One day, my brother opened my father’s new book and drew all over the first page with a pen. When my father walked into the room, my brother became ______. He knew that he had done something wrong. He was afraid that my father would ______ him.

My father picked up his much-loved book, looked at it carefully for quite a while and didn’t ______ anything. Books were important to him, but what he did next was ______. Instead of punishing my brother, he sat down, took the ______ from my brother’s hand. He smiled at the little kid and ______ next to the drawings made by John: John’s work, 1959, age 3. You have made the book valuable. I’m very thankful to you for drawing in my book.

The years and the books came and went. We moved several times and ______ a lot: success and failure; happiness and sadness. From time to time we would open the book, look at the drawings, read my father’s words of ______, and feel excited.

Now I know my father taught us how every bad event in life can have a good side. If we are prepared to look at it from another side, we’ll be touched by the ______ of others. But he also made us ______ what really matters in life: people, not things; love, not anger.

Each time I think about these things, I will smile and whisper（低语）, “I thank you, Dad.”

He Sudan is a sand painting artist. She was born into an artistic family in Hunan Province. She started to show her talent in painting as a child. She took up sand painting while she was studying at university. Back then, there were no lessons about sand painting in the university, so she learned it by watching online videos. She is famous around China for her sand paintings about China’s 24 solar terms（节气）.

The 24 solar terms are part of the traditional Chinese calendar. They are known as the “fifth great invention” of China. They are useful for people’s life and work. Many farmers still depend on the solar terms now to decide what they should do in the fields.

However, few young people know about the 24 solar terms. She wants to use her sand paintings to tell stories about the solar terms so that more young Chinese can learn about each of them. It takes her about one week to create each sand painting. “I’ll create more sand paintings to promote（推广）traditional Chinese culture,” she said proudly.

When I was in primary school, I seldom helped my parents at home. I thought I should spend my time     36     schoolwork to get good grades. My parents did all the     37    （chore）. I used to make a mess and throw my things everywhere.

One day, when my mother went home after work and     38    （find）a lot of rubbish in our house, she got so mad at me. She said to me     39     （serious）, “You must do some housework every day from now on.” I talked back loudly, “It is the parents’ job     40    （provide）a clean and comfortable environment at home.”

Now I’m     41     15-year-old middle school student. I have a labor（劳动）class at school every week. The teacher     42     （teach）us how to make food, tidy the room, grow some vegetables and so on. I understand that     43    （do）housework is more difficult than I used to imagine. Thinking back those old days, I regret     44     I have done before. I begin to do more housework, so my parents can have a good rest when they come back from work. They are also proud of my change.

In my opinion, we children should be independent and take care of     45    （we）. Because it not only helps us learn many basic skills, but also helps us develop good habits.

An ant is walking by the river. He looks at the river and says to himself, “How nice and cool this water looks! I must drink some of it.” But when he is drinking, he falls into the river.

“Oh. Help! Help!” the ant cries.

A dove（鸽子）is sitting in the tree. She hears him and offers him a leaf, “Climb up that leaf,” she says, “and you will get to the bank（河岸）.”   The ant follows the advice, and he is saved.

“Thank you, Dove. You’re so kind. You have saved my life, and I wish I could do something for you. Goodbye!” the ant says and runs home. “Goodbye!” says the dove, “Be careful not to fall into the river again.”

After a few days, the dove is building her nest（巢）. And a man is raising his gun to shoot at her.

The ant sees this, and runs fast to bite the man’s leg. “Ouch! Ouch!” The man feels a terrible pain and drops his gun. The dove flies away quickly. So the man picks up his gun and leaves.

The dove comes to the ant and says gratefully, “Thank you, my little friend. You have saved my life.” 小蚂蚁十分高兴，因为他能帮助鸽子。