We had an awful school trip last week. Some students were late. Then we waited half an hour for the school bus, but it didn't arrive. Finally, our teacher took us to take the subway. It took over an hour. Then we walked a long way. When we arrived at the zoo, it was already 12:00. We were all tired and hungry. We wanted to see pandas, but there weren't any. There were some really smart dolphin（海豚）,but we didn't see the show because we arrived too late. We forgot our cameras, so we couldn't take any photos. Then it started to rain, and no one had an umbrella. We didn't see many animals because of the rain. So we went for lunch. We ate hamburgers. My friends also had some ice-cream. But I didn't have any, because I don't like it. I wanted French fries, but there weren't any in the shop. They were sold out! Finally we went back to school. We were wet, tired and stressed out. I didn't enjoy my school trip at all.

    I'm a Chinese student studying in Canada. I have been a boarder(寄宿生) with the Carsons for more than a year and a half.

    The Carsons live in their own house, which has four bedrooms including the one in the basement(底层) which I live in. Judy does all the work in the house and Andrew is responsible for the work in the garden. When they go out in the evening, they often ask me to look after their children.

    Judy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, lived in another city. Judy was their only child and naturally they doted on(溺爱) Judy's children. They often sent the children presents.

    Last April Mr. Morris died. Now that Mrs. Morris was quite alone, I expected that Judy would want her to come and live with them. One day, Margaret told me grandma was coming to live with them and her daddy and mummy would want my room back. The news didn't surprise me and the next day I went to Judy and asked her about it. I said I couldn't think of living in their basement room any longer if it was needed for Mrs. Morris. Judy seemed surprised at first. Then she told me there was no deed for me to move, for they hadn't yet come to any decision about her mother coming to live with them. "Naturally I'm worried about my mother. She has been in poor health." She smiled sadly and added. "To be honest, Andrew and my mother have never got on well. We'll wait a bit and see what happens. Perhaps Moter will be all right living herself, of perhaps they will both change their minds."

    That was six months ago. During this time I've heard that Mrs. Morris has had two illnesses and that her health has got worse. A nursing home was mentioned once but Mrs. Morris refused to go there. So up to now she's still living alone and I'm still living in the basement room.

    One day, John read an advertisement in a newspaper. It said "Wanted. The best salesman in the world." John thought he was a great salesman and went to ask for the job. "I'm the best salesman in the world," he said to the manager. "Give me the job."

   "You must prove you're the best," the manager said.

   "OK I will," John said.

   "Good." The manager took several boxes of sweets out of his desk." Last week I bought a thousand boxes of sweets. If yon can sell them all before the end of the week, yon can have the job," said the manager.

   "That's easy," John said. He took the boxes of sweets and left the office.

    Every day and all day he went from shop to shop, trying to sell the sweets. But he couldn't sell one. The sweets were too bad for him to sell. At the end of the week he went back to the manager." I'm sorry, sir," he said," I was wrong about myself. I'm not the best salesman in the world, but I know who is."

   "Oh" said the manager. "Who?"

   "The person who sold you a thousand boxes of the sweets."

I am David. My home town, Bao Loc, is just a small town in Vietnam (越南). But for me, it's really a paradise (天堂). 

The weather is very comfortable. It's not very hot or cold. In the centre of the town, there is a beautiful lake. You can lie on the bank (河岸) and see the white clouds in the blue sky or count (数) the stars at night. You can go there just to relax when you have a lot of things to think about. One of the most famous places is Dambri Waterfall (瀑布). You can enjoy this beautiful waterfall if you come. Don't forget to take some pictures with your camera. 

Bao Loc is very small. It will take you 45 minutes or 1 hour to go around this town. It's so small that people here know each other. They are very friendly. 

Tea and coffee are Bao Loc's local food. I think you will like them very much. 

Why does Bao Loc become a paradise? Because my family are here and they always make me feel warm and safe.

Long long ago, there is an old man. He lives in an old house." This house is too noisy(吵闹的)," he says. The door and the floors creak(咯吱作响). The windows go bang- bang.

One day, the old man goes to see a very wise(睿智的) woman." My house is too noisy," he says." What can I do?" The woman says," Take this goat to your house." And the old man does. The goat goes maa- maa. It breaks a chair with its horns(角). Bang!

The next day, the old man goes back to the woman." My house is still too noisy!" he says. So the wise woman gives(给) him a cow to take to his house. The cow goes moo- moo! The goat goes maa- maa! The old man puts(放) a quilt over his head.

The next day, the old man goes back to the woman." My house is still too noisy!" he says. So the wise woman gives him a donkey(驴) to take to his house. The donkey goes hee- haw, hee- haw! The cow goes moo- moo! The goat goes maa- maa! The old man shouts loudly," It is too noisy!" 

The next day, the woman comes to the house. She says," Open the door. Let out the goat, the cow and the donkey." The old man does. And what do you know?      ▲      The old man goes to bed and sleeps all day long.