It's 5 o'clock. SeanMurphy is on his way home from work. He is tired and the bus is full, but whenhe thinks of seeing his lovely family at home, his heart is full of joy again.

"I want to see mywife, my children and my mother," he thinks. "But first of all I wantto sit on the sofa. I want to relax and read a good book."

Finally Mr. Murphy isat home. He is very tired now but he is happy. He says hello to his family.Then he sits down on the sofa, stretches(伸展)hislegs and lifts up his book.

"Now I canrelax," he thinks and smiles. But Mr. Murphy is not alone in the room. Hismother is playing the guitar and his wife is playing the piano. His two youngerchildren are fighting and his two older children are arguing about thetelevision. And the pots and pans are bubbling on the cooker(炊具).

It's the same everyday. Poor Murphy is very unhappy. He talks to his friend about his problem at abus stop.

Mr. Murphy's friendlistens to him carefully. Then he says: "Go and see Linda McCormack! Sheis a very clever woman. She knows the answer to everything."

Mr. Murphy thinks itworth(值得)a try. The next day, whenhe gets home, he doesn't go into the house as usual. He goes to the garage(车库)and gets on his bike.

Duc-Hwan wasn't excited about going to the swim team's awards ceremony(颁奖典礼).

"I don't see why we have to be here, Dad,"he said. "It's not like I'm receiving an award.     ▲    "

"Not true,"said Dad. "You won third place at the last sports meeting."

"I can't imagine joining the team next year," Duc-Hwan said as he had his lunch.

"Hey, Duc-Hwan!" It was Coach Andy."Hurry up and finish eating. It's time for the awards."

"Yeah, Coach, okay," said Duc-Hwan, trying to sound as if he didn't care.

"You're part of the Dolphins Swim Team, and we're about to begin."

Duc-Hwan clapped (鼓掌) every time a teammate got an award. The ceremony seemed so long. Suddenly, Dad pushed Duc-Hwan's knee. "Coach just called your name."

Duc-Hwan looked around. Everyone was looking at him. "Are you going to come up here?"asked the coach. Duc-Hwan rose slowly and made his way to Coach Andy. "Duc-Hwan, this is the only award decided by a team vote(投票). I think it's the most important award. You showed your resolve (决心). Even when you came in last, you never gave up. I hope you'll join the team next year."

Duc-Hwan looked at the crowd quickly. Everyone was standing and clapping. Duc-Hwan smiled.

Amy was a sweet little girl，but she often wasted time preparing instead of acting. In the village，Mr. Smith owned a store that sold {#blank#}1{#/blank#}fruits，including seasonal berries. One morning，he told Amy，I saw some blackberries on Mr. Green's {#blank#}2{#/blank#} today. He said anyone could have them. I will {#blank#}3{#/blank#}you 13 cents per kilogram for all you pick for me. "

Amy was excited about the idea of earning {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to help her mom. She ran home to get a basket {#blank#}5{#/blank#}，thinking about how much money she would earn if she picked 5 kilograms. After finding out that she would earn 65 cents，she {#blank#}6{#/blank#}to dream bigger. She imagined{#blank#}7{#/blank#} she would do with a dollar and fifty﹣six cents if she picked a dozen kilograms. It took her a while to dream bigger. Then，it was almost lunchtime，so she didn't leave home{#blank#}8{#/blank#} the afternoon. 

As soon as lunch was over，she took her basket and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} to the farm. Some boys were there before lunch and picked all the blackberries. She could not find half a kilogram to fill her basket. Then she thought {#blank#}10{#/blank#} her teacher's advice："Do your task at once；then think about it. One doer is worth 100 dreamers. "

Take a look outside, and you can find plants almost everywhere—high on the top of mountains, in the sea, in dark or sunny places. Plants have been on Earth for hundreds of millions of years and there are over 300, 000 kinds of plants. 

Plants go through a process (过程) of photosynthesis. In the sunlight, they produce sugar and O₂. Plants do it for a long time, so there is always sugar and O₂ being made. 

Plants have an important role in the world. They produce most of the world's O₂, and they are important in the food chain. Almost all living things depend on (依赖) plants to live. Animals depend on plants to get nutrients (养分) as well as O₂. Environmental factors (因素) like light, temperature and water can influence plants' growth. It's important to understand how these factors influence plants. 

He who wants to improve his English can have a look here.