— _______ do I.
—It's just a waste of time. There is ________ nothing worth listening to.
—___________.
When we are unfamiliar with something， we may feel nervous and scared. The help of others is a good 1 to help us pull through.
I write for a big newspaper， and I wanted to 2 a story about parachute jumping(跳伞). To make it a realistic as well as exciting 3 ， I decided that I had to make a jump myself 4 . Unluckily， I'm not good at any 5 ， let alone(更不用说) parachute jumping.
My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a 6. He took me to a ground school. The first day's 7 included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from an airplane. For this， I had to wait until the following morning .
The next morning， I was taken to the airfield.8 ， a heavy parachute was put on my back. Then I was asked to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board， the plane was soon 9. I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters， Harry， my teacher， hooked(钩)a line from my parachute to a steel(钢的) ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute 10 after I jumped.
“Get 11 ， Henry，” Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to 12 ， “No， no， no!” But no word came.
“Jump!” Harry called 13. “Jump!”
Away from the plane， and down， down I fell， arms stretched(伸直). It worked. All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick 14 My big parachute had opened! It was the best 15 I ever had. I looked down. There were rivers， trees， fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was fun.
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Parents and teachers worry about games having a bad effect on students， and， a large number of reports have been written about games leading to addiction(上瘾) and violent action. One who is addicted to games of violence might think fighting or even killing is not a very serious thing.
But not everything about gaming is bad. For some， games are a good way to learn as well. Many games are based on history， city or planning. Such games can teach students valuable lessons of life in some ways. Some games can improve players' memory skills by asking them to perform memory exercises throughout the game in order to reach the next level. Computer games are known to improve hand-eye coordination（协调）and help players develop problem solving. Most games encourage players to meet more difficult challenges.
Computer games have both good and bad effects. Playing games itself is not a problem， but students need to know about how much time to spend playing games and what kind of games to play. Gaming is like any other activity in life——eating too many hamburgers or too much pizza is harmful too.
Holmes said， “Somebody sent a letter with five pips (桔核) in it from India， and arrived seven weeks later to kill John's uncle. Then they sent five pips from Scotland and arrived three days later to kill John's father. Now they have sent five pips to John from London!”
“The letters are all from sea ports. The writer was on a ship when he wrote the letters，” I replied.
“Very good， Watson! And John's enemy is in London already!”
“Well， I hope they won't kill young John，” I said.
But they did. The next morning， we read in the newspaper that a policeman found him die near Waterloo station. Holmes was very angry about it.
“He came to me for help and those men murdered him! I'm going to find them， if it's the last thing I do!” he said to me， and he hurried out of the house.
At night， when he came back， he was tired， but pleased， he said， “I know the names of John's enemies! And now I'm going to send them a surprise! This will frighten them!” He took five pips from an orange and put them in an envelope (信封). On it he wrote “S. H. for J. C.”
“I'm sending the pips to captain James Calhoun. His ship is called the Star. He and his men are sailing back to Georgia， USA.”
“How did you find him， Holmes?” I asked.
“Ship's papers，” he said， “I've looked at hundreds of them today. Only one ship， the Star， was in the three ports at the right times， this morning the Star left London to sail back to Georgia. I found out that the captain and two of his men， all Americans， weren't on the ship last night， so I'm sure they killed John. When they arrive in America， they'll get the pips and then the police will catch them!”
John came to Holmes for help.
② John received a letter with five pips.
③ John was killed.
④ Holmes sent five pips to J. C.
Mayme Clayton collected books， magazines and letters written by African Americans. Her son， Avery Clayton， thought her collection was important. Unlike most books， these were rare and hard to find. They were written by writers who helped shape African American culture.
One book in the collection was written by Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley was a slave who wrote poetry. She was the first African American to publish a book. Wheatley herself signed (签名) the book in the Claytons' collection. No one else owns a copy signed by Phillis Wheatley.
By the time she passed away at age 83， Mrs. Clayton had more than 30，000 books by or about black people. Her collection also includes papers about slaves， photographs， movies， sheet music， and personal letters by black leaders and artists. It is one of the biggest personal collections of African American history and culture in the United States.
Avery Clayton's dream was to create a museum for his mother's treasures. Scholars say that Mrs. Clayton's collection is very important. Without her work， part of African American heritage (遗产) would have been lost. “We didn't know these things existed，” says Sara Hadron of California's Huntington Library.
The collections new home is likely to be in Culver City， California. Part of Avery Clayton's dream is to share the cultural riches his mother collected with others. He especially wants children to have a chance to see the collection. “ At present African American culture is being explained by pop culture，” he says， “ It's important to offer a more complete picture.”
Mayme Clayton and Her Collection | |
Personal information | ● She liked books， magazines and letters written by African Americans. ●She when she was 83years old. |
Her collection | ● Compared with other books， the books she collected couldn't be found . ● The only copy and signed by Phillis Wheatley was in her collection. ● She had a large collection ， books， paper， photographs and other things by black leaders and artists. ● Her collections is to African American history and culture. |
Her dream | ● A for the treasure would be created. ● He hopes to the culture riches collected by his mother with more people， especially |
Many would agree that when we think of Christmas， we probably think of gifts， Christmas trees and Santa Claus. But behind all these things lies the true meaning of Christmas: the importance of sharing and giving love and joy to people around us. The story in A Christmas Carol is perhaps the best example of this.
A Christmas Carol is a famous novel written by Charles Dickens. It is about an old man named Scrooge. He only thinks about himself and doesn't treat others nicely. He just cares about whether he can make more money. And he hates Christmas. One Christmas Eve， Scrooge sees the ghost of Jacob Marley， his dead business partner. Marley used to be just like Scrooge， so he was punished after he died. He warns Scrooge to change his ways if he doesn't want to end up like him. He also tells Scrooge to expect three spirits to visit him.
That night， three ghosts visit Scrooge. First， the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his childhood and reminds Scrooge of his happier days as a child. Then the second spirit， the Ghost of Christmas Present， takes him to see how others are spending Christmas this year. Everyone is happy， even poor people. The last one， the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come， takes him to the future. He sees that he is dead but nobody cares. Scrooge is so scared that he wakes up in his bed and finds out it is already the next morning on Christmas Day!
He decides to change his life and promises to be a better person. He happily celebrates Christmas with his relatives. He also gives gifts to people in need. He now treats everyone with kindness and warmth， spreading love and joy everywhere he goes. And that is the true spirit of Christmas!
