2 . Aruba is a beautiful island (岛) in South America. Last summer I went on a three-day     1     to Aruba with my parents. My father told me to     2     three air tickets online.

We chose to take a plane to Aruba because it was the     3    . It was my first time to travel by plane,     4     I was excited but nervous at first. However, the flight (飞行) was fine and I felt so comfortable. Finally, after 5-hour flight, we landed     5    . The bus ride from the airport was also great. We arrived     6     the Holiday Hotel in Aruba at about 1:30 am. The room was clean and the waiters (服务员) were friendly.

I had to say that the white beach (海滩) was really beautiful and we had     7     in the sun. The sea was so blue and clean and the water was cool. We wanted to swim in the sea all the time. I liked the foods on the island very much though some of     8     tasted strange (奇怪的). I liked one of fish best. We also bought many interesting things there.

Aruba is a good place. I hope to go there again.

7 . Why do people cry? Scientists say the body produces tears because they need them. One kind of tears is for the eye, the other is for the heart. They both work as cleaners. If something else like dust (灰尘) gets into your eye, tears also come into the eye to clean it out. If you are hurt by something, your strong feelings produce some poisonous chemicals (毒素) in your body, and at the same time, tears come out with them. If these poisonous chemicals are not cleaned out of your body as soon as possible, they will do harm to the heart sooner or later.

In the United States men have heart problems more often than women do. Doctors say heart problems have something to do with the pressures (压力) of living and working now. Perhaps men suffer more from these illnesses because they do not cry enough. They need to cry more.

In fact, you can find many ways of reducing the pressures to keep fit. Crying is a natural and physical one.

9 . It was a Christmas night. I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on such a beautiful festival. When I was complaining (抱怨) about it, three people appeared at my desk—a tired woman and two children.

“Are you all sick?” I asked doubtfully (怀疑地) because they seemed all right.

“Yes,” the woman answered weakly and lowered her head.

But when they started to present their problems, things became unclear. One child had a fever, but his temperature was OK. The other child had an earache but she could not tell me which ear hurt. It seemed that the mother was pretending (假装) to cough.

Something was wrong. But I only explained that it might take a while before a doctor could meet them.“Take your time, please,” said the mother. I checked their charts (图表)—no address. Suddenly I knew, they were homeless while the hospital was warm.

The family huddled (蜷缩) together under the Christmas tree, smiling and talking with each other sweetly. Quietly, I went back to the nurses’ station and told them what happened in the waiting room. It was just like the God sending us a gift on Christmas Day. The nurses station suddenly came back to life. All the nurses went into action for “a Christmas emergency (急诊)”.

We took out our meals for our Christmas “patients (病人)”. We also put together oranges and apples as presents. We tried to exceed (超过) the needs of a family who only wanted a warm places on Christmas night. Later, the little girl kissed me and said, “Thanks for being our angel (天使).”

10 . Hello, everyone! I have read over fifteen interesting stories in the past few weeks. And many of them tell me what to do with the problems in my daily life. Now I’m sharing some of them with you.

Story 1

A boy once found a jar(罐子) full of nuts(坚果） in his mother’s kitchen and he put his hand in to help himself get as many as he could. When he tried to take his hand out of the jar, however, he found that the opening was too narrow(狭窄的) for his clenched fist(握紧的拳头) to pass through.

“What shall I do?’’ he cried. “My hand will be stuck in this jar.” Just then his mother came in. “Really,” she said, “there’s nothing to make such a fuss(大惊小怪) about. Try taking half as many nuts as you have in your hand, and you’ll find your hand will come out of the jar quite easily.”

Story 2

A woman walks up to a little old man, rocking(摇动) in a chair on his porch(走廊).   

“I couldn’t help noticing how happy you look,” she says. “What’s your secret for a long, happy life?”

“I smoke three packs a day, drink a case of whiskey(威士忌) a week, and never exercise.”“Wow, that’s amazing,” says the woman, “How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”