1．　　Dora was in the bathroom. The tap was on.
　　"Turn that tap off," said an angry voice. "You're wasting water." Dora looked around, (1)       there was no there. "Who are you?" "I'm a drop of water. Do you know where (2)      ?" "From the tap?" asked Dora.
　　"A few days ago, I was in a cloud," said the drop of water. "Then I dropped into a river and ran into a reservoir. Then it was time for people to clean me." "Clean you?" Dora asked. "Yes. I was dirty. They cleaned me and added some chemicals (3)       me. Then I travelled (4)       the pipes under the streets and now I'm here." Dora asked, "So that is the end of your journey?" "No. People will make me (5)       again. I'll go into a river and then into the sea again." "Again?" "Yes. My journey (6)      . Remember (7)       me. I'm valuable."
　　Dora turned the tap off and came out of the bathroom.

2．　　"Daddy, can I learn to play (1)       violin?" young Sarah asked her father. She was always asking for things and her father was not very (2)      .
　　"You cost me a lot of money, Sarah." he said. "First you wanted to learn horse riding, then dancing, and then swimming. Now ... "
　　"I'll play every day, Daddy." Sarah said. "I'll practice it very (3)      ."
　　"All right," her father said. "I'll pay for you to have lessons for six weeks. At the end of six weeks you must play something for me. (4)       you play well, you can have more lessons. If you play badly, I'll stop the lessons. " He soon found a good violin teacher and Sarah (5)       her lessons. The teacher was very expensive, but her father kept his promise.
　　The six weeks passed quickly. The time came for Sarah to play for her father. She began to play. She played very badly. Her father had one of his friends with him, and the friend put his hands (6)       his ears when he heard the noise.
　　When Sarah finished, her father said, "Well done, Sarah. You can have more lessons." Sarah ran happily out of the room. But the friend was a little puzzled. "You've spent a lot of money, but she still plays very badly." He said.
　　"Well, that's true." Her father said. "But since she practiced playing the violin (7)      . I've been able to buy five apartments in this building at a very low price. In (8)       six weeks I'll own the whole building!"

3．　　A father and his daughter were flying a kite in the park. The young daughter was a little bit tired, so they took a (1)       on the beach. When the daughter saw an old man selling apples, she asked her father to buy her an apple. Her father didn't bring much money with him, but it was enough to buy two apples. So he did, and gave (2)       of them to his daughter, smiling.
　　His daughter held one apple in her left hand and the other in the right hand. Then the father asked her if she could (3)       one of the apples with him. When the girl (4)       this, she quickly took a bite (咬) from one apple. And before her father could speak, she also took a bite from the other apple.
　　The father was (5)      . He wondered (想知道) what mistake he had made so that his daughter acted in such a greedy (贪婪的) way. He was lost in thought: "Perhaps I am just thinking too much. She is too (6)       to understand about sharing and giving." But still a smile disappeared from his face.
　　Suddenly, his daughter with an apple in her left hand said. "Daddy, have this one! It is much juicier and (7)      ." Her father was speechless. He felt (8)       about making the judgment so quickly about a small child. But his smile (9)       knowing why his daughter quickly took a bite from each apple.
　　From the story we can learn not to judge anything or draw a conclusion (结论) too quickly. (10)       spare some more time to understand things better.

5．　　There was once a king who had a great palace with a wonderful garden. In the garden, there lived all kinds of animals. All of them enjoyed living there.
　　There was only one thing in the garden that the king hated:an old tree in the center of the garden. It was so old and dry. This made the king so angry that he finally asked some people to cut it down and turn the place into a swimming pool. However, after the tree was cut down, the animals left the garden. Without the animals, the garden was not as beautiful as before. The king was sad, but he didn't know what had happened.
　　A young man went to the kind, and said he could explain what had happened. "This was because you cut down the old tree," said the young man. "There are thousands of moths (飞蛾) which lived in the tree. Birds needed the moths to eat and then they produced wastes for plants to grow. The plants then attracted many other animals to your garden. So your garden became very beautiful. But as you cut the tree down, the animals had to leave."
　　"Excellent!" said the king. "I'll make you rich and you will try to make my garden beautiful again."
　　"I'm afraid it will take many years to finish. It will take many years for the natural balance (生态平衡) to get back again." said the young man.
　　The king was sad, but all he could do was just to wait.

6．　　"USA? Britain? Which country is better to study in?" We often hear such discussions. As China opens its doors, studying abroad has become a dream for many Chinese students. They would like to know the world well.
　　It's true that studying abroad can help students develop themselves. Language skills will be improved and it may be easier to find jobs.
　　But there are problems that should be considered. Language is the first. Students must spend a lot of time learning another language and getting used to a different culture.
　　Students must also learn to live without parents' care and do with all kinds of things they haven't done before, like looking after themselves. There are reports about Chinese students abroad sinking into an ocean, meeting with lots of difficulties and giving up easily. When they have to take care of themselves, it is hard for them to study well.
　　Finally, studying abroad brings a heavy burden to the family. For most Chinese parents, the cost of studying abroad is very high. Is it worth doing?
　　We know that there are many famous people who succeed in great things through their hard work in China. Liu Xiang is a good example. Once an American teacher invited him there but he refused. He kept training hard with his Chinese teacher. He surprised the world when he won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics. So when you wonder which country is better to study in, consider whether studying abroad is the right choice.

7．　　Octopuses can change the color of their skin. Because of this, it can be hard to see them. They look the same as the place they are sitting in.
　　If you meet an octopus, do not tease it. It is not a foolish animal. It can remember the people who are not friendly to it. If you make it angry, it can do something back to you.
　　Some scientists kept a small octopus in a big tank. One day they took it out and put it in a small one. They wanted to have a special look at it. One of the scientists tried to make the octopus change its color, but it did not do that. It just watched the man who was hitting it.
　　After a while the scientists got tired of the octopus. It would not change its color. They had no interest in it any more. They picked out of the small tank to put it back in the big one. Then the octopus attacked. It blew some black brown water out of its mouth. The dirty water went all over the man who had hit it and made his nice clean shirt black. The octopus remembered him.

8．　　Spring break is a kind of holiday to go outdoors. Teenagers in the US all love it.
　　Usually, our new term starts in late February or early March in a year. But it's quite different from that in America. (1)      . So in late March and April, most American schools give students one to two weeks off school.
　　What do students do during the time? (2)      , and they don't need to think about studying!
　　Some kids take trips with their parents, travelling to a new state or even a new country. There is one place in the US that all kids dream about going on their spring break —Disney World in Florida. For some kids that dream will come true. (3)      .
　　For many families, spring break means relaxing or family days. They may stay at home, read and watch movies, or they may spend time with their friends. Others may travel to meet family members who live far away.
　　(4)      . On a ten-day trip, for example, students may go on a tour through Spain, Germany, and Italy. These trips are often expensive, but they give students a great chance to see other parts of the world.
　　Students in the US don't have their spring break at the same time. (5)      . So while students from one town are on holiday, their friends in the next town may have classes as usual.

9．　　Last month, Aunt Doris visited us. She gave my mum a beautiful plant for her birthday.
　　However, my mum isn't good at l(1)       after plants. In a few days, it died. The next day, Aunt Doris called. She asked how the plant was doing. Mum didn't want to tell her the truth, so she told her it was doing well!Aunt Doris said, "Great!I can see it m(2)       because I'm going to visit you again on Sunday!"
　　My mum didn't want to make Aunt Doris a(3)      , so she decided to find a new plant at once. It had to look just like the old one. We all went into town and looked in every flower shop there. After a long time, we f(4)       found one with pink flowers like the one Aunt Doris bought for mum.
　　When Aunt Doris a(5)       we worried that she would notice (察觉), but she just smiled and said, "Oh, what lovely flowers!"