George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work when he was only eight. When George was fourteen, he became his father's helper. He spent a lot of time learning about engines. On holidays, he often took one engine into pieces and studied each piece carefully. Soon he became a very good worker though he could not read or write.

      He began to learn the English letters when he was seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work, he walked a long way to have lessons from a young teacher.

      On his eighteenth birthday, he wrote his own name for the first time in his life. George invented many things in his life. The train was the greatest one among them. Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we will think of this great man—George Stephenson.

    Keesh lived at the North Pole a long time ago. He was a bright thirteen-year-old boy with a strong, healthy body. His father was a brave man who had died during a food shortage. His father tried to save the lives of his people by fighting a giant polar bear. The meat from the bear kept the people from hunger.

    Keesh was his only son, and he lived alone with his mother. But people soon forgot how Keesh's father had saved their lives. They were forced to live in the poorest house in the village.

    One night there was a meeting in the chief's large house. At that meeting, Keesh showed how much courage he had. He rose to his feet and went on steadily, “Because my father, Bok, brought home more meat than any other hunter, everyone received a fair share, but now my mother and I were given meat filled with bones.” The hunters were shocked to hear a child speak to them that way.

    Keesh waited calmly until the shouting died down. “My mother has no one except me, and therefore I must speak. My father put his life in danger and died, to offer food to this village. It is only right that I, his son and his wife should have enough good meat as long as there is plenty of good meat in this village. I, Keesh, the son of Bok, have spoken.” He sat down. They threatened to punish him by not giving him any food at all. Keesh's eyes flashed(闪烁) and the blood pounded(冲击) under his skin, he jumped to his feet.

    “Listen to me, you men!” he shouted. “I shall never speak in this meeting again—not until you come to invite me to speak. My father was a great hunter, and so will I be.”

    They laughed and shouted at Keesh. But Keesh said nothing more. He walked away with his head raised, looking neither to the left nor the right……

— be based on a story by Jack London

Have you ever read Little Women by US writer Louisa May Alcott? The classic has been changed into plays, films and television programs many times because of its popularity since it came out in 1868. It tells a story of a mother raising her four daughters, while their dad is away fighting a war. Meg, the eldest, wants to live a better life very much. Jo, the second-born, wants nothing more than to be a writer. Beth is a sweet girl who loves music and always brings joy to others. The youngest daughter, Amy, dreams of being an artist. After reading Little Women, I have a feeling of warmth and kindness from the family.

In the following scene, the girls talk about what they can buy with the very little money they have. They feel hopeful about the future even though their dreams may not come true.

Today is Saturday. It's half past seven in the evening. Rick is in the living room reading a book. He is reading the story of a young man called Yang Zhiyang from Baoji, Shaanxi. 

Yang Zhiyang is 23 years old. His mum has ALS(渐冻症) and she has difficulty speaking and walking. Yang's father has to work to make money for the family. So Yang doesn't go to work. He has to take care of(照顾) his mum at home. 

To take good care of his mother, Yang looks at her eyes very often. When his mother wants to sleep, she looks at her room. Then, Yang takes her to the bedroom. When she wants to drink water, she looks at the water cup on the table. Then, Yang gets water for her. It's important for people with ALS to do exercise. Yang always takes his mother's hands and does exercise with her. To make it fun, Yang often sings to her. 

Taking care of the mother with ALS is not easy, but Yang says, "She is my mother. I'm just doing what a son needs to do. I want to do my best to help her live happily. "

Shailyn Ryan is a 9- year- old girl from Massachusetts. That day, during lunch in the school dining hall, she noticed 1 unexpected happening. Her friend Keira held a hand to her own throw without a word. Her face rapidly turned red, then blue. Though Keira was unable to 2 , Shailyn knew she was choking(噎住).

 Immediately, Shailyn jumped from her seat and stood behind Keira. She pushed Keira a bit forward, put her arms 3 Keira's waist (腰部), then pressed as hard as she could.

 It wasn't long before a hot dog piece popped (突然弹出) up from Keira's throat. Thanks to her 4 action, Keira was free to breathe again.

"I didn't really think about it—I just did it," said Shailyn."I wasn't 5 at all, and I knew that I had to do something fast, so I did." And she did it just right.

 The most 6 part of the story is that Shailyn knew the Heimlich maneuver  (海姆立克操作法) just for less than 24 hours. Only the night before, she attended a" Home Alone" kids 7 class. At the class, she and several other children learnt basic first aid and practised 8 to do the Heimlich maneuver on each other. Clearly, Shailyn was a really fast 9 ! She was able to take what she'd learnt the night before and 10 it in real life.

A few days later, Shailyn was given an award by the school master Jill Barnhardt.  " We' re sure to 11 Shailyn for her actions in such situation," Barnhardt said." Shailyn took actions 12 . Her response to her friend's suffering was effective. She is simply a 13 ."

 Shailyn was also excited to get a personal tour of a hospital 14 she dreamed of becoming a doctor.‘I want to 15 more people,'' she said." That would be cool to work in a hospital."

John is very crazy about stones. He has a very big {#blank#}1{#/blank#} of all kinds of stones. His father loves collecting stones, too. Sometimes he will give John some {#blank#}2{#/blank#} about how to put different stones into different boxes. There's a "Beautiful Stone Competition" in town. They {#blank#}3{#/blank#}to join in the competition as a team. John wants to win because he thinks his stones are the most beautiful ones. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}o not many people have as many stones as they have. It is not {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for them to get nervous. Wish this father-son team win the competition!