Planting flowers is my favorite hobby because I can learn something new from it.

   I bought a flower pot and some flower seeds (种子) last week. Then I   (1)   some seeds in the pot. After a few days,   (2)  happened．But I didn't stop watering. Another ten days later, I saw the young plants  (3)  . I felt very   (4)   because I could grow something.

   Just like growing flowers, we can also plant happiness(快乐、幸福). Our life is   (5)   an empty (空的) pot. We have lots of things to do, but we   (6)   do them. That means we lose many things. What are the   (7)  things? Yes, they're the seeds of   (8)  , love and dreams.

   What should we plant in life? If we plant negative thoughts (消极思想) inside our   (9)  , we will feel sad in the future (消极) days; If we plant seeds of hope, we will get   (10)  . Happiness is important for everyone. Most people want to be happy,   (11)   few know how to find happiness. Money and success alone   (12)  lasting happiness. Happiness depends on ourselves. In other words, we make   (13)   own happiness. There are  (14)  ways to help you be happier.

   Remember,  (15)  secret of happiness is to enjoy the simple things in life.

As we all know, Chinese students are hard-working. But they’re   (1)  at the same time.

At school, they have to follow the strict school  (2)  . For example, they   (3)   have long hair or wear strange (奇怪的) clothes.

And at home, they’re always busy with their homework and they don’t have any free time to do what they like. Once (一旦) they don’t do well in exams, their parents will lose   (4)   for them.

On weekends, their parents tell them to take part in different classes they don’t like. They always feel   (5)   and bored. They   (6)   interest in school things slowly. Some students can’t   (7)   it and leave home. Because their parents only care about children’s study and they never   (8)   what they want.

“Many students can do nothing   (9)   study. Some students even don’t know  (10)   to get on well with others and how to take care of others,”said an expert (专家).

   “This is a serious problem. It’s necessary for us to think it over and solve it well,”said another expert.

Once there was a little girl living in a small, poor house on a hill. As she grows up, she began to play in her small   (1)  , she was able to see over the garden and across the valley a wonderful house high on the hill -and that house had  (2)  windows.

Although she loved her family, she   (3)   about how wonderful and exciting it must be to live in that golden house all day.

Then she  (4)   the age when she could play outside of her garden fence(篱笆），she asked her mother   (5)   she could go for a bike ride outside the gate. Her mother thought for a while and   (6)  allowed her to go. The little girl rode her bike   (7)  she got to the gate of the golden house.

As she leaned(倚靠）her bike   (8)  the gatepost, she focused on the path that   (9)  to the house and then on the house   (10)   and was so   (11)   . All the windows were plain(普通的)brand rather dirty.

   She was so sad that she didn't go any further. Heartbroken, she rode her bike back. As she  (12)  , she saw a sight that amazed her. There   (13)   the valley on the other side was a little house. Its windows glistened（闪耀）golden as the   (14)  shone on her little house.

   She   (15)  hat she had been living in her golden house all along. Everything she dreamed was right there in front of her eyes and in her daily life!

One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   (1)   at the answer. Thinking he had not made   (2)   understood or the girl had not   (3)   him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”

Planting flowers is my favorite   (1)  because I can learn something new from it.

I bought a flower pot (盆) and some flower seeds (种子) last week. Then I put some seeds in the pot. After a few days,   (2)   happened. But I didn’t give up watering. Another ten days later, I   (3)  the young plants come out. I felt very   (4)  because I could grow something.

Just like growing flowers, we can also plant happiness. Our life is   (5)   an empty (空的) pot. We have lots of things to do, but we   (6)  do them. That means we lose many things. What are the   (7)   things？Yes, they’re the seeds of   (8)  , love and dreams.

What should we plant in life? If we plant negative thoughts (消极思想) inside our   (9)  , we will feel sad in the future days; If we plant seeds of hope, we will get   (10)  .

Friends play an important role in our life. Most people hope that their friends will always be there. They  (1)  friendship to last forever. Unluckily, even the best friendship can end.

With time on, many friendships end because of a change in personality or way of life. The friendship slowly loses its importance and finally  (2)  .

Tommy wrote, “I didn’t even know the friendship was over   (3)  I caught myself thinking of Alan as a former friend.”

Peter explained, “We started seeing each other less and less. The friendship was just over.”

Sometimes friendships break   (4)   suddenly from a disagreement or move to another place.

Alice said, “The end of our friendship was a gradual thing. I moved from one side of the city to another. From then on we   (5)   made a phone call. We met less and less. At last our friendship ended.”

Jack said, “When I moved to Seattle after college, our friendship died.  (6)  of us were always busy with new jobs, so we didn’t keep   (7)   touch with each other. Our friendship was so dead that I didn’t call him even if I went home.”

Yet the biggest problem to a friendship is change. Lillian Rubin in her book Just Friends says,“ Generally it’s true that friends will accept each other if they both remain what they were when they met. However, if they change in   (8)  directions, the friendship most probably will be lost.”

No matter why, when, or how friendships end, there is always some   (9)   of loss. When   (10)   can be done to keep the friendship, it is important to forget the pain. Then move on to build new friendships.

May new friendships bring you pleasure and happiness!

My friend Henry is a   (1)  and always having accidents. He does not pay attention   (2)   the time or think about the risk of an accident. One day, when Henry was cooking in a restaurant, a snake suddenly appeared and bit his hand. He was trying to pick it up when it   (3)   him again. He threw it across the kitchen, and it landed on a table and quickly   (4)   behind the fridge. He hurried to hospital because his hand began to hurt badly.   (5)  the doctors learnt what kind of snake bit him, they gave Henry the right medicine, and he left hospital the next day.

A few days ago, a car   (6)   hit him round the corner of the road while he was on his way home. Henry was talking on the mobile phone and riding in the middle of the road  (7)  the traffic lights were changing to red. The car stopped just in time, but Henry   (8)  his bike and hurt his knee and was   (9)   for over a week.

I always told him to be careful, but he did not listen to me. After the two accidents, he promised   (10)   my advice. Now he is very careful, I’m glad to say.

Do you get angry easily?  (1)  you do, you should learn to control your feelings. Getting angry with others can make you  (2)  friends.

Lisa Regan, a writer of children’s books, wrote Don’t Get Angry, Annie to help you control your feelings. It tells you how to stay cool when bad things happen  (3)  you. The book says that getting angry only makes problems（4）. It can   (4)  make things better. It also teaches you some useful  (5)  to control your anger. Here are the top three.

First, keep a diary , Every time you get angry, write down the  (6)  ---why you get angry. Look at it later and you will find it was not  (7)   to get angry at all.

Second, ask your friends to   (8)  talking to you when you get angry. You need to be quiet.

Third, do  (9)  different. When you got angry, walk away from the problem and go to a different place. Try to laugh!

It is not easy for people to sail (航海) around the world in quite small boats. Sometimes the weather gets bad. Accidents(事故) can happen easily and quickly.

One family once had an accident. A big fish swam under their boat and bit holes(洞) in it. Sea water came in and the boat soon went down. Luckily these people had another small boat——a lifeboat, so they all got into the lifeboat. They lived in the boat for many days. They ate and slept, and always hoped. At last people in a ship saved them.

How do people live in a very small lifeboat for a long time? They must be strong in every way. They must have a hope, and they must have a strong desire（愿望）to live. People cannot drink seawater. If they drink a lot of sea water, they will quickly die. They must catch rainwater and drink it. They must also catch fish and birds for food. Lifeboats do not often carrycookers. So people cannot cook their food in the lifeboats. Raw (生的) fish and birds are not very nice but they are their only food. They must eat raw food, or they will die.