Until last year, the saddest thing of my life was that my wife Alice and I couldn’t have any children. So we always invited all the children in our street to our ____ for Christmas breakfast.

Last year, Alice died. I was very ____ and decided not to invite the children for Christmas breakfast. But Kathy and Peter, my next door neighbors, asked me to ____ them for dinner on Christmas Eve.

As soon as I arrived and took off my ____, Kathy asked me, “Do you have any milk at your house?”

“Yes,” I replied. “If you need some, I’ll go and ____ it right away.”

“Oh, that’s all right. Come and sit down. The kids have been waiting for you. Just ____ Peter your keys and let him do it.”

After a happy dinner with them, I went home. When I opened my ____, I found my house had been decorated(装饰) by Peter! It was just as ____ as each Christmas before. At that moment, I wished that I could still serve the Christmas breakfast, but I had made no preparations.

Early the next morning, a little boy ____ a bag of candies rang my bell. Before I could ask him what was happening, another two children came. Within fifteen minuets, my house was full of children, ____ I had all the food I needed for the usual Christmas breakfast. I had a happy breakfast with the children again.

Once there was a king. He was wise but everyone was afraid of him. His face showed the sadness in his heart. So there were deep ugly lines(皱纹) on his face.

In his country lived a beautiful girl. Everyone seemed to love her, so did the king. He wanted to marry her, and finally he decided to tell her of his love. After he dressed in his best clothes, he looked in the mirror, but he saw a hard face, even when he tried to smile.

“How about wearing a mask(面具)?” he thought. Then he ordered his magician to paint a mask that looked kind and happy and handsome. The magician agreed and said, “But you must keep your own face in the same lines that I paint and be kind to all people from your heart. If not, the mask will break.” The mask looked so natural that no one knew it was not the true face of the king. Months passed, the beautiful lady got married to the king, and the king treated everyone kindly to keep the mask from breaking.

At last, the king didn’t want to cheat his beautiful wife any more. So he asked the magician to take the mask off. Surprisingly, he found his face was just like the mask he had worn for so long!

You probably know you should say “please” and “thank you” at restaurants. You probably know the rules of a library. You know you should respect and be nice to your classmates. But do you have music manners?

Keep It Down! You have to notice the volume of your music. You should not play your music so loud that everyone around you can hear it. Some people might even get angry. Usually, when you play the music loud on an MP3 player, other people can’t hear the words of the song. They just hear a loud sound. No one wants to listen to this. Very loud music can also be bad for your ears, so even if you are alone when listening to your MP3 player, you shouldn’t have it turned up too high.

Take Them Off! You need to know when to turn your MP3 player off and put it away. Libraries and schools don’t allow MP3 players. There are other places, like museums, which don’t have rules, but it would be rude to have your MP3 player on. Why would you listen to music at a play, a movie or a sporting event? You would miss what is going on and others would wonder why you even came.

Take One Out! Once in a while it’s OK just to take out one earphone and not the other. Imagine you are listening on your MP3 player when someone asks you the way. It would not be rude to take out one earphone, tell him the way, and put back the earphone and continue listening. You can also do this when you order food at a fast-food restaurant or when you answer the telephone and it’s not for you.

It’s Your Choice! There are times when you need to decide what is best. For example, some people can listen to music on their MP3 players when reading books, while others think it is disturbing(干扰的). In cases like this, you need to do what seems right for you.

Your name is very important. Right now，the two most popular     81     for babies in the United States are “Jack” for boys and “Emily” for girls. Why are these names popular? And why are some names unpopular?

Names can     82     popular because these names come     83     famous actors, TV or book heroes, or     84     players. Popular names mean very positive things. Unpopular names mean very negative(消极的)things. Surprisingly, people     85     have similar opinions about names.

William Lindesay, a British traveler and writer, has been exploring the Great Wall of China.

When he was a small boy, he planned to explore the Great Wall, nobody     86     it seriously. But Lindesay achieved his goal. Now he     87     in Beijing, and his new book, The Great Wall Explained,     88     out already. There’re a lot of photographs and articles. It is welcomed by the readers.

It was a brave trip     89     on the Great Wall and he had already run 3,000 kilometers along it! During those years, he got to many villages along the way. He     90     by friendly villagers, although they didn’t quite understand why the Englishman would have such interest in the Great Wall.

It was a touching moment at the National Zoo in Washington, US. Thousands of people from all over the country, and even the world, came to say goodbye.     101    

BaoBao, the zoo’s lovely giant panda, left for her new home in Chengdu, China on Feb 22nd. She’s the first female giant panda born in the US National Zoo. She has won the hearts of many Americans since her birth three and a half years ago.

“We know that they’re going … by the age of four. So we can prepare for it. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t set up feelings.” Keeper Alice Brown told the Washington Post.     102    

BaoBao was destined (命中注定的) to return to China according to an agreement between China and the US.     103    And cubs (幼崽) born abroad will be returned before they turn four.

Native to China and adored (喜爱) around the world, the black-and-white animals have played an important role in the country’s diplomacy (外交).     104    

China started panda diplomacy in the 1950s when China sent two pandas to the Moscow Zoo.     105     However, since the early 1980s, China has stopped giving away pandas for free because the number of panders is becoming smaller and smaller. Instead, the animals are loaned to other countries.