Jodie's Daddy is a Garbageman (垃圾清理工)

      Mr. Swales wanted to find out what his students' parents did. He had just called Jodie when some girls burst out laughing. Shirley shouted, “Jodie's Daddy is a Garbageman!”

      Everybody in the class laughed out loud, except Jodie. She felt her face turn red.

      “Silence!” Mr Swales said, “Being a garbagemen is a difficult and useful job. We should all be thankful to Jodie's father.”

      Jodie's father came to walk her home from school as usual, but she didn't run up to him the way she always did. When they got back home, Jodie went to her room and cried for a long time.

      Her father came into her room, “What happened, Jodie? Why are you so sad?”

      Jodie told her father what had happened and looked at him. He didn't seem angry or hurt. “Well,” he said, “they are right. Being a garbageman is a dirty job. Tomorrow's Saturday. Come to work with me, Jodie.”

      The place really smell too good. Jodie wrinkled her nose. “Don't worry, kid. In five minutes you won't smell a thing.” said her father.

      Everybody there was working hard, and they seemed to have a good time. Jodie's father handed her a pair of gloves and told her to get the little plastic bags and throw them into the truck.

      It was fun, but also hard work. Jodie's arms soom got tired. At last, no more garbage was left and Jodie felt very happy.

      “Garbage is disgusting, but when we clear it away, everything's nice and clean. You can make yourself happy only by making other happy. That's why I like being a garbageman so much.”

      Jodie give her dirty, smeely garbageman daddy a big kiss(吻). She said, “When I grow up, I will be a garbagegirl!”

      Now whenever someone asks Jodie what her daddy does, she says, “He's a garbageman! Everybody makes garbage, but my daddy takes it away!”

    Have you heard about "Survival(生存) Holidays"? "Survival Holidays" is for children to go into the lonely place for exciting activities. Now about 1,100 companies are allowed to take children into the great outdoors without their parents.

    The reason why people like "Survival Holidays" is that they think being close to nature is good for children. Many children in big cities spend all time watching TV and playing computer games. "Survival Holidays" gives them an important change.

    Is "Survival Holidays" a wonderful idea? Maybe it is. Children need more free time to play. They need to be left on their own, without adults disturbing(打扰) them. Parents care too much about their children. They like to see the children being busy with activities that are controlled by adults, but children don't know what to do when they are in danger. Even something like crossing a small river seems to be a hard challenge. Children are not comfortable with danger. Even small danger like getting their feet wet or falling down seems very terrible to them.

    Many people think the survival activities are good for children. Even years later, they will still remember what they have learned. Some have learned to stay calm in different times. Some have learned how to keep safe. Others have learned how to work in a team. All these skills will help them a lot in their lives.

    A beautiful and very successful actress played the lead role in a new musical show. Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, she got some beautiful furniture(家具) and had a man to paint the rooms in new colours.

    It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter's bill (帐单). At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance : 3 pounds,” with this note: “ After 5 p.m. I get 15 shillings (先令) an hour instead of 10 shillings.”

Miss Brown did not like getting up early in the morning. One day a lecture was going to be given by an artist at nine o'clock. Her sister was1. She set her alarm clock for half past seven. This should 2her plenty of time to get ready and3early enough for a good seat. She was determined to4there in time. She would never forgive(原谅)herself for5the lecture. That is a famous artist's lecture.

The next morning, she slept through the alarm bell and woke up at half past eight. Shew as rushing and everything went6. At last, she was ready, and rushed out to catch a bus. When she arrived at the university, she7to the lecture hall. She was surprised to find that the doors were locked. She looked round to find someone, and saw a clock. It said half past seven. "I can't understand it. "She cried out. "Nobody's here and the clock is8! "Then she suddenly remembered. Her alarm clock had stopped the day before and she must 9to reset (重新设置) the hands. "This is the first time I'll hear the beginning of a lecture. "She said to10, laughing.

I like traveling alone. I have been to the Terracotta（兵马俑）, Disneyland and the Bird's Nest（鸟巢）. Attracted(吸引) by the beauty of the Great Wall, I flew there by myself this time.

At the entrance (入口), one short old woman followed me all the time. She wanted me to buy some cards. Finally, I became angry. "Don't you understand the meaning of ‘No'?" I shouted at her and left.

As soon as I walked along the Great Wall, I felt very excited. Then, when I was halfway, I found I was on a very dangerous road, and there were no walls. When the cold wind came, I was afraid. Suddenly, I heard a soft voice behind. Someone told me not to be afraid and she would help me. As I felt a pair of hands trying to keep me safe, I calm down(镇静).

Half an hour later, we arrived at a safer place. Feeling better, I turned around to see who she was. She was the short old woman. I felt humiliated for what I did and gave her a big hug (拥抱).

Through this experience, I learned that we should be kind to others because we never know what situation we'll be in and when we'll need help.

Hello, everyone. I come from Zhejiang. I live in a beautiful town here. Would you like to learn something about my hometown? The name of my hometown is Wuzhen. It has a history of about 7,000 years. Wuzhen is Well-known（出名的）for its history and culture. And it is one of the most popular water towns in China. The old stone bridge, stone roads and houses make the town look very beautiful. The old canal（运河）runs through it. You can see some shops and restaurants along the canal. There are many tourist attractions（旅游景点）in the town. Xizha and Dongzha are two beautiful places in Wuzhen. Many people feel relaxed when they come here. In Xizha, some houses are hundreds of years old. But many people still live in some of them now. The colors of many old houses are grey and white. There are free buses and boats running between Dongzha and Xizha. And it only takes about 10 minutes if you want to walk between the two places. There are all kinds of historical sites（历史遗迹）, workshops, and relaxing places in Wuzhen. Come to my hometown and I believe you'll love it.