I noticed an old couple as they walked into the second-hand store. Just before that I had dropped off a bag of clothes and a few other things I no longer needed.

The couple moved _______ around me in search of things they had on a list.

“Can I help you _______ something?” I asked curiously.

They stopped, looked at me and said, “We’re looking for _______ things that look new.”

“Every year in the past, we tried to _______ the year with new things. It was a goal (目标) to have new things around us so that we had a new _______, new hopes and dreams for the new year,” said the old man. “But nowadays we also believe that even though something is old, it _______ be new to someone who has never seen it before.”

“So, at the end of each year we search for things that are _______ to no one but new to us,” the old woman added.

“What have you found so far?” I asked.

The man showed two things: a small frame made of sticks and one baby boot.

“We still need one more thing,” he said.

“Got it!” I heard a loud _______

“What did you find?” the old man shouted, too.

The old woman walked slowly towards us _______ something in her hand. “Look! It’s a flower vase. Well, it looks ________, but it’s new to us!”

They then headed for the checkout without saying another word.

Everything that you see for the first time is new.

How could we tell time if there were no watches or clocks anywhere in the world?

The sun was probably the world’s first “clock”, except in the far north, where the Eskimos(爱斯基摩人) live. There, it’s dark most of the winter, and light most of the summer. But in most of the world, people have used the sun for a clock. Even today, if you don’t have a clock, you still know that when the sun shines, its day, and when it’s dark, it’s night. The sun can also tell you if it’s morning, noon, or afternoon.

People who live near the sea can tell time from the tides. In the daytime, for about six hours, the water rises higher and higher on the beach. And then it goes down and down for about six hours. The same thing happens again at night. There are two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours.

Seamen on a ship learn how to tell time by looking at the moon and the stars. The whole sky is their clock.

In some places in the world the wind comes up at about the same time every day or changes direction or stops blowing. In these places the wind can be the clock.

A sand clock is an even better clock. If you had fine dry sand in a glass shaped like the one in the picture, you would have what is called an hourglass. The sand in the hourglass goes from the top part to the bottom part in exactly one hour. When the hourglass is turned over, the sand will take another hour to go back again.

What do you like most when you can get one of such things: freedom, true friends, love, honesty and so on? Here are some choices of students:

Chen Cheng, 14, Jiangsu: I think I need a true friend. I had some friends before. However, it seemed that they didn't treat me well. I .told them my secrets but they didn't tell me theirs. What's worse, they told my secrets to others, which made me very unhappy. I hope to find a true lifelong friend who can share happiness and sadness with me and keep my secrets.

Gan Xiaoning, 14, Heilongjiang: Freedom is what I want most. I am a bird in two cages. In school, I have to follow the school's' rules and listen to teachers. At home, my parents don't allow me to do what I like, either. I have to do everything that they tell me to do: study, study and study some more. So, freedom is the only thing I really want!

Yuan Siyu, 15, Guangxi: I am a boy from a poor family. My father works very hard but only makes a little money every month to support the family. I want to go to a key university so that I can find a good job in the future. Then, I can earn enough money to get my family out of poverty (贫困) and offer my parents a happy life.

Qu Yi, 15, Hebei: I want a complete family. My parents got divorced (离婚) three years ago. Since then, I have had no chance to be together with both of them any more. Now, I am living with my mom and get her love, but I also want my dad's love. I am envious (羡慕) of my classmates who live with their parents. So, I want to have a complete family.

There are over 800 boarding(寄宿) schools in the UK with students from home and foreign countries. Boarding schools started hundreds of years ago in the country. But the earliest boarding schools were set up for white, rich boys only. Now both boys and girls can go to boarding schools from the age of 7 to 18.

What to do

In the UK, boarding schools have three terms in a school year, with about 13 weeks in each term. Students study and live together. They can’t go outside if they are not allowed to. In some schools, each student has his or her subject plan. Besides the usual classrooms and laboratories, the boarding schools have lots of other facilities(设施) for their students, including music rooms, boats, swimming pools, cinemas and theatres. Most boarding schools have a “light out” time. So when it’s time to go to bed, all the lights in the bedrooms are turned off. There are house-masters to take care of students all the time, especially after school hours.

What to wear

Nearly all students at boarding schools wear a school uniform. Boys usually wear a shirt and a tie, and girls wear a white blouse, sometimes also a tie and a skirt. As students get older, the rules become less strict.

What to eat

In the UK, boarding schools provide students with delicious food. They can choose to have a full English breakfast or simply bread. They can also choose between a meal with no meat and another meal at lunch and dinner. And there is always self-service for salad, other side dishes and a dessert. Students can also make themselves something to eat at any time in a kitchen, or drink tea or have a snack between meals.

In order to know a foreign language thoroughly (完全地), the following things are necessary. Firstly, we must be able to understand the language when we hear it spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, correctly, with confidence. Thirdly, we must be able to read the language and fourthly, we must be able to write it. We must be able to make up sentences that are grammatically correct. We must know how to arrange sentences in paragraphs (段落) so that we can write a good letter or article.

There is no easy way to learn a language well. A good memory is of great help, but it is not enough to remember rules from a grammar book. It is not much use learning long lists of words and their meanings by heart. We learn words not by ourselves, but in sentences. We must learn by using the language. “Learn through use” is a good piece of advice for those who are studying a new language. Practice is very important. We must practice speaking and writing the language whenever we can.

56. 假如你是Cindy，向你班主任推荐David任新班长，请包括下面要点，用英语写一封推荐信。

I am writing to recommend David as our new monitor. I think he has many strong qualities for the position.

I think David is the most suitable person to be our monitor. I hope that you agree with me.

Yours sincerely,

Cindy