The weather is not the same in many places. In some places it is always 1^, but in other places it is always wet. If the weather is too dry, the land (土地) is not2 for animals or plants. In wet weather there is too much3 and the water in rivers could 4crops (庄稼) away. So people won't have lots of5 to eat. In some other places the weather is very 6. There is always lots of snow. When it snows, all things look 7 

    In winter, days are short and 8 are long. On cold winter nights, when there are no clouds 9 winds, the moon and the stars are very beautiful. People go out to see them. When they 10to their houses, they are always happy to have hot coffee and nice cakes by the fire (炉火).

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(几个月前), I read a book. It made me feel it's a {#blank#}2{#/blank#}to always buy more things than I need. I started cleaning my house and got lots of unnecessary things. It's a w{#blank#}3{#/blank#}and trouble for me. And then I{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(考虑)what to do with them.

This question made me think of Garage Sale for Orphans. It helps people clean out their houses and t{#blank#}5{#/blank#} things into money that can help homeless kids{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(全世界). It r{#blank#}7{#/blank#}me. So I ask my boys for help, and they loved the idea of helping others.

They walked from door{#blank#}8{#/blank#}door to ask the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}/'neɪbəz/ for the things they don't need. At first, I wondered if we{#blank#}10{#/blank#}able to fill a box or two. Finally, however, we had ten boxes full of different things. Then it was time{#blank#}11{#/blank#}the yard sale.{#blank#}12{#/blank#} (即使；尽管)we had ads in the newspaper and online, I was still not sure whether whether anyone would come. {#blank#}13{#/blank#}(令我们惊奇的是), so many people came to our yard sale. I p{#blank#}14{#/blank#}to get 400 to 500 that day. At last, we got $743.23! We sent the money to the poor children in Haiti. Thanks for all the people who{#blank#}15{#/blank#}helped us.

 As a platoon leader (排长）, Jiang Ping and his soldiers fought against floods for some days in Tongling, Anhui Province.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

 After 12 days of efforts the flood situation in Tongling had been brought under control. So Jiang Ping and his soldiers were called to Hefei, the provincial capital. Chaohu Lake was still at risk of flooding. Jiang said, "I saw many houses and fields had been flooded by the flood water in both Tongling and Hefei. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}"

The floods hit Jiang Ping's hometown in the summer of 1998.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Jiang said, "Most part of my house was submerged (淹没）by the blood water and the water kept rising. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Staying on the roof for nearly three hours. We were worried about our lives. At that time, a soldier took me into his arms. He tried to ease my panic, saying "Don't be afraid. We are here with you." Jiang joined the army in 2010 after graduation from high school.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

 It's 2: 30 in the afternoon. The house is quiet(安静的)." Tom?" Mom says. No one answers.

 Mom comes to Tom's room. He is not on the bed, but his model plane is on the desk." He is not in his room, and he is not in the yard, " Mom thinks. Then Mom comes to his grandparents' room. Tom likes to play with his grandpa's tape player, but he is not there.

 Mom looks for Tom everywhere. Where is Tom? Mom is worried. She wants to call Dad. She comes to the living room to get the phone.

" What's that? " Mom sees something black under the sofa. Oh, it's Eric, Tom's dog. It loves sleeping there. What is next to Eric? It's Tom!

Kiran Alwy, 13, went home with 10,000 dollars in prize money after winning on Food Network's Chopped Junior, a popular cooking show in the US.

On the show, Alwy made lemonade, Lobster tail（龙虾尾）and white chocolate macaroni （通心粉）and cheese into a lobster mac and cheese. She also made a beautiful salad topper. Her ability to improvise（即兴创作）helped make her a winner.

Learning to cook became important to Alwy after her parents got divorced（离婚）. "I kind of had to cook for myself. My mom can't really cook," Alwy said.

Alwy learned her kitchen skills from her father, Moid, and her grandmother, who taught her how to make traditional Pakistani dishes when she was 8. Her parents let her start using the stove while they watched her. Moid taught her how to correctly use a knife. Alwy would practice her skills by following recipe from meal kits.

"The kits helped me learn a few skills," Alwy said. "I also learned how to improvise according to different recipe because I saw what ingredients（食材）were in things. The important thing is having your own idea."

At her dad's house in St. Louds Park, Alwy would try cooking with whatever they had on hand. "If we had ground beef in the fridge, I knew how to make a dish quickly," she said.

Outside of the kitchen, Alwy has the busy life of a middle-schooler. She swims and plays the cello. She hangs out with friends, gets good grapes and watches TV—mostly cooking shows.

Monday! Oh, I don't like Monday because I'll have to go back to school again after the weekend. On weekdays, I have to get up at 6:30 in the morning and go to bed at 9o' clock in the evening

Tuesday is not so bad. I usually play tennis with my friends after school.

On Wednesday evening I don't go on. I stay with at home and do my homework.

I like Thursday because I have a P. E. class on Thursday.

I always go out on Friday night. I often go to my friends' house. Sometimes I go to the cinema.

I love the weekend. On Saturday I stay in bed until lunch time, and I sometimes go to the shops in the afternoon. In the evening I go for a walk with my parents in a park after dinner.

Then on Sunday I go to my friends' house or they come to mine. I usually visit my grandmother for an hour in the afternoon. Then the weekend is over and it's Monday. And I feel bad again!