David turned off the computer and opened his English book, but it was _______ for him to concentrate (集中注意力) on the English words. “Have you finished your homework?” David’s mum opened the door. “Quick! Dinner will be ready _______ half an hour!” But he wasn’t hungry.

David couldn’t sleep that night. He got up late and was _______ school the next morning. School didn’t go well that day, either. He _______ a math test. At lunch time, he wasn’t hungry. The _______ just made him feel sick. And then he had to stay late after school and _______ the bus. He decided to walk home.

David usually practices his guitar in the evening. _______ that day he didn’t want to do that. He posted a message in his blog about his problem. _______ it got a respond. Betty, his new friend in school, gave a piece of _______ to him. Betty is good at English and she advised to study together with David, and she could help him with English. “________!” David answered. It seemed that day was not too bad.

Many people like to make New Year’s resolutions.     11     However, a study shows that about 80% of people break their New Year’s resolutions before February. Why does this happen?     12     The following ideas may help you keep your New Year’s resolutions.

First, your resolutions should be specific (具体的). Don’t make a resolution like “I’m going to get healthy this year.”     13     Make a specific one like “Get health y by eating less and running every morning.” It’s easy to keep a specific resolution.

Second, don’t worry.     14     Never expect to reach your goals (目标) in just a few days or weeks.

Third, share your resolutions with others.     15     These people will help you reach your goals when you want to give up (放弃) .

How are you? I hope you and your family are well.

Helen and I spent three fantastic weeks in Ireland and we had a great time. We flew to Dublin, the capital (首都), and spent a week there. It’s a beautiful, interesting city (城市).

After that, we rented (租) a car and spent two weeks driving around the country. It’s really beautiful! I was worried about the weather, but it didn’t rain once. We stayed in small hotels and met some really nice people.

My favorite place was County Mayo. There we went walking in the mountains for a few days. It was really quiet. On the first day, we didn’t see anyone else—we only saw sheep!

Now we’re back in New York! How was your summer? Did you have a good time? Please write and tell me everything!

Your friend,

Mark

A rich man decided to build a library for the middle school. Some workers went to the school and worked on it.

One day, the rich man went to the school to see if everything was going well. He saw three workers building a wall. However, he found their expressions (表情) were different. The first one looked unhappy, the second one looked serious, while the third one was singing a song when working. The rich man was surprised. He went to them and asked, “Hello! What are you doing?” “Can’t you see? I’m building a wall. It’s so boring! I wouldn’t do it any more if I could do something else!” the first man answered. “I’m building a tall building,” the second worker said, “It has eight floors. It will be the best library in the city after we finish it.” “I’m working for the city.” the third man said happily. “Kids will study here. When they grow up, they will do great things for our city! I’m looking forward to that day!”

Ten years later, the first worker is still building the walls. The second one has become an engineer. As for the third worker, he is their boss now.