Mary is an American girl. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Smith find work in China. So they live in Wuhan now. Mr. Smith works in a big shop. Mrs. Smith teaches English in a middle school. Mary goes to that school on weekdays. On Sundays she goes shopping with her mother. She likes dumplings very much. Every time they'd like many dumplings. It's 6:30 in the evening now. Mrs.Smith is cooking. Mr. Smith is helping her with the housework. What's Mary doing? She is doing her homework carefully.

      Pisces is the twelfth star sign. There is a legend about its name. 

      Long, long ago, there was a war between gods and a bad monster (怪物). It lasted ten years. One day, the gods were surprised to find that the monster was coming towards them. The goat god Pan shouted a warning and tried to change himself into a fish. One god, Aphrodite, took her little boy Eros and tried to hide among the bushes near Euphrates River. She was the god of love and her son was the god of war. It is said that two fish swam to carry Aphrodite and her child to safety. Some people also believe that Aphrodite and Eros changed into fish themselves and swam away to safety. Later the fish represent Aphrodite and her son Eros.

As they appeared in the sky, the two fish were tied together by a rope (绳子). Some said that Aphrodite tied the little boy to her body so that he would not get lost as they swam away to safety. That's the story about Pisces.

In Western countries, some people believe people will share similar characteristics if they have the same star sign. So if you're born between February 19^th and March 20^th, your star sign is Pisces. It means that you are generous, easy-going and creative.

      More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn't take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.

      I have been used to school life since I came here two months ago, and I am starting to enjoy most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o'clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o'clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o'clock. After lessons, we have  hours of activity time, when you can choose from a number of activities, including many sports, such as rugby(英式橄榄球) , football, basketball and tennis.

As a boarder(寄宿者), the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional company, and the quality of food is excellent, and they are always trying to make the diet healthy. One of the obvious advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don't have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!

A

    Several months after I was badly hurt in a car accident, my father sent me to a blind school.

    That morning was the new beginning. I went to this school and I heard lots of children. My new teacher took me to the class where we were taught to write and type in Braille(盲文 ). I found it quite difficult.

    "Hi, sweetheart, how is school going?" asked my father.

    "Daddy, I can't do this. I try and try but I just don't get it. I don't know if I am ever going to learn to read Braille. It's too difficult," I cried.

    Daddy just held me in his arm and said, "Do you remember that we went to the temple which is on the top of a mountain? When we were climbing the mountain, my legs started aching. I sat down and said, 'I can't see the temple. You can't see it because it is covered with fog. Although you can't see it, I know it is here. I will make sure you will climb up to it.'"

    "That day you showed me that just you can't see something does not mean it is not there. So although climbing the mountain was difficult, I knew I would get to the top."

    I was clear what my dad wanted me to understand.

    I went back to school and started with new energy. Very soon I could read.

One of my classmates said, "You are lucky, you know, you have at least seen the world. I have just heard it. I have been told there are many colors in this world but I don't understand what color means."

    After listening to her for the first time in two years, I felt lucky. And on that day I learnt that although the light in my eyes is gone. I must see the world with the light in my heart.

    The Lee Family was asleep in bed when the smoke alarm outside their bedroom went off. Mr. Lee knew something was wrong. He ran downstairs and was surprised to see that the kitchen was full of smoke. Firstly, he closed the kitchen door to keep the other members of the family were safe. They each took a coat quickly from the living room, came downstairs and ran outside. Ala, their pet dog, followed closely behind. They chose a safe place in the yard. Mr. Lee told his son, "Never go back inside!"

    Their neighbour Mr. Bell, who lived opposite, said he had already called the emergency services. He had come downstairs for a drink of water and had seen the fire through his kitchen window. The fire engine arrived shortly afterwards, and the firefighters soon had everything under control.

    Mrs Lee was crying, so Mr. Lee put his arm round her and said, "Don't worry. Our insurance company will pay for all the damage. "Mrs Lee said, "That is not why I am crying. I think the fire was caused by my carelessness. When I boiled the milk for our bedtime drink, I may have forgotten to turn off the gas ring. Something must have fallen onto it and caught fire.

    It was 8:30 at night. Don was driving home. He was surprised when he saw a large, green light in the sky. The light was floating（漂浮）over a field. Don stopped his car and went out. He stood behind a tree and watched.

    The light got very bright. It came nearer and nearer. It was a UFO! And it landed in the field!

    "What's that? Maybe there are travelers from space in the UFO, "he thought. He started to walk across the field.

    Then a large door on the UFO opened. Something came out! It moved toward Don.

    The thing was not nice to look at! It had long yellow strings（细绳）on its face. Two round and blue balls were on its face. Under the round things, there were three holes. One hole opened and closed and made big noises.

    Now Don was afraid, but he tried to be brave. He walked nearer and listened to the terrible noises.

    "Hello," said the strange thing. "My name is Zeeb. I'm from the planet Mars（火星）. This is my first trip to the earth. Glad to meet you."