Roger is new in town, and it has been hard to make friends.The kids at school are nice, but Roger is shy.His birthday is coming up soon.He is planning a big party.It will be a lot of fun.There will be cake, and ice cream, and a treasure hunt（寻宝游戏）.But what if none of the other kids want to come?

One week before his party, Roger and his dad go to their favorite restaurant.Benny′s Pizza Parlor makes the best pizza in town.Roger orders a large pizza, with four kinds of cheese and extra pepperoni（意大利香肠）.He loves every bite.When he is finished, Roger and his dad go to the kitchen to talk to Benny.

"How was the pizza?" Benny asks. "It was great!" says Roger.

"Thank you!" says Benny.

Suddenly, Roger gets a great idea."Benny, " he says."Will you cook pizza for my birthday party?"

"Hold on, Roger, " says Roger′s dad."Benny is very busy.He might not have time to make pizza for your party.""But everyone loves his pizza!" says Roger."If we have it, I′ll be the most popular boy in school."

"I know what to do, " says Benny."I won′t cook pizza for your party.Instead, I′ll show you how to make it yourself!" That week, Roger goes to Benny′s Pizza Parlor every day after school.Benny shows him how to make pizza and he tries his best.

Roger tells the kids at school that his party will have pizza from Benny′s.Everyone is excited.Everyone loves Benny′s pizza.But when they come to his house, Benny isn’t there.Instead, they see Roger, wearing an apron（围裙） and a chef′s hat. The kids don′t believe that Roger knows how to make pizza.However, he's ready to prove them wrong.Roger makes them his favorite pizza, with four kinds of cheese, and extra pepperoni.Everyone says the pizza tastes just like Benny′s.It might even be just a little bit better.

【推荐2】Jane works as a secretary（秘书）in a small office. Her boss, although kind, is sometimes a bit foolish. He likes to keep lots of plants in front of their office to attract（吸引）customers.

It seems to work, since Jane is often busy greeting new customers. Nearly every customer likes to take a look at the colorful plants.

One of Jane's other responsibilities（职责）is to water the plants. This is one of her favorite jobs to do around the office, as it allows her to spend some time outside away from her desk. She does it every morning before staring the rest of her work day.

One afternoon, her boss came over to her desk and kindly asked her to water the plants, as she hadn't done it yet that day.

“But sir, it's been raining outside all morning …” she said.

“Oh! I see, that explains it. Well here then, you can take my umbrella while you water them,” the boss replied.

【推荐3】A group of swans flew down to a beach. There was a crow (乌鸦) jumping around. The crow watched them and looked down on them.

“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s not for you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”

One of the swans took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, did other flying tricks, and then came down and looked at the swan proudly.

Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to try to keep himself from falling into the water.

The swan said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”

“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride (骄傲)! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life...”

The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.

【推荐3】Paul is from Canada. He’s a middle school student. He’s fourteen years old.What does he look like? He is tall and has brown hair and big eyes. His sister is Ann. She’s a student, too. But they aren’t in the same school. She’s of medium height but a little thin with long curly hair.

Paul’s father works in a bank. He’s of medium build with a pair of glasses. Paul’s mother is a nurse, and works in a hospital. She has short curly hair and looks young. Now they are on a vacation in Beijing. It’s sunny these days. Paul likes sunny days. They enjoy their trip very much. They think China is a great country and they like Chinese food best. They also enjoy listening to Beijing Opera. Tomorrow they are going to drive to the north of Beijing. They want to visit the Great Wall. Paul says it must be very interesting to climb it.