At age 85, my mom still worked in her yard. I was joking with her one day and said, “Mom, I’m so glad there won’t be any grass cutters in heaven, because you would have to use    1     (they)!” She had a good laugh.

During all my life, mom has been working hard at something. Growing up, I didn’t have to worry about    2    (get) new dresses. Mom made my dresses. She didn’t have a store bought style; she would take a newspaper and cut her own style. She     3     (use) a machine to make the dress.

Almost every baby     4    our neighborhood had one of my mom’s quilts (被子). And other quilters have said the church window style is one of    5     (hard) to do, so of course my mom had to show she could do it. At 85, she set out     6    (make) this beautiful quilt,     7    has more than 1,000 pieces. Finally, she gained the    8     (succeed). Now she is 88 years old, not in good health and unable to make quilts anymore.     9     (lucky), she gave me that last quilt as a gift. It is     10    unusual gift. Thank you, Mom.

It’s true that as you get older, you care less what people think about you, but some of us still have those moments sometimes. My friend, Tiffany, however,     1     (actual) never cares what people think and I love her for it. All you can do is watch her be herself and be very    2     (confidence) because what you see     3     (be) what you get. I’ve learned from Tiffany,     4     is not afraid of holding anything back,     5     (accept) my loud and talkative self rather than hiding it     6     some people because I’m afraid of being annoying (烦人的) or too much.

She makes me laugh — well okay, if you know me, you’d know that anyone and anything can make me laugh in two     7     (second), but this girl can get me crying so fast because she can fall into a laugh attack ( 突然大笑) just as easily     8     me. She doesn’t judge me for saying or doing stupid things. She’ll also be the one     9     (sit) next to me on the couch ( 长沙发) to make sure I’m okay. She and I have had some pretty deep talks and that’s something about our friendship that I value. We accept each other for who we are and she has helped me become much     10     (comfortable) to be myself.

The robot lawn mowers (割草机)     1     (design) by us have the following benefits besides saving you time and effort.

First, they are environmentally friendly. With global warming now     2    (be) a major concern you can have peace of mind with these mowers. They run on rechargeable batteries and do not use petrol or burn oil like conventional lawn mowers.

Second, they work very     3     (quiet). After careful assessment, noise from them     4     (find) to be about 60 decibels (分贝) lower than a typical lawn mower, so you can program them to work at night while you sleep.

Third, rain sensors in our robot lawn mowers warn the robot     5     (return) to its shelter or stay in its shelter while it’s raining. On     6     other hand, if you are using a simple electric lawn mower, you will have to stay out in the rain while you get your mower under shelter     7     it will be useless.

Fourth, bump sensors in our robot lawn mower protect the lawn mower from running over items     8     may be lying in the yard, thus increasing its life and efficiency.

Last but not least, they are    9     (benefit) for people with allergy problems — they can cut your grass while you sit far away, reading your favourite novel     10     comfort.

Several different stories are told about the origin of Saint Valentine’s Day. One legend     1    (date) as far back as the days of Roman Empire. According to the story, Claudius,     2     Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of the army. He knew that it would be easier to get young men who were not married     3    (join) the army; therefore, he made a rule that no young men could marry     4    he had served in the army for a number of years.   

A priest     5     (name) Valentine broke the rule and     6    (secret) married a great number of young people. Finally, Claudius found out about Valentine and put the priest in prison,     7     he remained until he died on February 14.   

After his death, Valentine     8    (make) a saint and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine’s Day.   

February 14, Valentine’s Day, is sweetheart’s day. After     9    (put)their love message in a heart shaped box of chocolate or a bunch of flowers, people give the gifts to their lover.     10     (word) may be written on the flower covered card, or something else.

The following true story happened several years ago in the Paris Opera. A famous singer had agreed     1     (sing), and ticket sales were increasing. As a matter of fact, the night of the concert found the house packed and all the     2     (ticket) sold.

The feeling of excitement was in the air as the house manager took the stage and said,“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your enthusiastic support. I'm afraid because     3    illness, the man whom you come to hear will not be performing tonight. But we have found a person to take     4     (he) place. He will provide you with     5    same joy.” Hearing this, the crowd shouted in     6     (disappoint) and failed to hear the announcer mention the stand-in’s name.

The stand-in performer tried his best. When he had finished, there was nothing     7    an uncomfortable silence. No one applauded (鼓掌).     8     (sudden), a little boy stood up and shouted, "Daddy, I think you are wonderful!" In a moment, the crowd     9     (break) into thunderous applause.

We all need people in our lives     10    are willing to stand up once in a while and say, “I think you are wonderful.”