Santa Can Come before Christmas

     It was last June.I entered a supermarket to pick some vegetables，when a young man asked me，“Can you tell me where the (1) ______ counter counter (柜台) is? ”
    “Well，the milk is in the lower right corner，”I replied.
    Picking up my things，I finally came to the milk counter where I met the same man (2) ______ almost 10 bottles of milk.
    I asked，“Do you need a basket or a trolley？”
    “Sure，thank you.” he answered.
    I was (3) ______ he was still picking more bottles and after a few minutes his trolley had 24 bottles of milk.
    I laughed and asked, “Why so many bottles?”
    He smiled and said, “These are for my street  dogs.Today,I want to be a Santa (4) ______ them.”
    I said, “Well, it`s too (5) ______ for you to be a Santa, It is still June and Christmas comes in December.”
    He (6) ______ at me and walked a few steps, as if he wanted to say something but he left the counter without saying anything.
    (7) ______, we met again at the bread counter.
    “So these bread and cakes are also for the street dogs, Mr. Santa.”
    He smiled and said, “Yes,these are also for the dogs and I love to be Mr. Santa in the month of June, Santa is a representation (象征) of surprises and (8) ______. Santa comes in December as we (9) ______ him around Christmas. But in real life there is a Santa in each one of us that shines through our personality at some point of time, no matter which month it is. Maybe when you offered help to me by getting me a trolley, there  was a (10) ______ Santa in you, When we offer food to a poor man or a(n) (11) ______ to someone who is caught in the rain, we are being Santa there, So when you offer help to others or get help from others, just think that Santa has come all the way for you.”
    He left and I was happy that I had met him. t was right to understand that Santa can come before Christmas, We just need to realize that he is around us by (12) ______ happiness and unconditional love.

    Billy’s favorite color is orange.But he can’t see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.
    A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren’t quite as big as a normal baby’s. “Billy would  never be able to see. ”the doctor told his mother. After that Billy’s mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.
    Billy does not only depend on his mother’s descriptions to learn about the world around him.He sees with his ears and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls,he can tell the numbers they dial (拨).
    Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.
    “You can’t let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can’t move forward and reach your goals, ”said Billy.  

    Have you ever wondered what goes through your mind when you choose where to sit in a new classroom? Or in a waiting room full of strangers? Or on a bus? Researchers have found out some interesting facts.
    Perhaps unsurprisingly, we prefer to sit closer to people like ourselves. Girls sit by girls and boys sit by boys. Adults sit together and young people choose another young person to sit near. But it goes further than this. We even choose to sit near someone who looks like us. People with glasses are more likely to sit near other people with glasses. People with long hair sit closer to other people with long hair.
    We seem to believe that people with similar habits or hobbies will share similar attitude and we are more likely to be accepted by people like ourselves or even, we think we may be safer with people who look like us. Sometimes that’s true but it's a pity if we always stick to the same people, the same group. The danger in always staying in our comfort zone (舒适区) is that we just recycle the same opinions, the same tastes and the same ideas. We lose the chance to learn something new, find out about interesting things, hear funny stories and discover difference.

    When we always stick to the same people, how can we ever break down the barriers which prevent us from getting to know people with different ideas? And how can we avoid the ignorance (无知), which too often leads to prejudice (偏见) and even fear? If instead you wan t to live in a society that opens to changes and new things and different opinions, be the cat among the pigeons.
    Move out of your comfort zone. Go and sit next to someone different. And don't just sit there in silence. Say hello. Ask a question. Start a conversation. That’s how we make friends. That’s how we learn about people. That’s how we open our minds to new ideas. That's how we live an exciting life.

    Teens want structure in their lives, which means they want their lives well-planned. To begin building structure, teens need love and trust. They need to know their parents are there to give them needed love and support (支持). Teens want to be sure that nothing can prevent parents from shouldering their responsibility for them — not their growing maturity (成熟), misbehavior, nor anger at something they have done. Teens want parents to keep control while allowing them to make some decisions.
    There are some ways you can help your teens create reasonable structure and remain close. One way is to spend time together. Parents often mistake their teens’ increased interest in friends for a disinterest in the family.
    Teens would like to spend more time doing t hings with their parents, but watching TV is not counted as spending time together. As your teens mature, it is important for you and your teens spend time alone together, one to one. Your teens need time to talk to you alone without any other family member present.
    Talk with your teens about their interests and concerns. Make sure you really show interest in what is happening. When talking with your teens, give full attention and do not stop them.
    The way to help your teens become adults is to let your teens into your world. Sharing your emotions and concerns wi th your teens is important. Avoid causing needless worry.
    Trust your teens. Don't expect the worst. Hope for the best. Telling your teens you don’t lik e their friends will cause the teens not to bring their friends home. If something should go wrong, believe that your teens didn’t do it on purpose.
    It is very important that you treat your teens with respect. Teens need the same respect adults show for total strangers. Don’t talk down to your teens.
    You need to be supportive of your teens. What may be a small problem to you may be troubling to your teens. Teens don't have the experiences that adults have had. Let the teens know that you understand how much it hurts when something happens that is upsetting or hurtful to them. As they mature, they can look back at some problems they had and laugh at having been upset by something that now seems unimportant.
    The most important things to remember are: talk with your teens, listen to their worries and offer suggestions when needed. This will help your teens to live a well-organized life.

    Peter lost his friend’s book, He felt very sad. Kate broke her mom’s favorite cup (1) ______ She was so sorry for her mistake.
    We all make mistake because we’re human.And it’s not always easy to get on well with everyone all the time. Sometimes we hurt people’s feelings although we don’t do it on purpose. Sometimes we hurt people’s feelings on purpose (2) ______ So we apologize（道歉）.
    An apology tells someone that we’re sorry for our mistakes. It’s a way to shoe that we’ll try to do better in future.
    Apologies are one of the tools to build good friendships and relationships.When you say “I’m sorry”, you probably feel bad because what you did or said hurt another person. (3) ______,you’re also saying that you respect the other person, and care about his or her feelings. Apologizing shows you have empathy（同感）.
    After apologizing, you might feel a little better (4) ______ When you apologize in a caring way, you might feel good because  you are trying to make things right again.

    Almost every kid in this country has ever eaten Hershey chocolate. But do you know that the Hershey chocolate factory is more than one hundred years old? And do you know that the father of Hershey Chocolate, Milton Hershey, had many failures in business before he started his famous company?
    Milton Hershey grew up in Pennsylvania. Before he became interested in making chocolate, he worked as a printer for a small newspaper at first, and then decided that printing was not the right job for him.
    Then he worked at a candy factory in Lancaster. After working a few y ears there, he decided to open his own little candy business near Philadelphia. His first business failed because it was not making money. After that, he went to Denver to learn how to make caramels (焦糖). He took his new skills back to New York and worked selling candies on the street. But his second business also failed.
    Finally, Milton Hershey moved back to Pennsylvania where he grew up. He then experimented with all sorts of different candies and chocolate. By 1893 he was selling a million dollars worth of caramel candy each year. Since his chocolate-flavored (巧克力味的) caramels were the best selling, he decided to make chocolate himself.
    By experimenting, Milton Hershey discovered how to make delicious chocolate. The area where he lived had a large and easy supply of milk and sugar, which helped him succeed in his chocolate business. In 1903, Milton Hershey built a huge chocolate factory and a town to go with it.
    Today, the town of Hershey is still the home if the factory that Milton Hershey built. And if you ever visit, you can smell delicious chocolate smells just bu driving through the town.
    The factory is not so hard to find, Just travel down Cocoa Avenue until you get to East Chocolate Avenue. Turn right at the traffic lights and just follow your nose.

    假如你叫李华，你的美国笔友Tom 上周刚过完生日。他想知道你经常和谁一起过生日，怎么过的，你收到的最喜欢的礼物是什么，以及你喜欢它的原因。请你根据他的问题回复邮件。
提示词语：cake, noodles, sing songs, make a wish, get presents
    (1) Who do you often celebrate your birthday with ? Your parents? Your friends? Or…?
    (2) What do you usually do on your birthday?
    (3) What is your favorite present? Why do you like it?
To:  Tom
From:  Li Hua
Subject:  Birthday
    Hi! Tom，
        I’m glad that you had a nice birthday party last week.

Yours.
Li Hua