In 50 years of traveling, Colin McCorpuodale has visited every country in the world except three. And everywhere he goes, he sends himself a postcard. He always chooses a postcard with beautiful scenery (风景). Usually he writes just a short message to himself. However, he wrote an interesting story on his latest one, from the Malians Island.

Mr. McCorpuodale lives in London. On one of the walls in his room, you can see a large map of the world. There are hundreds of little red pins (大头针) stuck in it. “These pins mean a lot to me.” says Mr. McCorpuodale, “I follow the rule. I'm allowed to stick one in only if I've been in a place for more than 24 hours.”

Naturally, Mr. McCorpuodale has his favorite places. New Zealand, he describes as “a wonderful country”. About China, he says, “This is the country in the world which is completely different. There is no European influence. ”

Wherever he goes, Mr. McCorpuodale takes with him a photo of his wife, a candle, a shirt with a secret pocket and a pen.

So why does he do it? For the postcards or the travels? Mr. McCorpuodale laughs, “Neither. Only for the meaningful life.”

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    Brian was a funny student. He loved watching comedies（喜剧） best and hoped to become a comedy actor one day.

When he heard about the talent show to be held at this school, Brian decided to take part in. He had never acted on stage（舞台） before, and he was very excited. But some students laughed at him. “You are not funny but silly,” Ken, one of his classmates, said to his face. “No one will like what you do,” another boy also said to him, loudly.

Brian couldn't understand why they were so unkind to him. For a moment, he thought about giving up the show. But he remembered how much his friends liked his jokes, and also his teachers said he was very funny. So he decided to prepare for the show.

    Brian did a great job at the talent show. Everyone loved his performance, and he won the first prize! His teachers and friends were proud of him. Even so, Ken told Brian that he was not funny, and that he would never be successful. Brian didn't understand why Ken said so, but he realized that it had nothing to do with him. He confidently continued to work towards his goal.

   As the years went on, Brian met more people like Ken. “you'll do a terrible job,” they said to him. Luckily, most people encouraged him and some helped him to become even funnier. He got a lot of opportunities to perform in movies. He was even invited to appear on television. His fans thanked him because his comedies made them feel good when they were unhappy.

    Now Brian is a big comedy star! He is doing what he loves best. He never feels stressed like those unkind people, and he laughs all day long!

B

Hi, I'm Harper Seven Beckham. I'm an English girl. Harper is my first name. Seven is my middle name. Beckham is my last name. Here's my family photo. This is my father David Beckham. That is my mother Victoria Beckham. Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz are my brothers.

My name is Kimi. I'm not English. I'm Chinese. My father is Lin Zhiying. His English name is Jimmy. My mother is Chen Ruoyi. Her English name is Kelly. Oh, Angela and Cindy are my good friends.

I'm Cindy. My Chinese name is Tian Yucheng. Tian Liang is my father. Ye Yiqian is my mother. Tian Xinchen is my brother.

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    Today, after 10 days of medical treatment, for the first time, I went out alone to meet a motherly lady who I had met during my stay in a program. She had been unwell recently and I lived alone. Her sons live in foreign countries.

    After I called her and told about my plan to visit her, she started becoming excited and happily planning food at once. Nowadays, she has a lady cook coming by to help her but she does part of the work herself with her bandaged leg.

    I reached her home alone after being guided a couple of times by her before. I carried little things (snacks, books etc.) for her. She had been waiting for some time when I arrived. We talked about different things from health to her life and mine, from past to future, from food to travel etc. During the discussion, her care for me became clear when she made warm suggestions or supported me.

    During the last few months, she had struggled with health and housework. She had got over those difficulties and here she was telling me how all of us must face some problems. She had seen a few people facing worse problems in the hospital and mentioned about their cases and was grateful for her present condition which was manageable.

    She wanted to gift me something—she kept thinking of a dress, watch, footwear etc. whatever was new and great in her home. I kept refusing but finally took the footwear out of politeness.

    She loved the snacks I had brought and wanted to eat them with her tea. I was quite happy to see the child like interest.

    While I was spending time with my motherly friend, the following thought kept coming back to me-probably this is why I have lived through the 10 days in this city. The time I spent with her seemed so much needed. I felt the deep peace it could bring to me and that brought such a big joy!

    Valentine's Day is a very old holiday. It goes back to the times of Ancient Rome (古罗马). One of the characters we often see on Valentine's Day is Cupid. He was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He shoots people with arrows (箭) of love. When a man and a woman are hit by his arrows, they will fall in love.

Today people celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14. If a man and a woman are in love, they will give each other gifts. The most popular gifts are flowers (especially roses) and chocolates. Couples may also go to a restaurant for a very nice dinner or plan something else romantic.

    In the United States, Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. Children make special Valentine's cards for their classmates. Families and friends may give candy or other small gifts to each other. It can be a fun day.