1 . During the recent school holidays I was walking past a playground on my way to a meeting. The thing that_______me was not the number of children enjoying the fresh air on a pleasant Queensland winter day, but the number of older people_______those children.

Sure, there were a few younger mums and dads, but there were_______more “old folk” who I doubt were all grandparents. It is great that they are able to_______quality time with their grandchildren. After all, we often hear people saying that their reason for retiring is that they can devote more time to their families. However, I_______how many grandparents are spending their retirement (退休) years taking on the role of full- or part-time_______of their grandchildren.   

Retirement is a valuable time. We are generally living much longer than our own grandparents did, but as we_______, we become more limited in our ability to pursue (追求) our own favourite. However, what if your plans for pursuing some of these lifetime dreams are _______，out of a sense of responsibility for your family?

So how can you keep a_______ balance between helping out your family and pursuing your dreams altogether? I'm not sure where the answer lies, but having an open and honest________   with your family should be at the top of the list. You need to nip sense of________ in the bud (对……一开始即加以阻止) — and sooner________later.

By all means, help your family whenever you can. Everyone will________from it, and your grandchildren will get the rewards from staying with their________. Do it because you want to, not because you feel you have to. In addition, spare time for ________ to pursue your dreams and ensure that nobody puts your retirement on hold.

5 . Long ago there was a poor farmer called Fred. Fred and his wife, Doris lived ________ together in their small old house. One winter night, the Luck Fairy (仙女) visited them.

“Fred, you’re a ________ farmer. I’d like to give you a wish,” said the Luck Fairy.

“A wish?” Said Fred.

Fred and Doris smiled at each other. Then Fred said, “Thank you, Luck Fairy. We’re very ________ and happy.”

“________ we’re old, we still work in the field every day,” said Doris.

“You wok very hard but you ________ very little money. Would you like some gold coins” asked the Luck Fairy.

“Oh no, my dear Luck Fairy. We’re poor. But we have ________ food to eat.” Replied Fred.

“You can use the gold coin to buy some clothes. The winter here is very cold,” said Luck Fairy.

“Though we haven’t got ________ clothes, we’ve got enough,” said Doris.

“Well, what about a nice new house?” Asked Luck Fairy.

Thank you, but I ________ my small old house very much. I’ve lived here since I was born. I don’t ________ a new house,” said Fred.

“You’re quite different from other people. I like you very much,” said the Luck Fairy. “I wish you happiness and luck forever.” Then the Luck Fairy ________ and never came back.

8 . Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.

The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy alcohol in this country if you are under 18 years old, nor may your friends buy it for you.

Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.

Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian crossing and do not take any chances when crossing the road.

My next point is about litter（throwing away waste material in a public place）. It is an offence to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a litter bin.

Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco if you are under 16 years old.

I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you.

9 . True real friends double your happiness and half your burdens. Basically how you would like a true real friend to be, you should be like this to your true friends. Trust, forgiveness, accountability（责任）are some ingredients of a true friend. True friendships are hard to come by. And what’s more, life is short. So treasure these friends if you have already had them. If you don’t continue to search, because once you have them, life becomes so much easier to live, no matter what happens. I have been through pretty rough patches and I dare say, without my friends I would not have made it.

Friendships need lots of energy and patience to maintain them. Not to mention time too. When your friend needs you, sometimes when things are not going too well on your side, it is often so easy to turn a deaf ear to their pleas（请求）. It is especially during these times, that you must find the strength in you to help your friend. And it is during these times that your friendship will be forged and made stronger.

And you must always be happy for their successes, even when things are not going too well on your side. It might be hard to do for some people, but it is something that you need to learn. Think about all the sacrifices your friend has made for you and all the times when he or she was happy for you despite his or her own troubles.

Think about all the happy times you all enjoyed and the sad, rough times you all went through together. That should give you sufficient patience to actually be a true friend for them. Remember, true friends are the next best thing to family. They will always be your pillar of support no matter what. Always.