Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. “I don’t know what to write about,” he complained to his dog Toby, who was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends, yet he had trouble finding words when he had to write.

By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthur’s English teacher, asked the class to turn in the first draft of their stories. His heart sinking, Arthur turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.

Arthur wasn’t surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what she said to him. “This is an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, the tree in the wind—I can’t wait to find out how they all fit together.”

“That isn’t my story, Mrs. Solomon,” Arthur admitted. “I haven’t been able to think of one yet.”

“Oh, I think you have the seed(种子of a story there,” Mrs. Solomon replied, “Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story comes to you.”

That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this is what he wrote: “One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The noise of the wind sounded like the barking of Mike’s dog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn’t the sound of the wind. It was Toby. The dog was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with blame. Mike felt guilty because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby in the door just as the rain started to pour down.”

Arthur had a story in the end. The last thing he did was to write his name proudly at the top of the page.

1.Why did Arthur turn in the page with only his name, the drawings and the note at first?

A.Because he had no time to fit them together.

B.Because he had difficulty in writing a story.

C.Because he wasn’t willing to do his homework.

D.Because he wanted to show his talent for drawing.

2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A.Toby is an imaginative and lovely dog.

B.The small tree will grow into a big one.

C.His friend Lee can give him a lot of support.

D.He can develop his story based on the first draft.

3.What kind of teacher do you think Mrs. Solomon is ?

A. She is a strict teacher                     B. She is a wise teacher

C. She is an honest teacher                   D. She is an energetic teacher

4.What can we infer(推断from the story?

A. Arthur is a shy and quiet student

B. Arthur isn’t very satisfied with his story

C. There will be a storm on Saturday

D. Encouragement is important in teaching

Now students' English handwriting（书法）gets worse and worse. That makes their teachers feel worried. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If n  【小题1】, here are four steps that really work!
Use paper with lines
Using paper with lines can keep you writing straight i  【小题2】 of up or down when you write English words or sentences. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size. Be s  【小题3】 to fill the lined space completely. And make sure those capital letters(大写字母) are written properly.
Slow down
If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. For some kids, going slower makes the handwriting clear. If you write too q  【小题4】, it's hard for you to stop where you should, and even worse, you may make more m  【小题5】.
Hold your pencil right
When you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much e  【小题6】. Some kids press down really hard when they write. That makes the handwriting not nice. Try to be relaxed and don't hold the pencil so hard. Let your writing appear nice and clean. If you do so, people will guess you are a student w 【小题7】 a good habit.
Draw more pictures
Drawing can improve your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control your pencil better w  【小题8】 you are drawing pictures. Even though you have no chance to draw at school, you can practice by y  【小题9】 at home.
Handwriting is very important. Imagine you are a world-famous movie star or a well-known sports player, what do you do when your f  【小题10】 run up to you? Give them your autographs(亲笔签名), of course!

"I didn’t hear them call my name," explained Shelley Hennig to Active Teens (AT) as she talked about that exciting moment on national television when she won the honor of Miss Teen USA 2004. "Are you ready?" is what she heard. Then she said, "I shook my head no, and then they said ‘yes’ and it was announced again."
It was four days after that life changing moment for the seventeen-year-old high school student from Destrehan, Louisiana—she was still on cloud nine.
"I was so shocked! I never believed that it could actually really happen." Present in the audience that day were: her mother and father, older brother, her friends, and her dance teacher.
Understanding why members of her family and her friends would be there, AT asked why her dance teacher had traveled so far to see her compete（比赛）."She’s always been my role model. I’ve danced with her since I was six. She’s been through so many difficulties and came through them all. I’ve learned to get over bad life’s experiences and learned how to move on because of her."
One of those bad life’s experiences for Shelley happened three years ago when her brother Brad was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was 18. She found writing helped her get through the hard days. She said, "I write a lot about my brother. I write a lot, a lot, a lot...”
As Miss Louisiana Teen, she traveled around the state speaking to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. In her role as Miss Teen USA, Shelley will continue to speak to youth about safe driving, in addition to(除…之外) many other things to help the youth.
When AT asked Miss Teen USA if she had any advice for our readers, she said, "Don’t let anyone change you. Hang out with people that make you feel good about yourself. That way, it is easy to be yourself."
【小题1】What do the words “on cloud nine” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?