An earthquake may   (1)   some places at any time. Do you know what to do when it happens? Please let me tell you.

   When a quake begins and if you are outside, you must get into the open air and stay   (2)   buildings, trees and other dangerous things. If you are inside, you must stand in a corner,   (3)   get under a heavy desk or a table. If you are driving a car, or a bus, you must drive to   (4)   of the road and stop.

After an earthquake, you must try to talk to everyone in your family to see if they are   (5)   and see if gas, water, and electrical lines are   (6)  . Please don’t smoke or use lights. A gas line may be broken. You must keep the telephone lines clear. Don’t use your phone or drive your car  (7)   you are sure everything is all right.

 In the United States, parents usually encourage their children to develop their own hobbies. They pay attention to what their kids can do, not what they can’t. So they’re usually very confident. As a ____  (1)  ____, US boys and girls hope to be actors, players and doctors; many children ___（2）____ want to become presidents when they grow up.

   US parents often encourage their children to take part in all kinds of activities together with their classmates at_（3）___. They believe that ____  (2)  ____ in these activities can make their children mature. Schoolwork is ____  (3)  ____, but they think that social skills are also very important.

   But things in China are ____  (4)  ____, Chinese parents often tell their children to study hard and pass ____  (5)  ____. They think that, for a student, staying away from schoolbooks means wasting ____  (6)  ____. This puts a lot of ____  (7)  ___ on Chinese students, so leaders in China’s education department have called for ____  (8)  ___ homework at the lower grades. Only healthy kids can become healthy adults.

I can’t __  (1)  __ what I want to be when I grow up. Reporters get to meet new people. Doctors, athletes(运动员), and policemen meet new people, __  (2)  __. Doctors help people when they are __  (3)  __. Policemen help when they are in trouble. Reporters get to travel the most, sometimes going __  (4)  __ the world. Athletes get to travel a lot, too. They get to meet reporters when the reporters want to write about them.

To be a good __  (5)  __, I need to be a good writer. To be a good doctor, I need to be good in science and math. Athletes have to be physically fit and have a talent for their chosen __  (6)  __.

All these careers need people willing to work hard. I will work hard at my job and I hope I will become __  (7)  __ I want to be when I grow up.

If you are a British pig, this is your __  (1)  __ day! A new law (法律) says that the farmers have to keep you healthy and happy.

  Pigs like to sniff(嗅) around with their nose. So the law says that pigs must have something to __  (2)  __. Perhaps it will be grass or bits of wood. And the new law says pigs need toys. too. You know what happens when pigs have nothing to do. They start biting each other. They start __  (3)  __ each other’s ears and tails. Having a nice ball to push around will help them feel happy.

  Soon, pigs may get more than just balls to play with. They won’t live in small, crowded __  (4)  __. But __  (5)  __ of the pigs will never have as nice a home as Maggie Park’s pets in Australia. Her three pigs live __  (6)  __ her house. At first the neighbors were __  (7)  __. They said pigs were dirty and Maggie should keep them outside. But the police said pigs have the same rights as other house pets. Maggie’s pigs don’t like balls. They like to watch TV all day! At night, they have their own bedroom.

No sports , no life. Sports are very important to us. Sports help us to keep in good   (1)   and get good grades.

 Everyone in our class  (2)  sports. Our favorite  (3)  is P.E. We only have P. E .   (4)  a week, but we play sports every day. The most popular sport in our class is basketball. The boys enjoy  (5)   it, and many of the   (6)  like it , too. Football is also popular. When the weather is  (7)  , we often play football outside. We   (8)   play volleyball. Because we think it is boring.

    There is a basketball team in our class. Our team often has matches (比赛) with other teams. When there is a match, many of us go to  (9)  it. It’s very  (10)  .

When you wave to a friend，you are using sign language. When you smile at someone，you mean to be   (1)  . When you put one finger in front of your mouth，you mean “Be quiet.”

Yet，people in different countries may use   (2)  sign languages.

Once an Englishman was in Italy. He could speak little Italian. One day when he was walking in the street，he felt   (3)  and went into a restaurant. When the waiter came，the Englishman opened his month，put his fingers into it and took them out again and moved his lips. In this way，he   (4)  ，“Bring me some things to eat.” A moment later，the waiter brought him a lot of things to drink. First tea，then coffee，then milk，but no food. The Englishman was   (5)  that he was not able to tell the waiter he was hungry. He was about to leave the restaurant when another man came in and put his hands on his stomach. And this sign was bright for the waiter.   (6)  ，the waiter brought him a large plate of bread and meat. At last the Englishman had his meal in the same way.

Christmas is an interesting festival. It is ___  (1)  ___December 25th. It’s the ___  (2)  ___ festival in the Western countries. It’s just like our Spring Festival. Families get together and enjoy the holiday. There is always an old man. He has many names, but we usually call him Santa Claus. He always ___  (3)  ___ a red coat and a red hat. He is very busy on Christmas Eve. ___  (4)  ___does Santa put his gifts? In the Christmas ___  (5)  ___! So children always hang (挂) the stockings on their beds on Christmas Eve. And then they will find gifts in them the next morning. In addition (此外), people often put a Christmas tree in their house. And they also sing Christmas songs from door to door on Christmas Eve. Can you sing it?

Beautiful pictures of mountains and forests, clear skies, flying birds, wild animals, silly faces-you can find them all in one place.   (1)  ?On a postcard! Have people always sent postcards? No! Before postcards, people   (2)  sealed (密封的) letters.

The   (3)   for the first decorated postcard came to John P. Charlton in 1861. He thought a simple card with a border would be a great way to send a note. Then in the late 1800s, postcards which had pictures on them   (4)  .By law, people had to write their note on the front-on the picture! The back was   (5)  for the address. Several years later, England allowed a divided-back (背面隔开的) postcard. Then people could write their note on the back left side. And they put the address   (6)  . During the early 1900s, the golden age of postcards, people around the world were more and more   (7)   picture postcards. In 1908, Americans alone mailed over 677 million postcards.

Today, postcards are the   (8)  most popular collection in the world after stamps and coins. You can always see or get a lot of newly-designed postcards, especially on New Year's Day.

Nowadays more and more people are keeping pets. Some pets are very pretty, lovely and helpful. They can help people do a lot of things. ___（1）__ cats can help catch mice, dogs can help policeman to find the thieves or help people who can’t see the street. Walking dogs is a good exercise and dogs can make children feel  （2） . Children love dogs best. It’s fun when you first have a pet dog in your family, but a few days later, you may cry, “He won’t stop barking!” or “Why does he eat everything?” So, do you really know _____（3）___ to take care of a puppy?

   You can teach your dog to sit, lie down, and even play games with you , but you shouldn’t be cruel to him or ____（4）___ him. It’s not a good habit for your pet to ask for food from the table. When he looks ill, you should ___（5）__ him to the animal hospital.

  It’s not easy to ___（6）__ your pet well. Some people believe that their pets are becoming part of their families. Some people spend ___（7）____ money and time on their pets. British people even spend as much as 660 million pounds on dog food in one year.

Future and today

   It is well known that everyone has his own dream and his own future. But do you know what future really is? I have to say future is now. That is to say we must treasure every minute now. If we want to have a bright future, we should know how important time is and use it well.

There is an old English saying, “Gain time, gain life.” Then what’s time? Time is something that we can’t see or touch, but we can feel it passing by. Time is always with us. When we are at table, time passes. When we play, time goes by unnoticeably. We always say “Time is money”, but time is even more precious(珍贵的) than money, because when money is spent, we can earn it back. But if time is gone away, it will never come back. So some of us even say time is priceless.

We should always remember: future is now. For us students, we should try our best to work hard in order to create a great future of our own. We should make the best use of every hour and be the masters of today. We should do everything before us as well as possible. And never put off what can be done today till tomorrow.

As we all know, “Time and tide wait for no man.” If you waste today, you will regret tomorrow. So from now on, work hard. Tomorrow will be better, and your future will be brighter. Remember, “No pains, no gains.” Today’s hard work is the cause of tomorrow’s harvest.