1 . As we all know, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I really don’t know the meaning of this proverb until one day something _________ happened to me.

That morning, I got up late and went to school without breakfast _________. While crossing a street, my bike _________ a stone and I fell on the ground, with my both knees badly injured. I managed the _________ and continued my riding. On my arrival at school, my teacher took us to the _________ for a basketball match. _________ the fact that I could hardly walk normally, I joined in the game. When I _________ to pass the ball, I was knocked down and fell down on my back. I could not _________ the bad pain and burst into tears. My classmates all started _________ at me and continued their match without me. Left alone on the playground, I couldn’t help feeling __________ sorry. Just at that moment, Jack, one of my teammates, __________ towards me from the other end and helped me. He comforted me and tried all __________ to make me stand. He asked another classmate to __________him, then kept me __________the whole day, and even dropped me home after the school was over.

It was on that day that the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed” did __________ to me.

After I read your letter, I know that you are worried about _________ your friends. You used to have lots of friends, but you stopped talking to them after you made friends with Li Hua, who _________ your class a few months ago. Now Li Hua has moved to another city, and you have no friends _________ your old friends think you were mean to them.

As we all know, it is not easy being new, and it was nice of you to be so _________ to Li Hua. You did the _________ thing when you made friends with him. However, it was not such a good idea for you to _________ talking to your old friends. What happened is in the past, and there is no need to _________ this now. I suggest that you talk to your old friends first instead of waiting for them to talk to you. At an appropriate time, tell them you are sorry and give them a(n) _________ for your actions. They will be happy to see that you _________ value them.

You have learnt a valuable __________ in life, make new friends but keep the old ones.

Yours aunt

4 . Everyone needs friends.There is an old saying: Friends are God’s way of taking care of us. But how do you find real friendship and______it?

The Care and Keeping of Friends by American author Sally Seamans tells young students some ______ways to find friends.

Sally says finding friendship is just like a tree______. You plant the seed and take care of it to _____it grow. First, you should ______a friend. What makes a good friend? It is not ______a person has money or good looks. A good friend should be ______and patient. For example, if you have a bad day, a good friend should ______your complaints (埋怨) and do their______to help. To make a friend, you cannot be too shy. You should make each other happy and ______your lives.

But things cannot always be ______. Even the best friends have fights. What should you do when you have a______with your friend? You have to talk to them. When there is no one around, have an honest talk.

If he or she doesn’t want to______, you could write a letter. Sally says there are three steps to being______again: Tell him or her how you are______; say what your friend has done wrong, and ______why you did this or that.

The______also has advice on some small but important things like celebrating your friends’ ______.______you haven’t had a real friend before, you will start to think of having one if you______ this book. Because the book tells that friendship is the most important thing in your life.

5 . There are many kinds of friends. Some are always _______ you, but don’t understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only _______ friends leave footprints (脚印).

I shall always recall (回忆) the autumn and the girl with the _______. She will always bring back the friendship between us. I know she will always be my best friend.

It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves _______ on the cool wind. In such a season, I liked walking alone in the leaves, _______ to the sound of them.

Autumn is a _______ season but life is uninteresting. The free days always get me _______. But one day, the sound of a violin flowed into my ears like a stream (小溪) flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was lost in playing her violin.

I had _______ seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn’t know that I had been _______ there for so long but my existence (存在) did not seem to disturb her.

Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building ________ I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became ________. ________ we didn’t know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believe she also loved me. Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly stopped. To my astonishment (惊讶), the girl came over to me.

“You must like violin.” she said.

“Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

Suddenly, a ________ expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual. “I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly.

It was your listening every day that encouraged me.” she said.

“In fact, it was your playing ________ gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let’s be friends.”

The girl smiled, and so did I.

I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure (身影) of the girl. She is like a ________—so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.

7 . My husband and I arrived in a new country just a month ago. We were a bit ___________ about what was waiting for us. However, when we ___________ at the airport, a tall man with smiling eyes greeted us. The days and months were ___________ made easy for us by this kind man.

He greeted us every day with his smiling face. He ___________ us in going to the bank, in buying our groceries, in telling us ___________ to buy almost everything. He told us he was our big brother.

___________, We watched the match in a coffee shop. During the first get-together, he ___________ us that we were lucky—my husband and I were ___________ in this foreign land. He said he had been ___________ for eight years then because he rarely saw his family, ____________ they were in his home country.

During the second get-together, he ____________ told us that we were his family. He said that he loved us and that he would ____________ us because he was given a ____________ of 45 days to go back to his home country. That night, he spoke these words which ____________ a great effect on my life: “You changed my life...”

That night deep in our hearts we were ____________ by our friend's words. We texted him upon reaching home, ____________ him for being a Big Brother to us in the foreign land. We told him ____________ that we felt safe in going out when we were with him, to which he ____________, “You are my family here.”

On the first week of October, we are going to ____________ him back from his vacation. We'll watch the football match again in that ____________ shop that holds dear memories.

8 . A friend of mine called me at 2 am. I usually worked through the ______, so I was awake. She was ______ some problems and wanted to talk to me about them.

I was ______ with work, under a lot of pressure. ______ my work, I also had a lot on my mind. But I ______ to stop what I was doing, put it all ______ and talked to her. It did the trick because we managed to find some kind of clarity to the ______ after the conversation.

I felt happy. I know that sometimes what really counts is knowing that when you are going through a(n) ______ time, you have a shoulder to lean on.

I've ever been in situations where I've had to ______ through things by myself, with no support at all. Living like this makes you very ______. But it also makes you cynical(愤世嫉俗的), and leaves you feeling like you can only depend on yourself.

I have had ______ from people at times, totally ______ when I have really needed it. And I realise what a(n) ______ it can make, having someone to talk to.

I really hope that I was able to give my friend support. Even though we did not ______ the problem, I hope that I was able to ______ her of some of the weight that she was carrying.

10 . Sometimes we didn’t have the ________ to face one more challenge.

Bringing back, I have felt this way several times throughout my life. One dark time ________ above the rest. At the time, I was 26, working full time, a husband and a father of two. This would be enough to deplete anyone, but on top of all that, my one-year-old son Paul had just had his fourth ________ due to kidney problems.

After that operation, my wife and I ________ him home. ________ , things got worse. I drove my wife and him back to the hospital. The doctors thought it was a ________ enough issue that they needed another operation. The news ________ what was left of my spirit. The only thing I thought was, “I don’t think I can ________ my son having another operation. I don’t have the strength.” Fortunately, many friends came to encourage us. In the end, my wife and I received good news. It ________ that my son had an allergy to medicine, and he would be just ________ .

It has been years since that day, but the ________ I learned has stayed with me. When we are ________ , friends are strong for us. When times are hard we ________ to feel powerless. But it is in these times that we must ________ we need the strength of friends. It is friends who get us through whatever ________ ahead.