The sun was falling behind the hills. Andrea （drive） back home to Brockboune. Then she saw old lady standing by the road, with a sign saying "Brockboune" in her hand.

Andrea stopped the car. When the old lady got in, Andrea could see that she was in a long dress and had a hat pulled down low over （she） eyes. She put her bag down onto the floor.

"Do you live in Brockboune?" asked Andrea. "No, dear,"（answer） the old lady in a low voice," I'm just going to visit a friend, but my car won't start， I decided to hitchhike."

The way the lady spoke made Andrea uneasy. Andrea （secret） studied the half-covered face and the arms thick black hairs. Thick black hairs? Andrea's blood froze（凝固）. This wasn't a woman, but a man!

Her heart was beating wildly. Then suddenly, an idea came up to her. She stopped the car. "Oh, no! A child! I think I hit a child!" she shouted. "I didn't see （something）," the old "lady" said. "I'm sure was a child! Could you just get out and have a look?" asked Andrea. The "old lady" slowly opened the car door, leaving her bag inside. As soon as "she" was out of the car, Andrea drove away as soon as possible.

Several minutes （late）, Andrea thought of the "old lady's" bag and opened it carefully. There was only one thing in it —a shining knife.

One day a teacher walked into the classroom with a glass of water in her hand. Her students   (ask) to tell her the weight of the glass of water she was holding. They shouted out dinerent answers. of water doesn't matter. It all  (depend) on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a few minutes, it's quite light. If I hold it for an hour,  weight might make my arm ache (疼痛). If I hold it for a day, my ann will feel very painful, forcing me  (drop) the glass to the floor. The weight of the glass of water doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the  (heavy) it becomes.''

Seeing the surprised look on her students' fhccs, she continued, a smile on her face, the teacher replied. "Actually, the exact weight of this glass. The thingsmake you feel stressed are just like this glass of water. Think about them for  while and nothing happens. Think about them a little longer and you begin to ache. Think about them all day long, and you will feel (terrible) painful — unable to do anything else until you drop your problems and  (worry). If you still feel the weight of yesterday's stress, it's time to put the 'glass' down.

In Pontevedra, a city in Spain, people don't shout. Since cars are banned (明令禁止) in the city, there are no noises from cars. People don't have to try hard to make themselves heard. What you hear in the street, instead, is the singing of birds.

Miguel Lures, the mayor (市长) opens the windows of his office, and the sound of human voices (rise) from the street below. Lures says, "More than 14,000 cars used to pass along this street every day. There (be) more cars passing through the city in a day than people living here."

Lores became mayor in 1999. He spent months(walk) around the city. "The historical city is dead," he said one day. "It is full of cars. It(pollute) heavily. There are a lot of traffic accidents. The elderly and children aren't able to use the streets because of cars. People who had a chance to leave have done so."

At first, Lores thought of improving traffic conditions. However, he couldn't come up with a good plan. After lots of discussions, the government finally decided( take ) action to ban cats.

The change(bring ) Pontevedra many advantages since then. Traffic accidents seldom happen. CO₂ emissions (排放物) are down 70 percent. Many people are moving to the city, making it lively again. Most local people in the city like the change. Ramiro Armesto, a mother of two young children, said, "in the past, the first thing to see in the morning was traffic jams. Now, the city is cleaner, quieter and safer." Raquel Garcia, another parent, said she had stayed in many cities around the world. However, she had never lived in a city as "easy to live in" as Pontevedra. "Even while it(rain). I walk everywhere. The feeling is wonderful," she added. "Pontevedra is paradise(天堂)”

﹣Remember            it three or four times at least.

The willow branch (柳树枝) is a part of the willow tree. In ancient China, willow branches were often used as a parting gift between friends and family  (member). Even today, willow branches  (mention) in many cases as a symbol of saying goodbye. Do you know ?

One reason is that willow trees are strong. They can live  (easy) in any place, wet or dry, north or south. Because of this, giving a willow branch to say goodbye to loved ones is a way to tell them you hope they will get used to  (they) new living environment.

For another reason, the pronunciation for the willow tree "liu (柳)" is similar  the character "liu (留)" in Chinese, which means inviting someone  (stay) —only the tones are different. So  (offer) a willow branch means asking the other party to live for a longer time, even though we know that they must leave.

It's said that this custom became popular during the Han Dynasty. At that time, Baqiao, a bridge in Chang'an, today's Xi'an, was  common place to say goodbye. People often  (stop) there and handed willow branches to people who were leaving.