— Not at all. I'd be happy to.

— I'll buy _________ of them, so I can give one to my friend, Helen.

—_________. He's in hospital.

— Yes. let's go to see her.

— Sorry. I __________ it.

—I ___________.

    Long long ago, there was a swan（天鹅） with golden feathers（金羽毛）. She lived in a lake. A woman lived in a small house1the lake with her two daughters. They were very poor. They worked hard all year round, 2 still, they lived a hard life and sometimes they even didn't have enough3to buy food.

    The swan was4to see that. She said to herself, "I'll give one of my5to them each day, then they can live a happy life with the money selling my feathers." That evening, she6to the poor woman's house and left a golden feather on the table without saying7. From then on, the swam came every day and gave them a feather. The woman was very happy because their life was much8 than before.

    But day after day, the woman became greedy（贪婪）. She said to her9."The swan may fly away one day. If so, we will be poor again. We should take all10feathers when she comes next time."

    "Oh, no, Mom!" cried the daughters, "This will11the swan. She helps us a lot!" But the mother wouldn't listen. When the12came as usual, the mother caught her and took all her feathers. But suddenly, the golden feathers13chicken feathers. Then, the Golden Swan said, "Poor Woman, I came to14you, but you wanted to kill me. Now, I am leaving and will15come back. Never be greedy!" With these words, the swan flew away.

    When I was little, my mother began selling flowers in Camden Market. She couldn't1me at home on my own, 2I had to go to the market with her.

    3, I didn't have to do anything. I just sat there, and my mother told me jokes and stories so I didn't get 4.When I got older, I gave my mother a hand and I really enjoyed it.

    Then one year, my grandma gave me a book for Christmas. It was all about making candles and I loved it. I was 14, and I didn't have to go to the market5because my mother could leave me at home on my own. I6my free time making candles of all shapes and sizes. I made7them.

    One day, my mother was ill, so I had to go to the market on my own. I decided to8some candles with me and see9I could sell them. They10in 20 minutes! The next week, my mother gave me some money to buy some wax (蜡) to make more candles. They were sold out really quickly, too.

    Ten months later, we decided11flowers. My mother and I couldn't make enough candles during the week, so some of my friends started to help us. I paid them one pound12every candle, and we 13sell them for three or four times. It was fun and my friends worked with me in the market.

    At the age of 22, my uncle14me some money and I opened my first shop in Portobello Road. Since then, I've15looked back, even in difficulties. In the first store, we only sold candles, but now we sell everything from the designer, furniture to paintings. Oh, and candles, of course.

    The earth moves round the sun, and the moon goes round the earth. When our part（部分） of the earth turns to the sun, it is day, When our part of the earth turns away from the sun, it is night. The sun is much bigger than the moon. But sometimes the moon looks bigger than the sun, because it's much nearer to the earth. The sun is very bright. It gives a very strong light. The moon looks quite bright, too. But it doesn't give any light at all. The moon looks much bigger and brighter than the stars .But actually（事实上）, the stars are much bigger and brighter than the moon. They look smaller than the moon because they're much farther away from us.

    We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf. It stood outside a furniture（家具） shop. "Buy it," she said at once. "We'll carry it home on the roof-rack（车顶架）. I've always wanted one like that." What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied on to the roof rack. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy too.  As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea. After a time my wife said, "There's a long line of cars behind. Why don't they overtake（超车）?" Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers（警官） inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church（教堂）. One of the officers came to me. "Right, sir," he said. "Do you need any more help now?" I didn't quite understand. "Thanks, officer," I said. "You've been very kind. I live just down the road." He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. "Well, well," he said and laughed. "It's a bookshelf you've got there! We thought it was--er, something else." My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here. I smiled at the officer. "Yes, it's a bookshelf, but thanks again." I drove home as fast as I could.

    During the day, you spend a lot of time running, jumping, laughing, eating, and talking. You use up a lot of energy(能量), and by the end of the day you're tired. Sleep gives your body a chance to rest.

    But your brain (大脑) and body are not completely at rest during sleep. While you sleep, your mind may think of the things that happened during the day. It keeps the important things in mind as memories(记忆). It also thinks about things you were worrying about, and you may wake up with answers to some of your problems.

    You also grow while you sleep. The thing called "human growth hormone (荷尔蒙)" in the body helps you grow during sleep. This growth hormone also helps the body to repair itself.

    Sleep helps your body to conserve energy too. You use up a lot of energy during your daily activities. But when you sleep, your body temperature falls, and your "metabolism" (新陈代谢) slows down. You are still using some energy, but much less than when you are awake and active.

    Have you ever stayed up past your bedtime? Did you have difficulty getting up the next morning? Maybe you had problems seeing clearly or you cannot think clearly. That was your body's way of saying, "I need sleep!" A lack ( 缺乏) of sleep can stop your body and mind from working correctly.

    December 25 is Christmas Day(圣诞节). Christmas is an important holiday in many countries. On Christmas Day, most families get together for a big dinner. They give presents to each other and visit friends. The Christmas tree is an important part of the Christmas holiday. Most families buy trees. The families decorate(装饰) the tree together. Parents usually tell their children that Father Christmas comes during the night and brings presents to good children. Of course, Father Christmas isn't real. The parents of the children are really "Father Christmas". They put the presents under the tree or into their children's stocking(长统袜) after the children go to sleep.

Lunch Made of Love

    In those poor times, many of my classmates couldn't bring a nice meal to school for lunch. My deskmate's meal was always cabbages, while        （我的） was ham and fried eggs. Sometimes, my deskmate would first pick the hair out of his lunch and then eat it as if        （没事） had happened. This continued for a long time.

    "His mother is so lousy（邋遢的）that her hair drops in the meal, "my classmates said. I        （想）it was really dirty, but I couldn't show that because I didn't want to hurt（伤害）his feelings. Still, I started to think that he was        （肮脏）, too.

    One day after school, he called me and said, "Would you like to come to my house if you are        （有空）?"

    Though I didn't want to go, I knew it would be impolite to refuse because this was his first invitation. Following my friend, we        （到达）at a poor village.

    "Mom, I brought my friend home. "

    His old mother opened the       （门）, "My son's friend is here. Let me have a look. "But to my       （惊讶）, his mother was blind. She couldn't see anything.

    I felt sad. Now I understood why my deskmate's lunch had hair in it. His mother got ready for it       （仔细）for him every day, even though she was blind. It was not only a lunch, but also a        （母亲）love.