It all began when my parents told me that we were going to Vermont as our big Christmas present. Although I did not ski, I was1 The days in school seemed like years, but finally it was Christmas.

The car trip was 2 . After eight hours, we arrived at the camp. After renting skis, I was ready to deal with the hill with kids in my group, but Cindy, our ski coach, had other ideas. She decided we would take a few runs on the middle trails, which I showed I could deal with, as long as she went slowly. I was too shy to say anything, for fear the other kids would3 me, but I was scared.

Cindy told us to stay together. I was the last in our group. On the way down, we hit some moguls (雪丘) , which I had never skied. I did fine at first, but then I lost it I hit one hard and my left ski fell off My face immediately went into the4 and I slid many feet on my stomach.

    When I got up, I could see the group below. i shouted out to them to5 but they could not hear me. I got my ski on and started to race after them. When I noticed the wind blowing, | realized I had6 my googles (防护眼镜). I climbed back up but I couldn't find them anywhere. I started to dig and finally found them, and headed back down the mountain.

    I finally went down safely, and found my group in front of the camp. I learned a valuable 7 that day. I learned to speak up when I was not comfortable with a situation, and to give my8 without fearing how others might think of it.

    Hundreds of years ago, no dandelions grew in North America. Then people came from Europe with dandelion seeds on their clothes. The seeds fell from their clothes onto the ground. Since then, dandelions have spread all over.

    Most people believe that dandelions are weeds. They do not want them in their gardens. But some people think that dandelion flowers are pretty. And others think that dandelions taste good. They cook dandelion leaves or put them into a fresh salad. The leaves must be picked before the flowers come out or they will not taste good. Some people make dandelion flowers into wine.

    Dandelions don't die easily. If the winter is not very cold, their leaves may stay green. When the spring arrives, their flowers come out. Each night their bright yellow flowers close up. When the sun shines the next day, they open up again. Dandelion flowers are very unusual. They don' t have to get pollen (花粉) from another dandelion flower in order to form seeds. So after several days, the yellow flower turns white and soft. A tiny brown seed forms at the bottom of each white petal (花瓣). When the wind blows, the petals float away. Each white petal carries a seed away. This lets the dandelions spread their seeds all over. New dandelions grow where the seeds land.

    Beijing Opera is the most representative of all Chinese traditional dramatic forms, mostly from the local drama "Huiban", which was popular in South China during the 18th century. It is. scenic (戏剧的) art integrating music, performance, literature, aria (咏叹调) , and face painting.

    Theatrical art forms in many other countries do not present singing, dancing and spoken parts in one single drama. An opera singer, for example, neither dances nor speaks on stage; there are no singing or dancing parts in a modern play; in a dance drama, the dancer has no speaking role and does not sing either. Traditional Chinese drama, including Beijing Opera, is a kind of entertainment which includes spoken parts, singing, dancing and acrobatics.

    In addition to its presence in China, Beijing Opera has spread to many other places. Mei Lanfang, one of the most famous performers of all time, was the first to introduce Beijing Opera to foreigners and made highly successful tours to foreign countries.

    "You will be puzzled all the way through and a little bored from time to time; but you will be charmed and interested. You will be strongly attracted to Beijing Opera even if you know nothing of the dramatic background." This is how one American traveler described his first experience in watching Being Opera.

    Beijing Opera is China's national opera and it is full of Chinese cultural traditions. Welcome to China and enjoy Being Opera!

    I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let's take a look at three types of "waits”.

    The very purest form of waiting is the WatchedPot Wait. It is without doubt the most annoying of all. Take filling up the kitchen sink (洗碗池) as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but keep both eyes fixed on the sink until it's full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about until the water runs over the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.

    A cousin to the WatchedPot Wait is the Forced Wait. This one requires a bit of discipline. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup requires a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific. "Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix, simmer three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes." I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience.

    Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the LuckyBreak Wait. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break does not necessarily mean that it will happen.

    Turning one's life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes, but the LuckyBreak Wait well serves those who are willing to do it. As long as one doesn't come to rely on it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.

    We certainly do spend a good deal of our time waiting. The next time you're standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you'll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky, don't feel disappointed. You're probably just as busy as the next guy.