One day when Picasso was walking along a road, a woman passed by and saw him. She ran to Picasso for a painting as a gift. Picasso smiled and said {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(polite), "I'm sorry, Madam. I have nothing to paint. I am {#blank#}2{#/blank#}/ˈempti/ handed here. I may make you a painting some other time."

However, the woman didn't give up. She {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep) on, "Please, I am a big fan of you and I want to meet you for years." Hearing this, Picasso was moved and then took out a small {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of paper and a pen, and began to draw something. Within 10 seconds, Picasso finished {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(draw) and handed it to the woman, "Take this! It's a million-dollar painting."

But the woman thought Picasso was just playing a joke on her. How could it be {#blank#}6{#/blank#}/wɜːθ/ a million dollars just in 10 seconds? So she went to the market and was {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(surprise) to learn that it was true.

When meeting Picasso again, she wished she could be his student. She said, "Please teach me so that I can do the same thing {#blank#}8{#/blank#} such a short time."

Picasso smiled and said, "Dear, the drawing I made was not in 10 seconds {#blank#}9{#/blank#} my thirty-year efforts towards the arts!" The woman was speechless.

We fix our eyes on others' {#blank#}10{#/blank#}/səkˈses/ more often than the hard work and patience behind it. If we want to reach it, we need experience and struggle(奋斗).

    Have you ever ridden a Ferris wheel lately? Can you imagine the flying feeling as you are pulled up to the top and then moved down to the bottom quickly again?

    Today a Ferris wheel is usually 40 to 60 feet tall. That seems very high when you are on the top looking down. But the first Ferris wheel was 264 feet high- taller than a twenty-story building! Can you imagine the view from the top of that?

    The first Ferris wheel was built for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. The people who planned the fair were looking for an attraction that would bring people to Chicago. George Ferris handed a drawing of a giant wheel that people could ride on. At first everyone laughed at his strange idea. But Mr Ferris did not give up, and finally the idea was accepted. The ride opened in June of 1893.

    Today's Ferris wheels have 12 to 16 seats, which each carry 2 or 3 people. But that first one had 36 enclosed cars, each holding 60 passengers. When filled, it carried 2,160 people. During that summer in Chicago, about 1.5 million people rode the Ferris wheel.

After the fair, the ride was moved to a nearby amusement park built especially to show off the wheel. In 1904, it was moved again一to St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. After the fair there, the wheel stood unused. In 1906, it was finally sold to a company for scrap metal(废金属).

    Luckily a Chicago bridge builder, W.E. Sullivan, figured out how to make a smaller Ferris wheel that could easily be taken apart and put together. In 1906, he started the company that still makes many of the Ferris wheels used today.

    But, whenever you ride one, remember that it all began with George Ferris's strange idea!

My dad didn't love me. My mom washed my clothes and cooked dishes. He just went to work every day and came home. He'd make a list of the 1 things I did and felt angry with me.

When I was 7, I stole a pen. He made me take it back to school and tell the boy "2 ". But my Mom understood that I was just a 3 .

I still remember 4 he taught me to ride a bicycle. I told him not to let go, 5 he said it was time. I fell and Mom ran to pick me up, but he waved(挥手) 6 off. I was so 7 that I got back on that bike and rode it myself. He didn't even feel sorry and just smiled.

When I went to college, Mom called me a lot. He 8 sent me money on WeChat without a word. But he posted(发布) a photo of his goldfish on WeChat moments(朋友圈) and said, "My goldfish look better now because my daughter can't play with them anymore."

When I called home, he acted like he didn't want to talk and he always said, "I'll get your 9 ."

When I got married(结婚), my mom cried. He just blew his nose loudly and left the room.

Did my dad love me? My mom said Dad didn't know how to 10 his love. Is it possible that he showed it but I didn't know?

Li Hong is a 14- year- old middle school student in Maoming. She loves English, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} she often gets bad marks in her English exams(考试). She is too {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to ask questions. In order to improve her English, she works very hard.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} of all, Li Hong gets up early and practices her pronunciation as much as possible. When she meets some problems, she often asks her English teacher and friends{#blank#}4{#/blank#} help. Second, she often spends her free time watching English films and listening to English {#blank#}5{#/blank#} . Maybe she doesn't really understand all the words and sentences, but it doesn't matter. She {#blank#}6{#/blank#} that the more English she hears, the more she' ll understand. Third, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} is very important. She tries her best to read short stories {#blank#}8{#/blank#} she sleeps every night. At last, it's also a good idea to write in English, so she keeps writing about her life in English.

As the saying(谚语) goes, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} makes perfect. Now, Li Hong can talk with her teachers and classmates {#blank#}10{#/blank#} in English. She hopes to get a good mark in the final exam.

We had an interesting English class yesterday afternoon. When Mrs Jackson came into our classroom, the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(钟；铃) was ringing. She told us that our English teacher was {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(缺席的) and she would replace him. And then she said, "We will learn something about advertisements (广告). " Then she showed us some short videos. In the first video, a young businessman wearing a white shirt appears. After he puts on a nice {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(领带), he looks more handsome. In the second video, some students are having an exam. A student in the fourth {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(一排) uses a nice pen to write something. And then he not only {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(通过) the exam but also gets full marks. It's very interesting. 

In the last video, some people are swimming in a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(游泳池). Suddenly, a watch falls into the water. When someone {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(捡起) it up, it still works. It's amazing!

Then Mrs Jackson told us something about advertisements. Her voice was beautiful and all of us listened to her very {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(仔细地). Then she played a game with us. We really enjoyed the class. 

After class, most students {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(赞同) that Mrs Jackson was a friendly English teacher. And she was among the best teachers of {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(我们的). We all hope to take her classes again.