1. 阅读理解

Kirsten:Have you read the book, The Travel? I just finished it yesterday.

Renee: No, but I've wanted to. Is it good?

Kirsten: It is! But it's quite grim.

Renee: How so?

Kirsten: In the story, a mother and her son were on a trip when they were caught by a group of crazy people. They were kept in a small dark room and treated terribly. It really broke my heart to read that the mother chose to stay and fight with the bad guys. She was almost killed when trying to help her son run away.

Renee: So it's this grim from the first page to the end?

Kirsten:Yes, but there's still a bright side in it. You get to see how strong parents can be when they want to keep their children from being hurt.

Renee: I see. I'm surely going to borrow it from the library.

Kirsten: Then you must hurry. When I borrowed it last Friday, they told me that many people were waiting to read it!

2.         Have you ever heard someone use the phrase”once in a blue moon”? People use this expression to describe something that they do not do very often. For example, someone might say that he tries to avoid eating sweets because they are unhealthy, but will eat chocolate” once in a blue moon”. Or someone who does not usually like to go to the beach might say “I visit the shore once in a blue moon.”While many people use this phrase, not everyone knows the meaning behind it.
        The first thing to know is that the moon itself is never really blue. This is just an expression. In fact, the phrase” blue moon” has to do with the shape of the moon, not the color.
        As the moon travels around the earth, it appears to change shape. We associate certain names with certain shapes of the moon. For example, when we can see a small part of the moon it is called a crescent moon. A crescent is a shape that looks like the tip of a fingernail when we cannot see the moon at all; it is called a new moon.
      When we can see the whole moon is called a full moon. Usually, there is only one full moon every month. Sometimes, however there will be two full moons in one month. When this happens, the second full moon is called a blue moon”.
      Over the next 20 years, there will only be 15 blue moons. As you can see, a blue moon is a very rare (稀有的)event. This fact has led people to use the expression” once in a blue moon” to describe other very rare events in their lives.

3.      After my husband died, my world crashed around me. My six children were ten, nine, eight, six, three and 18 months, and I was overwhelmed(不知所措的) with the responsibilities of earning a living, caring for the children and simply keeping my head above water.
I was lucky to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week, but from Friday nights to Monday mornings, the children and I were alone, and frankly(坦诚地) I was uneasy. Every unusual noise or any late-night phone call filled me with fear. I felt really alone.
     One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big beautiful German shepherd(牧羊犬) on our doorstep. It was obvious he wanted to make the house his home. The children took an instant liking to “German” and asked me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement(地下室) until the next day. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.
    The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German's owner, but with no results. Saturday night he was still with us. 
       On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case(以免) his owner came by, we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas at a local station, we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. He stayed again Sunday night.  
       Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school. He did't come back. We thought we'd never see him again. On Friday evening, German was back again. We took him in, and again he stayed until Monday morning, when our housekeeper arrived. It went like this for almost 10 months. We looked forward to his coming. Each Monday morning he left home.
    Each week, between German's visits, I grew a little braver, but every weekend I enjoyed being with him . Then one Monday morning we patted his head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. He never came back. We never saw or heard from German again. I think of him often. He came when I needed him the most and stayed until I was strong enough to go on alone. I believe German was sent because he was needed, and because no matter how abandoned(被放弃的) and alone we feel, somehow, somewhere, someone knows and cares. We are never really alone.