A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.

Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”

“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”

“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”

The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.

It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!

Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.

Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.

She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”

Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.

As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was summer, and my dad wanted to treat me to a vacation like never before. He decided to take me on a trip to the Wild West. We took a plane to Albuquerque, a big city in the state of New Mexico. We reached Albuquerque in the late afternoon. Upon Paul, my dad’s friend, picked us up from the airport and drove us up to his farm in Pecos.

His wife Tina cooked us a delicious dinner and we got to know his sons Ryan and Kyle. My dad and I spent the night in the guestroom of the farm house listening to the frogs and water rolling down the river nearby. Very early in the morning, Uncle Paul woke us up to have breakfast. “The day starts at dawn on my farm,” he said. After breakfast, I went to help Aunt Tina feed the chickens, while my dad went with Uncle Paul to take the sheep out to graze (吃草). I was impressed to see my dad and Uncle Paul riding horses. They looked really cool.

In the afternoon, I asked Uncle Paul if I could take a horse ride, and he said yes, as long as my dad went with me. I wasn’t going to take a horse ride by myself anyway. So, my dad and I put on our new cowboy hats, got on our horses, and headed slowly towards the mountains. “Don’t be late for supper,” Uncle Paul cried, “and keep to the track (足迹；踪迹) so that you don’t get lost!” “OK!” my dad cried back. After a while Uncle Paul and his farm house were out of sight. It was so peaceful and quiet and the colors of the brown rocks, the deep green pine (松树) trees, and the late afternoon sun mixed to create a magic scene. It looked like a beautiful woven (编织的) blanket spread out upon the ground just for us.

Suddenly a little rabbit jumped out in front of my horse.

We had no idea where we were and it was getting dark.

Lightning flashed through the darkness over Sibson’s bedroom skylight(天窗). Sibson was shaken by a clap of thunder before he knew what was happening. The storm had moved directly through his two-story wooden house. Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping.

Sibson rushed down the stairs barefoot to check. He opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out. Sibson ran back upstairs to call 911 from his bedroom. “I felt glad because the room had a separate outdoor stairway,” he explained to the media later.

But the phone didn’t work, and when he tried to go down the outdoor stairway, he was stopped by a wall of flames. Sibson realized he was trapped. Suddenly, a piece of wood fell from the roof. Sharp pain raced through his body as he looked down and found his leg bleeding.

Sibson’s house was three kilometers off the main road and was so well hidden by trees that he knew calling for help would be fruitless.

Up a hill nearby lived Sibson’s neighbor, Huggons. He was lying in bed when something like a smoke alarm struck his ears. He jumped out of bed, took his phone and flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the noise. That was when he saw the rolling heavy smoke.

Huggons dialed 911, and the operator warned him not to enter the house. But Huggons said, “There is no way I am going to listen to Sibson scream and die in that fire.”

“Anyone there?” Huggons called out. Then he heard “Help! I’m trapped!” coming from the second floor balcony. He entered the house, but soon had to run back to catch his breath.

After one more attempt to get inside the house, Huggons gave up and circled around back. The wind parted the smoke just enough for him to catch sight of Sibson. But there was no way to get to him.

With the wind fueling the fire, there was no time to waste and the second floor seemed to be falling down in the next minute.

“Go! Leave me alone!” shouted Sibson with desperate tears in his eyes, “It will kill you, too.”

6 . The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary( 保护区 )________ by charity is now open to the public by appointment only, where the wild horses live in freedom under long-lasting protection. I called ahead about stopping by to ________   some 2022 calendars. After discovering that the Choctaw pony( 乔克托小 马 ) Imagine, was May’s   calendar girl, along with her mother Tahiyah,   I was________, and   wanted to share a few more calendars with my friends, I sponsor(赞助) the pony Imagine annually, and have the________to name her.

“How many________ do you want?” asked Susan, the president, and executive director of the   Sanctuary. I thought for a moment,________ in the sunshine through the transparent glass roof of the office, where Susan and 6 staff members were busy________ the documents needed to operate the 11,000+ acres of ________   area for hundreds of horses. Through the bank of windows, I could see a     herd of horses off in the________.

“Four. No. How about five?” I replied, trying to do the ________ in my head on how much that would be. “Do you take a check?” “Oh, I forgot my checkbook!” I laughed. “Credit card?”

Susan straightened the small pile of calendars and________, “How about we give   you these     calendars? They are our perfect introduction to our mission of________the awareness of protection.”

________, I took a deep breath and bargained, “How about if I________ to the Hay and Cake Fund?”

We   both smiled. Such a clever exchange of ________! It is in ________   that we receive. We   gave for the sake of giving and any reward was unexpected.

We   even went to ________   Imagine. With   her distinctive markings, she was easy to ________.   She’s________ and is bigger than her mother now. She was happily grazing( 吃草 ) in the same herd I had________ while in the office.

As I was watering the plants in the front of my house, my neighbor was passing by for her walk. She appreciated the plants and so I told him how I had increased the number of plants, and that I would be able to offer her a few.

Then I mix some potting soil and sand and put them in the container, and after put the open cut into rooting powder, I put it in the soil with little watering. Usually it take 4-6 weeks for the roots to form then they are ready about repotting or gifting. My connect with dirt and understanding of plants is also growing in the process. I am gratefully for having these plants and the soil as my teachers and for being able to share the fruits with other.