A man was on his way to another world, either heaven （天堂） or hell （地狱）. When he was halfway there, he saw a beautiful, huge _______ The owner came out and asked the man to stay and live in the palace.

The man said, “I have been working hard during my whole life. And now I just want to eat and sleep _______ doing any work.”

The owner of the palace said, “If ________, there is nowhere else better than here for you. There are many delicious _______ in my palace. And I promise that nothing needs to be done by you.”

“That is great! This must be heaven!” said the man. And he stayed in the palace.

_______, the man felt very happy with a life of eating and sleeping. But gradually, he felt a bit lonely and bored. So he went to the owner and said, “Just eating and sleeping every day is very _______. Now I’m losing interest in this kind of life. Could you help me find a _______.

The owner replied, “Sorry, there is no jobs here at all.”

After another few months, the man could not _______ it any more and went to the owner again. “I really can’t stand this kind of life any more,” he said. “If you do not offer me a job, I would _______ to go to hell rather than live here.”

The owner smiled. “________ do you think we are now?” he said. “Heaven? We are actually in hell!”

The new term is coming soon. What is your resolution? Let’s share it!

On Dec. 28, a small satellite(卫星) was launched(发射)into space from Taiyuan, Shanxi. It was big news for students at Beijing Bayi School. After all, they designed the satellite.

With the help of space scientists, more than 30 students built this satellite (12 cm long, 11 cm wide and 27 cm tall). This is the first satellite designed and built by middle school students in China.

This August, the school worked with the China Center for Aerospace Science and Technology International Communications(CCASTIC 中国航天科技国际交流中心) and started the satellite program. It allowed space experts to teach students about basic knowledge of satellites.

After several months of hard work, students designed their own satellite. Their main achievement was the design of the satellite’s functions (功能) in space. “We worked together and came up with more than 10 ideas. But after tests and experiments, we settled on four,” Zhu Xun, 16, told Beijing Evening News.

Indeed, they have to consider the weight of the satellite. The satellite will stay in space more than 180 days. Its functions include taking pictures of Earth, radio communication and sending information to Earth. The students hope that the satellite can take photos of smog, typhoons(台风) and other weather conditions.

The students were divided into five groups. The group members worked closely to make satellite models. “Every time we think the satellite we are designing will fly into space, we are so excited and try to do experiments,” said Shen Shulang, 17. They also visited the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other organizations to get inspiration(灵感).

Do you dream of the day when you can drive a car? In the United States, teenagers can get their driver’s license when they are only 16 years old.

Getting a driver’s license takes a lot of time and energy, but it’s worth it because it means having a lot more freedom. I’m from the state of Iowa (爱荷华州) that doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. So until I turned 16, my parents had to drive me pretty much everywhere.

There were several steps before I got that special plastic card. In Iowa, everyone can get their learner’s permit at the age of 14, which means you can only drive if your parent is sitting in the seat next to you.

The next step was getting my school permit at the age of 15. In the state of Iowa, if you live more than a mile (1.6km) away from school, you can get a school permit. But you can only drive to school and back home. Luckily, I lived just over a mile away from school, so I was able to drive my mom’s car to school. But if you were caught going outside that route （路线）, you would get into big trouble.

Finally, after taking (and passing) a three-month driver’s education course and the final test, I was able to get my driver’s license. I could almost taste the freedom already, and it did in fact make life quite a bit easier.

It was a sunny summer day and I walked back home after school. When I stood in front of the door, I was shocked to find that the key had disappeared from my pocket. It was a disaster for me, because I only had one key and my parents were gone for several days.

I walked around the community, hoping to find the lost key. But I couldn’t find it. I called my mum and she told me to go to my aunt’s home. My aunt lives in another building of our community. I was sad, but I had no choice. The next morning, when I was going to school, I saw something shining on the window of the security hut (保安亭). It was my key. “Unbelievable!” I was quite surprised as I held the key in my hands.

“Is that yours, kid?” the old guard asked.

“Yeah. I lost it yesterday. Who sent this?” I replied. The old man said, “I don’t know, someone picked it up last night.”

To pick up a key from the ground and take it to the security hut is not something special, but it meant so much to me. I cannot express my thanks to the person who found my key. But I can pass on his or her kindness by following his or her steps to help others.

I remember when I was growing up, my mom always said, “Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others.” It’s so true. Friends allow us to taste our success and comfort us in our challenging moments. They provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. 1. I’ve always looked at friends as family members. As a famous writer once said, “2. 一位朋友就是一份礼物 which you give yourself.”

To be a good friend, 3. it is important to be a good listener. Hear what your friend says first rather than making conclusions(结论)quickly.

Sometimes it’s useful to repeat their words back to them. It can help them realize whether their words were what they wanted to say.

Patience is also an important part of being a good friend. 4.你知道这条古老的黄金规则，“Care for others the way you would like them to care for you.” The support of a friend during a difficult time could make a difference between success and failure. Encouragement and confidence are the best gifts that can change a person’s life.

5.We should choose our friends carefully, because they can have a huge influence on our life. As someone told me, “The attitudes of your friends are like the button(按钮)on a lift. They will either take you up or down.”

“百善孝为先”，尊敬父母是中华民族的传统美德。但是，在当今社会，还存在一些不孝敬父母的现象。作为中学生，我们应该怎样孝敬父母？请根据下列提示词，并结合自身实际，以Show Filial Piety for Our Parents为题，写一篇关于孝敬父母的英语倡议书。

Show Filial Piety for Our Parents

As we know, parents are the most important people in our lives.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Action, boys and girls! Be our parents’ good babies!