My father was 44 and knew he wasn't going to make it to 45. He wrote me a letter and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.

    Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. "Right now, you are pretending to be a time killer. But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best." Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. "You will do something great." He didn't know what would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I've felt proud of myself , I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, "Is this what you were talking about , Dad ? Should I keep going ?"

A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I've come to believe he would want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of , and believe in , somebody else. It's time to start writing my own letters to my children . Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don't hold back because they're afraid to fail. They're only afraid of failing us. They don't worry about being disappointed. Their fear —as mine was until my father's letter —is of being a disappointment .

    Give your children permission to succeed. They're waiting for you to believe in them. I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me：That belief will be more complete , that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts："Don't worry; you'll do something great ." Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.

    At the opening of the sports meeting, our class was chosen to be the team holding colorful flags.

    At firsts I thought we were lucky, because this work seemed so simple that we could finish it easily. Each of us only needed to hold a flag of different color. However, the work was not as easy as I thought. There were two weeks for us to practice before the sports meeting. During this time, all the classmates were trained strictly. We practiced walking, holding the flags and standing still without moving for one or two hours.

    Finally, the day came. At the opening of the sports meeting, we were the first class to appear. As we went through the platform (主席台), we shouted out our saying loudly when we walked through step by step, holding different colorful flags. As we arrived at our place we formed two lines and started running along the sides of the playground. At last, all of the classmates stood one by one, holding the flags and circling the whole playground. When the wind flew, our colorful flags flew. How beautiful!

    After that, other classes put on many wonderful shows, but we couldn't see anything. What's worse, we had to stand the whole time until the whole opening finished, which meant that we stood for three hours without any break!

    This experience made me realize that we cannot tell the difficulty only by the appearance of a job.

Unforgettable trip to Shanghai

    I will never forget my school trip to Shanghai. It was so great!

We got there by train. The train ride wasn't boring, because we talked and studied along the way. When we finally got there, it was quite late. I was too tired to call my mom, although I missed her a lot.

    The trip lasted six days. During the first day, I learned how to fold a blanket by myself. On the second and third days, my classmates and I did a lot of things. It rained heavily on the fourth day. We played a game called “Utmost 60 Seconds". It took our group only 41 seconds to finish it. We won the game. I was so excited that I called my mom that day and told her how happy I was. We returned to Changchun on the sixth day.

    My trip to Shanghai was unforgettable (难忘的). I learned how important my mom's love is. I also learned some life skills that I would use for the rest of my life.

    John and Tina come from different countries. They are interested in Chinese food. They usually eat Chinese food in restaurants and often talk about it.

    It's Saturday today and it's sunny. John asks Tina to have dinner at Ms. Brown's House. It's the first time that Tina goes there for dinner.

    "Hi, John. Are there different kinds of food at Ms. Brown's House?" Tina asks.

    "Of course. There're all kinds of noodles, such as chicken and cabbage noodles, mutton and potato noodles, tomato and egg noodles and beef and carrot noodles," John says.

    "Sounds great! I like tomato and egg noodles very much," said Tina.

    "Me, too. There are also delicious dumplings and specials. After dinner, we can have ice- cream and fruit. They are on sale."

    "Ice-cream? I know a new kind of ice-cream. It is delicious. And you can keep it for an hour."

    "Great! But there isn't any at Ms. Brown's House."

    "I know where to buy it. Let's go after dinner."

    "OK."