It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he walked by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind. “I'll send Mum some roses (玫瑰).”
   While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. “How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?” he asked. The shop assistant told him that roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen (一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations(康乃馨). She told him they were a lot cheaper than roses.
   “No, I have to have red roses," he said, "My mum was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, as the rose is her favorite.”
   After hearing this, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the shop assistant said, “Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you two." Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air. He thanked John, and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the shop assistant to send them to his mother.
   As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon he realized it was not a park but a cemetery (墓地). Crying, the young man carefully laid the roses, "Mum, oh, Mum, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I love her.”
   Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked back to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

    It was a sunny winter day. I had gone down the tower when a blind man came toward me. He kept close to the wall, touching it lightly with his arm. I stood still and looked at him walking toward the tower.

    "What does a blind man want to climb up the tower for?" I wondered (疑惑). "Not the view(景色) certainly, perhaps he wants to jump. "Thinking of some terrible reasons, I thought I should 1 him.

    He went up slowly and 2 from time to time. I followed him a few steps behind. When he got to the first corner of the bell tower, I came close to him. "Excuse me, "I said as politely as I could, "but I wonder 3 you came up."

    He smiled, "Perhaps climbing up the tower. You have noticed — and yet, not being blind, perhaps you won't — how the sun shines into the tower 4 the windows here and there, so that one can 5the cool steps suddenly become quite warm, even in winter. But behind the wall there is shade(阴影). There is no place so good as this for feeling the difference between light and darkness. Though I'm blind, I also want to feel the 6 brought by the sunlight. In fact, it isn't my first time to be here." He said and seemed as    7 as a child.

    I had never thought that even a blind man could have his way to 8 the beautiful life. But we often paid no attention to its value because we never 9 it.

    We went down the 10 together and I left him. From then on, I began to treasure what life has given me.

    Many Chinese students don't pay much attention to spoken English at school. They think it necessary to practice speaking English in class, but not out of class. Here is a story to show you how important it is to speak the English language freely in everyday life.

    A foreigner once got hungry and went into a restaurant in London. He sat down at a table. When the waiter came, the foreigner opened his mouth, put his fingers into it and took them out again in order to express that he wanted something to eat, for he could not speak English. The waiter soon brought a cup of tea. The man shook（摇动）his head. The waiter then took away the tea and brought a cup of coffee. The man again shook his head. He tried again and again, but he wasn't able to make the waiter understand him. Finally another man came in. He spoke English clearly and fluently. In a few minutes, there was a large plate of meat and vegetables on the table before him.

    So you can see a man will go hungry if he doesn't master（掌握）a foreign language.

    How much do you know about Albert Einstein?

    Albert Einstein, born on March 14, 1879 in Germany, was a great scientist in the world. ①He was strange because he hated haircuts and new clothes. He believed in peace. All his life, he hated war. However, his most famous idea, E = mc², helped create the world's most dangerous weapon (武器). Many people think he was the smartest person in the world. But Einstein said that he thought like a child with many questions and unusual ideas.

    What did he like?

    Einstein liked learning sailing (帆船运动). He sailed in small boats all his life. He once joked, “Sailing is the sport that takes the least energy!” When Einstein was a child, his mother made him take violin lessons. At first, he didn't like the violin. But then he learned to love music and became a good violinist.

    Later, he said, “②热爱是最好的老师。”

    Why is the sky blue?

    In 1910, Einstein asked a question which many children often ask, “Why is the sky blue?” After his careful research, he answered the question like this: “It's because light is made up of many colors including blue. When light travels to Earth, gas particles (气体微粒) spread the blue light all over the sky.” His answer is true in physics.

    Hi, everyone! My name is Guo Ailun. And my English name is Allen. I come from Liaoning, China. I'm 22 years old, and I look really tall and strong. I'm a basketball player. I love basketball very much and I play it quite well.

    My uncle was a great basketball player in the national team (国家队) in the past and my father loves basketball too. So I started to play basketball early. And I began to play for our country as a player when I was only 14. Basketball is my favourite sport. I play it every day. It makes me happy.

    Tony Parker is my favourite basketball player in NBA. I want to be a member of NBA and play with Parker some day. I hope my dream comes true.

    Do you want to be a basketball player like me? Then you must play it hard.