It takes a lot of skills and hard work to set a world record in pumpkin-carving(雕刻南瓜). Steve Clarke, a sixth-grade teacher from Pennsylvania, is a famous carver(雕刻师). Clarke has set many world records for carving pumpkins quickly. When he competes, he must cut our two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and two ears as fast as possible. But Clarke knows something else about pumpkin-carving. It's easier to get a record than to keep it.

    He took the title in 2000 when he carved a pumpkin face in 74.8 seconds. That time was 19 seconds faster than what Jerry had set. From then on, Clarke broke his own records five times. In 2006, he set his best time in Florida. His winning time was 24.03 seconds!

    The only problem is that someone finally beat that mark. On October 7, 2010, David set the new record with 20.1 seconds. Clarke was not able to break that record this year, but he has planned to break the record. After Halloween, he will go to local pumpkin farms to practise designs and new skills.

    Clarke is popular because of his super pumpkin-carving skills. In 1999, he carved more than 30 pumpkins at the Halloween party for then vice-president Al Gore.

March 24^th

    This morning, we had a school trip to the Dashan Collection House, a building of two floors． It is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm． We took the school bus and arrived at 9:00． When we entered the collection house, our eyes were caught by a collection of old photos of the town on the walls of the front hall． Those photos told us something about the history of the town． And then in the Art Room, we saw many pictures of the countryside． The colors of the flowers and trees are rich and bright． All at once, I lost myself in the beauty of nature．

    Then we went upstairs． On the left, there were over one hundred different clocks． The oldest clock was already more than two hundred years old． To my surprise, the clocks all worked well and they could tell the right time． It was then ten o'clock, and some clocks produced different beautiful sounds． It seemed to be a concert． How amazing!

    On the right there was also a stone collection． The stones were from all over the country． They were in different sizes, colors and shapes． Some looked like different kinds of animals． I really liked one stone that looked like a little monkey． It looked very nice．

    The collections there were wonderful． So they stayed there until 11:30 in the morning． I had a great time and really liked the school trip．

    Mr. Coates works in an office in Brighton, England.  One Saturday, he went to the office to do some work. When he got on the lift, it stopped between floors. Mr. Coates could not get out of the lift. He started to shout, but no one heard him. Then Mr. Coates remembered that it was a holiday in England. No one was going to come to work until Tuesday! There was nothing for Mr. Coates to do. He had to wait. With nothing to eat or drink, Mr. Coates slept for most of the time. Early on Tuesday morning, his workmates came into work and found the lift was not working. When the lift was opened, Mr. Coates came out. He was cold, weak, and tired. He had been in the lift for 62 hours! Now Mr. Coates says, "I only use lifts if they have telephones in them. "

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    On the way back from work every evening, more often than not there would be a homeless man standing at the exit of the freeway(快车道). He looked to be in his late 40s but was probably a lot younger. He had shoulder length straight black hair and a short beard.

    Every day after work I would remember to gather any spare change, and put it aside to give to him if I saw him. A feeling of joy would come over me every time I saw him, while coming off the ramp(坡道). So did he. Sometimes the red light would be on for a minute and we would ask each other about our day. His answer would always be the same, "I'm blessed!"

    Then one day I was called into my boss's office and was told that I was being laid off. For the rest of that day all I could think of was "how am I going to provide for my kids as a mother, how am I going to pay rent?"

    Needless to say that on my way home that day I was very sad and upset. I didn't remember to look for my spare change and keep it ready like I usually did. Yet there he was as always, as I turned the ramp. He set his eyes on me, while still smiling and waving at others as usual.

    While I was waiting for the red light to turn, he strolled(闲逛) over to my car. He had a big smile. He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "Today I will give you a dollar." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill.

    You see that day he taught me a valuable lesson more than a dollar bill. No matter what material things are taken from you, no one can take away your choice to be joyful. Every time I'm faced with challenges, I think of the homeless man's valuable lesson and remember that I am blessed.

    I stood in the doorway, watching my older brother carefully putting clothes into his bag. I coughed uneasily. Finally 1 that I was there, Rocky turned towards me with a sad smile.

    "I'm leaving tomorrow," he said.

    "I know." My 2 was almost a whisper (低声). I was 3 with myself for being so weak, but I wasn't about to cry.

    "My flight is early, but there is still enough time to the airport," he said. Seeing the 4 look on my face, he quickly added, "I promise I won't leave without saying goodbye."

    I tried to say 5, but I didn't. It's always 6 to keep quiet if you're about to cry. "You promised you wouldn't cry," he said to me, thinking that I was close to 7.

    I remember the day he taught me how to ride a bike. At first I thought he was always right behind me, holding the seat to keep me from 8. I was happy with this, but he knew he couldn't hold me up all my life. He told me that one day he would have to let go.

    His coughing stopped my thinking. What was left to say? How could I say goodbye to the person who taught me everything?

    The next morning I 9, looked at my alarm clock, and realized he had left hours ago. We never even said goodbye.

    Goodbye, Rocky! 10 he may have been many miles away, I knew he heard me, even if it was only an answer in his heart.