I ran up the stairs two at a time, holding the book from the library, the one with my essay printed out in it. I couldn’t wait to tell my parents. Before I could open my mouth, my mother looked at my book and frowned (皱眉).

“Another new book, Mia?” she said. “You should be spending more time doing maths. Something you can actually get good at.” Then she became homesick. “You know when I was your age, I used to attend my brother’s maths lessons...”

Yesh, yeah, yeah. I didn’t have time for this.

“I’m not you, Mom,” I yelled. The words came shooting out of my mouth, and my mom was shocked.“I’m sorry. I just mean... Maybe I like something else.”

“Like what?” she asked. She put her broom down and crossed her arms. I bit my lip.

“Like writing?”

“English writing?” she asked, “like it was the most useless thing in the world, like I’d said basket weaving?”

I nodded.

“You gotta be native at English. And I’m sorry, but we are just not. You can, however, be native at maths.”

“I don’t want to be native at maths...” I said. My mother frowned.

“You’re not getting it, are you?” she said. She sat down on the bed and looked at me in the eye. “You just can’t be as good as the white kids in their language, honey. It’s their language.”

My gaze sank to the floor.

As I dragged myself out of the room, my mother called after me, “Someday you’ll think me!”   “You are ________. I believe that if ________.” I said to myself firmly.

One morning, Ann’s neighbor Tracy found a lost dog walking around the local elementary school. (A) She asked Ann if she could keep an eye on the dog. Ann said that she could watch it only for the day.

Tracy took photos of the dog and printed off 400 FOUND fliers (传单), and put (B) them in mailboxes. Meanwhile, Ann went to the dollar (C) store and bought something for the pet dog, warning her two sons not to fall in love with the dog. At the time, Ann’s son Thomas was 10 years old, and Jack, who was recovering from a heart operation, was 21 years old.

Four days later Ann was still looking after the dog. By that time they had started to call it Riley. When she (D) arrived home from work, the dog threw itself against the screen door and barked madly at her. As soon as she opened the door, Riley rushed into the boys’ room. There Ann found Jack suffering from a heart attack. Riley ran over to Jack, but as soon as Ann bent (弯腰) over to help (E) him the dog went silent.

“If (F) ________ hadn’t come to get me, the doctor said Jack would have died, “Ann reported to a local newspaper. At this point, no one had called to ask for the dog, so Ann decided to keep it.

The next morning Tracy got a (G) ________. A man named Peter recognized (认出) his lost dog and phoned the number on the flier. Tracy started crying, and told him. “That dog saved my friend’s son.”

(H) 彼得开车前往安的家去取回他的小狗, and saw Thomas and Jack crying in the window. After a few moments Peter said, “Maybe Odie was supposed to find you, maybe you should keep it.”

Studying makes you tired. How to deal with the worries and relax yourself? Here is some advice which may add happiness to your life.

Rest at weekends. Weekends are time for a rest. After a week’s hard work, weekends are the best time to relax yourself. Having a nice sleep is a good idea, because it makes sure of your study.

Cry out. If you feel sad, don’t try to hide your feelings. Crying out may help reduce (减少) your sadness.

Keep a diary. You can write down all that you want to say. That’s a great way to think about and remember life. You can do it on paper or on computers.

Enjoy a big meal. It’s not a good idea for a kid to lose weight, so you don’t need to eat less food. When you feel upset, enjoy a big meal. Eating delicious food will make you feel good.

Join in activities. Having a get-together is great fun. Going out with friends for a trip will make you happy. And it will also help you sleep well.