It snowed again. My seventh Christmas was coming. I dreamed of getting the gift from Father Christmas until my elder sister said, "There is no Father Christmas."

I ran to my grandmother's house, for she always told the fact. Grandma was at home. I told 1everything. "No Father Christmas?" She was a little2. "Don't believe it .Put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Where, grandma?" I asked.

"Kerby's Store."

As we walked through its door, grandma handed me ten dollars and said, " Take the3and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car," Then she walked out of the store.

For a few seconds I just stood there, holding the money, wondering 4 to buy, and whom to buy it for. I thought of5 I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors... then I thought of Bobbie Decker, a6with bad temper (脾气)and messy hair. He sat right behind me7Mrs. Pollack's class.

Bobbie 8went to any party during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cold, 9we all knew that he didn't have a cold, and he didn't have a coat. I decided to buy Bobbie a red warm 10 that he would like.

That evening, grandma helped me wrap the coat and11" To Bobbie From Father Christmas" on it . Grandma told me Father Christmas never let people know that he12them. Then she drove me to Bobbie's house, telling me that I was helping Father Christmas 13 the gift. We stood behind trees. Then grandma said to me, "All right. Father Christmas, get going." I ran to the front door, put the gift down 14the door, rang the doorbell and flew back to the 15. We waited in the dark for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie.

That night, I realized that Father Christmas was alive, and we were on his team.

     I have a happy family. Look! Here is a 1 of my family. The boy in bed is2. I am 3 English boy. My4 is Peter. I am eleven years old. This is my sister. Her name is Kate. 5 is nine years old now. Kate and I are students now. We are 6 the same school. 7 are my father and mother. My father is a teacher. How old is my father? He is forty. My mother is 8 nice. She cooks(做饭) for us every9. We all 10 her so much. We are a happy family.

—But I hear today they have a __________price of ＄25 in the shopping center.

C

    Yang Hui was born in Longyan, Fujian. She grew up in a small village. She lost all her fingers and feet when she was three. She was badly burnt by accident when she went out with her grandparents. She couldn't walk and she seldom went out.

    The young girl had to learn to do everything. At first she wasn't able to use chopsticks. Her parents had to teach her for a long time. Thanks to her strong will（意志）to do everything by herself, she overcame those difficult times. Now she can look after herself. She also loves studying and she has finished the junior high school courses.

    About five years ago, Yang Hui saw someone make cross-stitch（十字绣）and she decided to learn to make it herself. As you can imagine, it's very difficult to make it without fingers. Yang Hui failed so many times. But she never gave up. And through many hours of practice, now she can use her arms to make good cross-stitch works and she is faster than other people. "One had to put great efforts into what she was doing." Yang Hui said.

    Now she is 21 years old and she is in hospital in Fujian. She continues making a 1.83-meter-long cross-stitch work with arms. She has no enough money for her operations（手术）. Many kind-hearted people come to visit her and call on people to raise money for her.

    As for her future, Yang Hui said, "I hope to stand up and walk one day after operations. I want to make more money by selling cross-stitch works."

    If you want to know more about Yang Hui and help her, please call 13004982348.

(From Fuzhou News)

A: Hey, Matt. What are you wearing on your wrist(手腕)?

B: It's a Fitbit. I think it's a really useful invention.

A: Let me have a look.  

B: It was invented in 2008 and it has become more and more popular since then.

A:  It looks just like a watch.

B: A Fitbit is not just a watch.

A: Really? That's interesting.

B: Yes. It gives me helpful information. For example, it can count my steps and tell me if I exercise enough.

A: Cool!

B: It gives information about my sleep.

A: That's helpful!

B: I don't know. My mom gave it to me as my birthday gift.

A: Lucky you!

—It's perfect. It's more interesting than ______ novel that I have ever seen.

    Last week, I had a pretty good vacation with my family.  On Monday, the weather was sunny and hot.  we also played volleyball on the beach. On Tuesday, it was cloudy and wet. We visited a museum in Central Park.  On Wednesday and Thursday, it was rainy and windy.  We bought some interesting things and ate some delicious food. On Friday, the weather was cool, just right for walking.  It was high. We were very tired but happy. I really enjoyed my vacation.

Imagine having an animal as your teacher. How much do you think one could learn from a hippopotamus(河马)?At the Cincinnati Zoo, a baby hippo named Fiona is helping to educate young people across the United States.

Fiona was born at the Cincinnati Zoo in January 2017. She was born nearly two months early, before her body was strong. That meant her body was smaller than that of other baby hippos. She weighed only 13 kilograms at birth. That is about one­third the size of a normal, fully developed baby hippopotamus. Her birth weight was so low that Fiona's caregivers feared she might not survive(生存). She was also unable to stand or take milk from her mother.

But thanks to special treatments and assistance from hospital workers, Fiona stayed healthy. By her first birthday, she had grown to 318 kilograms, a healthy weight for a hippopotamus that age. Some experts believe Fiona is the smallest hippo ever to survive.

Her story got the national attention because of stories on traditional and social media. The young hippo is now a symbol for the Cincinnati Zoo. The zoo has used her name and image to sell a great deal of merchandize, including clothing and toys. She is also the star of at least six books and she is a very popular subject for library and classroom activities.

The latest book is called Saving Fiona, which aims at young readers, telling them the story of Fiona's struggle to survive. It also encourages people not to lose hope and never give up.

—Sorry, but my parents and I have decided ________ to Dongjiang Lake for camping.