I’m an Americanboy. My name is Edward. I  (1)  at NO.12 Middle School in Wuhan. I  (2)  up at six thirty in the morning. I have a sister, Mary. She  (3)  breakfast at seven. After brush our    (4)  , we have breakfast  (5)  seven. We like eggs and fruit    (6)  breakfast. We  (7)  school at half past seven. I usually    (8)  my bike, but my sister goes to school  (9)  bus. After school, We usually  (10)  English with our friends in an English club in our school.

Thomas Edison was a   (1)  American inventor(发明家).   (2)  he was a child, he was always trying out new things. His mother loved him very much. She called  (3)   Tom. Young Tom was   (4)   school for only three   (5)  . During those three months, he asked his teacher a lot of   (6)  . Most of the questions were not  (7)   his lessons. His teacher thought he wasn’t clever and told his mother to take him out of   (8)  .

Edison’s mother had to   (9)   him herself. Edison learned very quickly. He read a lot, and later he became very interested in Science and invented   (10)   useful things.

 "The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence." Thatˈs an old  saying  in English. It means other places often look  (1)  , more interesting than the place where you live. Some people  (2)  that young Chinese are beginning to feel that way. They see young Chinese ignoring（忽视）Chinese culture and,  (3)  ,  buying Japanese cartoon books,  (4)  Korean soap operas and even celebrating western holidays.

  Foreign books and soap operas are good,   (5)  Chinese writers and actors are just as good. As for holidays, Christmas is nice, but it can  (6)  have the meaning for Chinese that Spring Festival has, and the West has  (7)  to compare(比较) with Mid-autumn Festival. And letˈs not forget the part of Chinese culture I like best:  its friendliness. Not all countries are as  (8)  as China.

   Itˈs good to enjoy other cultures and to learn  (9)  them, but they cannot replace（代替) your own culture. Itˈs good to look on the other side of the fence, but  (10)  you take a good long look. You will find that the grass isnˈt always greener on the other side of the fence.

When I was about 12 years old, I really wanted a new bike! I  (1)  my parents my birthday wish, but I knew there was little hope because my family could  (2)  have that money.

     On my birthday my parents told me they had my  (3)  outside in the back yard. At once I  (4)  out to the yard. There was my bike,  (5)  it wasn't the bike that I thought it would be. This one was pink, old and worn with age. It was so disappointing(令人失望的) ! I thought I  (6)  my parents' feelings because I could see the disappointment  (7)  their faces and I was sure they could see it on mine. I  (8)  the old bike and rode it, feeling  (9)  that I had made my parents feel this way. So I put on a smile, rode as fast as I could and didn't  (10)  

     As time went by, I began to understand my parents gave me  (11)  much more than just a rusty(生锈的)old bike. They gave me a life lesson about   (12)  . When you give something out of love, it doesn't matter what it is in fact. What matters is the love that is in it. I like to remember this  (13)  because giving a gift is not about  (14)  . It's about how much love you can feel from it. Do remember, a gift that  (15)  two dollars isn't any less valuable(有价值的)than one that costs one hundred dollars, or even more.

One day a young man named Gary went to see a wise old man. He wanted to know why he wasn’t able to reach all of his dreams in his life.

He found the old man by the river. With a smile, the wise man listened to Gary’s   (1)  and told him, “First, help me boil a kettle（壶） of water!”

Gary saw a big kettle in the corner next to a small stove（火炉）, but he didn’t find any wood. So he went out to  (2)   some.

He came back with some dry wood, and then he  (3)  the kettle with water and put it on the stove. After that, he put some wood in the stove and made a fire. But because the kettle was too  (4)  , when the wood was burned up, the water did not boil. So he ran off to get more wood.       (5)  he returned, the water had nearly turned cold. This time he learned the lesson and prepared     (6)  wood first and the water boiled very quickly.

 “If there is not enough wood,   (7)  will you boil the water?” the wise old man asked. Gary thought for a moment but didn’t know the answer.

 “Well, just pour  (8)  some water from the kettle! ” the wise old man said.“At first, you set so many goals and had so many  (9)  , ” said the wise old man. “It’s just like the large kettle full of water. You didn’t have enough  (10)  ,so you couldn’t boil the water. If you want to make the water boil, you will have to either pour some water out or prepare more wood. ”

    As the saying goes, "Friends are treasure in our lives." I remember when I was growing up, my mom always ____(1)____, "Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others." It's true. Friends make  ____(2)____ enjoy the taste of our success and joys and comfort us in our challenging moments. They provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I've always looked at friends as family ____(3)____. They enrich our lives. As a famous writer said, "A friend is a present which you give to ____(4)____."

    To be a good friend, it's important to be a good listener. Hear what your friend says first rather than make  ____(5)____ quickly.

    Patience(耐心)is an important part of being a good friend,  ____(6)____. You know the old golden rule, "Care  ____(7)____others the way you would like them to do you." The support of a friend during a difficult time can make a difference between success  ____(8)____ failure. Encouragement and confidence are the ____(9)____gifts that can change a person's life.

    We should choose our friends carefully, because they can have a great influence on our lives. As  ____(10)____ told me, "The attitudes(态度)of your friends are like the buttons(按钮)on a lift. They will either take you up or down."

Many people likeanimals. So theykeep(饲养)  (1)   as pets. Usually people like tokeep dogs, cats, fishes and   (2)   animals as their pets.Many young people keep animals  (3)   they think these animals are   (4)  . Some old people keep petsbecause  (5)  children don’t live   (6)   them and they   (7)   lonely(孤独的).

Mr. Li is an old man.He is apetdoctor (医生). He is friendlyto all people and their pets. Peopleinthe neighborhood love  (8)   very much.People usually call him “The Pet Doctor”. Whenpeople’spets are sick(生病的),they oftenask Mr. Li for   (9)  . Mr. Li can always help the sickpets get well soon. So he is   (10)   popularin the neighborhood.

I was once a fat girl.I weighed 336 pounds and looked as big as my fridge.I was never　(1)　it.But one day I had a medical examination(体检).The　  (2)  　told me that I was having heart trouble.It　  (3)  　me up.I began to feel nervous.Then I decided to do something! 

In a year and five months,I　  (4)  　104 pounds.What a great thing I did!I didn’t have any expensive food,medical treatment(治疗)or camp-style(训练营式的)exercise.What was the secret to my　  (5)  　? 

First I looked through the Internet for do-it-yourself　  (6)  　that people could follow on losing weight.Of course I saw countless ads which try to get me to buy their products.But I bought nothing.The only thing I did was to change my bad　  (7)  　.The following are what I have done.You can try these.Stop drinking something with too much sugar in it.　  (8)  　sweet cakes.Eat green vegetables.Use only vegetable oil.Never eat after 6:30 pm.Also,do light exercise for 15 to 20 minutes five days a week. 

Then I kept doing what I should do.People sometimes say,“You don’t need to tell me　  (9)  　to do.I know it already!”But the fact is that knowing what to do and doing what you know are totally　  (10)  　.The important thing is to know what to do and then just keep doing it. 

Have you learned about table manners in China？Here I will introduce some.

It is a traditional __  (1)  __ for Chinese people to eat with chopsticks. Each person at table will have a pair of chopsticks，and there is also an extra pair which is for__  (2)  __ use.

You should remember that you're __  (3)  __ to let the elders in the family sit and eat first. If they don't start，everyone else shouldn't start，either. And then you should make a __  (4)  __ to them.

While eating，it is impolite to eat with a loud __  (5)  __ ．And you'd better not speak while food is still in your __  (6)  __ ．Do not only eat one dish even if that is your favorite.

    People usually go out of their way to cook delicious food to make you __  (7)  __  at home，but when they say，“The dishes aren't delicious. I__  (8)  __  you don't mind，”you must not say，“Yeah，that's true，but I don't mind.”__  (9)  __ ，it is a typical word which can show one of the Chinese qualities—__  (10)  __ ．You should answer，“Really？I don't think so. It is the best taste of any dish that is new to me.”

These days , more and more Chinese teenagers find   (1)   more difficult to live without their parents. They don’t know how to do   (2)   . Because their parents do almost everything for them at home. This is a big problem.

Alice is a 14-year-old girl. One day her parents went out for work , so she had to stay at home   (3)   . At first she thought she would be happy   (4)   her parents were not in. She could do   (5)  she liked to. But it was six o’clock in the afternoon , she felt   (6)   . “Oh, it’s time   (7)  dinner. Where can I get my food?” She said to   (8)   . Later she found some food in the fridge, but she   (9)   know how to cook. At that moment , she missed her   (10)   very much. At last she could only go to the supermarket and   (11)   some food to eat.

Many of teenagers are   (12)   as Alice . So I think they should learn some normal life   (13)   ,like cooking , cleaning up their rooms or taking   (14)   care of themselves. Do you   (15)   me?