#}2{#/blank#} writer and it is about the life experiences of four sisters. Though the book is a little bit boring, I have learned that we should be{#blank#}3{#/blank#} in the face of difficulties.

 Kate,14

 It took me a week to read Robinson Crusoe. The book is amazing. It is about a man who lived· alone on an {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, but he did not give up his hope. He cut down trees and {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a house and learnt to grow fruit and vegetables. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} he went back home successfully.

 Bob,14

I have read the Treasure Island many times beca…… I am interested in it. It is written by the English .{#blank#}7{#/blank#} Stevenson. The book is full of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} . ít is about the journey of a boy and a group of people looking for the treasure.

 Peter,15

I haven't finished reading Harry Potter because · it is too long. But I have {#blank#}9{#/blank#} some of the Harry Potter movies. I think the movies are much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} interesting than the books.

Zhang Li, a 12-year-old boy, from Sichuan, was lazy before. He hardly ever did any housework. But now, things have changed. Washing dishes, cooking and making the bed... all of these have become important parts of his daily life.

This big change is the result of a new program at his school. Starting from last term, his school asked all the students to do housework. It wanted to help students to improve their life skills.

At the beginning of each month, every student gets a list of housework to do every weekend. Their parents help keep an eye on their performance. They can do housework, such as washing cups and cooking food. On holidays like Mother's Day, students should prepare gifts for their mothers.

Wang Dan, 13, has learned several life skills through the program. "I was afraid of fire," she said. But she tried to overcome her fear(害怕) and finish her cooking tasks. At the same time, she also learned how tired her mother is after doing housework every day. On Mother's Day, she made a cake for her mother to show her thanks. "I've begun to know better about my parents and want to help them more." she said.

Other schools in Sichuan are also developing (发展) programs to teach their students life skills. On May 2, another middle school held a life skill competition. Students had to finish many tasks, such as cooking and washing clothes. They showed their skills and proved that they are growing up.