Helen is in Grade Eight. She always smiles to everyone and she’s always glad to help others. But do you know she had a sad story?

Helen’s parents died in a fire when she ______ nine years old. After that, her aunt and uncle adopted (收养) her. They sent her to a new school. In that school, Helen knew ______ about her new classmates, so she seldom played with them. She spent ______ time on study.

Helen was shyer and quieter than most kids. That made it difficult for her to make friends, so she had ______ friends at school. Her aunt and uncle worried about her. However, after making friends ______ a funny girl Sandy, Helen became ______ than before. Sandy usually tells jokes to make Helen ______ and Helen often helps Sandy with her study. Now Sandy and Helen are good friends.

Helen is really hard-working and she always gets A in her lessons. Sandy says, “Helen studies very ______. She often helps me with my homework. Now I become one of ______ best girls in my class because of her help. ______ she is different from me, I like her very much.”

Polly Cooper is a mom of two girls named Debbie and Milly. Here is what she says about them.

Debbie and Milly are so different. Debbie is ______ shy girl. She enjoys doing things by ______, and doesn’t like to talk and play with others. Also, she is more selfish (自私的) than Milly. It is difficult to ask her to share things ______ others. But Debbie has her good points, too. Schoolwork is easier for Debbie, ______ she is better at learning than Milly. She is also good at dancing and wants to be a dancer in the future.

Milly always ______ bigger problems with her schoolwork. She doesn’t like listening to her teachers in class and doesn’t spend enough time ______, so her exam results are usually worse. However, Milly is much ______ than her sister. Maybe because Milly is two years older than Debbie, she is a little more mature (成熟的).

I worry about Milly because she isn’t sure about her future. She doesn’t know what she wants ______ after she leaves school. I’m also worried about Debbie because she isn’t as happy as Milly. I don’t think parents ______ stop worrying about their kids and I’ll miss them both when they leave home. I hope they can live ______.