A group of boys were playing a game around a tall tree. They decided to see who could get to the top of the tree     1    . Their mothers were sitting not far away, looking on at their children as they played.

One of the     2     was an 8-year-old boy named David. He was the     3     child in the group. Nobody thought he would     4     the competition.

Then the game started. All of the boys     5     their best to climb as high as they could.   They all made it halfway up the tree before David did, but he reached the top of the tree fastest in the     6    .

His mother was     7     of his son. She asked him, “David, how did you manage to reach the top of the tree so     8    ?”

“It was easy.” David said, “The other children kept looking down as they climbed. When they came to     9     how high they were, they got scared and were afraid of falling down. I, however, looked only up. When I saw how close I was, I kept going higher and higher     10    

I reached the top.”

It is true in life that if we just keep going forward without looking back, we are more likely to reach our goals.

It happened on the National Day last year. I went to a small town     1     my best friend in the late afternoon. There was a(n)     2     on the way. So when I got to the town, it was     3     midnight. The last bus had already left. I     4     terrible and I had no idea of what to do, because I didn’t tell my friend that I would go there. I wanted     5     her a surprise.

I walked along the street alone.     6    , I realized that there was a man following me. I felt so afraid     7     I ran into a small store. There was a woman in the store. She looked at me and asked     8     happened. I told her the truth. She asked me if I’d like to stay     9     her in her store for one night. I agreed. Then she asked me to sit down to watch TV while she was     10     a bowl of noodles for me. The next day, we said goodbye to each other.

That evening taught me that we should help people who are in need. The small things we do may make a great difference to others.

How do you feel when you look at a painting from a short distance and then from a long distance? Can you tell the     1    ?

There is a club     2     only smart people can join. Many people join it, because they want to stay with other smart people.

The club members     3     a dinner party at 7 p.m. yesterday in a restaurant. They talked much when they enjoyed their food. One of them thought that his salad didn’t taste delicious, so he found a salt shaker (佐料瓶) and     4     some salt. But it was sugar. It     5     that the salt on the table was in the sugar shaker and the sugar was in the salt shaker. There were no other empty     6    . What could they do? They talked about the problem for a long time, but there was no way     7     it right.

They asked for the waiter and told him about it. The waiter just looked at the shakers and said, “It’s easy.” He then took off the labels of both shakers and switched (互换)     8     with each other. The room     9     became quiet.

Sometimes we make problems     10     than they should be. It is good to look back and see if there’s an easy way first.

When I was young, my father told me that some acts of love may give someone happiness. So I always try my best to help others.

One afternoon, it was very hot. I was driving on the highway to Fuzhou when     1     car suddenly came into my lane (车道). My car was in the far right lane, so it ran into the roadside. But     2    , it didn’t cause an accident.

I was unhappy with that driver, but I thought that he just did not     3     attention to the lane change, and maybe he was just     4    .

The car ran away after cutting me off. Very soon it disappeared. After a while, I came around a curve (弯道) and found the     5     car. The driver was walking along the roadside. He looked     6    . The man’s car had a flat tire (瘪胎).     7     he had a spare tire (备胎), he had nothing to work with. I decided to help him. I     8     the tire for him and let him sit in my air-conditioned car while I did it. Fifteen     9     later, I finished the work. I was hot and tired, but I really felt good after an act of kindness to the man.

Helping others is the source (源泉) of happiness. That’s true. We should lend a     10     to others in trouble.

A game of hide­ and­ seek (捉迷藏) between an 11-year-old girl and her sister ended up being a serious game of hide­ and ­stuck (卡住)! The 11-year-old girl thought that if she     1    in the washing machine, her sister would never find her—and she didn’t.

When she realized she had     2    the game, she tried to get out of the washing machine, but she couldn’t! She had curled (蜷曲) her     3    up for so long that they couldn’t move and she couldn’t use her feet to push     4     up and out of the machine!

She became     5     and shouted out. Her sister called their mother Nicole Rhoades. They tried many ways to get her out. But     6     of them worked. The worried     7    could do nothing but call 911 and asked for firefighters’ help. Firefighters brought many tools to get her out.     8    , they succeeded.

Thankfully the family was able to laugh after the very     9    girl was safely out of the washing machine with only a few bruises (擦伤)．

After all that trouble, at least the girl did what she set out to do and found a hiding place where no one would ever think to look. But she won’t be a     10    and hiding there again any time.

“She won, all the way,” said Rhoades. “Best hide­ and ­seek ever. ”

Clapper talk or Chinese kuaibanr is a traditional art form.

I’m a big clapper talk fan. I have learned it since I     1     six years old. The first time I watched a clapper talk performance, I was amazed by its free style and lively language. So I decided to study it.

However, learning clapper talk is not easy. It     2     clear articulation (吐字) and rhythm (节奏) control. Each of these skills should     3     hard. After training for a whole morning, my hand feels numb and my throat is dry. But I never give up.

For several years of practice, I     4     these skills and performing onstage has helped me enjoy this art form even more. I can put what I want to express into my performance. I always say to myself , “If I keep studying hard, I     5     more progress.”

Last year, my friends and I took part in a two-day survival training course in the mountains. The     1     day was really difficult—there was so much to do! After arriving at the campsite, we were divided into a few     2     and given a tent, some food, a map and a compass. Standing next to a small river, Jenny     3     camping in the grassy area nearby. However, our instructor, Mr. Lee, pointed out that it might flood if it rained. In the end, we found a     4     area. Putting up the tent was very hard. Luckily, Mr. Lee helped us a lot.

By the time we had put up the tent,     5     was really hungry. “We wouldn’t have been so hungry if we had brought some snacks,” Peter said. We all told him to stop complaining and help us start a fire to cook our food     6    .

The next day started early. Woken by a strange noise, Peter went to see what was     7    . “Some cows have eaten our breakfast!” he shouted. “That’s all     8     you didn’t put away the food properly last night,” said Mr Lee.

We tried very hard on our next     9    —using the map and the compass to find a secret location. We finally made it to the location before the other groups did. We all felt very     10     of ourselves.

The survival training course was a great experience. Now I feel that I could survive anywhere!