Have you read any books by Washington Irving？Now I will tell you a story written by him. The name of the story is Rip Van Winkle, and it is also the name of the hero in this story. There are three characters in this story, Rip Van Winkle and his wife, Dame Van Winkle and their dog, Woof. Dame Van Winkle is a sharp-tongued (说话尖酸的、刻薄的) woman. Both Rip Van Winkle and the dog are terrified of her, even of her voice.

        There is a scene that can describe how Rip Van Winkle and his dog feel in front of Dame Van Winkle:

          Rip had just one way of replying to his wife's talk:  he only put his head back on his shoulders, looked up toward heaven, and said nothing. . . True, in the woods, Woof was as brave as an honorable dog should be， but as soon as Woof entered the house, his head bent low, his tail lay on the ground or curled between his legs. He went around the house with a guilty look, watching Dame Van Winkle out of the corner of his eyes, ready to run from the room at the slightest sign of her displeasure.

       This was the time when England ruled America. One day, Rip Van Winkle went into the mountain with his dog for an escape of his wife. He drank something given by some strangers and fell asleep. That was 20 years! His wife died and America got freedom from England, and I think that's what the story wants to tell us:  both the poor man's independence and nation's independence.

         Why does Irving's story attract people?  Because he wrote so vividly（生动地）. That sets me thinking:  How he observed things so carefully?  If you read through this story, you can't help smiling or laughing from time to time!

Reporter: {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Chris: Well, it all started two years ago when I was planning a trip to India, I visited  a photographic(摄影的) exhibition of elephants and I realized that the only way to travel around India was on an elephant.

Reporter: {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Chris: I flew to New Delhi and started looking for an elephant. I needed an elephant trained to carry people. I asked an expert for help. He taught me how to ride an elephant. He also helped me find an elephant.

Reporter: {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Chris: Not too long, I bought a female(母的) elephant called Tara for about USD 6, 000.

Reporter: {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Chris: Tara and I set off from New Delhi a week later. We were heading to Sonepur in northern India. And what a ride! Elephants can travel at about 6 miles an hour and Sonepur was more than 1, 200 km away. It took us 64 days to complete the journey.

Reporter: {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Chris: Yes, a few. But nothing serious. On the third day, Tara hurt her foot. But that got better quickly. Also, there was a lot of heavy rain during the first week and we got very wet!

请根据Chris Jones 的回答，从A、B、C、D、E、F六个选项中选择恰当的问题填入相应的五个空格中。

A. How long did it take to find a suitable elephant?

B. What gave you the idea to travel around India on an elephant?

C. Did you have any problems on your journey?

D. Can you tell me the journey?

E. What did you do next?

F. An unusual journey.

    It may be difficult to start high school. Thinking about making new friends might make you feel nervous.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}You are going to school with a group of students of your age. Here are several suggestions for you to follow.

    Forget your fear and just talk to someone. It's easier said than done. But try to take a deep breath and find your voice. Don't be afraid to approach (接近) people.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Sit in the middle of the classroom with as many new friends around you as possible.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Take part in after-class activities that interest you. Try to make friends in the clubs. If you don't join anything, you will be just going to class and then going home. Being in a club makes you more social.

    Stay clean. No one likes a bad smell that could knock someone over. Shower every day, brush your teeth and wash your hair.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Be respectful (尊重的) of people's differences.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}And everyone believes in different things. It is a good thing to have different friends with different opinions because you can each share your own.

    I am walking through the winter park where the trees stand cold and bare (光秃秃的). The yellow leaves have fallen to the ground. Now, a group of women gather at the sides of a path. In the cold winter, they're moving their arms and legs to a rhythm (节奏). They are, of course, the dancing aunties.

    It seems that if you go to any public space around China, you're likely to see these dancing aunties. When I first came to China, it was one of the first things that annoyed me. That's because in Britain dancing in public is not a cultural habit. You won't see any age group swinging their arms and tapping their feet in a park. Usually, they just take a walk for exercise.

    Now and again the dancing aunties have hit the headlines (头条新闻). Some people find them annoying. But others respect their right to dance in public. Most of them are middle-aged. They finally have some free time to do whatever they like. There is no more work, and their kids have left.

    All in all, I like seeing these women enjoying themselves. They remind us of the importance of exercise as we get older. Besides, most of them have raised the whole families. Now it is their time to have fun and enjoy some peace.

Once upon a time, there was a young man called Ma Liang He was poor. But he was kind and hard-working and liked drawing. One night, he dreamed(梦见)that an old man gave him a magic paintbrush(神奇的画笔)and asked him to use it to help poor people. When he woke up, he found the magic paintbrush in his desk.

From that day on, he used the paintbrush whenever people needed help. When he saw that people had no water to use or drink, he drew a river and the river came to life. People could bring water from the river.

Then many people knew about the magic paintbrush. But a few days later, a rich and bad man heard that the magic paintbrush could turn everything to life. He took the magic paintbrush away from Ma Liang's house and put Ma Liang into prison(监牢). Then he drew a lot of pictures with the paintbrush, but they could not become real.

So he said to Ma Liang, "If you draw some pictures for me and make them real, I will make you free."

The young man agreed and drew a sea first. Then he drew a golden mountain which was far away from the sea. The bad man said, Draw a big ship quickly. I want to go there to get the gold."

After the young man drew a big ship, the bad man jumped into the ship with his family and friends quickly. When the ship moved to the middle of the sea, the young man drew a large wave(波浪)and they never came back.