Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed he sailed more than 50,000 kms during the years of his travels.Zheng He led a fleet with 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold and treasures, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He' s travels. The Columbus of the east, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new king, had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

At the midnight, thunder was crashing and the rain was pouring. Suddenly my father rushed into my room. “Adam! Adam! Get up! We're flooding!” he shouted and shook me by the shoulders. That woke me up! I ran downstairs to the basement (地下室). It was like a swimming pool. My mother and I immediately started to pick up things and take them upstairs. I had no shoes on, so my feet felt quite cold.

Things got worse every minute. Within the next hour, we had moved everything that we could to the first floor. The computer, big-screen television and heavy boxes filled with our most valuable things were taken to safety. However, our piano, sofa, washing machine and water heater were all still down there — being destroyed. There was nothing we could do.

That was the hardest part. Knowing that your home is being destroyed is bad enough, but realizing that you can't do anything to stop it feels even worse. Water had come in our front door. Rescue boats were floating in our streets. Mother told me to pack an overnight（通宵, 前夜） bag of clothes and valuables and get ready to leave.

When it was finally safe to walk outside, all the people in the neighborhood gathered at the street corner. People became friends, and friends became like family. People comforted each other. We learnt later that the National Weather Service had declared (宣布) the storm a flash flood.

I really have learnt something from this flood, I've learnt what destruction is. I have learnt what safety means. I know in the future, when I watch people's lives affected (影响) by natural disasters, I can understand them. I will show my great pity on them and I will do what I can to help them.

    I am Steve. I was born and grew up in South Wales. My favorite place to play was out on the hills where my imagination had plenty of space to expand(拓展).

    My family moved out of Wales when I was thirteen. I went to a new school. One of my subjects was French. Because I had never learned any French， my teacher told me to sit in the corner and write anything I was interested in. That's the time I started writing， just for myself， and I've been writing ever since.

    I have always loved BIG IDEAS， and so I enjoy writing fantastic stories. And I also write horror(恐怖的)stories. I think they are like the old fairytales(童话故事)， and can teach you important things.

    I am in my forties on the outside， twelve on the inside. I like rock music， Indian and Chinese food， and I enjoy drinking. I live in a small village with my wife Mary， ducks， cats， goats， hens and lots of rabbits. If you'd like to find out more about me and hope to buy my books， go to www.sbowkett.freeserve.co.uk.

    Mr and Mrs Green lived in a big city. Last summer, they went to a country for their holiday. They enjoyed it very much because it was a quiet, clean place.

    One day they went for a walk early in the morning and met an old man. He lived on a farm, and he was sitting in the warm sun in front of his house. Mr Green asked him. "Do you like to live in this quiet place?''

    The old man said, "Yes, I do."

    Mr Green said, "What are the good things about it?"

    The old man answered, "Well, the people here know each other. They often come and visit me, and I often go and visit them. And there are also lots of children here. "

    Mr Green said, "That's interesting. And what are the bad things?"

    The old man thought for a moment and then said,

"Well, the same things, really. ''

Do you know rice first came to China? There is an old Chinese story about it. It is about a little girl who went out to fish. At that time, there was very little food, so everybody was very hungry.

One day, when fishing, the little girl suddenly felt her fishing net get heavy. She was so happy! It was the King of Frogs that she found. When the frog heard how hungry the girl was, he wanted to help her. The frog told her to take out her fishing net and let the sun shine on it. The little girl followed his words. Then the King of Frogs began to sing a magic song. The girl was very surprised at what she saw. As the sun shone through the net, the sunlight turned into golden grains（谷粒）of rice. That was how the first rice arrived.

Maybe the story is not true, but it tells us rice is as important as gold to the Chinese. Rice is always one of the main foods on Chinese tables. For many years, much land has been used to grow rice and many Chinese people are farmers, who work very hard for each grain. So it's important not to waste food. Remember, Waste not, want not.