It was a lovely spring afternoon. My classmates and I were playing1on the playground when I let out a cry, "Ow! Ow! Something in my shoe is biting me!"

    Everyone was shocked by the cry. They took me into a classroom and were about to take off my shoe. "Which foot is it?" one asked. "Let2have a look."

    Suddenly, I remembered the holes in my socks. My family was3poor during those years that my parents couldn't buy me good socks. Instead, I wore welfare socks,4cost only a little, but those cheap socks didn't last long. They soon had holes at the bottom.

    I refused5off my shoes. I couldn't stand others seeing the holes in my socks. I tried to hold back my tears. Yet, each time the thing in my shoe bit me, tears raced down my face.

    My teacher, Miss Diane, hurried into6classroom. "What's wrong?" she asked.

    "Something is biting her right foot,7she doesn't allow anyone to take off her shoe," one of my classmates answered.

    Miss Diane lived next door to me. She knew everything8my family. She put9hands on my shaking shoulders and looked into my painful and hopeless eyes.

    "Oh, yes, it 10be a sock-eating ant," she said, as if she had already seen the thing inside the shoe. "I remember 11I had a bite from one of those ants. By the time I got my shoe off, it had eaten almost the whole bottom of my sock." My classmates nodded while they were listening to the teacher carefully, although they all looked a little12.

    Miss Diane took off my right shoe and sock and13them over the dustbin. Two red ants fell into it. "Just what I thought. The ants have eaten part of her sock." When she stroke an alcohol (酒精) cotton ball on the bites, she added, "you are14brave girl to take so many bites."

    The alcohol felt cool on the bites and a little girl's pride15by the "sock-eating ant" story.

—It may be hard for us, but I think everything will be fine.

Dear Laura,

    Thanks for your message. Yes, I'm having a great time on my student exchange(交流)programme in France. I was a bit 1before I arrived here, but there was no need to be. My host family is really nice.

    They try to make me 2 at home. The grandmother knows that I miss Chinese food a lot. So she actually learned how to 3Chinese food！She also has a teenage granddaughter about my age who is really 4. She always talks to me in French to help me practise. You wouldn't 5 how quickly my French has improved. 6I still make lots of mistakes, it doesn't worry me as it used to.

    My biggest 7is learning how to act at the dinner table. As you can imagine, things are very different from the way they are at home. For example, you shouldn't put your elbows(胳膊肘)on the table. 8, I thought that was pretty strange, but now I'm used to(习惯于)it. Another example is that you shouldn't eat anything with your 9except bread, not even fruit. You have to cut it up and eat it with a fork. Another thing is that it's impolite to say you're full. If you don't want any more 10, you should just say, "That was delicious. "I have to say that I find it difficult to 11 everything, but I'm gradually(逐渐地)getting used to it. I don't find French customs so 12any more.

    I'll write again soon and tell you more about my life in France. |Hope you're having a good school year.

Yours,

Lin Yue

    Have you seen some machines that eat used plastic bottles and give some coins to the users?

    Recently, such machines have appeared at universities in Chongqing. They can turn rubbish into treasure and encourage the public to recycle rubbish. The machine is as large as a fridge. Users put an empty bottle in the machine, and it is identified (识别) by a small camera. Then it is put into a bin. The users can get some coins.

    When the machine is filled with bottles, it will tell the company head office. Nearby stations will send workers to have bottles collected, packed and sent to the company.

    The bottle recycling machines could greatly encourage the public to recycle rubbish and save natural resources (资源). Now the machine only eats plastic bottles. At sometime in the future it will also cover others such as glass bottles. It will be able to turn more rubbish into treasure and save more natural resources.

    People can also see similar machines in Shanghai. In the future, more machines will appear at some large stations, bus stops, neighborhoods and schools.

—No. When she reached the harbor (海港), there were still twenty minutes for it to_________.

—Our company is going to _________ a market there, so I will work as a manager there.

—You're right, dear. They have very long necks.

    One day a boy 1his home to find the Bird of Happiness. He 2the bird to bring warmth, flowers and trees to his village.

    Before long, he met a monster(怪兽) with a black beard(胡子) The monster asked him 3he was going. The boy told him. "I'll tell you where it is," the monster said, "but you must kill someone for me. If you don't, I'll take away all your food and drink. "The boy 4, so the monster took all of them away.

    Before long, the boy was very 5and thirsty. Then he met a monster with a white beard. "I'll tell you where the Bird of Happiness is," the monster said, "but you must blind someone 6 me. If you don't, I'll blind you. "The boy refused, and the monster blinded him.

    At last, the boy reached the top of the mountain where the Bird of Happiness lived. He lay before the bird, near death.

    Then the bird touched his eyes and he could 7again. The bird fed him, built up his strength and carried him home. 8the bird landed in the boy's 9, the countryside all around turned green. Flowers and other plants grew and everyone lived in peace. It was all 10the brave boy brought the Bird of Happiness home to them.