Some time ago, ___________ old businessman had a large store in Boston. He wanted a boy to work for ___________, and he put an advertisement ___________ the newspapers. The next morning, many boys came to the old man’s office, asking for the job.

There was a post (柱子) by his desk, and there was a nail (钉子) in it. He ___________ out a walking stick and said, “Everyone has three chances. If anyone can hit that nail on the head with this stick more than once, I ___________ him the job.”

The boys thought it was very easy. They all tried, but nobody could make it. So the old man said, “I’m sorry I can’t take any of you,” and they left.

He kept the advertisement in the papers, and the next morning, ___________ more boys came, and among them he saw a thin boy who had been there the day before. The boy hit the nail successfully for three times. The old man felt surprised and asked ___________. “Yes,” said the boy, “I failed yesterday, but I thought that ___________ I kept on trying for a while, I could do it. So I went home and practiced ___________ a nail with a stick till I could do it, and I got up very early this morning, and tried again.”

The old man said, “You are the boy for me,” and gave him the job. Whatever the boy had to do, he tried to do his best. It was not very long before he became the ____________ clerk in the store.

This morning I got an e-mail from Roy. It seemed that my boy really enjoyed his new life at Harvard University. The e-mail made me think of the first day when we moved into this house.

Little Roy was _______ and ran around the new house. He tried to move his own things, such as his toys, books and clothes, into the house. Suddenly, his little hand _______ over a bottle of paint on the shelf. The paint made the _______ a terrible mess. “Oh, my dear!” My wife came in _______. I looked at my son, and his small face was filled with _______.

I smiled and held his hand, “Take it easy, Roy. Now let’s do something to make it look nice.” I _______ a brush, “You see, Dad is a magician. I can change it into a _______.”

His mother soon helped paint some butterflies and flowers on the wall with the paint.

We spent the whole afternoon painting and _______. The wall became a beautiful forest with plants, birds and small animals. Blue sky and white clouds were also _______ by Roy. On that day, everyone in the house knew something special happened.

The night before, Roy left for Harvard, he asked me if I still remembered the day when he had knocked over the paint. “Since then I’ve ________ worried about making mistakes,” he said, “I believe I can always find out ways to solve the problems.”

We know a healthy body is very important. But we don’t know a healthy body is necessary for a healthy mind. So if we want to have a sound mind, we must first have a sound body. This is very important. Only by keeping ourselves healthy and strong can we feel vigorous (有活力的) in studying and working and live a happy life.

To keep ourselves healthy, exercise is the best way. When we take part in outdoor sports, we are close to nature and at the same time we can take in fresh air. The beauty of nature will keep us clear-headed. And sports help to give out the wastes in the body. Sports can also make us have a good appetite (胃口). As a result, we can become strong.

I get up early every day. When the alarm clock goes off, I jump from the bed to the floor. Then I take an active part in exercise and enjoy good health. I hardly get sick even if I work a whole day.

As we know, the physical health is important to our sound mind. Without it, the health of our minds is just like a castle in the air. Only with a healthy and strong body can we live a vigorous life. And I will keep on taking exercise to have a longer and better life.

How does success taste? The answer of 17-year-old Sunny Beatson can be: it tastes sweet.

Sunny Beatson lives in Australia. Although Sunny had little interest in cooking, he started making doughnuts (甜甜圈) just to make the time pass more quickly during the COVID-19 lockdown (封锁). He found the recipes online and his doughnuts tasted great. Everyone in the family liked them, so he thought he would try selling some.

“At first, I just put a message online,” said Sunny, “I didn’t think much of it. I thought I might only get one or two orders. But I didn’t think I would make any money by selling them.”

To Sunny’s surprise, he got lots of replies. Soon his doughnuts were sold in local supermarkets and his family members helped sell his doughnuts across the city.

Sunny remembered being excited when he sold 30 doughnuts in one day. Now he is selling up to 700 doughnuts in one day from his shop, Beadoughts Donuts, which he opened in January this year. The shop opens six days a week. Sunny wakes up at 3:30 a. m. and reaches the shop by 4:00 a. m. to start making doughnuts and get ready for the 9:00 a. m. opening time.

As his business grows quickly, Sunny opens his second shop in September. His doughnut productions has doubled since then. But the doesn’t want to stop there. The young-man is confident of his business and hopes to have it worldwide someday.

How are you? I’m fine. I have some exciting news! I have moved to a new house in the countryside. It is very peaceful here. The house has five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a huge kitchen. I love it much more than my old flat in the city.

The weather is very cold here. Yesterday, I went skiing on the mountain slopes(山坡) with my friends Tom and Payton. Tom is an excellent skier but Payton and I are still in the beginner group. We had great fun and after that, we drank hot chocolate beside an open fire.

Your mum told me that you are coming to visit me for Christmas. It’s only half a month away, but I can’t wait to see you and show you my new house. Besides, there are lots of fun things to do here in winter like skiing, ice skating, ice fishing and having snowball fights. I can take you ice fishing. It’s amazing! It is my favourite thing to do now in my free time.

Can you do me a favour(帮我个忙), please? Can you bring me some photos of Hong Kong? I miss my friends and family there. See you soon!

Uncle Sam

The 91st Academy Awards were held on February 25th. The film Green Book directed by Peter Farrelly won Best Picture, the biggest award of the night.     31     Part of the reason is that it speaks openly about the problem of racial discrimination(种族歧视).

The film is made by a true story.     32     In the movie, a white man named Tony is looking for part time work. Don, a black jazz musician, needs a driver to take him on tour. Although Tony doesn’t like black people, he takes the job. He drives Don all over the southern United States.

    33     Their own bias(偏见) toward each other’s races start to disappear as they learn more about each other. For example, in one scene, Don helps Tony write a love letter to his wife Dolores.     34    

As time passes, they realize how much they are similar to each other. At the end of the film, Don comes to Tony’s home to celebrate the festival together. That’s the final picture Green Book wants to really express.

The 1960s was a hard time for black people in the US. Discrimination was usual especially in the south.     35     Though the road was hard, people could still find the way out.