Jatto’s mother was doing housework while Jatto was reading a book aloud in English. Jatto didn’t always like ________ to his mother. She spoke only Esan, one of the languages in Nigeria. Wasn’t it a waste of time to read to someone who couldn’t understand? His mother didn’t even realize when he made ________. Still, she insisted he read aloud every day.

“Let’s bottle nuts when you finish reading,” she said in Esan.

Jatto shook his head. He had so much homework to do. “I’ll never finish reading.”

Jatto said “never” in English because there was no word for never in Esan.

“What’s ‘never’?” she asked.

Jatto cleared his throat to ________ the English word. “It means I won’t stop reading today, tomorrow, or ________.” He drew circles in the air. “Nor the day after the day after tomorrow, the day after the day after, the day after …”

“Oh, OK! That’s forever,” his mother said.

Jatto stared at the nuts. Each one looked delicious.

Now would be a ________ time to eat some. But he couldn’t ask. He remembered the ________ he’d drawn in the air.

Jatto’s mother whistled. Tam-tam, their cow, came up to them. Jatto could ________ cow-milk air as his mother milked her. Tam-tam’s milk was the best he’d ever tasted.

Jatto needed to take his mind off the ________. “Mama, why do you make me read to you even though you don’t understand?”

“I want you to practice speaking English often,” she said.

“I can practice English in my head,” he said, not ________.

His mother smiled. “We share our stories aloud with others, not in our heads where ________ can hear them.”

Jatto nodded. He’d learned about that in school.

She decided to tell him a story and handed him some nuts and milk. “You can eat ________ I talk.”

He ate as she started. Soon, Jatto was singing the story with his mother.

“You never tell me stories,” he said when they stopped ________.

She sighed. “I used to, but when you started school, I wanted you to focus on English.”

“I make a lot of mistakes when I read to you,” Jatto said.

His mother ________. “I guessed so. But I like hearing the sound of your voice while I work.”

Jatto knew what she meant. He had enjoyed listening to her story as he bottled the nuts. It made the work seem ________. “I have an idea,” he said. “Next time, I will read a story to you in English, then I will tell you the same story in Esan. We can even make up songs together.”

“Great! And I will tell you stories in Esan and you can say them back to me in English. Let’s ‘never’ stop ________ stories.”

Jatto smiled. His mother’s understanding of never was even better than his own.

5 . My neighborhood is not far from Sun Moon Lake（日月潭）. Every weekend I ________ some time there. Sun Moon Lake is a beautiful ________. It’s in Taiwan, China. Sun Moon Lake ________ its name from its shape（形状）. The lake ________ not only the sun but also the moon. So people ________ it Sun Moon Lake.

I like Sun Moon Lake _______ it’s a good place to relax. From Monday to Friday I’m very busy. On weekends I’m ________. Then I come to the beautiful and quiet lake to ________. I go ________ on the lake. I also visit some other ________ places around the lake. Usually, I’m here for one or two days. And then I go back to work.

8 . I’m Susan. From Monday to Friday, my mother gets up at a quarter to six in the morning. She has a banana and some fruit juice and then she runs 10 kilometres. I get up at a quarter past seven with my dad and my little brother. I have a shower and get dressed. My father makes breakfast for us. And then the whole family has breakfast together at half past seven.

When my brother and I go to school, my mother goes to work by bike. She works in a supermarket. My father is a writer and he works at home. He just needs a computer and a cup of coffee and then starts to work.

At noon, my brother and I don’t go home. We have lunch at the school canteen and then take a break in the classroom.

After school, my brother and I usually do some housework. We tidy up. I take out the rubbish. My brother feeds the cat and waters the plants. Our dad does the cooking. He likes cooking different kinds of food. He always prepares delicious and healthy food for us. When my mum comes home at six o’clock, the house is tidy and dinner is ready. We always have dinner together, and we talk about what we did school.

9 . Saturday is Emily’s favorite day of the week. On that day, after doing her ______ , she is free to do what she wants to do. But today, it was warm and ______ . Emily wanted to go out right now, so she walked to the door ______ .

Suddenly, little Joe shouted, “Mama, Emily is going outside,   ______ she didn’t do her chores.” Emily stopped and got back. Mama entered the room. She said, “I know you love the sunshine, Emily, but do you remember ______ responsibility（责任）means?” Emily answered, “Yes, Mama. Responsibility means doing what I should do so I can grow up to ______ myself.” Mama smiled and went away.

Emily began to do her chores. She ______ her bed, put the toys in the box and placed her books on the bookshelf. She picked up the clothes on the floor and carried ______ to the bathroom. There she washed the clothes and cleaned the mirror.

Emily ran ______ her mom and shouted, “Mama, I’m done with my chores. I’m going to play outside now.” “Good girl,” her mom said.

Though Emily ______ chores, she was glad that she could help Mama.

It was Friday afternoon. After getting off the school bus, Laura ran into the house     1    .

“How was school, Laura?” asked     2     mom.

“It was great, Mom. Labor Day(劳动节) is coming. I am excited that I     3     no school next Monday!”

Laura was woken up early on Labor Day morning by her dad. He said that in honor of(纪念) Labor Day, the family planned     4     some cleaning. Laura couldn’t believe it. She began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.

“Laura, your breakfast is ready. We have many     5     to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Laura’s mom. Laura asked her parents, “Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”

“Yes, Laura, it is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you realize why Labor Day     6     in the beginning.”

Laura disliked the plan, but she had no choice. First, she was asked to wash the breakfast dishes. After that, her dad     7     her to give their dog a bath. It was a hard task, which needed a lot of careful work. She began the work unhappily.

But things began to change as she was doing the chores. She found it was so     8     with so many soap bubbles(泡泡) when she brushed the dog. Then it was yard work and she helped to pick up sticks. When she finished her chores, Laura felt happy to see the yard looked much     9     than before.

Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something     10     can also get special pleasure. Maybe this is the spirit of Labor Day.