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　　Every year thousands of people get hurt or die when they are crossing the road．Most of these people are old people and children．Old people often get hurt or die because they can’t see or hear very well．Children usually meet with accidents because of their carelessness．They forgot to look and listen before they cross the road．

　　How can we lessen(減少)traffic accidents?All of us must obey the traffic rules．For the drivers, they shouldn’t drive too fast．If they drive too fast, it will be very difficult to stop the cars in a very short time．For the pedestrians(行人), it’s very important to be careful when they are walking on the road．Therefore, when we walk across the road, we must try to walk along the pavements．We must stop and look both ways before crossing the road．Look left first, next look right, then look left again．Only when we are sure that the road is clear, we can cross it．The right way to cross the road is to walk quickly．It’s not safe to run．If people run across the road, they may fall down．Teens should try to help children, old people or blind people to cross the road, and never play in the street．

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　　It was the end-of-year party．I had asked my mother to make us cookies．Mom’s chocolate chips were the best．

　　But two o’clock passed, and there was no sign of her．Most of the other mothers had come and gone, dropping off their cakes and chips．The party went on, but I wouldn’t leave the window．The three o’clock bell soon took me away from my thoughts．I took my bag and walked out for home．

　　The house was empty when I arrived．My heart was filled with anger(氣憤)．For the first time in my life, my mother had let me down．I was lying on my bed when I heard her coming．“Robbie,”she called out．“Where are you?”She was looking for me from room to room, but I kept silent．

　　When she entered my room, I didn’t move,“I’m so sorry,”she said．“I got busy and forgot．”She began to laugh．I couldn’t believe it．I turned over and found that she wasn’t laughing but crying．“I’m so sorry．I let my boy down．”she cried like a little girl．I had never seen my mother cry．

　　“It’s OK, Mom,”I said,“We didn’t need those cookies．There was plenty of food to eat．Don’t cry．It’s all right．”We held each other in a long hug(擁抱)．

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　　There is not enough oil in the world now．As time goes by, it becomes less and less, so what are we going to do when it runs out?Perhaps we will go back to using horses, carriages and bicycles．

　　In the Second World War, some people didn’t use gas made from petroleum(石油)in their cars．They made gas from wood and plants instead．The car didn’t go fast, but they ran, so this was better than nothing．However, in the future, we can’t cut down all our trees to make gas; we need our trees for other things, too．

　　Besides different types of gas, we can also use electricity(電)to run our cars, but first we must make the electricity!Some countries have coal and they make electricity with that, but we might not always have coal, either．Other countries have big, strong rivers, and they can use the power of water to turn turbines(渦輪機)and make electricity more easily and cheaply．

　　We are also able to get power from the ocean tides．We put turbines into the mouth of the river．Then the tide comes in, the water turns the turbines and then it goes out, it turns them again．

　　Which of these ways will be used to run our cars in the future?

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　　If you live in the United States, the law says you can’t have a full-time job until you are 16 years old．At 14 or 15, you can work part-time after school or on weekends, and during summer you can work 40 hours each week．Does all that mean that if you are younger than 14, you can’t earn(賺)your own money?Of course not!Kids who are between the ages of 10 and 13 can earn money by doing lots of things．

　　Valerie, 11, told us that she made money by cleaning up other people’s yards．Lena, 13, makes money by knitting(織)dog sweaters and selling them to her neighbors, and Reisa said she had started taking art classes and showing her work to people．People have asked her to draw pictures for them and they pay her for them．Jasmine, 13, writes articles for different magazines!

　　Earning is learning．By working to earn your own money, you are learning the skills you will need to succeed in life．These skills can include things like getting along with others, using technology(技術(shù))and using your time．Some people think that asking for money is a lot easier than earning it; however, when you make your own money, you don’t have to depend on someone else．The five dollars that you earn will probably make you feel a lot better in your hand than the twenty dollars you ask for．

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　　Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house．Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences．He always told me,“You should have goals like climbing the mountain．”Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy．I really got a lot from mountain-climbing．It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience(耐力)．

　　Once we climbed a very high mountain．It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old．During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds’ singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs．I wanted to quit climbing．In fact, I hated it at that moment, but my father said to me,“You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top．Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life．”

　　At that time, I was too young to understand his words．But later after that, I got new hope and confidence(信心)．I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal(水晶)．

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　　A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin(頑童)was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car, Paul?” he asked．

　　Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas．” The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing?Boy, I wish…”He hesitated．(猶豫)

　　Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that．But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly．

　　“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that．” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

　　“Oh yes, I’d love that．”

　　After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

　　Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car．But Paul was wrong again．“Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked．

　　He ran up to the steps．Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast．He was carrying his little crippled(殘疾)brother．He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car．

　　“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs．His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent(美分)．And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about．”

　　Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car．The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride．

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　　English is spoken as a first language by most people in the USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada．However, English is spoken all over the world．It is the main language in over 60 countries, including India, Singapore and many of the Caribbean and Pacific islands．In these places English is often a second language．

　　English is also an international language in many other countries, like China and Japan．People in these countries use it for business, and travelers to these countries use English when they get there to communicate．Other people may learn English because they enjoy reading books in English, listening to British or American music or watching American films．

　　English has changed a lot over the years and still goes on changing．It is no longer right to talk about British English or American English if the speakers come or don’t come from those countries．People in Japan and Korea, for example, may use the American spelling but may not sound like Americans．

　　English will probably be the most widely used language in the world by the end of the 21st century．This language no longer belongs to British, American or Australian speakers．It be-longs to anyone in the world．So, as a middle school student of English today, think about how you can use this language．After you leave school, you will almost certainly need it．

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　　Mr．King lied with six hundred wild animals on the Greek Island of Kyklos．Ever since he left school, he had traveled all over the world collecting animals for his own zoo．He hoped to collect two examples of every kind of animal on his island．But he was afraid that people would find him someday．

　　He wrote books about his travels and about his animals that he collected．The money from the books helped to pay for all the food that these animals ate．

　　One day, when Mr．King was out looking for drinking water, he found oil．He needed money for his travels and for his zoo, and a little oil would buy enough water for what he needed all his life, but he knew that if he told anybody else about it, it would be the end of his zoo and his life’s work．So he decided not to tell anyone about what he had found, because oil and water couldn’t mix．

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　　It is Sunday today．Ann is shopping with her mother．She wants her mother to buy a new sweater for her．

　　In a clothing shop, she finds an orange one．She tries it on．It’s too small．She wants a bigger one, but the bigger ones are not orange．Ann doesn’t like other colours．Her mother asks, “Shall we go to another shop to have a look?” So they go out of this shop and into another．

　　The second shop is much bigger than the first, and in it there are many kinds of sweaters of different sizes and colors．Ann tries on orange one．It’s too big．She tries a smaller one．It’s OK．

　　“How much is it” Ann’s mother asks the woman who sells clothes．

　　Then they find it too dear, and they don’t have so much money with them．“Would you like a cheaper one?” the woman asks．

　　“No, we shall take this one．My daughter likes it．We shall come back to buy it tomorrow．” Ann’s mother answers．

　　After that, they leave the shop to buy some other things．

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