Once a young man was in deep love with a girl. This man folded 1,000 pieces of paper cranes (紙鶴) as a gift to his girl. Although he was a small branch manager in a company, and his __1__ didn’t seem too bright, they were very __2__ together until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and would never come back. She also told him that she couldn’t see any future for both of them, “so let’s go our own __3__ from now on…” The young man was __4__, but he agreed.
When he regained his __5__, he worked hard day and night, just to make something out of himself. Finally with all the _6__ work, this man set up his own __7__.
One rainy day, while this man was __8__, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain, walking to somewhere. He __9__ that they were his ex-girlfriend’s (前女友)parents, so he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to find him in his expensive car and to know that he had his own company, car, etc.
To the man’s surprise, the couple were walking towards a cemetery (墓地). He got out of his car and followed them. And there he saw his ex-girlfriend —a photograph of her  __10__   as sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone, and those precious paper cranes in a glass bottle! He walked over and asked the couple why this had happened. They explained that __11__ she did not leave for France at all. She fell ill with cancer. In her heart, she had believed that he would __12_ some day. She didn’t want her __13__ to be his barrier(障礙). Therefore, she chose to leave him. She asked her __14__ to put his paper cranes beside her, because if the day comes when fate brings him to her again he can take some of those back with him.
The man just cried __15__. He was heartbroken once again.

Getting married can be one of the happiest moments in a person’s life. Throughout the world, weddings are very important events. Let’s look at some interesting wedding customs from different countries.

         For African Americans, it is tradition for the married couple to jump over a broom covered with flowers. This represents the beginning of family life. It is interesting to note that African slaves who were brought to the USA started this tradition. African American couples were not allowed to have a legal marriage, so instead they had a ceremony where the bride and groom jumped over a broom “into marriage”.

         Making jokes about the bride and groom is a wedding tradition in both France and Germany. In France, this includes making loud noises with pots; in Germany, wedding guests break dishes. Weddings in Germany often last for three days. On Thursday, there is a simple ceremony at a government office noting the official marriage of the couple. Then the couple will have a dinner with family and close friends. On Friday, there is a party. This is when guests break dishes to represent the start of a new life. Then on Sunday, there is a ceremony in a church.

         In Greece and Italy, people eat special kinds of sweets at the wedding. Both Greece and Italy also have their own special wedding dances, which all of the guests enjoy.

         In Russia, couples tie a doll to their wedding car if they want to have a daughter, or a toy bear if they want to have a son.

         In England, it is tradition for the little girls to throw flowers on the ground on the way to the wedding ceremony. The bride and groom walk on these flowers. This represents the hope that the couples will follow the path that leads to a happy life.

Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.
They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady’s work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen—a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.
The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof—the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.
There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.
“We have to got and help her,” whispered Amy.
“What if it is a trick?” replied Ben.
“Don’t be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already,” reasoned Meg. “Come on Amy, let’s go.” The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.
Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady’s face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. “Go and get Dad,” Amy yelled to her brother. “Tell him about the accident.”
The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.
【小題1】. Why were the children hiding in the tree?

Mr. Patrick was new to the school and to us. Even though he was a great teacher, he seemed rather like a character out of a horror movie. He didn’t look that bad, but somehow, he looked extremely scary to me.
Some kids began to believe that he was a murderer or a ghost; some believed he was mad and a few believed that he might have suffered a lot in his life. I was one of those ‘few’.
One day I gathered up my courage and headed towards the school garden. He was, as usual, sitting on a bench alone. I breathed heavily a few times and then walked towards him.
“How are you?” I asked with my voice crackling.

He managed to say, “Fine.”
“Well, good to know,” I tried to be happy.
“Hmmm…” was all I heard.
“What’s up with you?” then seeing a puzzled look on his face, I tried to be more formal and respectful. “I mean, why aren’t you like all other people in the school? Why are you always so quiet and sad? Why…”
“No dear, some things are better left unsaid,” he said gloomily.

“Oh no sir, nothing is better left unsaid. If you want to share your feelings with me and reduce the pain of your heart, you are free to do so. I promise I will never ever tell anyone.”
“With you? You are just a little girl; what will you understand?”
I was somehow offended but still I managed to persuade him, “So what, Sir? You see, if you tell me your problem, you will have a light heart and you will have the feeling that someone somewhere cares about you.”
“Oh okay, that was a very nice belief indeed; let’s take a walk and I will let you know everything.”
Soon after our little talk, there was a visible change on his face. Later that day in the class, there was a smile on his face.
【小題1】From the text, we can know about Mr. Patrick that he       .

Let’s say you have a piece of wood, a nail, and a hammer. Pretend the wood is a person, and the nail is a mean rumor(謠言) about that person. If you hammer in the nail, you’re obviously hurting him or her. If you then pull out the nail, there’s still a hole in the wood, and the damage has been done.
There are many reasons why that nail of a rumor can be so harmful. Rumors are, quite simply, a form of bullying(欺侮). When a person or a group makes up a rumor about someone or decides to spread gossip, it’s usually to hurt someone, break up a friendship, or make someone less popular. It’s the same thing as teasing, only it’s done behind someone’s back instead of to his or her face.
When you spread a rumor about someone, you’re sending a signal that the person is outside of the group, and somehow less worthy of friendship than others. You’re making fun of that person or pointing out negative things about him or her. This can let others think that it’s okay to make the person feel bad, and make him or her an outsider.
We need to be able to trust our friends, and gossip and rumors can break this trust. If you tell a personal secret to a friend, and he turns around and tells it to someone else, you might feel like you will get burned if you ever get close to him again.
Letting a rumor influence your behavior is like letting someone else make a big decision for you. Let’s say you hear that the teacher plans to call a Snow Day tomorrow because a blizzard (暴風(fēng)雪) is coming. Expecting a day off, you don’t do your homework. The next morning, the blizzard turns out to be nothing more than a drizzle(毛毛雨), and school isn’t off after all. You get zeroes on your work.
【小題1】To tell a rumor and a tease apart, you depend on ______.