U2 is the name of a band from Ireland. It's one of the most famous rock bands in the world.

    In l978, a l7-year-old high school student, Larry Mullen, looked for some musicians to make a band. Finally, he found another three boys and they set up a band. The four boys named their band U2.

    They travelled a lot and gave concerts in many countries. More and more people got to know them and love their music. Many of their songs, such as Beautiful Day and Walk On, were popular. In the l980s, the band became famous.

    Now the four members of U2 are still good friends and their music is still popular. People in the world still enjoy their music.

    In the morning, a grandfather took his grandson to a school. When the boy and his grandfather went into the playground, some children came up.

    "What a funny old man!" one boy said, making a face.

    "Hey, fatty (胖子)," another one shouted.

    The children jeered at them and jumped up and down.

    Without saying a word, the old man took his grandson out of the school gate. "Wonderful! I don't have to go to school!" the boy said.

    "You do, but not this one," his grandfather replied. "I'll find you a school myself." The grandfather took his grandson back to his own house, asked the boy's grandmother to look after him, and then went out to look for a school himself.

    Every time he got to a school, the old man went into a playground, and waited for the children to come out at break time. In some schools the children completely ignored (不理会) the old man, and in others, they made fun of him. When this happened, he would turn sad and go home. Finally, he went into the very small playground of a very small school, and stood tiredly against the wall. The bell rang, and the children got out into the playground.

    "Sir, are you all right? Shall I get you something to drink?" a voice said.

    "We've got a bench in the playground — come and sit down," came another voice.

    Soon a young teacher came out into the playground. The old man greeted him and said, "Finally, I've found my grandson the best school in town."

    There were many plants in a forest. When spring came, a pine tree saw a red rose nearby and said, "What a beautiful flower! I wish I were that lovely. "

    The rose proudly said, "It seems that I am the most beautiful flower in this forest." Then the rose looked at a cactus (仙人掌) and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns（刺）! "

    "What a proud flower!" thought the trees.

    As the days passed, the red rose often looked at the cactus and said bad words about it, like "This plant is useless. How sorry I am to be his neighbor!"

    The cactus never got angry and even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

    Spring passed, and the weather became very hot. As there was no rain, the red rose began to wilt（枯萎）.

    One day the rose saw birds put their beaks (喙) into the cactus and then fly away. The red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds were getting water from the cactus.

    "The cactus has water?" asked the rose.

    Yes, you can also drink some from it. The birds can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help. "

    The red rose felt too ashamed to ask for water from the cactus. But finally it did ask for help. The cactus kindly agreed.

    The rose learned a lesson and never judged (评价) anyone by their appearance again.

Dear Ben, 

How's it going with you? I would like to tell you about my school life. 

That's my school life in China. Can you tell me about yours?

Yours, 

Liu Jie

I found it hard to communicate with my mother. Relations between us became difficult. 

One day I ran away from home and stayed outside for a few hours. When I returned home at night, I saw all the pain, anger and disappointment on my mother's face. We knew that we were in great need of talk. We agreed to havebreakfast together the next morning. In the end, we decided to go to a restaurant.

On our way to the restaurant, I noticed my mother had two notebooks in her hands. I asked her what they were used for. She explained to me that sometimes it was easier to write our own feelings than talking about them. We should write down our feelings.

Our first topic was"Why am I so angry?" I wrote a half page, and my mom filled up nearly three pages. I saw the tears run down her face while she was writing. I never realized anyone could hide so much anger. After we finished writing, we exchanged our notebooks. As soon as I started reading my mother's words. I began to cry and so did she. When we finished reading, we discussed our feelings. Finally, it felt like all the anger inside me went away from my body. Our talk helped me realize so many things I had never thought of before, not only about my mother but also about other people.

My mother and I continue using our notebooks as a way of communicating. We know that no matter how we feel about each other, our notebooks are a safe place to express our feelings. We have come to an agreement that we write"I love you" at the end of each other.

Let me introduce my sister Jenny to you. Jenny is {#blank#}1{#/blank#}eleven﹣year﹣old student from Beijing. She gets up early in the morning. She {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （have） breakfast at home. After breakfast，she walks to the bus stop {#blank#}3{#/blank#} （take） a bus. Jenny is never late for school. She likes school and works hard. There {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（be） four classes in the morning and two in the afternoon. Jenny is good at learning all the subjects，and she likes English best. Jenny usually has dinner at school {#blank#}5{#/blank#}goes home at six in the evening. She arrives home {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（happy） every day. After supper she usually practises {#blank#}7{#/blank#} （dance） for an hour. Her dream is to be a dancer {#blank#}8{#/blank#} Yang Liping in the future. 

I love my sister. Jenney is such a warm and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} （friend） girl. {#blank#}10{#/blank#}I need help，she is always there for me. Jenny is going to have her twelfth birthday. I want to give her a surprise and tell her that it is lucky for me to have such a good sister.