During the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China, there was a wise man named Zhuge Liang, also known as Kongming. He served for Liu Bei.

One day, Zhuge Liang found himself in a/an ________ situation. Sima Yi’s army was reported being ________ and Zhuge’s support was still far away. There was only one ________ for Zhuge to take, the use of empty city.

Zhuge Liang sent his soldiers to West City. He told them to ________ the city gates and sent them to clean the roads. The men couldn’t understand Zhuge Liang’s request, but Zhuge told them not to ________ and he had secretly sent many soldiers around to fight the coming war. Zhuge himself went up the city wall with two of his service boys and began to play his favourite music there.

Sima Yi’s army had been told that West City was empty. However, when they arrived and saw the open gates, empty streets, and only a few old soldiers working as cleaners, they became ________ and didn’t enter the city. Zhuge told them that the city was empty and he had prepared to welcome the enemy. Sima Yi believed it was a ________ since Zhuge had never taken any unsure plans in his life and his words couldn’t be ________ trusted. He replied Zhuge that no matter whether the city was empty or not, he was not to enter. Sima Yi’s army camped miles away outside West City.

General Zhao Yun returned to West City. Zhuge Liang sent Zhao to attack the ________ and he went back to his State right away. Sima Yi was again told by his men that West City was empty. When he headed towards West City for the second time, he met Zhao Yun and was ________. When he finally learnt what had happened, he realized about his weakness, and left that area.

After saying goodbye to Captain Black-eye Jack and One-legged Rosie, Jessica decided it would be a good idea to paint some pictures to help her remember them.

While the paintings dried, Jessica noticed a long line of trucks driving into the park and stopped in a large playing field. “Vanessa Feather’s Famous Flying Circus,” Jessica read out.

“If we joined the circus, we would be able to travel around and have adventures,” with the thought, Jessica marched up to the two children, a boy and a girl who were practising.

“Hello,” she said. “My name’s Jessica and this is Zebedee. We thought your act was fantastic and we’d like to join your circus to be acrobats.”

“Hi, I’m Shula,” said the girl. “Mum’s the ringmaster. You’ll have to talk to her if you want to join us.”

“Well,” Vanessa said after listening to Jessica, “we’d be happy to teach you to be an acrobat if you seem good at it. Why don’t you have a go on the swing now?”

Jessica reached the top of the pole, took hold of the swing, sat down and pushed off. However, she was so afraid that she was stuck.

Vanessa helped her down kindly. “I’m so sorry,” said Jessica, when she had stopped shaking.

“Now, don’t worry, you never know if you can do something until you try,” said Vanessa. “Stay with us for a while. There are plenty of things to do on the ground.”

During her stay with the circus, Jessica painted pictures of her new friends.

When it was time for the circus to leave, Jessica and Zebedee felt very sad. They watched the truck disappear.

As it was raining, Jessica decided to go into the shopping mall. They sat down on a bench, and Jessica took out her paintings to remind them of the friends they had made.

“Zebedee, how are we going to make our way in the world?” As they sat lost in thought, a crowd came around the pictures.

“I’ll have that one, dearie,” a voice said. “The one of the man with the patch. He reminds me of my brother Jake. How much?”

“Oh it isn’t for…” began Jessica, and then she noticed the crowd. Suddenly she had a wonderful idea.

“£10,” she said loudly.

“I’ll take it,” said the woman.

It seemed everyone wanted a picture. Lots of children had been to the circus and wanted a picture of their favourite act. An old lady took two portraits of Zebedee. A young man wanted the portraits of One-legged Rosie.

Soon Jessica had no pictures left, but she did have quite a lot of money.

“Look at this,” she cried. “We can make our way in the world and have adventures after all.”

Surprise Ending

A surprise ending is a way to do something unexpected at the end of a story.     41    

A surprise ending can change everything we thought we knew about the story. A good surprise ending can stay with us long after we finish reading the story.     42     It encourages readers to reconsider their understanding of the characters, plot, and themes.

Authors use surprise endings to make stories more challenging.     43     They help readers consider different ways of understanding the story by defying expectations.

This writing skill is used in literature to make the reader really interested. O. Henry was known for his clever and unexpected endings, which have made his stories popular.     44     This skill is also used in writings like science fiction, where unpredictability and suspense are important.

    45     It usually creates a memorable conclusion to a story and make you think about the story’s ending. Furthermore, it enriches the reading experience. Readers can evaluate their predictions again and engage more deeply.

56. 假如你是李华，作为本班参赛选手之一参加了学校举办的主题为“A taste of literature”的读者剧场展评活动。请写一则英文日记，记录这特别的一刻。

Today, I took part in the Readers Theater activity. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good luck with everything!

Li Hua