Evening came．It was time for Mr Bell 1 ndline his shop． He was checking his money．His son，Tom，who was 15，had just gone outside to buy a newspaper．Just then，a big man walked 2 ndline the shop．He had a gun(枪) in his hand．
When Tom came back，he could hear the man asking his father for 3ndline ． Tom could see the gun in the man's hand，but the man didn't 4 ndline or hear Tom．
Tom returned to the street．He looked for the police，5 ndline he didn't see any．Then Tom saw an old baseball bat lying in the street．“Maybe this will help，”he thought．He ran 6 ndline with it．
His father was just giving some of the money to the man．The man was watching Tom's father．Tom knew he could not 7 ndline long.“Now is the time．I must do it now．”Tom went up to the man and knocked him down 8ndline the bat．
Tom and his father then ran outside．This time they got the 9 ndline and told them what had happened．The police quickly went to the shop and 10 ndline the man．
Are only clever and good-looking students happy in the school? Best-selling 1 Xiao Nizi(Nini)doesn’t think so．
“ 2 has his own place in the sky．" she said．"We're all special in our own ways．”
Nini, from Hunan, writes stories about young people in the school．Her books, 3 Devils Kiss and Un-e on Midsummer’s Night, are very 4 with students．
In her stories, the main characters arc usually common girls who are neither pretty 5 smart．But they always win the love of a Prince Charming(白马王子)，or 6 successful stars．
"It’s not because of luck．"' said Nini．""They are 7 honest and they don't lie．They know what they arc good 8 and work hard to realize their dreams．"
Nini herself is like one of the characters in her stories．She was a shy girl at school．But she thought a lot and liked languages, and that made her 9 to be a writer．She hopes her stories 10 make more kids happy．
根据短文内容选择可以填入空白处的最佳答案。(Choose the best answers to complete the passage．)
Norman(not his real name)also aged 14
Yes, I get 1 allowance every month．It's fair, but 2 less than I would like．And my parents won't give me 3 ．They say I have to learn to 4 my money and live 5 a budget．I'll have to do that when I become 6 ．If they want me to do something, they tell me．They don't ask me．Sometimes I argue 7 them, hut usually I lose．They say,‘We are your parents．Until you're old enough, we'll 8 that we think are best for you．’
With regard to 9 , I've got to help for about an hour every day．I've got to wash dishes and clothes, clean the floors and toilet and sometimes cook．My parents say I'll have to run my own home some day, so it's 10 to learn how to do it now．They'd never dream of paying me for doing housework．It's the responsibility of the whole family, isn't it?
My parents give me presents 11 , usually things that I can use．For example, when they saw that I was 12 about learning tennis, they bought me a good racket．And they only buy me simple clothes that can last a long time．They often say‘No’when I ask for things．But if I can pay for something with money that I've earned myself, that's different．They say it's bad to expect things for 13 ．It won't be like that when I grow up．
We have one TV for the 14 family, and I watch it for about seven hours a week．My father believes that when you're watching TV, you're not thinking, so your 15 doesn't develop．When I say that he watches more than I do, he says his mind has already developed．
Agatha Christic would never forget the night when she met a robber(抢劫者) many years ago.
That evening,she went to a birthday party which 1 until two o'clock in the morning.Agatha walked in the 2 street alone.Suddenly from the back of a dark 3 a tall man with a sharp knife in his right hand ran out at her."Good 4 ndline,lady," the man said in a low voice,"I don't think you wish to 5 here!""What do you want?""Your earrings.Take them off!"
Agatha suddenly had a 6 idea.She tried to cover her necklace with the collar(衣领) of her overcoat while she used 7 hand to take off both of her earrings and then quickly 8 them on the ground.
"Take them and let me go,"she said.The robber thought that the girl didn't like the earrings at all,only trying to 9 the necklace.It would cost 9 ndline,so he said,"Give me your necklace."
"Oh,sir.It doesn't 11 much.Please let me wear it."
"I'm not that 12 ndline,Quick!"
With shaking 13 Agatha took off her necklace.As soon as the robber left,she picked up her earrings and ran as 14 as she could to one of her friends.
The earrings cost 480 pounds and the necklace the robber had taken away cost 15 six pounds.
John 1 with his mother in a big house, and after she died(死)，the house became too big for him．So he bought a 2 one in the next street．There was a very nice old clock in his 3 house, and 4 the men came to help him, John thought,“I'm not 5 them 6 my beautiful clock． 7 they will break it, and then it will need 8 money(钱)to mend it．”So he picked it up and began to carry it 9 in his arms．
It was heavy, so he stopped two or three times 10 ．Then a small boy came down the road．He said to John,“You're foolish(傻)，aren't you?Why don't you buy a watch like everybody else?”