Yours,

Li Hua

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

That morning, I got up late and _________ to school without breakfast. While I was crossing a street, my bike hit a stone and I fell on the ground, with my both knees badly hurt.

I managed with the _________ and continued my riding. On my arrival at school, my teacher took us to the _________ for a basketball match._________ 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 terrible pain and cried. My classmates all continued their match without noticing me._________ on the ground alone, hungry and painful, I couldn’t stop crying.

Just at that moment, Jack, one of my teammates,_________ towards me from the other end and helped me. He kept me company the whole day and even send me home after school was over.

It was on that day that I learned and believed the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed” to be __________.

3 . Last week, my friends and I got together to eat delicious Asian chicken wings in our college town in the evening. We hadn’t _________ each other for a long time, so it was good having a _________ and sharing summer plans with each other.

Such _________, however, does not allow for deep conversations, especially if someone is uncomfortable when_________ personal troubles in a large crowd. After _________, I prepared to go but I _________ that my friend, Jack, was uncertain about what to do. He didn’t _________ to leave as if he needed our _________ with him at that time.

During dinner, he had also said that his second year at college was _________ difficult, so I asked him about his __________ again. This time the flood gates of feelings __________, and he shared with us problems of mental (精神的) health that he had been __________ throughout the year with his studies and his nervous __________ with his classmates.

My best friend said he was ready to __________, but I asked my friend if he could stay and __________ to Jack with me. We spent another 30 minutes listening to Jack’s story of __________ : mental health, pressure, worry and sadness.

After our talk, Jack sent both of us __________ on his mobile phone later that night. In the text messages, he expressed his thanks for our spending time with him and lending a(n) __________. This experience showed me that __________ a friend doesn’t mean giving him a(n) __________ gift. Time to listen and care may sometimes be the best gift of all that is not about money.

5 . Everyone needs friends. We all like to feel close to someone. It is nice to have a friend to talk, laugh, and do things with. Surely, there are times when we need to be alone. We don’t always want people around. But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend.

No two people are the same. Sometimes friends don’t get along well. That doesn’t mean that they no longer like each other. Most of the time they will make up and go on being friends.

Sometimes friends move away. Then we feel very sad. We miss them very much. But we can’t call them and write to them. It could be that we will even see them again. And we can make new friends. It is surprising to find out how much we like new people when we get to know them.

Families sometimes name their children after a close friend. Many places are named after men and women who have been friendly to people in a town. Some libraries are named this way. So are some schools. We think of these people when we go to these places.

There’s more good news for people who have friends. They live longer than people who don’t. Why? It could be that they are happier. Being happy helps you stay well. Or it could be just knowing that someone cares. If someone cares about you, you take better care of yourself.

6 . Just Being There

Mark and Ivan ran from the school bus to Mark's house. They had both tried out for the school soccer team, and the _________ were supposed to be online by now. Dropping their backpacks in the front hall， the boys raced to the _________.Mark logged(登录) into the school website. The list was up! Finding his _________， Mark was overjoyed. “Our suffering is over.”he said.

Ivan didn't_________, though. Mark turned to look at him. Ivan had a(n)_________ expression on his face. Mark turned back to the computer and read every name on the list,_________ for Ivan's name.

Mark felt as if he had been hit in the stomach. “This isn't _________，”he shouted. Ivan just sighed(叹气) .

“Let's talk to the coaches. Maybe they'll give you another _________,”Mark insisted.

Ivan just _________ his head. “If I didn’t make it,I didn’t make it” Then he was silent,staring at the computer screen.

“Oh,no,” Mark thought. “Was Ivan about to__________?”

“At least you can sleep in on Saturdays,” he __________ Ivan. “Right?”

No answer. Mark sighed. He wished he could __________people up the way Ivan could.

Even back in kindergarten（幼儿园）,Ivan had known how to do it. On the first day of kindergarten, Mark had been homesick and began to cry during the break. The other kids __________ around him. “Want to hear a funny joke?” “Try to __________!” After a while, they walked away. Only Ivan __________. He said, “I’ll just keep you company while you’re sad.” Minutes later, the two boys were playing happily.

__________ it now, Mark felt calmer. For a few minutes, he kept quiet. Then he said, “This must be really hard.”

Ivan finally __________his eyes from the screen. He looked at Mark and nodded. “Yeah. It is.” The friends sat in __________ for a while. Then Ivan took a deep breath, wiped his eyes and stood up. “Maybe we could shoot some hoops（投篮）,” he suggested. “I’ll probably feel __________ when I beat you.” He smile a little.

Mark stood up, too. “You mean when I beat you,” he said. Ivan laughed, and they headed outside. “Thanks,” said Ivan, nodding at mark. “__________. Thanks, Mark.”

At the end of the class, Mr. Smith announced our assignment for the next Monday was to talk about someone we were grateful to instead of a book report. Upon hearing it, I couldn’t help complaining to Mareya that I was so nervous about having to talk in front of the whole class.

“ Arizona ,you’ve been in at least three plays ,” Mareya pointed out.“ If you don’ t get stage fright in front of those big audiences, why are you bothered by a few kids in our class ?”

It was true, but in a play you were part of a group. I shook my head. Plus, there were so many people I was grateful to. There was no way I could possibly pick just one. Plus, even if I picked one I’ d have no idea what to say. Plus, even if I figured out what to say, I was a million- percent positive I’ d mess up if I tried to say it out loud! I’ d be standing there with everyone staring at me, waiting for words to come out of my mouth.“ Oh , my goodness !” I pulled my sweatshirt hood ( 兜 帽 ) over my face, put my hands over my ears and said,“ I don’t want to talk about it !”

But one thing about really good friends who knew you really well was that they didn’ t always do exactly what you asked them to. Mareya could be pretty pushy talking of being helpful. She scribbled(潦草地写) something on a piece of paper , lifted my hood, and smiled. She’ d drawn a funny elephant (named Franky) with the word BREATHE coming out of its trunk .

“ This is Franky, the ‘everything is going to be all right’ elephant ” Mareya giggled. She held the picture up to her ear and asked, “What’ s that you say, Franky? You think my friend Arizona should come over to my house this weekend so we can work on our talks together?”

Paragraph 1. And that was exactly what happened.

Paragraph 2 .On Monday morning, however, I decided to talk about Mareya.