Sam and Jason are best friends. One day, they had an accident     1     their way home. The next morning, Sam woke up blind     2     Jason was still unconscious (不省人事的). Dr. Berkeley asked “How are you feeling today. Sam?”

Sam smiled and said, “I felt wonderful now, Doctor. Thank you for all that you     3     (do) for me.”

Dr. Berkeley looked at Sam’s eyes with sadness (悲伤). Then he said, “You are a brave and kind man, Sam. And you are the real friend of Jason.”

While Dr. Berkeley     4     (move) out, Sam called him     5     (sudden). He said, “Promise me you won’t tell Jason     6    .” Dr. Berkeley agreed. Months     7     (late) Jason became healthy but he didn’t like staying in touch with Sam. He felt     8     (boring) to spend time with a blind person.

Sam was lonely because he didn’t have any other friends. Things went from bad to     9     (bad). And one day Sam died. Dr. Berkeley gave a letter to Jason and said, “This is for you. Sam had asked me     10     (give) it to you when he was gone.”

In the letter Sam said, “Dear Jason, I have kept my promise in the end to lend you my eyes if something bad had happened to your eyes. Now there is nothing more that I can do for you. You will always be my best friend. I’m happy you can see the world through my eyes…”

3 . Once a king     1     (walk) around a pool with his ministers. When he came up with     2     idea, he asked, “How many baskets of water     3     (be) there in the pool?” The ministers couldn’t give an answer. The king said     4     (angry), “You must answer my question in three days!”

Three days passed,     5     none of the ministers had the answer. Just then, a child said that he knew it. The king told the ministers to lead the child to the pool. To     6     (he) surprise, the child refused and said     7     a smile, “It is easy. No need to go to the pool.” This made the king     8     (excite). “All right. Let us know what it is.” The child said, “If you know the size of the basket, you will know the answer. If it is as big     9     the pool, there is one basket of water; half as big, two baskets...” “Stop! That’s it. You have got the answer. They were thinking of things in the wrong way.”

    10     (get) out of the difficulty, sometimes one must change one’s way of thinking.

The Monkey King

The story of Sun Wukong is not new to our children. The Monkey King is the main character in the traditional     1     (China) book Journey     2     the West.

The Monkey King is not just any     3     (normally) monkey.     4     fact, he sometimes     5     (do) not even look like a monkey! This is because he can make 72     6     (change) to his shape and size, turning     7     (him) into different animals and objects.

To fight bad people, the Monkey King uses     8     magic stick. Sometimes he can make the stick     9     small that he can keep     10     in his ear. At other times, he is able to make it big and long. Children like the story because the clever Monkey King keeps fighting to help the weak and never gives up.

Do you know Confucius (孔子)? He is     1     famous thinker and educator in China.

Confucius started a private school in his thirties and     2     (begin) to teach students. Sometimes there were some questions that were difficult for students,     3     he did not quickly give them the answers. Instead, he encouraged them to find the answers by     4     (they).

His students were influenced deeply by what he said. They decided to record his words and life     5     (story). As a result, Lunyu was born. Confucius had ever talked about this before: Gentlemen have peace but disagree; flunkies (小人) agree, but they have no peace. This sentence means that flunkies agree     6     (easy), but they don’t really work together. However, even if gentlemen can get along well with others, they don’t just agree with     7     (other) opinions blindly.

Confucius wrote several great works in his life. He also edited (编写) the history book     8     (call) The Spring and Autumn Annals (《春秋》). His basic thoughts (思想) were to let people try to be kind to each other. So his works     9     (accept) and praised by people all over the world.

Even though Confucius has been dead     10     more than 2,000 years, he is still remembered by people. His works have always been popular at home and abroad.

6 . In ancient China, when people were separating, they would pick a willow twig (柳条) and give it to the person who was leaving. This was to express their     1     (wish) for him or her to stay. In Chinese, the word for “willow” is pronounced the same as the word for “stay”.

Many Chinese poets liked writing about willows in their works. One of the most famous poems     2     (be) A Farewell Song (《送元二使安西》) by Wang Wei. It reads,

No dust is raised on the road wet with morning rain.

The willows by the hotel look so fresh and green.

I invite you     3     (drink)a cup of wine (酒) again.

West of the Sunny Pass no     4     (many) friends will be seen.

Nowadays, willow twigs can also be seen in modern art. There was     5     amazing performance about willow twigs. 365 people held willow twigs     6     their hands on the green stage. At the same time, a painting of weeping willows (垂柳) appeared on the LED screen. The setting of 365 people stood for 365 days, and the color green     7     (mean) the return of spring. The performance     8     (praise) highly by the audience (观众). “I was deeply attracted by     9     (tradition) Chinese culture,” one of them said.

In short, giving a willow twig to a person is not saying goodbye     10     asking him or her to stay. This is the beauty of Chinese culture.

In China, the history of people planting and using bamboo can date back to as far as 7000 years. As early as the Shang Dynasty, bamboo     1     (use) in ancient people’s daily lives. People used it for food, clothing, transportation, houses, musical     2     (instrument) and even weapons (武器).

In 251 BC, Li Bing, in Sichuan,     3     (lead) the local people to build the Dujiang Weirs. Thanks to     4     (they) hard work, the first irrigation (灌溉) network in the world completed. And bamboo played     5     important role in it.

The world’s     6     (old) water pipe (管) was made of bamboo. During the Han Dynasty, the people in Sichuan successfully     7     (dig) a 100-metre-deep well (井) with thick bamboo ropes. This technology did not spread to Europe     8     the 19th century.

In Chinese culture, bamboo is well-known     9     one of the “four gentlemen” in plants. To many men, bamboo is a symbol of honesty and closely related 10 people who have the positive spirits. When facing difficult situations, people are encouraged     10     (hold) on by the effect of bamboo culture.

8 . In our daily life, all of us have some     1     (difficulty), but we have to face them. When you are feeling     2     (happy) or forget how great you are, there are five ways     3     (make) you feel good.

★Look in the mirror and say to     4     (your). “I’m a special person and there’s no one in the world     5     me. I can do anything!” It may not sound so good, but it really works!

★Do something nice for someone.     6     (help) others always makes you feel good.

★Smile! Be friendly to people you meet. Look for the     7     (good) things in your friends and family.

★Learn something new! Have you always wanted to decorate (装饰) your own room or learn     8     to swim? Go for it!

★Read and start a diary. Turn off the TV and let your imagination (想象) fly!     9     you have any thoughts, dreams or anything you want, just write them down! Writing can express your feelings     10     (clear).

Among all the poets in history, who is called “the immortal poet (诗仙)” ? Yes, he is Li Bai. Many people think he is romantic and free.     1    , in the Chinese cartoon movie 30, 000 Miles in Chang’an(《长安三万里》), we see a different Li Bai.     2     July 8, the movie got the high points of 8.1 on Douban, being one of the     3     (good) movies of the summer season.

In the movie, Li dreams about becoming     4     officer. But he faces so many     5     (difficulty). He can’t take keju because of his family. Later, he makes a mistake and is sent (被派往) to the northwestern China. He has problems just like every one of us. But his poems give us different     6     (idea).

Li Bai may not be as fantastic as we think.     7     it doesn’t really matter. As long as his poems are here with     8     (we), he is always the “immortal” in our hearts.

The director hopes we can know about these poets and classic works by     9     (watch) this movie. He hopes that     10     (many) foreigners than before will care about Chinese poets such as Li Bai and Du Fu.

You ask me to go swimming next Sunday. Thanks a lot for     1     (invite) me. I’d like to go with you very much, but I am sorry     2     (say) that I can’t go. I’m busy and     3     ever have time to take a good rest that day. In the morning, I have to get up early to meet my aunt at the train station. She     4     (come) to see my grandma. I will spend the whole morning     5     (wait) at the station because I don’t know the arriving time     6     that train.     7     I have to study for the English test in the afternoon. There     8     (be) another terrible thing in my family—my mother is ill. So I have to look after     9     (she) at home.

Maybe next time is OK. I hope you have     10     good time.

Jack