4 . Deng couldn’t sleep. Tomorrow was English class. Everyone was supposed to talk about their most precious possession (宝贵的财富). He’d heard the other kids talking. Everyone ________ something special, something expensive.

Deng had ________. His family had lost everything. Their last money was used to get a place on the boat to Canada. But no one knew that. Deng was too________ to tell anyone the truth. He didn’t want anyone to laugh at him. He didn’t want anyone’s pity. He pretended his family was rich. ________, now everyone would find out.

Perhaps he could be sick. But he knew his mother wouldn’t________ that. She would make him go to school. His parents were proud of him. They thought he was happy at school. He didn’t want to________them.

Suddenly he had an idea! Mr. Petrovski’s gold watch. ________ he would lend it to Deng just for one day. He was always pleased when Deng cleared his snow or went to the store for him. He could ________ the watch was his.

The next day, Deng found something on the back of the watch. It was almost ________. He looked closely. There was one word — “friendship”.

It was Deng’s ________ . “My family’s very poor. We don’t own anything valuable any more. So I asked my friend to ________ me this. It’s his most precious possession.” Then he put up the watch. “I was going to pretend it was mine. But it’s not. He lent it to me ________ I’m his friend. And that’s what I have. A friend.”

There was ________ in the class. Then Deng heard a sound. Slowly, his classmates started to ________ their hands. One by one they came to the front of the classroom and gathered round Deng. “You’re right,” one said. “ ________is more important than anything. And you have a lot of friends.”

5 . Baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins(废墟) of a water system(系统) for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.

Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s has also become popular in the United States.

For many years frequent(经常的) bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided(避免), and perfume was often used to cover up body smells!

By the 1700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common.

In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city , for example, a person was only allowed to take a bathe every thirty days! That was a law!

Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health, Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bath once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential (=necessary) to good health.

8 . The flying fox is not a fox at all. It is an extra large bat that has got a fox’s head, and that feeds on fruit instead of insects (昆虫). Like all bats, flying foxes hang themselves by their toes when at rest, and travel in great crowds when out flying. A group will live in one place for years. Sometimes several hundred of them occupy (占据) a single tree. As they return to the tree toward sunrise in the morning, they quarrel among themselves and fight for the best places until long after daylight.

Flying foxes have babies once a year, giving birth to only one each time. At first the mother has to carry the baby on her breast wherever she goes. Later she leaves it hanging up, and brings back food for it to eat. Sometimes a baby bat falls down to the ground and squeaks (尖叫) for help. Then the older ones swoop (俯冲) down and try to pick it up. If they fail to do so, it will die. Often hundreds of dead baby bats can be found lying on the ground at the foot of a tree.

Yours,

Li Hua

Born in a small village and brought up by my grandparents, and I’m always feeling very gratefully to them. However, much to my sadness, my grandfather dies last year, so I try to spare some time to call my grandmother every week. It is not easy to communicate for her, because some of her tooth are fallen. She always says she is lucky than many other people which are of the same age as her. She is glad that you have a bright future and will be able to live better life than my parents. Every time I feel tiring and want to sleep in class, I remember her words. I will never let her down!