3 . The bell rang. Jada sighed, slowly moved from the lockers where she had been leaning, and headed down the hall to her chemistry class. Honors Chemistry! Jada couldn't believe that her mom was making her take the class because Jada's counselor had said that she had real talent in science.

Jada had to admit that she liked science and that last year's class was a breeze, but come on, Honors Chemistry? She wouldn't know anyone in the class, and they probably wouldn't know anyone like her.

The good thing about being late is that it shortened the period a bit. The bad thing is that it made her seem like she was making a grand entrance. To make matters worse, the only two seats left in class were at the lab table at the very front of the room.

Jada held her breath and walked in. Everyone's eyes were on her. She just knew it. They were staring at her coal black hair（freshly dyed）, her black lipstick, her black fingernail polish, and her thrift-store black leather jacket. All she saw were polo shirts and khaki pants.

This can't get any worse, Jada thought. But at least she didn't get shouted at by the teacher. He was too busy talking to a new kid. A HUGE new kid, maybe 6'4". He had to weigh at least 250 pounds. A football player, probably. She hated football players. They thought they were so great. That group of jocks that hung out by the cafeteria always made fun of her.

The new kid made his way over to her table with his head down. He had to squeeze into the seat, and his legs wouldn't fit under the lab table. He shot Jada a glance and turned red.

Mr. Martin, the teacher, began class with this announcement: "Okay, everyone. I know most of you know each other from last year's Honors Physical Science class." Jada sighed loudly. "But just take a minute and introduce yourself to the person sitting at your table. You'll be partners. You'll be working closely together all year."

Jada rolled her eyes and stared straight ahead. Then she heard a surprisingly soft voice from next to her. "Hi, I'm Robert. I'm new here."…

4 . Todd Steinkamp left his hotel around 5:30 a. m. for a funeral in Green Bay. Wisconsin. About half an hour into his journey on the road, he noticed a strange sound coming from the front tire (轮胎). By 7 a. m, he still had 70 miles ahead of him, but the noise was so loud that he knew he had no choice but to stop.

Steinkamp thought there was little chance anyone in the little town could help him so early in the morning. Still, he took his chance at a repair shop and asked for help. The worker Geib checked out the car. Geib told Steinkamp the wheel bearing (轴承) was failing. Fixing it would take a few hours. And without being repaired, the car couldn't go further.

Steinkamp started working out another plan. Could he rent a car somewhere? Geib went to the store across the street, but its only rental car wasn't available. Finding another place to rent would need a 40-mile drive. Steinkamp was unhappy and worried at that time. “However, Geib reached into his pocket, pulled out the key to his own truck and gave me,” Steinkamp said. With a smile, Geib said the truck could go 120 miles per hour if needed.

The men had met just 10 minutes before. They didn't know each other's names, but Geib did that. Steinkamp jumped in the truck and drove it to the funeral. When he came back to the shop seven hours later, he chatted with Geib. He thanked the 74-year-old worker, who turned a terrible day into a good one with a great lesson. Just be kind and help if you can.

5 . Teens around the world use social media a lot. But is this a good thing? While you can say nice and _______ things on the Internet, you could also say mean and hurtful things too. When someone says something mean or hurtful _______, it's called cyberbullying (网络欺凌) .

When people say mean things to us, we feel _______, depressed and powerless. These are just some of the possible _______ effects that could affect teens who are cyberbullied. When people are often sad or depressed, they could begin to _______ suicide (自杀) . They think that their lives aren't worth anything or that their lives are too _______ to handle. It's difficult to believe that one person saying mean or cruel things to another person could make him think about _______ himself, but it's true and it does happen. Now, you could _______ everything that was said. You could say that teens can just turn off their computers or their phones. They can just block (屏蔽) the person who _______ them or just simply ignore him. __________ people, especially teens, love going on the Internet and talking to people. It's part of their daily lives. It's __________ to tell teens to turn them all off. In addition, __________ they block someone, the person can just __________ coming back on a different account or as someone else. Also if it's a publicly posted video, picture or message, everyone can see it and __________ report or share it. It's impossible to block everyone.

And finally no one can just __________ so many mean words that are being said to them.

Overall, cyberbullying is a terrible thing that people do. There should be laws to protect people from cyberbullying.

6 . For years and years people have been saying that railways are dead. “We can do without railways,” people say--as if motorcars and planes have made those railways unnecessary. We all keep hearing that trains are slow, lose money and are dying. But this is far from the truth. In these days of expensive oil, railways have become highly competitive with motorcars and planes. If you want to carry people or goods from place to place, they’re cheaper than planes. And they have much in common with planes. A plane goes in a straight line and so does a railway. What’s more, a railway takes you from the city centre into another centre. It doesn’t hold you up as a car does in endless traffic jams. And a single train can carry goods which no plane or motorcar could ever do.

Far from being dead, railways are very much alive. Modern railway lines give you a smooth, untroubled journey. Where else can you eat well, sleep in comfort, feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are travelling at speed at the same time? And we are only at the beginning, for we have just entered the age of super-fast trains, which are travelling at 250 miles an hour or more. So we will be wondering why we spend so much on motorcars we can't use and planes we can't fly in. After all, we have not enough money to buy the oil.

8 . I keep a two­dollar bill in my wallet that was given by my mother when I was six years old. Mother gave it to me _________ luck would follow me everywhere.

She looked at me and said, “I want you to_________ this two­dollar bill for extra good luck.”

“Thanks, mum,” I replied. “I will keep it close _________ me always.”

My mother passed away (去世) when I was seven years old and I remembered _________ my two­dollar bill, holding it in my hand for the longest time and I knew she would be_________ me the rest of my life.

On my first _________, I was thirty years old. As I sat in the _________, I noticed there were five women ahead of me. All of them were _________ and well dressed, which made me more nervous.

“What makes you feel you are _________ for this job？” Mrs Martin, the office manager asked me.

“I really need this job and there is __________ I can’t do. I know I am not as __________ as your other applicants (申请人) for the job, but please give me a __________. I learn quickly and can be a very capable (有能力的) __________ of your team.”

That evening I received a(n) __________ from Mrs Martin.

“Gina,” she said, “you were not the most suitable __________, but you have so much confidence in yourself __________ we decided to give you a chance to prove (证明) yourself.”

“Thank you, Mrs Martin. You will not regret this __________,” I said excitedly and __________ the phone.

I got my __________ and took out my two­dollar bill. “Thanks, Mum. I am sure to __________ it,” I said out loudly so that she could hear me.