As a kid, I used to spend my summers with my grandparents on their farm in Texas. I helped them with farming at times. Luckily, they _________ a caravan, a kind of car designed for people to live in while travelling. Every few summers, we’d travel together around the US and Canada.

On one trip, I was about 10 years old. I was playing around in the back of the car _________ my grandfather was driving. My grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked through the trip, and I hated the _________, which made me cough a lot. I read about smoking in an article. It says that every puff (吸) of a cigarette takes two minutes off your life. I _________ the number of cigarettes per day and the puffs per cigarette. When I came up with a reasonable (合理的) number, I was _________. Then I moved my head into the front of the car and proudly _________, “So far, you’ve taken nine years off your life!” Hearing this, my grandmother began to cry and it was not what I _________. I did not know what to do. My grandfather, who had been driving _________, stopped the car, got out of it and opened my door. He looked at me calmly, and said _________, “See, grandmother is crying! One day, you’ll understand that it’s harder to be kind than clever.”

As I grow up, I realize that cleverness is a gift and kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy — they are given __________. Choices can be hard, so it seems more difficult to be kind.

   When meeting strangers, we usually notice their hair, skin colour and clothes. We like to group those things we don’t know by comparing them with the things we know.

So what’s wrong with this? For example, we think that short boys can’t possibly be good basketball players. The girls who love to be dressed up can’t be excellent students. Or we think shy students can’t be good at giving speeches. These are typical(典型的) examples of stereotypes.

Stereotypes make people form a wrong opinion about others at first sight. In fact, it takes a lot more than just looking at a person to know and understand him or her. The following is my story.

One day, it was snowing, but not very heavily. Before class, I collected all the exercise books and sent them to the teachers’ office. The exercise books looked piles in my arms, so I could hardly see the ground. Suddenly, I slipped over(滑倒) and dropped all the exercise books I was carrying.

I tried to stand up but failed, I was about to pick them up when I saw a boy coming towards me. It was Mike.

Mike and I had been classmates for over 2 years, but we had never shared more than 5 sentences together. He was a boy with few words, but I liked talking. We were totally different. I didn’t like him and didn’t want to be seen at that moment.

“Anything serious?” His words brought me out of my thoughts. “I saw you sitting on the ground from the back window, so I rushed here. Let me help you!” He helped me up and picked all the exercise books up.

Seeing this, I was so moved that I couldn’t say a single word.

We walked towards the teachers’ office and this time, he talked a lot to me. I found quite a different Mike.

I took a deep breath and said to myself, “I nearly made a big mistake — judging(判断) Mike only by his appearance.”

   Have you ever wondered how we know the things that we know? How do we know, for example, that the stars are really huge balls of fire like the Sun and very far away? And how do we know that the Earth is a smaller ball turning round one of those stars, the Sun?

The key to these questions is “evidence”, which means the facts, signs or objects that make you believe something is true.

Sometimes evidence means actually(实际上) seeing (or hearing, feeling, smelling...)that something is true. Astronauts have travelled far enough from the Earth to see with their own eyes that it is round. Sometimes our eyes need help. The “evening star” looks like bright twinkle in the sky, but with a telescope(望远镜) you can see that it is a beautiful ball. Something that you learn by direct seeing (or hearing or feeling...) is called an observation.

Often evidence isn’t just observation on its own, but observation always hides at the back of it. If there’s been a murder, often nobody (except the murderer and the dead person!) actually observed it. But detectives can gather together lots of other observations which may all point towards the suspect. If a person’s fingerprints match those found on a knife, this is evidence that he touched it. It doesn’t prove that he did the murder, but it can help when it’s joined up with lots of other evidence.

Prediction(预测) helps to look for evidence. Scientists make a guess about what might be true. For example, if the world is really round, we can predict that any of us, going on and on in the same direction, should eventually find ourselves back where we started.

People sometimes say that you must believe in feelings deep inside, but not all the inside feelings are real evidence.

What can we do about all this? When somebody tells you something that sounds possible, think to yourself: “Is there any evidence for that?” And, next time somebody tells you that something is true, why not say to them: “What kind of evidence is there for that?” Remember, always think carefully before you believe a word.

One day， when a boy named Ted returned from school in a hurry， her mother complained， “It is six o'clock， and your school c
46． at four-where have you been?

“Oh， mom，”said Ted，“when we play ball games，we f
47． everything else. We don't think of the time. Is supper ready?”

The boy's mother believed him. Ted's a
48． led her to think that he had been playing with his classmates. But he hadn't been playing at all.

He had been“kept it”by the school librarian，because he had made the l
49． in a complete mess. He didn’t like to tell his mother about that. He wished her to think that he had been playing.

“What a s
50． it is for you to try to deceive（欺骗）your mother!”said something in Ted's heart， as he q
51． sat down to his supper.

“I don't care，”said the boy to h
52． ，I don't care. I didn't tell a lie-I didn't say that I was playing. ”

“But”， said the voice，“you used words which m
53． your mother think that you had been playing，and that was s
54． to what you had said so. ”

“I didn't tell a lie. ”said Ted，

Did Ted tell a lie，or did he not? What do you think?

If we use words which can deceive others， we tell a lie，and Ted's lie was a bad one， for it sounded so like the t
55． . A lie that sounds true is the worst kind of lie.

Some people have found that they always spend much more on travelling than planned.Here is how it happens：

1.Preparing too much before travelling

Some people,especially females,like to travel as if starting a new life.Several weeks before the trip,they would be busy shopping for new dresses,better sunglasses and best­selling books.They would rather fill their travelling bags up with all fashionable things.Just travelling？Attending a fashion show is more like it.They care more about their appearance than the sights they see during the trip.

2.Following other travellers blindly

They can't stop shopping for objects they would never normally buy and would certainly never use.For example,we can find a group of travellers “getting ahead” to buy “Christmas” presents even in summer.

3.Replacing things that are forgotten to bring

They don't remember to bring things like trainers,cool bags,toothbrushes or beach towels.The towels sold near beaches are nearly the price of gold leaves.They spend a lot on those things.However,plenty of new towels are sleeping in their bathroom at home.

People usually find themselves poorer than they planned after a holiday trip.There are mainly three
56．.Firstly,some female travellers consider a journey as attending a fashion show.How they look seems more
57． than what they see,so they spend more money on something new.Secondly,some people follow others without
58．.When others do some shopping,they can't
59． themselves.Thirdly,goods for daily use at tourist attractions aren't as
60． as those back home.As a result,they may spend more than they thought.

   Giving up studying in China’s top universities is truly surprising. It’s reported that two young people dropped out of Tsinghua University after they found they had no interest in their majors (专业). They took the CEE(college entrance examinations) again. Luckily, they passed the exams and studied new majors in Peking University. Their actions have come under hot discussion among the public.

Supporters praise the two students for being brave enough to chase (追逐) their goals.

1. We shouldn’t blame (责怪) those who are willing to take a risk and take the CEE again. It’s OK for everyone to choose their favourite major for a better career in the future.

2. The two students prove that life is full of changes and possibilities. They set up an example of the power of courage in changing lives.

However those who are against their actions criticize them for being capricious (任性的).

1. By dropping out after studying for a period of time, the two students have wasted educational resources, which could have been provided for others.

2. The two students were not wise enough to choose their majors when they first applied to go to college. Their actions should be a warning to other young people instead of being followed.

   假如你是李华，父母支持你邀请笔友 David 来你家共度暑假，并带给你一份青少年活动中心（the Youth Centre）七月份的活动安排表。请根据要求完成一封邀请信，向 David 介绍你的安排。

How are you going? Summer holiday is coming. My parents support me to invite you to spend the holiday with me.

I’m looking forward to your coming soon.

Li Hua