A long time ago, there was a king in India. The king’s ________ game was chess.

One day, a wise old man ________ to the palace and the king challenged him to ________ game. The king promised the old man. “You can ________ any prize if you win the game.”

The old man ________, “If I win the game, I’d like one grain of ________ for the first square of the chessboard, two for the second, four for the ________, and then double the amount for each of the ________ of the squares.”

“Is that all?” asked the king, “Wouldn’t you like gold or silver ________?”

“No, just rice.” replied the old man.

The king and the old man played the game ________ a long time. Finally, the old man won. ________ the king ordered his men to collect a bag of rice. He________ one grain on the first square, two on the second, and so on. The king quickly realized the ________ even with all the rice in the country, he would ________ not have enough rice to put on all the ________.

   As an exchange student, I must admit (承认) that at first America was a big culture shock for me.

I stayed with a host family in a small town. My host parents organized a lot of activities in my spare time so that I wouldn’t miss home or feel lonely.

However, life was hard to get used to. My main problem was with the language. I failed to understand much in the first few weeks because everyone spoke so fast. Though I managed to get used to it, I still have problems because they used a lot of idioms(习语).

Another difference was with the food. My host family always had bread, potatoes and salad for meals. I really miss the dumplings, rice and delicious dishes from home.

School was a big shock too. They do not require students to wear uniforms, so students can wear almost whatever they like. Some students have strange hairstyles (发型) as well. Some students even have pink or purple hair!

— By Brad Li

My dream was to see some real snow, so during the Christmas holiday, we took our passport (护照) and flew over the Pacific to Calgary, Canada. We took a bus to a ski resort in the Canadian Rockies. As the bus climbed through the mountains, we saw the thick snow on the trees. I was dying to get out and play with it. At last, we reached the resort and quickly jumped out of the bus. This was our first experience with snow. We were like little children — we made snow balls, and threw them at one another. Then we check in at the hotel.

The next day, we put on our ski suits and gloves, took our skis and went outside onto the snow. Our instructor took us to a gentle slope (斜坡), and showed us some basic skills. To be honest, the first lesson was not a great success. I kept on falling over, and I had to hold on to a rope to keep my balance(平衡).

However, the next day, I only fell over a few times, and I managed to do a few rapid runs. I felt pleased with myself, and my instructor told me I was doing much better. Although it was very cold, I spent most of my holiday skiing. I had a wonderful time.

— By Vanessa

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   Though you are a teenager now, there will finally come a time when you start to earn  (赚) money. While it may be fun to have your own money to spend, it can also be difficult trying to manage it properly. Here are some tips on how to manage your money.

Use your money wisely

Most teenagers earn money for everyday use, or because they are saving up for something. So when they receive their money, they must first decide what they want to do with it. However, try to avoid the temptation (诱惑) to spend it all in one go (一口气)!  Remember: Money takes a long time to earn, but it goes very quickly.

Bank your savings

The money you don’t need can be saved at home or in a bank. If you want to save your money at home, get yourself a piggy bank or something else to keep your money in. The other choice is to save your money in a bank. One of the advantages is that you can earn interest (利息) on it.

Use the money to make money

Rather than saving your money at home or in a bank, you can use the money you earn to invest (投资) in things to make more money. For example, if you are selling something around your neighborhood, you could pay someone else to sell your things in their neighborhood. This way, by spending a little, you can make a lot.

   Children with no shoes on do better at school than those with shoes on, a study suggests.

“The last place a child would sit to read is an upright chair. And we’ve found that 95% of them really don’t read on a chair at home,” Heppel added. “When they go on holidays, they read lying down.”  Professor Heppel hopes to bring the “shoeless policy” to all U.K. schools. He says relaxing conditions at school make children feel as if they’re at home. He believes all the teachers will be glad to adopt the habit.

   Do you always find it is raining when you walk out? Or are you always buying umbrellas and leaving them home when it rains? There is a new umbrella that could solve both problems.

The umbrella will not only tell you the weather, but also let you know you’ve left it behind. How does it work? The umbrella will send a message to your smartphone. And it says “Hey, it’s going to rain in 15 minutes where you are, so you’d better take your umbrella.”

Besides, if you are forgetful, you may never leave an umbrella on a bus or somewhere else again. The umbrella will send a warning to your smartphone if you leave it behind. The new umbrella is expected to go on sale soon. Though it is a good idea and it looks pretty cool, the umbrella will cost you $185. Maybe you will just check the free weather apps (应用程序) on your smartphone and take an umbrella with you when it is going to rain.

   Doris has written a restaurant review on the Internet.

Excellent English food at the Country House.

Last Saturday night, my family and I ate at the Country House.

The Country House serves traditional English food, we paid about 15 to 20 pounds a person to eat there.

The food was wonderful. The fish pie reminded me of my grandma. She used to cook it for me. I also had some fish and chips, and it was fantastic.

The waiters were polite, but a little slow. We were seated at 7 p.m., but we did not receive our food until 7:40 p.m.

I would certainly recommend the Country House for good, traditional English food.  However, you should get there early and be prepared to spend a lot of time waiting for your food.

   Do you know Laszlo Biro？Maybe you do not，but you probably use his invention every day，and you may even have（A）it in your hand right now！

Biro（1899-1985）was the inventor of the ballpoint pen. He was born in Budapest，Hungary. In the 1930s，when he worked as a newspaper editor（编辑），he used a fountain pen（B）almost every day. However，he had to refill it all the time. The ink also did not dry easily，and it sometimes made a mess on the paper. Biro（C）想要更好的笔。His brother，George，helped him develop a special ink. The ink dried easily. Then they developed a new type of pen. There was a（D）tiny ball at the tip of the pen. The ball rolled ink onto the paper as it moved. They call it the“ballpoint”pen.

The ballpoint pen was a great success. Everyone loves it. Now（E）millions of people use it all over the world every day.

People will always remember Biro for his invention. Today in many English-speaking countries，people still use the word“biro”to refer to any kind of ballpoint pen.

California is one of the richest states in America. It has a large amount of land. And it also has more people than any other states. It has plenty of natural resources (资源), too. But everything (A) _______ not perfect there. California has two major problems: earthquakes and forest fires.

The San Andreas Fault runs through California. (B) As a result of it, the state gets many earthquakes. (C)其中一些地震非常强烈For example, there was a strong earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. It destroyed many buildings. And it started a large number of fires. (D) More than 3,000 people died after it. There have also been many other strong earthquakes. Some people fear that the “big (E) one” will hit someday. They think an earthquake will cause a huge amount of damage (破坏).

During summer and autumn, much of California is dry. So forest fires, or wildfires, often start. Those fires can spread (F) rapidly. They burn many forest. But they can also burn people’s homes and buildings. They often kill people.(G) _______ firefighters can put them out.

Students go hungry for charity (慈善)

Students at New Point School enjoyed their breakfast today, for it broke a 24-hour fast (禁食) for charity. During the fast, they could not eat any food
61．, and they could only drink water, tea and clear fruit juice. The students all volunteered to go without food for one day to raise money for UN projects to help the poor
62．.

Mr. James Wood, their English teacher, said, “The students
63． the idea themselves after seeing photos of hungry children. They organized the whole thing. I’m very proud of them.”

The students collected about $2,400 from the fast. They were
65． the total amount. “It’s amazing! People are so kind, and they want to help others,” said Alan Long,  another student.

   为迎接国际慈善日(the International Day of Charity)的到来，某英文报刊将要举办有奖征文活动，请你以 I would like to ______ for charity 为题写篇短文 (词数 80~100)，为本次活动投稿。步骤与要点如下：

1. 确定主题，并在文中说明原因；

2. 围绕主题，进行叙述；

3. 写出具体计划，也可以讲述一段与主题有关的故事或经历。

要求：

1. 补全题目 (参考词汇: sell old things, hold a book fair, pick up rubbish, organize an activity 等)；

2. 字迹工整，内容完整连贯，语言准确规范；

3. 鼓励写出真情实感，对紧扣主题的适当发挥不予扣分。短文的开头已给出，不计入总词数；

4. 作文中可以写出具体计划内容，也可以使用亲身经历或虚构的故事，但要注意时态的运用；如果参照短文中的内容，不可以直接引用短文中的句子；

5. 作文中不要出现考生和相关人物的真实校名和姓名。

I would like to _______ for charity

The International Day of Charity is coming. Many people will do something for it.  What should I do? Here are my ideas.

I would like to …__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________