— Her bike was broken, so she had to walk.

— Not sure. She told me that she wanted to check again and           it in soon.

-- Thank you very much.

    For most people, the word "fashion" means "clothes". People may ask the question, "What 1 are in fashion?" And they use the adjective(形容词) "fashionable" in the same way. "She was wearing a 2 coat." "His shirt was really in a fashionable color."

    But of course there are fashions 3 many things, not only in clothes. There are fashions in holidays, in restaurants, in films and books. There are 4 fashions in school subjects, jobs, languages, and so on. Fashions 5 as time goes. If you look at pictures of people or things from the past, you will see that fashions have 6 been changing. An English house of 1750 was different 7one of 1650. A fashionable man in 1780 looked very different from his grandson in 1850.

    Today fashions change very quickly. We hear about things much more quickly than in the 8. Internet, newspapers, radios, telephones and televisions send information from one country 9 another in a few hours even minutes. New fashions mean that people will 10 new things, so you see there is real money in fashion.

                                                                                                 A

    Mr. White works in an office. He liked reading in bed when he was at school. It was bad for his eyes and now he is near-sighted. But he wouldn't want anybody else to know about it and he never wears a pair of glasses. It often brings him some trouble.

    One winter morning he was sent to a village school on business. He got off a bus at a stop in a small town. Then he had to walk there. The road to the village wasn't smooth. There were stones here and there. He fell over several times and it made his clothes very dirty. At last he got to the village. Suddenly it began to blow strongly and it got much colder. His hat was blown off while he was looking for the school. He had to run after it but he couldn't catch it. He was wondering why his hat ran into a house as if it had legs. And then he ran into the house, too.

    A big woman appeared and stopped him by shouting angrily, "What are you running after my hen for?"

                                                                                     B

    For most people, the word "fashion (时尚)" means "clothes". But people may ask the question, "What clothes are in fashion?" And they use the word "fashionable" in the same way:

     "She was wearing a fashionable coat. His shirt was really a fashionable colour."

    But of course there are fashions in many things, not only in clothes. There are fashions in holidays, in restaurants, in films and books. There are even fashions in school subjects, jobs...and in languages.

    Fashions change as time goes. If you look at pictures of people or things from the past, you will see that fashions have always changed. An English house of 1750 was different from one of 1650. A fashionable man in 1780 looked very different from his grandson in 1860.

    Today fashions change very quickly. Some of this is natural. We hear about things much more quickly than in the past. Newspapers, radios, telephones and television send information from one country to another in a few hours.

    New fashions mean that people will buy new things, so you see there is money in fashion.

C

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mom came in and asked, "Nancy, what about inviting John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he was already getting better grades in math than anyone else in our class. "Mom, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mom said nothing.

    The next day, mom gave me an envelope(信封) with a shopping card in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John," Mom said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, John arrived, in an old sheet(床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice, "Now it's time for the great prize game." It was a math game. None of us were surprised when John gave the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

D

    At the moment, high school students in the state of Philadelphia, USA, can wear their own clothes. However, next year the high schools must do one of the following:

    ● Either make students buy school uniforms (in other words, all students must wear the same uniforms).

    ● Or say which colors must be worn, but let students buy their own clothes in these colors.

    A survey made at Central High School, Philadelphia, showed that most of the students didn't think that wearing school uniforms was a good idea.

Rachel didn't like the idea of a uniform in the slightest. "It makes us look like prisoners(囚犯). Everyone's different, so why is the school trying to make us all the same?"

Sandra was wearing a brightly-colored shirt with her jeans. "No one else wears a shirt like mine," she said. "I'm the only one, and I like that. I can understand that the school needs a dress code(准则). It's a problem if students come to school with their shirts open. We all understand that, but no one wants a uniform. Even my mum thinks it's silly."

Only one student, Ben, said he didn't mind wearing a school uniform. He said, "I used to wear a school uniform when I lived in Australia for a year. It wasn't so bad. You can wear a uniform and still be tidy. We used to wear grey trousers, a round-necked shirt and a jacket in blue or green. It wasn't a problem."

    The story is about a young student. She worked very hard at her lessons. She worked so hard that she became ill. She couldn't go to sleep at night. When she got up the next morning, she felt very tired.

    So she went to see a doctor. Hearing the student's words, the doctor said, "You are too stressed out. You must eat more food like vegetables and tofu. Besides you can try to count(数) numbers when you are lying in bed. By the time you reach one thousand, you will be asleep. I'm sure of it."

    The next day, the student came to see the doctor again. "Well," said the doctor, "how are you feeling today?"

    The student still looked tired. "Yes," she said, "I tried to count one, two, three, four... up to one thousand. But when I reached five hundred and sixty, I feel sleepy. I had to get up and drink some coffee so that I could go on counting up to one thousand. But then I still couldn't be asleep."

A: Can I help you?

B: Yes, please.      

A: For your daughter? Look, the shoes are really nice. Do you like them?

B: Yes. But I'm afraid my daughter doesn't like the color.      

A: Sure. There are different kinds of shoes over there. What color does she like?

B:       And black is her favorite.

A: What size does she need?

B: Size 9. Let me see. Um, this pair of shoes looks nice. They are OK with her.      

A: They are only 99 yuan.

B:       Here is the money. Thanks a lot.

A: You are welcome.

 A. I'll take them.

 B. Can you go to other shops?

 C. I'm sorry about it.

 D. May I have a look at the other shoes?

 E. How much are they?

 F. I need a pair of shoes for my daughter.

 G. She likes white and black.