21．　　The smallest bear was also the loneliest bear at the North Pole (北极). He was too small (1)       with the older bears. His parents worried that he might (2)       hurt if he played with them. So he wanted someone else (3)       friends with him.
　　Then one day, the smallest bear (4)       the older bears building snowmen. Suddenly, the smallest bear knew what to do with (5)       problem. He built a snow bear that looked just like him. (6)       snow bear was little, so he was not the only smallest bear at the North Pole.
　　The smallest bear realized that he couldn't take his snow friend inside his house. (7)       he ran inside, collected his toys and came (8)       to play with the snow bear.
　　He never felt lonely, not even for a minute. But then, the spring came to the North Pole. The snow bear disappeared.
　　At first, the smallest bear was (9)      . But now he is big enough to play with (10)       bears. He plays with them happily.

22．　　I asked many classmates and friends, "What do you think you will be when you grow up?"
　　(1)       of them told me what they would like to be in the future, (2)       others said, "I don't know." I'm (3)       to hear that because I think it's bad. I think having dreams or hope about the future will help us do better at school.
　　As middle school students, it's time for us to (4)       what we want to be in the future. If we know it better, we will know how to do it better at (5)      . For example, if you are outgoing (外向的) and like to meet people, you can be a (6)       in the future. Then you should practice (7)       more articles. If you're happy with children and like (8)      , you can teach English as a job in the future. And then you are supposed to work harder at English. If you want to (9)       many interesting places, you can be a tour guide.
　　Of course, all the (10)       that we are learning at school will be useful in the future, so we should study hard at all of them.

23．　　My friend Patrick never did his homework. "Too boring," he often said. Instead, he played basketball and baseball.
　　His teachers told him, "Patrick! You won't learn anything if you don't do your homework."
　　But Patrick hated homework. Then one day, he got a toy and wanted to give it to his cat. But the toy was a witch (巫师). "Save me! Don't give me to that cat." Patrick said, "If you help me do my homework this term, I can save you." The witch agreed and began to do Patrick's homework. But the witch always didn't know the answers. So he said to Patrick, "Go to the library. I need many books. And you can help me read them." Patrick agreed and he found that it was interesting to read books.
　　The last day of school arrived and the witch was free to go. Patrick got his As in the exams.
　　His classmates were amazed and they never thought he could get As. Patrick felt very happy.

24．　　 The Nile River (尼罗河)
The Nile River is the longest river in the world. It is about 6,853 kilometers long. It runs through Africa from the south to the north. Along the river, there are some countries and many places of interest.
　　Tokyo
　　Tokyo is a very large city in the world. It is in Japan. Like London and New York, it is one of the richest cities in the world. There are a few famous colleges(大学). There are many interesting things to do in the city.
　　Qomolangma
　　Qomolangma is the highest mountain in the world. It is more than 8,000 meters in height (高度). There is snow everywhere. Some people like climbing it because it is very high.
　　Vatican (梵蒂冈)
　　Vatican is the smallest country in the world. It has only a few people. Italy, an European country, is around it. It has many old and famous buildings, so lots of visitors go on vacation there every year.

25．　　Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today. People didn't have modern machines. There was no modern medicine, either.
　　Life today has brought many problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world.
　　Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt (被状物) over a city. This kind of quilt is called haze (雾霾).
　　Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn't let dirty smoke go into the air.
　　We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus or with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution.
　　Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight pollution.