Joe Brown had a shop where he 1 meat. One day a woman 2 into the shop at five to one. “I' m sorry. I' m late,” she said. “I 3 some more meat for my dinner tonight.” Joe had only one 4 of meat in his shop. He took it 5 the fridge and said, “This is $6.50.”

    “That piece is too 6, ”the woman said. “Haven't you got anything bigger?” Joe 7 into the room behind his shop, put the meat into the fridge, took it out again and closed the door 8 a lot of noise. Then he brought the piece of meat to the woman and said, “This piece of meat is bigger and 9 expensive. It' s $8.75.”

    “Good,” the woman said with a smile.

    “Give me 10 of them, please.”

    Cheongsam (also known as Qipao ), is a kind of traditional Chinese dress for women. It1from Manchu people of the Qing Dynasty(清朝) in the early 17th century.

    Once there was a young fisherwoman living near a place called Jingbo Lake. She made a living by fishing,2only problem was that when fishing she often felt bad because of her long wide clothes. Then an idea came into her3 — why not make a more comfortable dress to wear. Then she invented Qipao that helped herself fish 4.

    The5emperor(皇帝)who was in control of China at that time had a dream one night. In the dream, his dead father told him a lovely fisherwoman wearing a long dress, who lived by Jingbo lake, would 6 his wife. After that, the emperor sent some people to7that woman. At last, they found her8the place which his father told him. Then she became the emperor's wife,9her beautiful Qipao with her. Manchu women all liked Qipao and soon it became popular across China. Now it's also well-known all over the world. Not only Chinese women, but also women from foreign10such as Indonesia, are interested in wearing it.

This kind of traditional dress is made of either silk or cotton. And anyway, it becomes one of the symbols(象征) of China.

    John worked in an office in a small town. One day his boss1him, "John, I want you to go to London, and to2Mr. Black. Here's the address. His office is near the station. "

    John went to London3train. He left the station and thought, "The office isn't 4the station. I'll find it5. "

    But after an hour he was still looking for it, so he stopped and asked an old woman. She said, "Just go along this street, and turn left6the end, and it's the  7building on the right. " John went and found it.

    8days later, John went to the same city,9again he couldn't find the office, so he asked someone the way. It was10old woman! She was very surprised and said, "Are you still looking for that place?"

    Band practice had just ended. Jimmy and Ben started packing up their1. Before Kevin could put his trumpet into the box, he2a music stand. It fell and hit right on his trumpet.

   "Oh, no!" Kevin yelled.

    Jimmy picked up the trumpet and checked it3 before handing it to Kevin. "Well, it already has a lot of dents(凹痕). One more won't matter."

    "I know.  But it's my4," Kevin said. "And he's coming over this weekend."

    "Maybe he won't notice the dent," Jimmy said.

    "Maybe he won't care," Ben added,

    A bunch of "5"ran through Kevin-s head on the bus home.

    Maybe he could pretend（假装） he felt sick.

    But he didn't like6.

    Maybe he could get his baby brother, Jace, to take all of Grandpa's attention.

    Or maybe Grandpa wouldn't ask him to play this time.

When7finally arrived, Kevin still hadn't figured out what he was going to do.

    "Hey, Kev. How're things?" Grandpa asked as he walked in.

    "Good." Kevin could have told him the8right then, but he froze.

    After dinner, Grandpa asked Kevin to play9classics—Ode to Joy and Oh, Susanna. Grandpa said, "I think you're 10 than I was at your age."

    Any other time, Grandpa's praise would have made Kevin feel great. But not this time. "I'm 11about the dent," he explained what had happened.

    To Kevin's surprise, Grandpa smiled, "Instruments become part of12when you play them a lot. You can't always protect them. The13thing is that you told me."

    Grandpa pointed to the scratches opposite the dent Kevin had made. "I got these when I fell over it14one night."

    "So I'm not the only clumsy(笨拙的)  one in the family?" Kevin said.

    Grandpa laughed, "Every dent and scratch can tell a story, and15you stick with it, someday you'll have your own."

    Grandpa handed the trumpet back to Kevin. "Now tell me a story with music."

    Kevin lifted the trumpet and filled the room with happy noise.

Learn to rise again

    It is not always easy to discover yourself.From a(/an)1age, I had a strong sense of who I wouldbecome—but an accident changed everything.

    To me, skating was more2thananything else in the world. Nothing else filled my heart with so much3.I spent 24 hours a week developing my skills. I had no social life or interestsother than4.But I was rewarded (回报) with first place medals in nearly every competition.

   5,during one competition, I fell and was badly injured. The doctor told me that Icouldn't skate any more. The pain in my back was6tobear (忍受) and even basic daily tasks became difficult.

    My passion (激情) had been7.I lost heart and had no idea what I would become. After eight months of suffering,something had to8. Instead of sitting around and wasting mydays, I began to work with local community service projects. By volunteering asa swimming teacher and summer reading assistant (助教) for kids, I gotan idea of whom I wanted to become. After a few months, I9anew interest. Little by little, I stepped out of the shadow and rebuilt my confidence.

    Sometimes, challenges in life will get in theway. We can choose to stay behind or try to get past these challenges.  My10was a challenge that failedto stop me from reaching success. Today, I'm a very confident and optimistic (乐观的) person.

Mr. and Mrs. Green have three children. They are all girls. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sue is fifteen, Rose is twelve and Kitty is eight. Their father, Mr. Green, is an English teacher. Their mother, Mrs. Green, is a nurse. They love their children very much.

Sue, Rose and Kitty all like fruit. But they don't like the same fruit. Sue likes apples. Rose likes pears and Kitty likes oranges. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Sue likes red. Rose likes yellow. And Kitty likes purple. They often have clothes in different colors. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} They call Sue "Apple", Rose "Pear" and Kitty "Orange". The children like their nicknames (绰号) very much. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Do you like their names?

A. They like different colors, too.

B. They are Sue, Rose and Kitty.

C. So you can know them from their clothes.

D. Now Mr. and Mrs. Green don't call their names at home.

E. They think the names are interesting.