Animals are our friends. Sometimes they make trouble, but sometimes they can help us. And they hope to live a happy life, too. Here are two real stories from our readers.

The first story is from Ray. “My cat, Tiger, hates it when I use my iPad because it takes my attention away from him. One year, I had a fall at home and was on the floor for 16 hours. During this time, I was unable to move and couldn’t get to the phone to call for help. Tiger stayed by my side until he disappeared under my bed. ‘What’s he up to?’ I wondered. To my surprise, he started to push something towards me. It was my iPad, which I didn’t realize had fallen off the bed and onto the floor. He probably didn’t know what it was, but he knew that it made me happy. Thanks to Tiger, I was able to communicate with my friend, Becky, who then told my doctor.”

The second story is from Colin. “Years ago, my friend Julius saved a bird-a wild ”Mom cockatoo (鹦鹉) from the side of the road and kept it as a pet in a big cage (笼子). It lost one of her wings, so she was unable to return to the wild. Soon, two wild cockatoos came visiting and one ‘Dad’ bird wanted to find his way into the cage. The ‘Mom’ cockatoo in the cage was soon expecting. But as she couldn’t fly, ‘Dad’ cockatoo built a home in the tree, keeping off everyone who got close to ‘Mom’ cockatoo. ‘Baby’ cockatoo would spend his days flying off with his dad, leaving his mom behind. She would sit and wait until they returned home each afternoon. The family stayed together happily.”

After reading the stories, don’t you think we should get along well with animals? No matter they are our pets or live in the wild, they have their feelings. We should respect (尊敬) every life in the world.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to be patient (耐心的) and wise. So he asked them to take turns looking at a pear tree that was far from their home.

The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the young-est son in fall. After they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly and weak.

The second son disagreed. He said it was covered with green buds (花蕾) and full of hope.

The third son didn’t agree with either of them. He said it was covered in flowers that smelled sweet and looked beautiful.

The last son also had his own opinion. He said the tree was ripe (成熟的) and full of fruit, ready to be picked.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all correct because each of them saw just one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge (评价) a tree or a person by only one season. You can see how someone changes and grows as time goes by. Some periods (时期) are happy, while others are sad. If you give up on (对……绝望) someone when they are living through the “winter” of their lives, you will miss the promise of their spring, the beauty of their summer, and the greatness (伟大) of their fall.

Nowadays, more and more students are becoming short-sighted. Some students become short-sighted when they are very young. It is very common in primary schools or middle schools. That’s too serious. From now on, we should care more about eye health. Let’s follow the tips to keep our eyes healthy and protect our eyes carefully.

Healthy habits mean healthy eyes. Here are some daily tips for eye health.

●Clean your eyes with pure cold water regularly. This is one of the best ways to keep eyes healthy and disease free.

●Avoiding (避免) looking directly at the sun.

●Roll your eyes up and down, then side to side. Then move your eyes in a circular motion. Exercise 5 to 10 times a day to relax your eyes.

●Keep a good distance from the computer screen—sit about 22-28 inches away from it.

●Visit your eye doctor regularly.

There are also some tips from the website: www.cdc’s.goy/contactlenses. Try to follow the advice, we’ll protect our eyes well.

Do you know how to study better?     47    

First, don’t put off (延误) studying. Many students do that. Then they have to cram (死记硬背) the night before the exam.     48     This way, you will prepare better for the exams.

Second, plan rewards (奖励) into your study time. For example, if you read 20 pages of the book, you can play one computer game. But only one.

    49     Then you can put your heart into your study.

Last, believe it or not, sleeping is part of studying. It can help you learn better.     50    

Take the advice, and you will study better.

Mo Yan is one of the most popular Chinese writers today. All of     61     (he) books are bestsellers (畅销书). And his three books, including Red Sorghum, have been made into movies.

Mo Yan was born in Gaomi, Shandong Province in 1955. There     62     (be) six people in his family. They are his parents, his two brothers     63     his sister. As a child, he went to the primary school in his village, and because     64     the poor family, he had to leave school and worked on the farm. In 1976 he joined the army and worked for the army. Five years later, he started writing and finished his first three novels. Later, he wrote     65     (many) than thirty famous books. His novel, Red Sorghum, came out in 1986, and it was made into a film by Zhang Yimou. It was his first big success.

Mo Yan     66     (win) Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012, and he is the first one who got this prize of China. He also wrote some books after he won Nobel Prize. He has a daughter, Guan Xiaoxiao. And his daughter is also a     67     (write). Now he lives with his wife and his daughter in Beijing     68     (happy). In his free time, he goes on his writing.

Hi, I’m Wei Yan. There are many kinds of delicious foods in the world. But I like beef noodles best. My parents also like beef noodles. But my mother works in a hospital. She is a famous doctor. she is very busy, so she often has no time to cook. When I want to eat beef noodles, I often go to the restaurant.

Yesterday I went to a restaurant to eat beef noodles. On my way back home, I thought I should learn to make beef noodles. If I can cook them, I will make beef noodles for my mother on her birthday. It is on Wednesday, October 28. She must be happy. So when I got home, I began to learn to make beef noodles on the computer. Here’s the recipe.

First boil some noodles. Next cook the beef. Then mix them up and add some relish and sauce. Now you can eat them! They not only look good, but also are good for our bodies.

73. 朋友是我们生命中最美的相遇，温暖我们的心灵。学校英语角即将开展一次以“My best friend”为主题的演讲活动。假如你是李华，Peter是你的好朋友，请写一篇英文演讲稿，说说你和你的好朋友Peter相同和不同之处，他对你有哪些影响，并谈谈你对友谊的看法。

I’m glad to be here, telling you about ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for listening.