Sitting in the park, I could see two ________ racing on their bikes. The one in front was laughing and asking the other to go ________. The one behind seemed angry and he was trying hard to follow his elder brother.

It made me think of myself as a boy. I was always in competition with my elder brother. He was ________ than me at everything. I tried hard to beat him but I never could. I told myself that one day I would do it—and I would feel ________.

Then came the evening of my first victory (胜利) over George. We had our final exam results and ________ were excellent. At dinner I wanted to show them proudly to my ________, but I waited for my brother to speak first. ________, he didn’t say a word. He didn’t look at us. He just ________ a little bit and then went to his room.

Then an idea came into my mind. George did badly in his exams! I was better than George! But I didn’t feel happy at all. I only felt sorry for my poor brother. ________ was not exciting.

I found George crying (哭泣) in his room. I put my arms around him and said “Don’t worry. I still believe in you. You are the best.” He put his arms around me. “No, you’re the best. The best brother in the world!”

I looked again at the boys and smiled to myself. Yes, they are racing now, but they will ________: having a brother is better than winning a race.

Do you want to be successful in everything you do? If so, then how? Here is an _________.

There was a farmer who _________ corn all his life. Each year he took his corn to the market.

Then each time his corn was chosen as the _________ and won the first prize.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something _________ about how he grew it. The farmer _________ his seed (种子) corn to his neighbors.

“How can you share your best seed corn with your neighbors?” the reporter asked. “You know they are taking part in the _________ with you each year.”

“Why, sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen (花粉) from the corn and moves it quickly from field to field. If my neighbors grow _________ corn, cross-pollination (异花传粉) will be no good for my corn. So if I want to grow good corn, I must _________ my neighbors to grow good corn.”

The farmer knows much about the truth of life. His corn cannot improve _________ his neighbor’s corn doesn’t improve. As a great man says, “We make a living by what we __________. We make a life by what we give.”

Taking online classes is becoming popular, but students have different views (见解) about it.

Li Qi, 14: I love taking online classes. They give me a lot more choices and freedom. We can choose to learn what we want. Also, students can take online lessons anytime and anywhere. It is very convenient (方便的).	Wu Jun, 13: I don’t think taking online classes is a good way to study. There are many exciting things on the Internet. Students can be distracted from their lessons easily. The whole learning process (过程) is not the same as it is in the classroom.
Zhou Siya, 13: Online classrooms are fantastic. We might listen to the teachers more carefully when we are in front of a computer without anyone around us. Taking classes online also means we can have more time to practice using the computer.	Li Chunjie, 14: I think the idea of taking online courses is terrible. Sitting in front of a computer for a long time without exercising can be bad for our health.

Once there was a baby eagle (鹰) living in a nest (巢) on a mountain. The baby eagle loved his nest. It was warm and comfortable. And even better, he had all the food and love that his mother could give. But suddenly his mother stopped coming to the nest, so he was full of sadness. He thought he would die soon.

Two days later, mother appeared with some nice food. The baby eagle jumped up and down with excitement. But his mother put the food at the top of the mountain and then looked down at her baby. The baby eagle cried out, “Mum, why did you do this to me? I’m hungry. Don’t you know I will die if I have nothing to eat?”

“Here is the last meal I give you. Come and get it by yourself.” his mother said. Then she flew down and got the baby eagle out of the nest.

The baby eagle fell down, faster and faster. He looked up at his mum, “Why do you leave me?” He looked down and the ground was much closer. Then something strange happened. The air caught behind his arms and he began to fly!

“You are flying! You can make it!” His mother smiled.

At the beginning of human history, people took their food from the world around them. They ate all that they could find, and then moved on. About 10,000 years ago people started learning to farm (耕种).

People eat different food in different places. In China rice is the main food for people in the south and the people in the north eat noodles. People who live in European countries near the sea eat lots of fish. But in Central Europe, people are away from the sea. So they don’t eat so much fish. They eat more special meat instead.

People eat food with different tools (工具) in different places. In North America, Australia, and Europe, people eat with knives and forks. In China, people eat with chopsticks. In parts of India and the Middle East, people use their hands to pick up food.

Now people can eat different food from different places. Today it is possible that food is sent easily from one part of the world to another. We can almost eat whatever we like at any place of the world. For example, people in Britain can eat bananas from Africa and rice from India. Food is becoming a very big business now.

A good book can teach you many things. It can open your eyes and clear your minds. It is important and necessary to get into a good reading habit. The following would help you develop (培养) it.

Plan your time

You should spend at least half an hour reading every day. When time is set, nothing can change it. For example, make it a habit to read before breakfast or lunchtime.

Always carry a book

Wherever you go, take a book with you. When you leave the house, make sure that you always carry a good book as well as your school things. Remember that a book always stays with you.

Have a library card

Have a library card and you can read as many good books as possible in the library. This helps you spend less money on books.

Put it online

One of the best ways to develop a good reading habit is to put some e-books into your net disc (网盘) and share them with your friends. Ask your friends and family to feel your joy or sadness and give you advice.