An old man lived in a village. He was one of the 1 people in the world. He was always complaining (抱怨)about things in his daily life. When people tried to2the old man, he would rudely(粗鲁地) drive them away. People gradually stayed away from him 3he made the rest of the village feel unhappy as well.
But one day—the day he turned 80 years old, a(n）4thing happened. The villagers said among 5："The old man is different today. We haven't heard any complaints. He is6and his face looks kind."
One of the villagers asked the old man, "What happened to you?"
"Nothing special has happened, in fact," the old man said. "For 80 years, I've been looking for happiness，but it was no7.And then I decided to live without looking for happiness and just enjoy the life at the moment. That's8I'm happy now."
It is important to realize that your mood can have a great 9on those people around you. Everyone has bad days sometimes. If someone tries to help you, don't be impolite to them. Just try to accept their help. At the same time 10 find happiness only from the outside, but look within-- enjoy everything you have got.
Once upon a time, a pencil and an eraser were having a conversation about their jobs. Both of them were praising each other for their hard work. Both of them knew that they were nothing without each other.
Soon, the pencil started to draw a straight line and the eraser was looking at it. Suddenly, the pencil lost its balance（平衡）and the line was destroyed．Then the pencil got very sad．It said sorry to the eraser. The eraser felt surprised and asked, "For what, my dear friend?"
"I'm sorry that you get hurt because of me. Whenever I make a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But you lose a part of yourself and get smaller each time," cried the pencil.
On hearing this, the eraser said, "That is true but I really don't mind. You see, I was made to help you. So stop worrying, please! I am happy with my job，even though I know I will be gone one day. I will not be happy if I see your sadness."
Our parents are just like the eraser, and we're like the pencil. They're always there for us, cleaning up our mistakes. Sometimes they get hurt when they raise us and with time they become older. But they're always happy with what they do and will always prevent us from being worried or sad．
My name is Sam. I joined a club called Passing Help last month. Now let me tell you why I joined it.
One evening this May, on my way home my old car broke down. It was 25 miles from my home. I wanted to get a ride, but there was no car. It was also hard to take a taxi. I decided to take a bus home. I went to a bus stop nearby.
After a while, a bus came, but it did not go to my town. The bus driver was a young woman. She was kind and she told me which bus I should take. I waited there for about thirty minutes, but no bus came. At last a car came to me and a woman came out of the car. She was just the bus driver.
"When I reached the bus station, I got to know that the bus to your town couldn't come, so I returned here. I just can't leave you here," she said，"Get in my car and I will take you back to your home."
"It is a long way." I said.
"Come on, sir," she said, "let's go."
On the way she told me a story. A few days ago, there wasn't gas(汽油) in her car. An old man drove her up to a gas station and then back to her car.
When we got to my home, I wanted to give her some money to thank her, but she didn't accept."I only want to help others and do something nice for somebody. Pass it along." she said.
For many people in northern China, air quality is one of the top problems when winter comes.
On Nov 23, 2019, a serious haze (雾霾) appeared in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Local government paid much attention to the heavy air pollution. It was not the first time that Hebei had been in a haze last year. According to the government, burning coal for heat is the main reason for air pollution in winter in the province. Air pollution is usually more serious in winter than in other seasons.
At the same time, last year's warm weather brought other bad impacts. Higher temperatures and less rainfall increased ozone density (臭氧浓度)and made a haze harder to disappear.
To stop pollution from getting worse, some action was taken by the government. The goal was to reduce PM2.5 density in some cities. As a result, the average density of PM2.5 in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei dropped. Also, the number of days with serious pollution in these areas fell.
China has worked to improve the environment. Great efforts have been made to fight air pollution. From 2015 to 2019, more and more Chinese cities have improved their air quality. Beijing has set a good example to other cities in fighting air pollution. It has shared its experience with other cities in the world.
When my daughter was in primary school, she brought home four small seedlings（树苗）one day. None of them looked very strong.Over the years, because of the poor soil, three of them died. Only one was still alive．
In the end，it looked more like a fat bush（矮灌构）than a tree. A few years ago, I noticed that it was starting to die. Only the top part of the tree was still green. Last summer, I did my best to save it by feeding it a lot of fertilizer（肥料）, but it didn't work.
Later one morning, I went out and looked at it again. I was wondering whether it would be better to just cut it down. It was a bird patiently building a nest in the topmost branches. I smiled when I looked at it. The small tree was still useful. It might not be healthy or pretty, but it was still giving a bird home.
This tree tells me our lives have purposes. It doesn't matter if we are young and strong or old and sick. We can help to make this world a better and more beautiful place.
A. I almost gave it up.
B. The lower part had no leaves.
C. The seedling never got very tall.
D. However, I noticed something moving within the leaves.
E. The bird was so cute that my daughter liked it very much.
F. But with hope for the future, I planted them in our backyard.
G. Until our last breath, we have things to do, love to give, and joy to share.
