Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith had been married for more than 50 years. They     1     each other very much. They knew everything about each other but Mrs. Smith had a small box in her closet. She told her husband never     2     it.

But one day, Mrs. Smith got very sick and she asked her husband to bring her the box. She said, “I     3     you something about this box.” When he saw the box, Mr. Smith found two handmade dolls and $5, 000 in it.

Mrs. Smith explained that every time she felt angry with the husband, she would make a doll and put it in the box. The box     4     and Mr. Smith was happy that there were only two dolls in the box. He then asked about the money. The wife said, “The money was from selling the other dolls. So far, I     5     2, 500 dolls.”

Lily lives with her family in a big house. Her mom Mrs. Green is a nurse. Mrs. Green is busy. She doesn’t have enough time to do     1    . So Lily’s dad Mr. Green helps her do them. To     2     a good environment (环境) for his family, he does lots of housework.

In the morning,     3     Mrs. Green makes breakfast, Mr. Green does other things. Sometimes he     4     the floor. Sometimes he helps to take out the     5    . But Mr. Green never helps to fold the clothes because he     6     to do that.

After dinner, Mr. Green often helps his son Tom tidy up his room. Tom is naughty (淘气的). He always makes a     7     in his room. Sometimes Mr. Green takes his dog for walks. On weekdays when Mr. Green plays chess with his     8     Mr. Hand, he     9     a book from him to tell his children stories.

On weekends, Mrs. Green and Mr. Green often tidy up their garden together because they     10     like gardening.

We're going to sell our house in the city and move to a beautiful village in the     1     -I've got a job as a National Park     2     there. We want an easier life and I want to spend more time with my family. I really enjoy spending time with my children, but I only see them on Sundays     3     . I work six days a week because you need a lot of money to live in a city-everything is expensive here. But the kids aren't     4     moving. They love living in the city, but my wife and I think the country is safer for them. Of course, teenagers like going out     5    , but it can be quite     6     around here, especially at night.

When I was a girl of five, my mother sold flowers at a small market in London. She couldn’t leave me     1     home on my own, so I had to go to the market with her. When I was older, I began to help my mother     2     I liked it. Things changed when I     3     14 years old. My grandma gave me a book for Christmas. The book was about making candles(蜡烛). I loved it so much that I spent all my free time making candles of all shapes and sizes. I made hundreds of them.

One day, my mother was ill, so I had to go to the market myself. I decided to take some candles with me and see if I could sell them. To my     4    , they were sold out in twenty minutes! The next week, I made more candles. They were sold out really quickly, too.                                                                                                  

Nine months     5    , we decided to stop selling flowers. My mum and I couldn’t make enough candles during the week, so some of my school friends started to help us. I paid them one pound for every candle. It was fun and my     6     worked with me in the market.

When I was 22, my uncle lent me some money, and I opened my first shop on Portobello Road.     7     then, I’ve never looked back, even in difficult times. At the first shop, we only sold candles, but now we sell     8     from furniture(家具) to paintings.

I’m Sally. I’m a student of Sunshine Junior School. I visited a     1     with my classmates yesterday. We went to the museum     2     a bus. The museum is     3     from our school, so we left school early at 6:00 a.m. The bus     4     took about 2 hours.

The museum is     5     big and has collections (收藏品) of dinosaur fossils (恐龙化石), all     6     of trees and so on. We all saw dinosaur fossils for the     7     time and felt very excited. I learned a lot about dinosaurs and took     8     pictures. I showed the pictures to my parents     9     I got home. They     10     the pictures were great.

There is no restaurant near the museum.     11    , all my classmates took lunch from home. We had lunch at 12:00 o’clock.We spent a good time together.

Scientists who studied the influences of gardening found that taking part in the activity twice a week can improve mental (精神的) health. A     1     from the University of Florida studied 32 women who did not have any health problems. None of the women have gardened before.

The researchers     2     the women into two groups. The women either took part in gardening     3     took art classes. Both groups     4     took part in their own activities twice a week for four weeks.

During the gardening activities, the women did     5     such as planting and digging. After finishing the tasks, the women answered questions about     6     worries, sadness and so on. Also their blood pressure (压力) and heart rate (率) were     7     by the scientists.

While both groups experienced improved mental health, the group who gardened had a little more advantages, reporting     8     stress and sadness. The research team hopes to     9     more about how gardening and mental health are connected. “At the end of the study, many of them were saying not just     10     much they enjoyed the activities but also how they planned to keep gardening,” said Charles Guy, one of the study’s scientists.

More students are doing chores around the house these days because it can provide them with life skills. However, some     1     dislike housework because they think it is a waste of time. In my opinion, it is important for us     2     housework. I really think that doing housework will change some of     3     thoughts.

First of all, doing housework can help us restore (恢复) our energy. Last weekend, I did housework after a week     4     tiring studying. I     5     very well. Doing housework frees us from studying and makes both our body and mind relaxed so that we will have more energy to do our homework later. It’s not a waste of time. In fact, it’ s a way to promote (提高) learning efficiency (效率).

Second, doing housework can help our parents. When they come home from     6     , they are so tired that they don’t want to do anything. If we help them do chores like sweeping the floor or washing the dishes, they will feel     7     .

Last but not least, doing housework can     8     help us build independence. Housework includes learning     9     skills, such as how to cook and clean. When we go to college or live alone as adults, these skills will enable us to     10     independently and adapt (适应) to changes in life confidently.

    11     housework plays such a big role in our lives, we should embrace (接受) it. We can help ourselves and our parents all the same time.