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.

When I was 7, my family made an ant farm for me. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box. Then we waited for the ants to   (1)  .

   After the ants were in the glass farm, they started to make tunnels (隧道). it seemed that each one knew   (2)  what to do. Each one had its own job.

   One day some   (3)   things happened to the ant farm. I put my face so close to the glass farm that I knocked it over. All the tunnels   (4)  . And many ants began to die one by one. I was scared as I watched them give up   (5)   their tunnels to carry die bodies (尸体) to a comer of the farm.

   My mother said that the ants were dying of sadness. Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Over the years, I have   (6)   the importance of teamwork. Working together, the   (7)   were able to make an amazing word for themselves.

   But there was an even bigger   (8)   that I did not realise until recently: the bad   (9)   is a natural part of life. We should try to accept it. We have to realise that if a tunnel is gone, we just have to build   (10)  . I will remember this forever.

InCanada you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc, in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and have them __  (1)  __ their good friends. Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections (注射) so that they won't __  (2)  __ diseases(疾病). What’s more, in Canada, people usually go to special animal food stores for their pet’s food __  (3)  __ the food there is much more expensive than that in some other stores. Some people paid around two hundred Canadian dollars a month __  (4)  __ animal food. When you visit people's houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and __  (5)  __ is allowed to kill any animal in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished. If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it. 

People in Canada have many __  (6)  __ to like animals. One of them might be: Their family relationship is not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life. Then the old will feel lonely. But pets can solve this problem. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.

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.

What do you think a good friend should be like? Mary Smith doesn’t really care if her friends are  (1)   as her or different. She likes the saying “A true friend reaches for your hand and   (2)   your heart.” best. Her best friend Carol is,  (3)  , funnier than anyone she knows. Mary broke her arm last year but Carol made her laugh and  (4)  better. Carol is a really good listener and she always cares about Mary. They can share  (5)  with each other.

Do you think that the population problem is the greatest one of the world today? 2000 years ago, the world’s population was very   (1)  . For several thousand years it grew quite slowly.   (2)  during the last three or four hundred years, it has grown very   (3)  . Today it is growing faster than   (4)  before.

In one minute,   (5)  250 babies will be born in the world. Just think how many more   (6)   will be born in a year!

A UN report said that the population of the more   (7)   countries has been 1,214 million by 1990. It is said that by the end of the   (8)   2010, the world’s population was about 7 billion. This means much more food   (9)  be produced. We must have smaller families with   (10)   but healthier children. If we don’t do something like this, there will not be enough space for anybody else to stand on the earth. 

A young man came to an old man and told he had a very sad life and asked for a solution. The old man asked the  (1)  young man to put some salt in a glass of water and then drink it.

  The old man asked how it tasted. “  (2)  .” answered the young man.

  The old man smiled and asked the young man to take some more salt and put it in the  (3)  . They walked in silence to the nearby lake. After the young man put salt into the lake, the old man   (4)   him to drink from it. Then the old man asked the same   (5)  , “How does it taste?”

“Good!” he replied. “It’s different from the water in the glass.” The old man   (6)   to ask if he can taste the salt. His answer is no.

  The old man sat   (7)   this troubled young man, and said, “The pain(痛苦) of life is like salt. No more, no less. The number of pain in life actually   (8)   the same. But the number we taste the pain   (9)   the place we put it into.   (10)   when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to make your sense of things bigger. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

An old man lived with his little grandson. Every day the old man got up early to read books.

   One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I want to read books as you do. But I always forget what I read. What are the advantages(优势，好处)of （1）?”

The grandfather didn’t  (1)  him, but said, “Take this little  (2)   to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as his grandpa said,  (3)   all the water leaked(漏掉)out before he got back home. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to walk faster next time.”

The next time the boy ran faster, but the basket was   (4)   empty before he returned home. The boy said, “See, Grandpa, it’s of  (5)  use！”

“Is it useless?” the old man said. “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and found that the basket was different. It was  (6)  , inside and out.

“That’s   (7)   happens when you read books. You might not understand or remember  (8)  , but when you read them, you will be changed, inside and out.”

On hearing his grandfather’s words, the boy understood and  (9)  .

I believe that listening is powerful (强效的) medicine.

 It was Sunday. I had the last patient (病人) to see and I got into her room. She was an old woman, sitting on the bed, trying to   (1)  her socks. I said to her “How are you feeling? The nurse says your son is visiting you today. I’m sure you’ll be   (2)  to see him.”

She   (3)   me with a serious voice, “Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not yours.”

I was surprised. I sat down and helped her with the socks. She began to tell me that her only son lived not far from her,   (4)  she had not seen him for five years. She believed her health problems were worse   (5)  missing her son. After hearing her story and helping her put on her socks, I asked if there was   (6)   I could do for her. She said “no” and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to  (7)  .

Each story is  (8)  . Some are clear; others are not. Some are true; others are not, yet all those things do not really matter. What matters to the storyteller is that the story is heard.

Listening to someone’s story costs nothing but it is the key to healing (康复). I often   (9)  what the woman taught me, and I always tell myself it is   (10)   to stop, sit down and truly listen. I believe in the power of listening.

 There are different kinds of TV programs for you. When you   (1)   the TV programs, your brain cells (脑细胞) keep active. So it is   (2)   for you.

     Now more and more people are very   (3)  . They need a way to make   (4)   relaxed. Watching TV is an easy   (5)   to make it. You can   (6)   your interest on TV and think less about your trouble.

      There are many educational programs on TV. You can get a lot of knowledge   (7)   watching TV. For example, you can   (8)   about the history of other countries. When you watch TV with your family, you can   (9)   your ideas with them. You will have a great time by watching a funny   (10)  . When you watch TV, you can learn English, and you can also learn about the latest news.