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　　Easter Sunday, which falls on April 4th this year, dates back nearly 2,000 years．It is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people around the world．For my family, it is considered the greatest holiday of the year．

　　Every Easter my brothers and I would wake up early and, like Christmas morning, run downstairs to see what surprises were waiting for us．We were always excited when the Easter Bunny(兔子), who is like Father Christmas, came and left us a basket of candy．It’s wonderful．It is like there is a miracle every Easter morning．

　　Our mother, however, would not let us eat the chocolates like we wanted．The chocolate bunnies, and candy eggs would have to wait．Instead, we would have to get dressed in our new clothes．

　　Then my family would go to church．After church we would go to an elder family members’ house for a feast(盛會)．My mother’s family came to the US from Eastern Europe, so we would often eat many traditional dishes．My favorite was ham and a special potato salad．We usually had 20 or more family members at the dinner．

　　After dinner my cousins, brothers and I would go outside．While we were sleeping the night before, our parents had hidden plastic eggs throughout the back yard．We would always have a contest to see who could find the most eggs．The winner would get a prize．It was our annual Easter Egg Hunt．Sometimes, in summer, we would discover an egg we missed on Easter．

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　　A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet．He held up a sign which said：“I am blind, please help．” There were only a few coins in the hat．

　　A man was walking by．He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat．He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words．He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words．

　　Soon the hat began to fill up．A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy．That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were．The boy recognized his footsteps and asked：“Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

　　The man said：“I only wrote the truth．I said what you said but in a different way．”

　　What he had written was：“Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it．”

　　Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

　　Of course both signs told people the boy was blind．But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat．The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind．

　　The first sign simply said the boy was blind．The second sign reminded people they were lucky that they were not blind．

　　There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story．

　　The first is：Be thankful for what you have．Someone else has less．Help where you can．

　　The second is：Be creative．Think differently．There is always a better way．

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　　Today, there is no list of ‘wonder’ for modern world．Still, there are some buildings or landmarks that are called ‘wonders’．These landmarks are easily recognized by people everywhere．Here are some of them．

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　　The match was over．The winner took off his shirt．Then, he pulled off his shoes and threw them into the crowd．Finally, he ran back to the badminton court and saluted(敬禮)the audience．

　　This is how Chinese badminton player Lin Dan celebrated．On November 21, 2010 Lin Dan got the first place in the badminton men’s singles final at the Asian Games in Guangzhou．

　　Known as ‘Super Dan’, the 27-year-old Lin Dan is said to be one of the greatest players in the world．He won nine top titles between 2002 and 2004．In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he won a gold medal．He also won several gold medals from the 2006 and 2007 World Championships．

　　Lin Dan is a left-handed player and can cover the court quickly．On the court, Lin plays with a confident(自信的)and showy style．Some people say he is ‘a(chǎn)rrogant(傲慢的)’．Some people also say he has hot temper．When he was playing in South Korea in 2008, he stopped the match and threw his racket(球拍)to the ground for the wrong line calls．

　　He once said, ‘Since I started to play badminton at the age of 6, I’ve been playing with great confidence．This is what I am like．’

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　　The leaders(領導人)of 13 countries had a big meeting in St Petersburg, Russia from November 21 to 24, 2010．The meeting was about tigers．They talked about the ways to protect the animals in their countries．They agreed to spend more money protecting tigers and they wanted to double the number of tigers in the world before 2022．

　　Tiger is one of the world’s most endangered animals．The World Wildlife Fund(WWF)says, there are only about 100,000 wild tigers now．And the number is becoming smaller and smaller．‘If nothing happens, tigers will face disasters,’ said WWF spokeswoman Marie von Zeipel．

　　Nine types of tigers lived 100 years ago, but now at least three of them have died out．‘If people leave tigers alone and don’t kill them, then the number of tigers will double in 10 years,’ said Jean-Christoph Vie, a French tiger expert(專家)．

　　China is one of the 13 countries where tigers live．There are about 50 wild tigers in China now．They are the Bengal tigers in Tibet, Indochinese tigers in China’s southwest, and Siberian tigers in the northeast．The South China tigers lived in southeast China many years ago but disappeared in the 1970s．Many experts think they have already died out．

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　　Put 2 February in your diary! It is World Wetlands Day! This special day was first celebrated in 1997 and it is celebrated every year．

　　The celebration is a call for action．It is a way to show people how important and useful the wetlands are for humans．On World Wetlands Day, people around the world take part in many wetlands activities．Children draw pictures to advertise the day．People get together to clean up their local wetlands．

　　Wetlands help protect nature and fresh water．In wetlands, there are many small animals such as lizards, frogs, dragonflies and butterflies．They play an important part in keeping the balance of nature．All plants and animals are part of the food chain(食物鏈)．If the small, wetland animals die, some other animals in the food chain will have nothing to eat．They will also die．

　　People need the wetland to keep the balance of nature in the world．If we don’t protect nature today, it will be gone tomorrow．

完形填空

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　　“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is a popular saying in the USA．It is true that all of us need recreation(娛樂)．We cannot work all the time if we are going to keep good health and enjoy life．

　　Everyone has his own way of relaxing(放松)himself or herself．Perhaps the most popular way is to take part in sports．There are team sports, such as basketball and football．There are also individual(個人的)sports．Such as swimming and running．Skating and mountain climbing are the most popular recreations for people who like to be outdoors．

　　Not everyone who enjoys events likes to take part in them．Many people like watching TV ,singing and dancing．

　　It doesn’t matter we like indoor recreation or take part in outdoor sports．It is important for everyone to relax from time to time, and enjoy some forms of recreation．

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　　A traveler came out of the airport．There were a lot of taxis．He asked every taxi-driver his name．Then he took the third one．It cost 5 dollars from the airport to the hotel．“How much does it cost for the whole day?” the man asked．“100 dollars,” said the taxi-driver．This was very expensive, but the man said it was OK．

　　The taxi-driver took the man everywhere．He showed him all the parks and museums in the city．In the evening they went back to the hotel．The traveler gave the taxi-driver 100dollars and said, ”What about tomorrow?” The taxi-driver looked at the man and said, “Tomorrow? It’s another 100 dollars “ But the man said, “That’s OK! See you tomorrow．” The taxi-driver was very pleased．

　　The next day the taxi-driver took the traveler everywhere again．They visited all the parks and museums again．And in the evening they went back to the hotel．The man gave the taxi-driver 100 dollars again and said, “I’m going home tomorrow．” The taxi-driver was sorry because he liked the traveler and, above all, 100 dollars a day was a lot of money．“So you’re going home．Where do you come from?” he asked．“I come from New York．” ”New York!” said the taxi-driver．”I have a sister in New York．Her name is Susannah．Do you know her?” “Of course I know her．She gave me 200 dollars for you!”

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　　It is a very usual thing for a person to have a good friend．My good friend is Diana．She is a rich and proud(驕傲)girl．She often thinks that she is too good for anyone．

　　One day after school, I was waiting for Diana when Vivien came up to me．She gave me a cake, I got it．We talked and joked．From then on, I began to spend more time with Vivien than Diana．However, I also began to feel a little uneasy．

　　After a few days, I went to see Diana with some snacks and at that time Vivien came and sat with me．She gave me a sandwich．She also gave one to Diana, but Diana didn’t get it．She walked away．I was angry with Diana for being so rude．

　　“Never mind,” Vivien said, “ I’m used to(習慣)it．”

　　After school, I tried to catch up with Diana．When we walked home, I tried to correct her attitude(態(tài)度), but she would not listen to me．She said, “Go and join your ‘dear’ Vivien．I know you make new friends and forget the old ones．”

　　For the next few weeks, we did not talk to each other．Then, one day, Diana came to Vivien and me, saying, “I’m really sorry about what I did．I’m a spoiled(寵壞)girl, but I also need good friends just like you．Would you please forgive(原諒)me? Vivien and I looked at each other and smiled．From then on, Diana, Vivien and I are best friends．