How long does it take to build a new house? It usually takes about six months or more. But each year, thousands of people work together to build new homes in just four months! Who does this wonderful work? Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is a group that builds homes for families in need. It has branches in different states around the USA. This group works all over the world, too. Volunteers help build the homes. They are unpaid workers. Volunteers can be builders and painters. They can be teachers or bankers. Some are students.

    Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300, 000 houses. More than 1. 5 million people live in these houses. Building a home is hard work. Volunteers learn how to put up walls. They use tools and machines. These selfless volunteers work with the family that will live in the house. Everyone works together to make the family's dream come true.

    Suruchi Srikanth has worked with Habitat for Humanity for four years. She began volunteering in high school. She has built many homes with other volunteers. She takes her responsibilities(责任)seriously. Volunteers know that if they don't help, homes might not get built. They are good citizens(公民)who care about other people.

题目①假如你是李华，正在美国参加一个交换生项目今天下午你应邀和朋友Jim一家外出，请用英语给接待家庭的妈妈Mrs. Smith写一个留言条，告诉她你们要去哪里，去做什么，以及你回家的时间和方式。

提示词语：park, movie theatre, go boating, watch movie

提示问题：·Where are you going?

·What are you going to do?

·When and how will you get home?

Dear Mrs. Smith,

     My friend Jim asks me to go out with his family this afternoon.

Yours,

Li Hua

题目②

宽容是一种美德。人与人之间难免会有磕磕绊绊。面对矛盾，多一份包容和谅解，生活就会多一缕阳光。

某英文网站正在开展以“包容、谅解”为主题的征文活动。假如你是李华，请用英语写一篇短文投稿，谈谈生活中你原谅他人的一次经历，主要内容包括：你们之间发生了什么，你为什么原谅对方，以及原谅对方之后的感受。

提示词语：hurt, realize, forgive（原谅）, happy

提示问题：·What happened between you and him/her?

·Why did you decide to forgive him/her?

·How did you feel after forgiving him/her?

    I still remember what happened between

A Sweet Lesson

    Many people have clear memories of their school years. What I remember most was meeting Christopher, who had diabetes(糖尿病)at the age of four.

    Christopher came to my 1 right after Christmas break. He wasn't shy at all. He stood in front of the class and introduced himself with 2.

    Weeks passed and I realized Christopher was exactly like me. We both were funny and liked sports! But Christopher always wore metal bracelet, which made him quite different.

    My classmates didn't 3 it. They stayed away from Christopher.

    The day before spring break, we had a class party. Mrs. Rose invited our parents too. All kinds of candies were passed out. I tasted every kind and got some for Christopher too, but he didn't even 4 them.

    "Why aren't you eating, Christopher?" I asked.

    He answered seriously, "I can't."

    I kept giving candies to him then he got 5, "I told you I can't. Stop it!" He then stormed out of the room and his mother followed.

    I went home that night with a million questions. My mom told me Christopher had diabetes and that was why he couldn't eat as much sugar as everyone else. She also 6 he wore the bracelet because it had all his medical information in i, in case(万一)he was in serious danger. I felt so sorry for Christopher.

    When we returned to school after spring break, I asked Mrs. Rose if I could tell the class Christopher's medical condition. She agreed. I told them about his diabetes. also suggested that every snack or sweet that we brought to class should be OK for Christopher.

    Months went by and Christopher was 7 than ever. He had even more friends and didn't feel so left out during snack time because everyone was eating the same treat. I realized this was exactly what Christopher wanted-friends who could 8 him and love him for who he was.

Lost in the mountain

    Teenager Jake Deham was skiing(滑雪)with his family in the USA, when he fell over and lost one of his skis. His family didn't know that he had problem. They kept on skiing. When they got to the foot of the mountain there was no sign of Jake.

    Jake couldn't find his ski anywhere. In the end, he decided to take off his other ski and walk down the mountain. But he couldn't work out the right way to go.

    It was getting dark and there was a long way from any place of safety. He knew that he might die that night in the cold temperatures. But Jake kept calm(镇定的). At home, Jake watched a lot of programmes about living in difficult situations. He remembered the advice from these programmes and knew that he should build a hole in the snow. He made a hole and pointed it up the hill so the wind couldn't blow into it. Outside his hole, the temperature fell to a dangerous -15℃ that night, but inside it Jake was safe from the cold.

    But he had to get down the mountain. The TV programmes always said, "If you are lost, you should find someone else's' tracks(足迹)through the snow and follow them." "I wanted to live my life," remembers Jake. "So I got up and I found some ski tracks and followed those. "He walked and walked and finally he saw lights. Nine hours after he lost his ski, he found a team of workers who came to save him. He was safe!

    His mom was very happy when she heard the news. Amazingly, Jake didn't even have to go to hospital. He got through the terrible experience without any injuries.

    So, the next time someone says that watching TV is a waste of time, think of Jake. Some- times TV can save your life!

Ted's Dream to Fly

     Ted Brown's dream as a child was an unusual one: he wanted to fly. What was more unusual was the way in which he made his dream come true.

    After high school, he wanted to join the U.S. Air Force but he failed because of his poor eyesight. However, his dream remained.

    At the age of 33, Ted was a truck driver in Los Angeles. One day, while sitting outside in his garden, he watched planes fly overhead and an idea came to him: to use balloons to fly.

    A few weeks later, Ted bought 42 huge balloons. He tied them to chair and then he sat down in the chair with some beer, sandwiches and a gun. His plan was to fly to 10 meters above his garden, enjoy a few hours in the air, and then shoot some balloons with his gun to get back down. But things did not go as he planned.

    Once his friends cut the ropes under Ted's chair, the 42 balloons flew into the sky at an astonishing speed until about 4000 meters above the ground with Ted and his chair. He didn't shoot any of the balloons because he was afraid he might break the balance of his "plane". Ted stayed in the sky with his beer and sandwiches for 14 hours, cold and frightened.

    Planes heading towards Los Angeles' busy international airport reported the strange sight. And Ted's balloons caused great danger to them. At last, Ted gathered his courage to shoot a few balloons and slowly landed on the ground, where many policemen were waiting for him.

    Ted made his dream come true, but it cost him: he was fined $1,500 for breaking the law about air safety.

    When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Ted answered, "A man can't just sit around and do nothing, he should have his dream and go for it.

The Photo Shoot

    Jeremy looked across the hot grassy land South Africa was a long way from his home-town in America.

    "Ready?" Dad asked.

    "Ready." Jeremy answered. They climbed into the old truck. Jeremy hardly ever spent time with his father, a famous wildlife photographer. So far, he wasn't sure whether he liked following his dad around. The job seemed hard and boring.

    As the truck moved along the rough road, there was a big crash. The door had fallen off!

    "Now we can see better, "Dad laughed. Their guide Makalu threw the door into the back of the truck.

    They stopped near watering hole. Makalu said he was friends with the elephants that sometimes came here. Maybe they'd see some.

    Before long, Jeremy saw a small group of elephants walk toward the water. Dad jumped out of the truck and focused his camera on the largest elephant.

    Jeremy noticed baby elephant walking between two adults. It was small, by elephant standards. Jeremy watched as they neared the water. The larger elephants walked into the water, showering themselves happily. They drew water into their trunks and shot it into the air. It was an elephant party. Then the baby elephant rushed in and water went up to its eyes. The water was too deep for it. The baby elephant was in trouble. It tried to climb out of the water, but the bank was too steep(陡峭的). Other elephants tried pushing the baby up, without success. The mother elephant shouted.

    Jeremy took the broken door from the back of the truck. Makalu saw what Jeremy was planning and ran to help. Together they pulled the door down to the water. Makalu comforted the mother elephant, gently explaining that they were going to help her baby.

    The mother knew Makalu and trusted him. Jeremy moved the door onto the bank. Its mother pushed from behind. The baby stepped onto the door and began to walk. Three more steps, and it was safe. The other elephants gathered around the baby, touching it with their trunks.

    "Boy, Jeremy, "Dad said, "That was the most exciting photo I've ever taken! I'm glad you came along."