A group of frogs were travelling ____the forest, but unluckily two of them fell into a hole. The other frogs tried to help them. When they saw how____the hole was, they cried to the two frogs that they could not be saved. The two frogs didn’t care and tried their best to jump up out of the hole. The other frogs ____ saying that they were sure to die. ___, one of the two frogs heard what the other frogs were saying and __, Then he fell down and died.

However, the other frog ____ to jump as hard as he could. At last, he made it out, When he___the other frogs asked, “Didn’t you hear us?” The frog, who had a poor____,explained, “I thought you were encouraging me all the time.”

The story teaches us a ___: There is power of life and death in the tongue. An ____ word to those who are down can help them out while a discouraging word can kill them.

Do you enjoy reading? Here readers of your age from all over the United States recommend（推荐）great books for you to read:

My favorite book is Don’t Die, My love by Lurkene McDaniel. I love all her books, but this was the first one I read and I have to say, it is by far my favorite. It doesn’t end like other books, and I cried while reading.

I think Nancy Drew is great! Nancy is a detective（侦探）who has many wonderful ideas! I love it because it’s a book from when my grandma was my age. and I can share the fun with her!

I strongly recommend Skinny Bones by Barbara Park. It is funny, so please add it on your book list. You don’t want to miss our funny stories!

I would suggest Growing Trouble by Judy Blume. It is based on real things that happened to Judy Blume. It is about a girl, Alice, who meets some girls at a new state. They become friends, make a club and meet once a week. They stop after two weeks because they all like a boy in their class and put him as number one. I think every girl should read this because it is about our growing up.

I read a book called Neela: Victory Song and it was very good, I read it twice! It makes place in India in 1936 and this 12-year-old girl named Ncela tries to save her father! It has lots of history in it! I also learned a lot about different cultures! The author’s name is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

A soap opera called “Tiger Mother and Cat Father” is popular in China now. The tiger mother (acted by Zhao Wei) is pretty strict with her daughter and the little girl is not allowed to watch TV or play computer games. On the other hand, she makes all efforts to buy the expensive house near the key school in order to let her daughter have better education. However, the cat father (acted by Tong Dawei) has an opposite view of how to raise their child. He gives her daughter more independence and doesn’t make many rules for her. “Tiger Mother” “Cat Father”, which one is better? This not only causes argument on the TV show, but also brings a hot discussion around China.

In China, it seems in each family, there is a tiger mother and a cat father, even worth, some families have two tigers. Children can’t decide anything for themselves. Three questions are mostly asked by Chinese parents: Is homework done? Why come home so late? Go out with whom, boy or girl? The questions seem to care about their children, but usually make the gap (鸿沟) deeper. What’s worse, Chinese mothers believe “key school” will bring a better future to their children. So Chinese children are under too much pressure. This soap opera fully shows us a common problem in China. And maybe it is the real reason why such kind of TV shows can get popular.

Whether the tiger mother or cat father, respecting (尊重) for children and growing together are the keys to family education. Confidence, kindness, honesty and independence are the most important qualities to develop a child, not the grades. Just like poem said, “Educating children is like walking with a snail (蜗牛), and the steps are gentle and slow.”

One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held a sign said, “I am blind. Please help me.”

There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back, so everyone who walked by could see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon, the man who changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign in the morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth, I said what you said, but in another way.”

What he wrote was, “Today is a beautiful day. But I can not see it.”

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course, you think both signs simply said that the boy was blind. But the first simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.

The first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.

We can learn a lot from this simple story.

The first is: Treasure what you have. Someone else has less. Try your best to help those who need your help.

The second is: Be creative, think differently. There is always a better way.

A “clean slate” in English means having a fresh start. It means we forget the past and begin again.

The beginning of the second term gives us a chance to have a clean slate.     41     we may have spent the Spring Festival feeling sad and worrying about the second term. But my suggestion is to forget about the past and think about the future.

Many people have had trouble in school.     42     Chris, a second-year high school student, remembers that clearly. Once she failed in a math test. She says, “At first, I was very sad but then I studied hard and got good marks.” Penny, a high school teacher, also remembers failing physics in middle-school.     43     “After studying hard,” she says, “I got almost full marks in the college entrance test.”

    44     We all fail sometimes. It is important that we’d our best to improve. Failing a test does not mean that we can’t go to university.     45     It just means that we have to work harder and that we should ask for extra help from our teacher or friends.

The first term is over, it’s history. Today, we have a clean slate, so be happy, be positive and be successful.

Karen was a social worker. Every day, on her way to work, she had to pass a place where many poor people lived. She had not paid much     66     to it before. But this changed one day when she met a poor boy     67     Ben. Ben knew she was the head of social service, and that she could     68    . He reached out his hand and said, “Can you help me? I’m looking for my dad.” His hands were so     69    . Karen asked, “What’s up?” “My mom is terribly sick. Her birthday is coming. I know my father’s coming     70     would be the best present. My dad had left us before I was two years old,” said the boy.

Karen was     71     moved and asked Ben to take her to his home. He led her to a small house. Karen saw a woman lying in bed. The woman knew she was dying. She said to Karen, “Please find a     72     for my son.” Karen took her hand and nodded with tears (眼泪). She got an idea! Her husband and she had     73     children, and looked forward to having     74    . Later Karen brought Ben home. Ever since then, the new family have had     75     and laughter.

76. 同学们，在你的学习和生活中，一定经历过对你来说很特殊的日子（开心、感动、有趣、激动、难忘……）。请搜寻你的记忆长河，用英语记录下这个特殊的一天。

A special day