For most of us, when we were 12 years old, schoolwork and video games may well be our only memories of those days. If we remember guns being pointed at our heads, we think that we must be remembering video games or movies.

    Unluckily, at age 12, that was Malala Yousafzai's real life.

    Malala lived a quiet life in Pakistan until 2009, when the Taliban, an Islamic organization of violence(暴力) took control of her village. They forbade girls to go to school as groups. They believe that educating girls is against Islam. But Malala didn't agree. She wrote on the BBC site, "We want all girls to get their schools back."

     However, her actions put her in danger. On Oct 9, 2012, when Malala was taking a bus a man from the Taliban holding a gun shot her in the head. Luckily, the shot didn't kill her. She was taken to a hospital in the UK, and she gradually recovered.

     The shot didn't kill her courage to carry on, either. She set up the Malala Fund, which helped put 40 girls from her former home province in Pakistan into schools.

     Malala has become an international symbol of inspiration and bravery, commented BBC News. Her survival has instilled(渗透) educators with courage and is slowly helping make Pakistani schools safer.

    Malala said in her speech, "The terrorists(恐怖分子) thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born."

    On Oct 10, the European Union awarded Malala its top human rights prize. She was considered an icon (符号) of courage for all teenagers who dared to follow their aspirations .

    Mr. Evens works in Sydney. Last week he had a two--week holiday, but he didn't know where to go. He said to his friend Robert, "I hate the hot weather here, but I can't find a cool place in Australia. How will I spend my holiday?"

    "That's easy," said Robert. "You'd better go to Moscow. Snow and ice are covering the ground now."

Mr. Evens agreed with his friend. He bought an air ticket and soon arrived in Moscow. He made a happy journey there. But one day, he got into trouble. After lunch he w ent to a park outside the city. He saw a dog following him while he was walking past a house. It was hungry and wished him to give it some food to eat. Bad luck! He had no piece of bread or cake in his pockets. He tried to send it away, but it began to bark at him. He wanted to look for a stick but couldn't find anything except snow and ice. Suddenly he saw a stone in the ground. He tried to pick it up but he failed.

    "How strange Russians are!" Mr. Evens said to himself. "They do not tie their dogs, but firmly (牢牢地) tie the ground!"

    In this August, I had a trip called "Cultural Trip: Germany, Italy & France" to go to Europe with a group of American students.

    This was not my first time to other countries, but it was unusual one. Why do I think the trip Unusual? Travel agencies (旅行社)usually have travel buses for tourists, What about us ? For five days, we traveled along Germany by bike. We were tired but happy! For some times on the trip, something went wrong with someone's bicycle. But at the end of the trip, everyone was safe and happy.

    In Italy, we went to a kitchen to learn to cook Italian dishes, we made a great dinner and ended by making the chocolate cake. I gave full marks to that night!

    France was the last stop, we went to the capital of France, Paris. We went to the Eiffel tower and we even got onto it. The tower is 324 meters tall, It has three levels(层) for visitors. There are restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level is 276 meters above the ground. If you climb from ground level to the first level, you need to climb over 300 steps. There are another 300 steps from the first level to the second level. That's why people usually get onto the top level by lift.

    Hello, my name is Peter. I study at a secondary school in England. School days usually start at 9 am in England. So I usually go to school at 8:45 am. School is over at 3:30 pm. So I have much time to go to different clubs(俱乐部).

    I am good at all my lessons. My favourite lesson is cooking. All my teachers are very friendly and helpful. I never(从不) go home for lunch, l have lunch at school with my classmates. After lunch, we often go to the school field. Sometimes we play hall games. Sometimes we just sit under the trees, reading or talking. Sometimes we also go to the Computer Centre 1o listen to music or send emails to our friends.

    I like my school and have a good time at school every day.

    Miss Miller, the English teacher wants to know about her students. She asks them some questions. The next are some of the students' answers：