In the summer, Grandpa was an actor, and some Saturday afternoons he and his friend, Ms Gladys, would take Tamika to the ________ to watch him act on the stage (舞台).

It was Tamika’s favorite place to go. Make-believe things happened there and she always had a great time. She would sit in the front row and watch Grandpa ________ another person, changing his face and the way he walked, talked and sang. And even when he turned into somebody else’s grandpa, Tamika didn’t ________. It looked true and it felt true, but she knew it was just a play, and when it was over and all the actors came out to ________ and wave (挥手), she would clap (拍手) so hard that her hands hurt.

One day, Tamika went to Grandpa’s room to ask for a story. She stopped at the door ________ Grandpa was rehearsing (排演). He had his book in his hand and he was reading his lines (台词) aloud. Then he stopped reading and looked into the mirror, ________ changing his face into a face that Tamika had never seen before. It was a hard face with a tight (紧绷的)mouth and   cold, cold eyes. It was a face that could never love her or ________.

Tamika stood watching ________ saying a word, as Grandpa changed his face back and read some more lines from his book. Her legs were stiff (僵硬的) from standing, but she ________ to go back to her room and sat on the bed. It seemed that her stomach was filled with plenty of strange things that made her ________. She had not known that Grandpa could look like that, and now that she did know she couldn’t be sure he might not someday look at her with that face.

Can you imagine a world without the Internet? It’s surprising to think about it.

Now, China has more than 162 million Internet users, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre. This is the second highest number of users in the world after the United States. Today, 66% of Chinese “netizens (网民)” are teenagers. “They spend about thirteen hours every week online,” said Qian Hulin, an Internet expert. Doctor Song in Beijing Xuanwu Hospital said about 14% of Chinese netizens who are teens often lasted over ten hours to play online games.

The main reasons why teenagers surf the Web are to search for information, to communicate with others and to have fun. On the Internet, teenagers can find out almost anything. And surfing the Web can help students with their homework and widen their knowledge.

Li Dong, a teacher at No. 41 Middle School in Shijiazhuang, likes her students to use the Internet. “When we talk in class, students who surf the Net usually know more background information than the others,” she said.

In addition, people can use the Internet to write letters or stories and send e-mails. Many teens keep in touch with their friends online. It is cheaper than phoning somebody far away and also much quicker.

Basketball is one of the most popular team sports in the world. But what do you know about James Naismith who invented the sport of basketball?

James Naismith was born in Canada in 1861. Naismith was not good at study, but enjoyed farm work. He usually spent his days outside playing games. When he was nine, his parents died from a typhoid (伤寒). Naismith lived with his grandmother and uncle for many years.

In 1891, while working as a P. E. teacher in Springfield, the USA, Naismith was asked to make a game that would not take up much room, was not too rough (粗野的) and could be played indoors. Naismith was inspired (启迪) by a game he played as a child in Canada called “Duck on a Rock”. In this game, players throw a small rock at a “duck” placed on top of a large rock in an attempt (尝试) to knock the “duck” off.

The first game was played on December 21, 1891, with a peach (桃子) basket fixed to either end of the school’s gym (体育馆), and two teams of nine players. The ball that they used was a soccer ball.

The original (最初的) rules did not include what is known today as the dribble (运球), and only allowed the ball to be moved up or down the court (球场) by way of passes between players. On January 15th, 1892, the rules to the game were published in the newspaper.

Naismith came to the end of his life on November 28th, 1939. But he lived to see basketball become an Olympic demonstration (表演) sport in 1904 and an event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

D

It was Saturday night, but Ma Jun was still busy. She     47     (help) children at her school take showers. “There are others staying at school on weekends. They have nowhere else     48     (go), ”she said.

Ma used to be a college P. E. teacher in Xi’an. But nine years ago, she chose a new life for herself. She left the city to teach at a village school in the north of Shaanxi. The school is for “left-behind children (留守儿章)”. Their parents     49     (go) to cities to find jobs.

Ma has made a big     50     (different) at the school. She plays a key role in     51     (improve) the school’s curriculum (课程内容). The school day was all about studying in the classroom several years ago. Ma added P. E. and scientific experiments to     52     (pupil) daily lives. She     53     introduced Yangge and martial arts (武术) to the children.

    54     Ma has a monthly pay of only 3,000 yuan, she has no regrets. She lives with the children every day and takes care of them all the time. In her spare time, Ma grows vegetables and     55     (keep) pigs to support the school’s canteen (食堂)

No wonder the students all want to say “Happy Mother’s Day!” to Ma     56     Mother’s Day is coming. To them, Ma is not only a teacher, but also their “mother”.