Lofton is a little village（村庄）in England. It is not f{#blank#}1{#/blank#} from the city of Manchester (曼彻斯特). Not many families l{#blank#}2{#/blank#} around the village, so the people all know each o{#blank#}3{#/blank#} . Most of them are friendly and helpful.
   Though their homes are in Lofton, many people have jobs in Manchester. S{#blank#}4{#/blank#} work in large factories there. A few work in shops or offices. Most of these people go to work by t{#blank#}5{#/blank#} . It usually t{#blank#}6{#/blank#}  about half an hour to go from Lofton to Manchester.
In the evening a lot of people like watching TV. But if they go to see a film or go to a concert (音乐会), they have to go to Manchester, because there are no c{#blank#}7{#/blank#}  in Lofton.
   Like many other villages near towns or cities, it is clean and quiet. So life in Lofton may not be so e{#blank#}8{#/blank#}  as the life in the b{#blank#}9{#/blank#} cities, but it can be just as interesting. That is why people in Lofton l{#blank#}10{#/blank#}  their village.

    I was doing my homework and my parents were watching me news when the phone rang．I had won a competition． The {#blank#}1{#/blank#}was a trip to Guadeloupe with a group! The next day，on my way home from school，I borrowed a(n) {#blank#}2{#/blank#} about Guadeloupe from the library and read it at night．

My flight(航班)to Guadeloupe from Dublin was too {#blank#}3{#/blank#} to catch a bus，so my dad drove me to the airport(机场)．When my group arrived in Pointe-a-Pitre，Guadeloupe's largest city, a taxi {#blank#}4{#/blank#}us to the hotel．It was raining and cloudy when we left Dublin but the sun was {#blank#}5{#/blank#}in Pointe-a-Pitre.

The others in the group were Spanish and German．French is the language of Guadeloupe but {#blank#}6{#/blank#}of us could speak it．{#blank#}7{#/blank#}for the next few days，we had language classes before lunch．After lunch，we {#blank#}8{#/blank#}different places in the city and in the evening we played cards．

Then we {#blank#}9{#/blank#}from our hotel in the city to a small island called Terre-de-Bas．For the next two weeks，I stayed {#blank#}10{#/blank#}the Dinart family in their house and I became another member of the family．I got on well with them and I really enjoyed my trip．

There are seven chickens at my home. I gave them all names and they are my good 1 . You may think that taking care of chickens is 2 , but sometimes chickens have minds of their own. If you show interest in keeping 3 , there are a few things you need to know.

Everything has its order. Chickens 4  have the pecking (啄食) order. The order goes from the strongest, biggest chicken to the smallest, 5  chicken. And it is the ranking (排位) of all the chickens. The chickens 6  this order on their own. Putting chickens together is not easy. You have to make sure they all eat the same food. Otherwise, you have to keep 7  apart.

You must pay more attention to baby chicks. You need to give very good 8  to them, so they can stay 9  and become immune (免疫的). You also need a 10  for them to stay in your house and a special feeder and water holder. 11  you take good care of the chicks, you can get day-old chicks. Also, you should remember to 12  the pen (鸡圈)，so neighbors don't complain (抱怨).

You just have to know what you are doing and always be prepared. Chickens can bring families 13 . They can make family members happy. They are fun and humorous, beautiful and loving. They are also smart. It's amazing how 14  they learn things on their own.

So why not consider 15  some of your own feathered (有羽毛的) friends?

It is January 12th. It's my friend Jenny's thirteenth birthday. She has three good friends. They are Lily, Jack and me. She asks us to come to her party（晚会）. And we plan（计划） to buy some gifts for her. 

Lily knows Jenny likes playing tennis very much, so she buys a tennis ball for her. Jack thinks Jenny's favorite fruits are strawberries and pears, so he buys some strawberries and pears for her. For me, I buy her a red skirt. She likes skirts and her favorite color is red. I think she likes the skirt. 

At seven, we go to her home. When she sees us, she is really happy. She thanks us for our coming to her party. We have dinner at her home. And we say "Happy birthday" to her! We are all happy at the party.