The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and drop his coins into the jar.

When the jar was filled, we would take the _____ to the bank. Each time, as he gave the box of coins to the bank worker, he would say proudly, "These are for _____ son's college fund. He'll never work at the factory all his life like me."

The years passed, and I finished the _____ and took a job. Once, while visiting my parents, I noticed that the pickle jar in my parents' bedroom was _____. I stared at the place beside the dresser where the jar had always stood. The pickle jar had taught me far _____ than any words could have done.

When I married, I told my wife Susan about the _____ part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life. In my mind, it showed how much my _____ had loved me. No matter how difficult things got at home, Dad _____ to doggedly drop his coins into the jar.

The first Christmas after our _____ was born, we spent the holiday with my parents. After dinner, Susan carried the baby into my parents' _____ to diaper* her. When Susan came back into the living room, there was _____ strange in her eyes. She took my hand and _____ me into the room.

"Look," she said softly, her eyes directing me to a place on the floor ______ the dresser. To my amazement, there stood the old pickle jar, as if it had never been ______, the bottom already covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and ______ a fistful of coins.

With the strong feeling choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw Dad who is carrying the baby. Our eyes tacked, and I knew he was feeling the same feelings I felt.

Neither one of us could speak.

China's high-speed train, the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou, already has the World's fastest average speed. It covers 1,069 kilometers in about 3 hours.

Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and working at your office in Shanghai in only 2 or 3 hours, and then, after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there by high-speed train.

Sounds unusual, doesn't it? But it’s not impossible with the development of China's high-speed railway system. And that's not all. China has an even greater high-speed railway plan - to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and Western Europe in the end.

China is trying to enlarge its own high-speed railway to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, reaching London and Singapore at last.

China has planned three such projects. The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via* Vietnam and Malaysia. Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and possibly to Germany. The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe.

If China's plan for the high-speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Beijing in under forty-eight hours.

Swans are beautiful birds. You must like their beautiful feathers and beautiful dancing. But how much do you know about them? Do you know that swans are the same family as ducks?

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae. This family also includes ducks and geese. Swans are the largest members of the duck family Anatidae, and are one of the largest flying birds. Swans can fly as fast as 60 miles an hour. If they spread their wings, they can be almost 3m. The largest swans can reach length of over 1.5m and weigh over 15kg. Males are usually bigger and heavier than females.

Swans usually have only one lover for life time. Swans begin breeding between the ages of 3~4. Female swans generally lay five to eight eggs a year, all within days of one another. Their eggs are very big. Some may weigh 400g. However, she will not start hatching* them until the last egg is laid. It takes swans between 35 and 42 days to hatch their eggs.

The swans living in Northern part of the earth have white feathers but the ones who live in Southern part of the earth are black and white. The legs of swans are usually a dark blackish grey colour.

Swans usually live in warm places, always close to water. Swans feed in the water and on land. They mostly eat plants in the water. Their homes are on the ground near water and about a metre across. The male helps build the homes.

Winnie sat outside the Headmistress's office waiting to be called in. She wished she had not been caught down by the river at lunchtime. But it was too late now.

That morning, Winnie happened to be in the playground with a group of girls from the ninth grade. She liked hanging out with the older girls. She felt more important when she was with them. She especially admired Vicky. Vicky was always breaking the school rules, but somehow managed to get away with it.

Vicky told the group of girls she pinched a packet of cigarettes* from her dad's pocket. She invited them to follow her to the river at lunchtime for a smoke. They sat under the bridge and Vicky passed round the packet of cigarettes. Winnie had never smoked before. It tasted awful. The other girls started making fun of her. Then Vicky told Winnie to steal a packet of cigarettes from her dad and bring it to school for them to smoke. Winnie knew this was wrong but wanted so much to be part of the group. So she said they could count on her to bring a packet the next day.

Then, suddenly, before they could hide their cigarettes, Mr. Jackson, her class teacher was standing next to them. He was furious. Vicky threw the packet of cigarettes into Winnie and said, "She gave them to us. She stole them from her dad." But Mr. Jackson had seen and heard everything. He told them to go straight back to school and wait for him outside the Headmistress's office.

Now, sitting outside the Headmistress's office, Winnie knew she would be punished but in her heart she also knew the punishment was a stitch in time. She would never try another cigarette and would never again get mixed up with students like Vicky. Winnie was beginning to have second thoughts about Vicky. Because of Vicky, she was in trouble, too.

The door opened and Vicky came out. She was crying. Winnie had never seen Vicky cry before. She looked so different, so weak, so unimportant. In a flash Winnie realized Vicky was not a very nice person after all.

The supply of water is causing increasing an uncomfortable feeling to scientists in many countries. In these countries, it is fast becoming an important social and economic problem. The water requirements depend on various facts. An obvious one is the amount needed for household use in baths, showers, washing-machines, toilet and so on. The amount of water used in industry is greater than in the houses. Textile works are major users. A lot of water is also used in agriculture: in irrigation and in the keeping of animals.

In some under-developed countries the daily water consumption* is as low as two or three gallons* while in other countries it reaches 100 gallons a person. As standards of living improve, an increased rate* of consumption must be expected. At the same time, many countries are making a great effort to set up sew industries: to create jobs and get money through exports*. Unluckily, the degree of pollution of the water used in modern industries is often very high and prevents the water from being used again. More water will also be needed in future years for agricultural purposes; with enough water supplies deserts will be transformed and become rich crop-growing areas.

Although the natural supply of water (It comes from fall of rain, snow, etc.) is at present far larger than the world's total requirements, this supply is not distributed and full use cannot be made of it. The conveyance* of water over long distances is too expensive to be practicable, and many of the world's great rivers contains a lot of fresh water which can never be of much real use. For the world's immediate needs, men must now look to new sources of fresh water, and they must develop technologies for recovering fresh water from salt water. Every country is trying to find ways to turn salt water into fresh. In the past, expense had been a difficulty to the widespread use of desalination* plants, but recent technologies has finally made this method reasonable. Some areas, such as Kuwait, are almost totally dependent on external supplies and would be in a dangerous position. Whatever the methods used, scientists are confident that the supply of fresh water will be increased but they point out that the cost will increase correspondingly.

The books about Greg Mortenson will be one of your favorites. They will take you on a great adventure to one of the highest mountains in the world. You     46     (将会得知) how Greg Mortenson helped build an education system there.

While climbing a difficult mountain in Pakistan, Greg Mortenson became     47     (有病的). He got help in a small village. The people of the village took good care of him, gave him food and let him sleep in the village     48     (领导的) house. They also gave him one of their special treats:     49    (甜的) tea.

As Mortenson recovered from his illness, he noticed that the       50     (儿童) of the village went to school outdoors. Their teacher only came three times a week and they didn't have     51     (黑板). They used sticks to write their lessons in the soil.

The day Oreg left the village, he     52     (承诺) to come back and build a school.     53     (两者) boys and girls would come to his school to study. That became true in 1993.

Mortenson started the Central Asia Institute (CAI) to     54    (筹集) money for these schools. Because of the CAI, he has helped more than 18, 000 girls     55     (收到) education so far. Today Mortenson is responsible for building 80 schools in Central Asia.

假如你是Li Daming，与来自加拿大的交换生朋友Amanda约好一起去温州博物馆，但因故不能赴约。请给她写封邮件，内容包括：

1) 表示歉意；

2) 说明原因；

3) 另约时间。

注意：

1) 词数110左右；

2) 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Yours,

Li Daming