An eight-year-oldgirl heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was thathe was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation (手术)could  1 him now and there was no one to lend themthe money.

    When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, “Only a miracle (奇迹)can save him now,” the little girl went to her 2 and pulled all her money from itshiding place and counted it 3.

    She hurried to a drugstore（药店）withthe money 4 her hand. 

  “And what doyou want? asked the salesman. “It's for my little brother,” the girlanswered. “He's really, really 5 and I want to buy a miracle.”

  “Pardon?” said the salesman.

  “My brother Andrewhas  6  badgrowing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So howmuch does a miracle 7?”

  “8we don't sell a miracle here, child. I'm sorry,” the salesman said with a smile.

  “Listen, 9 it isn't enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me 10 it costs.”

    A well-dressedman heard it and asked, “What kind of miracles does your brother need?”

  “I don't know,” she answered with her eyes full of  11. “He's really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can't pay for it, so I have brought all my money.”

  “Howmuch do you have?” asked the man. “$ 1.11, butI can try and get some 12 money,” she answered.

  “Well, what a luck” smiled the man.“$ 1.11, the price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took up the girl's hand and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your  13 and meet your parents. Let's see if I havethe kind of miracle you need.”

    That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, afamous 14. The operation was 15 and it wasn't long before Andrew was homeagain.

    I had a summer camp with my classmates for a week last year.

    Early in the morning, we gathered(聚集) at the bus station. After saying goodbye to our parents, we got on the buses. It took us more than two hours to arrive at the campground.

    We got off the buses happily. Laughing and shouting, we jumped and ran all over the place. It was the first time for us to be away from the parents. Some of us started to feel homesick(想家). However, when the night party and dances began, we felt excited again.

    The next day, everybody rushed to the boating class, hoping to be at the head of the others. At first, my friends and I worked hard, but the boat wouldn't listen to us and kept going round and round. Then the teacher taught us how to work together. After many tries, we did much better.

     Swimming class was my favourite. It was about the hottest time of a day and the best time to stay in the cool water. The swimming teacher was a funny man, and during the class he often made us laugh happily. During the week I learned a lot of new things and made many new friends. I also learned how to take care of myself.

    Tom went to see his grandparent with his father. In the train Tom often put his head out of the window. His father said, "Tom, don't put your head out of the window." But Tom went on putting his head out of the window.

    His father took Tom's hat quietly and hid it behind his back and said to Tom, "You see your hat is gone." Tom was afraid. His father said, "Well, whistle(吹口哨) once. Maybe your hat will come back." Tom whistled. His lather put his hat on Tom's head quickly. "Oh! It's wonderful!" Tom laughed and said. He quickly took his father's hat and threw it out of the window. "Now it's your turn to whistle, Dad!" he said happily.

    Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor's Palace. Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important tasks across the country.

    Marco was amazed by how beautiful China was. He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace, especially the Summer Palace which he described as "The greatest palace that ever was..."The walls were covered in gold and silver and the hall was so large it could easily seat 6,000 people for dinner.

    There were inventions and developments in China which couldn't found in Europe at that time. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people paid for goods with gold and silver. He could not understand how people paid for food and valuable things with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!

    In 1291, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco returned to Italy. He was now a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World, which became one of the best - selling books in Europe.

    Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco's stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco always stood by his tales. Just before he died, aged 70, Marco was asked the question, "Was it all true?" And this was his answer, "I have only told a half of what I saw!"