It was a cold and windy night. My friend and I hadn’t seen each other for a long time. We were excited and kept     1     for hours. We did not notice the time     2     by, and soon it was close to 10 p.m. We decided to take a rickshaw（人力车）to go to our house.

It started raining, and we hurried to get into a rickshaw. None of the rickshaws stopped for us,     3     one.

The driver asked us     4     we wanted to go and we told the place. Without saying     5     about the fare, he said, “Please get in!” We thanked him and got in.

Since it was very cold, I asked the driver to stop at a small     6     or a tea shop. We wanted to have a cup of hot tea. The driver stopped near a small restaurant.

We     7     tea, and asked the driver to join us and have a cup of tea. The driver refused. I insisted, but he refused again     8     .

He also explained why he refused the tea. He said, “Sir, my son passed away this noon in an     9     . I don’t have enough money for his funeral. So I took s vow（发誓）not to drink water, until I earn     10     money for my son’s funeral. That’s why I didn’t drink tea when you offered. Please don’t misunderstand.”

Before he left, he said to us, “In one or two hours, if I get one or two more customers, I will earn the money I need.”

For years I wanted to grow flowers. But I failed because I had five     1     children. I was too busy     2     them. Money was tight(紧的), as well as time. When my children were little, sometimes they wanted     3     that was expensive. I’d have to say, “Do you see any money tree that is planted outside? Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all five     4     up. They started living     5     . And I started thinking again about having a garden.

One spring morning, I looked out and was surprised to see a new tree beside the gate. There was a money   tree in my yard.

I rushed outside to have a look. It was true! There was as much as two     6     dollars on its branches(分支). There was also a note     7     : “Love you! This one-hundred-dollar bill (钞票) is for you, Marvin.” I was able to buy whatever I wanted for the garden with that money!

My garden now is very beautiful, just the way I wanted. Every year now,     8     winter comes, I look at the tree     9     and think of the flowers I’ll see next spring. Every time I think about what my children did for me, tears come to my     10    . I will never forget it.

Helping others always brings you something sooner or later, one way or another. I didn’t know that     1     one day when I went to my new school.

It was a cold and snow morning after the winter vacation. In fact, it was my     2     day at my new school. I     3     slowly and worrying about lots of things. A girl who was on a bike passed me quickly.     4    , she fell off her bike just a few steps in front of me. She was trying hard to get up, but fell again.     5     thinking, I went over and helped her stand up. She said, “Thank you” with a smile and then     6     away. The words “Thank you” helped me and made me less worried about my new school.

Finally, I got to school. The teacher led me to the classroom and asked me to sit down near a girl. I was so     7    , I knew some of the students were looking at me but I didn’t dare to look at them. Soon, the first class     8    . It was English. They used a different textbook from my old school. As I left my seat     9     a book from other schoolmates, a book appeared in front of me. “Let’s share.” The girl next to me said. I got such a strong feeling of     10     at that moment.

From then on, we became good friends. She was my first and best friend at my new school. Helping her also helped me find a friend.

My name is Mike. I am a middle school student. I am in Grade Eight. I used to spend most time     1     the internet. I enjoyed     2     with friends on QQ. And I was fond of watching videos     3    . On weekends, I lost     4    in playing computer games.     5    , day by day I found I didn’t like my study. I felt sleepy and tired all day. Internet became my whole life. My mother said that I needed a change.

My mother took me to the park in our city. I lay on the grass, smelled the spring and listened to the wind singing. The nature     6     comfort and peace for me. At that time, I found some children playing musical       7     near a lake. The boy with     8     erhu in hands caught my eyes. The music was both     9     and relaxing. Now I joined them and learned playing erhu. It became one of my favorite     10     . Everyone thinks that I am active now.