John was not surprised to see that nobody had met him at the station. The weather __________(BE) awful — it was windy and it was raining hard. His __________(FOOT) got wet in seconds. His old jacket _________(NOT CAN) defend him from the rain or the wind. “If I don't find a shelter and a warm drink, I _________(GET) a cold, and no one will benefit from my coming here,” John said to ___________(HE) and went back inside the railway station. It was the _____________(ONE) time the seventeen-year-old John had ever left his home village where he lived with his mother and two sisters. A letter from his uncle was a surprise but not a pleasant one. His uncle had written that his health was getting worse and that he __________(NEED) someone to help him in his grocery shop. John's mother decided that he __________(GO) to the town to work in the shop. He was far from feeling delighted about it but he was the ___________(OLD) child in the family and it was his duty to help his mother and to support his sisters.

Christy enjoyed exploring the world. With her father, she'd been to the most amazing places in New Zealand, her native country. However, everything _____________(BE) different now. She was travelling alone and that made her feel nervous. A couple of weeks before, she received her aunt's invitation to visit Europe. At first Christy ___________(NOT WANT) to go, but her mother insisted that visiting Europe would do her a lot of good. Christy's mother had been to Europe three times and she said that she ____________(GO) there again. She planned her __________(FOUR) trip to be to Italy. Christy sighed. Her mother was different. She was the ____________(COMMUNICATIVE) person Christy had ever seen. She enjoyed __________(MEET) new people and knew many languages. She was clever and brave. The announcement interrupted Christy's train of thought: Ladies and ___________(GENTLEMAN), fasten your belts, please. We __________(LAND) The temperature in Paris-Orly Airport is — 2 degrees Celsius. Christy shuddered. “What am I going to do in that ice-cold city? I wish I _________(BE) home now. I would give anything to be there,” she suddenly felt like crying.

Most adults miss their childhood. “Your school years are the __________________(GOOD) years of your life,” — have you ever heard that phrase? Just recently, while I was on my way to work, I started thinking back to my own school years. They probably were not troublefree but there __________________(BE) many reasons for us to feel happy at school. One of them was spending every single day with friends. We __________________(NOT/GET) tired of being together. The __________________(TWO) one was uniform. Yes, in my opinion, the school uniform had more advantages than disadvantages. __________________(MY) was dark green. It was unfashionable but comfortable. It __________________(MAKE) of natural materials. Besides, the uniform saved a lot of time in the mornings. Now it __________________(TAKE) me hours to decide what to wear. Another thing is that I don’t really like sport. But at school we __________________(PLAY) football, netball, hockey and so on. Sport was compulsory. Now I realise that this was a good thing! And of course there were… holidays! Christmas, Easter, halfterm, and the jackpot — the summer holidays.

I wish I __________________(HAVE) as much free time now.

It was a cold January day in York, Pennsylvania. Dr. James turned on the television to check on the weather. The weatherman said that it was going to stay cold for several days. According to him, the roads __________________(BE) very dangerous because of the snow and ice and he strongly recommended staying at home if at all possible. Dr. James __________________(NOT/CAN) stay at home. He worked in a hospital and there were patients waiting for him there. He put on a sweater, jacket, gloves, boots and a hat, and opened his front door. Everything __________________(COVER) with snow. A cold wind blew inside. “Wow,” Dr. James said. “The weatherman was right! I wish I __________________(HAVE) a reindeer instead of my old car.” When Dr. James __________________(DRIVE) slowly to work, he saw an accident. He stopped and __________________(RUN) to the damaged car. There was a man and two __________________(CHILD) inside. “Is everyone okay?” Dr. James asked.

“Yes, yes, we are fine,” answered the man. “I __________________(CALL) 911 already. They are coming to help __________________(WE). It looks like we won’t get to school today.”

When Jacob opened his eyes, it was late morning. He closed ____________(THEY) again as there was no point in getting up. It was the __________(ONE) day of holidays but it was no fun — all his friends were out of the city and Jacob knew that his parents ____________(COME) home from work late. Suddenly he ____________(HEAR) a noise from the kitchen. Thieves? Jacob felt scared. Someone was there. Then he smelled pies cooking. Thieves do not cook pies and he immediately knew who it was. “Gran! I'm so glad you ___________(COME)!” Jacob rushed to the kitchen and hugged the smiling little lady. “Easy, easy, or I'll drop the saucepan. I ____________(MAKE) your favourite pie with vanilla sauce. Where do you keep cinnamon by the way? Cinnamon ____________(WRITE) here, but there isn't any,” the woman handed him a little spice jar. “I don't know, Gran, honestly! But the cinnamon _________(NOT MATTER). It's great that you are here. I've got a lot to tell you.” The woman smiled. “OK, you get dressed and when you are ready, we _________(CHAT). Hurry up!”

When you look at this lovely house in the Welsh countryside, you may think it's a picture from J.R.R. Tolkien's book “The Hobbit”. In fact it's a real house designed by a real person.

When __________________(THEY) first son was born, Simon Dale’s wife, Jasmine, said: “I wish we __________________(LIVE) in the country. It would be so good for the baby”. However, they __________________(NOT/HAVE) enough money to buy or rent a house in the country so they decided to take matters into their own hands. The house __________________(BUILD) by Simon himself, with a bit of help from his friends. The result was impressive. The home is made from natural materials, such as wood, stone and mud. It uses solar panels for energy and its water __________________(COME) from a nearby spring. It took Simon four months to complete his fairytale home. He managed to create a modern wooden eco-home – one of the __________________(WONDERFUL) houses you can imagine. Simon Dale said, “I __________________(START) working on a new house of the same eco-style. My __________________(TWO) house will be smarter than the first one. My son __________________(BE) five now and I hope to celebrate his tenth birthday in a new house.”

I come from England but now I live permanently in Quйbec, Canada. When my parents __________________(BRING) me to Canada, I was fifteen. It was the winter and I __________________(IMPRESS) by the amount of snow there. I asked my new friends what they usually __________________(DO) for entertainment in such a cold climate. Their answer was simple, “In winter __________________(CHILD) and adults go skiing and skating.”

Before arriving in Canada I had never tried skating and my Canadian ice experience was really painful. To start with, it took __________________(I) half an hour to pu on the skates. I _________________(NOT/KNOW) how to move so my new friends showed me some basic techniques. However, when I was left alone on the ice, I __________________(FALL) over immediately. When I opened my eyes, my new friends were standing around. They weren’t laughing, they looked worried. “Are you OK?” they asked. “Fine,” I said, “I wish I __________________(CAN) skate as easily as you do.” “You definitely will,” they smiled. And they were right. By the end of my __________________(ONE) winter in Canada, I felt confident on the ice. More than that, I found out that skating was a really exciting activity!