Dubai was a 6,000-person fishing village half a century ago. Since 1966, when oil was discovered there, the population of Dubai has grown to 2.6 million. Over the years, it (become) a well-known tourist destination .

    attracts tourists to Dubai are tax-free shopping, dry weather, excellent accommodations, delicious food and beaches that go on for miles. In fact, some foreigners come here only (experience) the shopping. There are dozens of shopping malls, (provide) every famous brand you can name. Those outdoor markets sell everything from spices (香料) to gold at fair prices.

    Choosing what places to visit in Dubai is difficult, because even the hotels there are also amazing (attract). The Burj A1 Arab is considered one of the world's best hotels, and is located on its own island, about 1,000 feet offshore from Dubai. Built in the shape of ship, this hotel is still (tall) than the Eiffel Tower and nearly as tall as the Empire State Building. Certainly, there are also other great places of interest to visit.

    Indeed, travelling around this country will (true) give you an amazing experience because of its interesting things  (offer) to all types of tourists.

    Once there lived a rich man wanted to do something for the people of his town. But first he wanted to find out whether they (actual) deserved his help.

    In the centre of the main road into the town , he placed very large stone. Then he (hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.

    “Who put this stone in the centre of the road?” said the old man, but he did not attempt (remove) the stone. ,with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way. man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone but nobody tried to remove it. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone, (say) to himself; “The night (be)very dark. Some neighbors will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

    The he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his (strong)to move it. To his amazement, he found a bag of money under the stone.

    Some people live in the world for body while for dignity(尊严).

    I once took a walk along the street on a Saturday dusk, with a Pepsi can in my hand. An old woman in ragged clothes, was living on collecting (use) cans, jars and tins, moved slowly towards me, with a bag on the back! (walk) nearer, she looked up at me and then fixed her eyes on my can. At that time, I hadn't finished my cola, so I gave several coins instead.

    She stared at me for a few seconds handed back the money. Quite confused, I asked: “Why not? Isn't that you want?” “I am not a beggar,” she said (serious), word by word.

    Instantly, I felt so sorry. I had intended to help her, completely misunderstanding her. Thus I hurt her. What I could do at that moment was only to drink up the cola and handed her emptied can. This time, she gave me a smile satisfaction and gratitude in her eyes. The woman is poor in material life but is so respectable as a man. I am not only moved but also have learned a good lesson.

    You want to be happy, who doesn't? However, whether you procrastinate(拖延), feed negative self-talk, or don't rest your mind, you lower your potential to create happiness.

Procrastination

    You aren't in deadly danger if you procrastinate, but your system doesn't always take this information on board. You still react as though you are anxious and produce stress chemicals.

    Your ability to see the big picture of life is reduced when you procrastinate. Therefore, you don't see as much joy.

Negative self-talk

    Taking notice of what goes on in your head and putting positive change in action makes negative self-talk useful. Nevertheless, most people don't recognize negative self-talk as a pointer; they feed it until it grows out of control.

    Your mind contains an incredible amount of information and is more powerful than any computer many times over. However, if you give it too many tasks, you shut out peace of mind.

    Thought-overload results in physical symptoms, like a racing heart and shortness of breath. Additionally, you might have sleeplessness, digestive problems and other symptoms of stress that reduce your happiness.

    If you want to increase the odds of being happy, don't procrastinate. Similarly, don't overload your mind, give it a rest and you will soon notice you are happier.

    “Is there anything else you need, honey？” my dad asked  me as he put three twenty­dollar bills in my hand. I was traveling  back home from a family visit, and after treating me to breakfast  and filling my car with gas, it was obvious that my dad wanted  to make sure that I would be okay on the road.

    “No, Dad. You've done so much already. Thank you！” I was overwhelmed once again by his kind acts of providing  everything I needed, despite the fact I just turned 40. Yet I realize that in my father's eyes, I will always be his little girl. He takes deep pleasure in knowing his children are all right.  Now that he has enough money, he loves to give whenever he  sees a need.

    But this was not always the case.  Divorced from my mother when I was 11, my dad couldn't be around his kids as  often as he would have liked. Money was also tight; even weekend visits were rare. However, my dad stayed in constant  communication with us and made sure he was involved in our lives. Though he couldn't always be there in person, I knew  he was only a phone call away. I could always count on that.

    Even now, almost 30 years later, I treasure knowing that I can pick up the phone and call Dad, and he'll be there for me. I have a wonderful husband, but that hasn't changed how   Dad sees me. I'm still his child and he loves to see that my   needs are met.

    I remember a time when I was shopping in a hardware store(五金店)with Dad. I mentioned my plans to paint one wall in my house. Well, that's all it took for Dad to take   action. By the time I got to the checkout(结账) line, all the supplies I picked out were put out of my hands and placed with things he bought.

    Then there was the time when I took him with me to do some grocery shopping for just a few “ items”. By the time we  were finished, my shopping cart was full of groceries from  every shelf in the store! My sister and I joke that if you don't want Dad to buy it for you, avoid even mentioning you want something.

    Breakthroughs in science and technology are paving the way for modern cities to support bigger populations. Now, we see the most exciting urban innovations to show you exactly how they'll improve your city's infrastructure(基础设施).

Lighting Up The Night

    Anthony Di Mari dreamed up an electric tree to help irrigate public parks and light them at night. These electric trees contain a special infill (填充物) that collects water from rainfall. The water is then distributed through a shallow underground irrigation system with the help from the trees' swaying movement. An electric motor turns energy from the waving of the artificial trees into electricity, which is used to light up the trees' outer LEDs.

Thinking Outside The Box

    As more people flock to urban areas, city planners will need to get increasingly creative about how to satisfy residents' health and transportation needs within decreasing available space. One way to achieve this is by updating infrastructure to support biking and walking by building suspended(悬浮的) roundabouts like hovering in the Netherlands. By lifting bicycle and pedestrian traffic above busy roadways, cities can significantly decrease over-crowded traffic condition.

Waving Hello To Clean Energy

    Cities that don't receive enough sunlight may find an attractive alternative in wave power. Since ocean waves rarely experience disruption(中断), electric engines driven by their clockwork push-and-pull can reliably provide power throughout the year. Further, thanks to advances in wave power technology, engineers have been able to move wave power engines farther offshore, where the waves pack the most punch, making the engines extremely efficient. So in the future, heavily populated coastal cities may use wave to meet their energy needs.

Value Now No Longer Missed

    John, a famous musician, took his priceless antique zither(齐特琴)and played it in the crowded subway station. The music emanating from the zither was delicately streaming1the whole station. However, during the one-hour play, only six or seven people were truly2the charming music. John only got 52 dollars for his work that day.

    However, in normal days, when John is about to hold a 3, one ticket can be sold at more than 100 dollars and it is extremely 4to buy a ticket even at such a high price. Therefore, later, many passers-by in the station that day felt deeply5for not recognizing the famous musician and missing such a valuable but 6music feast.

    I have a very7friend who had totally changed after knowing that his wife8an acute illness. He cooked by himself for the family and took a walk with his wife every day. Nonetheless, his wife still did not manage to9the illness and passed away after three months. After that, he often sighed 10that due to his past busy life, he had missed a lot of beautiful time with his wife. But now, it is11to make up for it.

    It is no use crying over spilt milk. We have12a lot of precious things in our life without knowing how to13them. Actually, I also missed something 14before. The reason is simple: we had thought that we could still own them tomorrow.

    Nevertheless, tomorrow is actually15reliable. There was a famous Buddhist monk saying that in many people's lives, they have only done two things: waiting and 16 . The result is that they were always too late to cherish 17they had before they lost it. We would often claim to do something when we 18, or when we have money or when we become old, etc. However, when we reach the19, we could no longer realize our20, because we have lost it by then.

    From the very first moment I met Mattie on my TV show three years ago, I fell in love with him. He was a ten-year-old little1 born with a life-threatening disease. But his poems of peace and 2 had touched millions of lives. We became quick friends, 3 each other.

    We often talked about the sunrises and sunsets on the web, and I 4 with Mattie that being a black, I wasn't a beach person because there was no 5 for me to tan(晒黑). He strongly 6me to go to the beach that he and his mom visited. He always 7every single second of the present. He could not understand why everybody wasn't out on the beach at 8 during their vacation, and he couldn't 9 why people would want to miss a 10. I said, “Mattie, most people don't like to 11early on vacation.”

    We also talked a lot about 12. He said to me one day, “I sometimes get a little unhappy or angry when I'm 13of dying. The boys who lived upstairs said that14 I got famous, I should always be happy and never sad. I don't 15 they understand what it's like to know you have to live your life so 16, because unless I keep getting miracles(奇迹), my life here won't 17. I am afraid of the pain of dying and worried about what I will 18 because I love living so, so, so much.”

    After a pause, he continued, “I really do want to be a 19 when I die. My dream is to bring my 20of peace to as many people as possible.”

要点：1．写信目的； 2．与他交流你对四大名著的看法；3．希望收到回信。

注意：1．词数100左右；2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3．开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。

Dear Zelin Gao,

    I am a high school student of the same age with you. ……

Yours truly,

Li Hua

1）. 表达思念；

2）. 感谢帮助；

3）. 希望保持联系。

注意事项：1. 不得透露真实姓名和学校；2. 词数：100左右；3. 开头和结尾已写出，不计入词数。

Dear David,

    How time flies! It's been a total week since you left our school. ……

Yours

Li Hua