James Selton was one of the rudest boys in the village where he lived: If a person in the street was well dressed, he would cry out, “Dandy(花花公子)!” If a person’s clothes were dirty or torn, he would throw stones at him, and annoy him in every way.

One afternoon, just as the school was over, a stranger passed through the village. His dress was plain and somewhat old, but neat and clean. He carried a walking stick in his hand, on the end of which was a parcel, and he wore a round hat.

No sooner had James seen the stranger than he winked to his playmates, and said, “Now for some fun!” He then silently went toward the stranger from behind, knocked off his hat, and ran away.

The man turned and saw him, but James was out of hearing before the man could speak. The stranger put on his hat, and went on his way. Again James approached; but this time, the man caught him by the arm, and held him tightly. However, he contented himself with looking James a moment in the face, and then pushed him away. As soon as the naughty boy found himself free again, he began to throw dirt and stones at the stranger.

But James was very frightened when the man was struck on the head by a brick and badly hurt. All the boys ran away, and James slipped across the fields to his home.

As he drew near the house, his sister Caroline came out to meet him, holding up a beautiful gold chain and some new books for him to see. She told James that their uncle, who had been away several years, had come home, and was now in the house; that he had bought beautiful presents for the whole family; that he had left his carriage at the inn, a mile or two off and walked on foot so as to surprise his brother, their father.

David was one of     1     most helpful students that we ever had. In 2004, he went to university in London and became interested in Chinese culture.     2    his graduation from university, he continued to go to China to study Chinese at Beijing Language University.

Two years later, he was able to speak Chinese     3    （fluent）and achieved high grades in all subjects. Having finished his studies，    4     started travelling in China．Some of the cities in China he likes most     5    （be）Beijing，Shanghai，Harbin and Nanjing. In China, he spends a lot of time     6    (teach) English to Chinese students. Most of the students whom he taught have become his friends ever since．

When he returned to Britain two months ago, he brought back from China many nice paintings, books, dictionaries, and     7    (photo) to spread Chinese culture, most of     8     were donated to our school library. Some of the books were gifts     9     (get) from his Chinese friends and students. Teachers and students at our school wish to thank David for his     10     (kind) when the paintings that David donated to the school are being shown in the exhibition room.

5 . For most people, having things stolen feels like an offence. Robbie Pruitt admitted that he got ________ when he discovered the theft of his mountain bike last September. But soon enough, his ________ took a turn. After letting go of his anger and frustration, he found himself on a road to sympathy ________.

For Pruitt, a keen bicyclist, the first thing to do was ________ his stolen bike. But when he went bike shopping, he found few available, which got him thinking: What if the ________ of bikes was Covid-19 related, and what if the person who'd taken his bike really needed ________ to get to work?

With that thought in mind, Pruitt ________ a plan and posted it on the community website. He ________ to fix bikes free of charge for anyone who needed it. He also asked for unwanted bikes, which he would repair-again ________. And then he would donate them to folks who could truly use them but didn't have the ________ to buy one.

The day the post went live, Pruitt received thirty ________ bicycles. Then came more than 500 ________ for detailed information. By the end of 2020, Pruitt had repaired more than 140 for donation or to be ________ to their owners.

Pruitt tries to give his donations to families that are ________ struggling. ________ simply satisfying a material need, he has provided an opportunity for kids in his neighborhood to learn how to fix their own bikes.

In addition to ________ skills, Pruitt's lessons teach teamwork, encourage self-worth, and promote feelings of community. ________, the kids have gained a sense of accomplishment.

"It's a really great ________ for kids,“ said a neighbor in an interview with the local newspaper. "Pruitt is certainly providing a ________, but it's not just the bikes. It's the relationships in the community. It's the ________ that he can make on people."

My aunt and uncle live in the countryside, they keep a dog called Xiaohei. One day my aunt go to work in the fields, taking along my little cousin. My cousin and Xiaohei came to a river nearby and enjoyed himself. My cousin was trying to catch a butterfly while he fell into a river. Xiaohei barked and immediately jumped into the water. Hearing about him barking, my aunt hurried there and saw Xiaohei swimming towards the bank carrying my cousin. She was very concerning about them. Final, Xiaohei did all he could to save my cousin, that moved all of us. Everyone praised Xiaohei for its brave and kindness.

7 . A fine-looking gentleman sat down in the main dining room of an expensive hotel. He ordered grand meal and spent two hours enjoying himself very much. After the bill came, the man sent for the head waiter. “Ah, my friend,” he said. “That was a wonderful meal. Perhaps you remember that I was a guest at this hotel, at this very same table just about a year ago. And at that time just because I couldn't pay the bill, you, sir, had me thrown out of this dining room in full view of all the other guests!”

“My deepest apologies, sir,” said the head waiter. “You understand...” “Oh, it's all right!” said the gentleman, lighting his cigar, “But I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again.”

It was New Year’s Eve. I was 15 and feeling sad because there was not enough money to buy the dress I wanted. We did the housework early that night, so I thought Dad wanted extra time for us to spend together. Instead, he dressed himself again and went outside. “Come on, Elizabeth,” he said. “Dress yourself warmly. It’s cold out.”

Outside, I became even more annoyed. Not only wasn’t I getting the dress; now Dad was pulling me out in the cold. Whatever we were going to do wasn’t going to be a quick job. I unwillingly climbed up beside Dad, the cold already biting me. We pulled in front of the woodshed(柴棚)，and started loading (装载)wood. Finally, I asked, “Dad, what are you doing?” “Have you been by Mrs. Clark’s lately?” he asked.

Mrs. Clark lived about two miles down the road from us. Her husband had passed away the year before, leaving her and three children to raise on her own. “Yeah,” I said. “Why?” “I rode by just today,” Dad said. “Little Jake was out digging around in the woodpile, trying to find a few pieces of wood. They’re out of wood, Elizabeth.”

That was all he said. Dad then went to the smokehouse and took down a side of bacon, telling me to go load it. He returned carrying a large bag of flour(面粉) over his right shoulder and a smaller bag of something in his left hand. “What’s in the little bag?” I asked. “Shoes . They’re out of shoes. I got the children a box of candies, too. It just wouldn’t be New Year without some candy. ”I tried to think through what Dad was doing. We did have a big woodpile, meat and flour, so we could give some, but I knew we didn’t have any money. Mrs. Clark had closer neighbors than us. Why should we care?

We unloaded the wood behind the Clarks’ house and knocked on the door. It opened a crack(缝隙)， and a fearful voice said, “Who is it?” “James Cotton, ma’am, and my daughter, Elizabeth. Could we come in for a bit?”

Mrs. Clark opened the door of the house where the three children were wrapped (裹着)in a blanket.

I understood very well that Dad had given me a gift much greater than a dress.

9 . A town mouse and a country mouse were friends. The country mouse one day _________ his friend to come to visit. He wanted his friend to come and see him at his home in the _________. The town mouse came and they sat down to a _________ of roots and corn. The country mouse _________ the food and he asked his friend to eat more. But his friend didn’t think the food was _______.

After _________ for a while, the town mouse finally said, “My _________ friend, you live here no better than the ants. Now, you should just see _________ I live! There is plenty of nice food in my room. You must come and _________ with me. I’ m sure you will enjoy your__________ there.” The country mouse wanted to eat better food, so he __________ .

When the town mouse __________town, he took the country mouse with him. He showed the visitor into his room which had a lot of nice food. The country mouse had   __________ seen anything like that and sat down to enjoy the food his friend __________ . But right before they had__________, the door opened and someone came in. The two mice ____________ and hid themselves in a narrow hole. After a while, when it was __________again, they came out. But someone else came in, and they hid again. This was too much for the __________. “Goodbye,” said the country mouse, “I’m off. You have a lot of nice food to eat, I can see, but there is so much __________ around you. Though I can only enjoy my simple dinner of roots and corn, I can live __________ in my hole.”

10 . Have you ever thought of getting away from the present life and doing something completely different?Well,here are some people who have done just that.

Back to the land

In his early forties,Peter Van Der Groot was a successful salesman.He had a large beautiful home.But Peter worked long hours,and he saw little of his home and family.He enjoyed his job,but he was never there to see his children growing up.Then last year,the firm(公司)he worked for closed down,and,unexpectedly,Peter had the chance to do something different.

So Peter and his family sold their house in London and moved to the countryside.They bought a smaller house with some land.Today,Peter is more relaxed.He spends time with his children,and he has seen them change into healthy,happy kids.He’s started working on his land,growing fruit and vegetables.Now he and his family have a common,but comfortable life.

Life in the sun

Husband and wife Rob and Manda Brent used to be teachers,but they have both given up their jobs,and neither of them plans to return to the school where they worked in Birmingham’s city centre.Now they live in Italy,where they’ve bought a farmhouse in Tuscan Hills.“We’re going to offer bed and breakfast,”said Rob.“We’ve never had our own business before,so it’ll be quite a challenge(挑战).And we’ve borrowed a lot of money from the bank to get started.”

“In this first three-month period,we’re settling in and repairing the farmhouse,”said Manda.“Then we’ll open our doors to guests.”Bed and breakfast will not be the only way for them to get money,though.“The farm has got olive(橄榄)trees and the equipment(设备)for producing olive oil.”