From a young age, I've had a really deep connection with being outside. I've been skiing since I was eight or nine years old. I've been on expeditions(探险) in many places like China, Pakistan and so on. But it was in my home country, the USA, that I came closest to death.

    It was April 1, 2011. I was skiing in the Tetons with my friends Jeremy and Xavier, both experienced snowboarders. That day, l was the last person to ski. They were watching me from a safe area. Suddenly, I heard someone cry loudly. I turned around and saw the whole mountain start to move behind me. It was a massive avalanche( 大雪崩). The kind of avalanche that destroys trees, cars, buses, even houses! Tens of thousands of tons of snow were coming straight down the mountain behind me. I felt the snow push me forward, hundreds of meters, and then cover me. It was so heavy that I couldn't breathe. And then it pushed me forward again and up, out of the snowpack. I looked around, and for a few seconds I actually stopped being terrified. I had a moment to pause and to look at the power of the avalanche.

    I looked down into the bottom of the valley(峡谷). I could see trees that were 30m tall, because! Was so far away, and they looked tiny to me. "OK, I'm going all the way to the bottom!" I thought. Then the snow pushed me again down the mountain another 450m. I thought the force of the snow would destroy me; it was powerful. But in the end, I felt the avalanche slow down and I just popped ( 迸出 ) right out of the snow at the bottom of the valley.

    It took Jeremy and Xavier about 20 minutes to reach me. There was a pile of debris(碎片) across the bottom of the mountain 300m wide. They couldn't believe it when they saw me. I was so lucky.

    Has the experience changed me? Do I think about life differently? I don't know, maybe. But I do know that it's important to live your life with meaning. Life is a gift. So use it wisely.

    Long long ago, there was a crowd of antelopes(羚羊)in the forest. In this crowd there was a wise teacher. He was admired by everyone because he taught the young the tricks and strategies of survival (生存策略). One day, his younger sister brought her son to him and asked him to leach what was important to antelopes. She said, "Dear brother, this is my son, Dick. Please teach him the tricks and strategies of survival. The teacher said to Dick, "You can come at this time tomorrow for your first lesson."

    At first, Dick came to have lessons on time every day. But soon, Dick became more interested in playing games with others, so he began to cut classes. However, he didn't realize how dangerous it could be for a young antelope who learned nothing but games.

    Unfortunately, one day the young antelope stepped in a trap(陷阱). Knowing Dick was missing, his mother was worried. She went to her brother and asked him "My brother how is my son? Have you taught him the tricks and strategies of survival? The teacher replied, "My dear sister, I tried my best to leach him, but your son did not want to lean the tricks and strategies of survival. He cut classes. How could I possibly teach him?"

    At this time, they heard that Dick was caught in a trap. They hurried to rescue him before it was too late. Dick was too scared to move and regretted deeply.

    If the young antelope had kept learning carefully all the time, he wouldn't have been caught.

    "It's time to wake up, Emily," my mom sings from the kitchen. I pretended to open my eyes. Why didn't the alarm on my cell phone ring?

    Soon, I realized it was April 8, the day for my program: "A day without technology." I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into until I was driving to school in my car. No radio blasting my favorite songs. I had to sing to myself.

    As soon as I got to school, I went to the library to print out my English project from my flash drive. "Uh-oh," I thought. "This isn't expected." Finally, I had to spend nearly an hour writing the report again.

    The school day went on and I finally got used to the rules. This wasn't so hard! I could do this every day.

    I drove home in silence again, and my mind eventually went into after-school mode (模式), depending on what I would eat for supper and who would be voted off (被淘汰出局)American Idol later that night. The last thing I knew, I was chat with friends on Face book, check email and watch a video on YouTube, all at the same time!

    My mom walked in and her jaw dropped.

    "What happened to no homework?" she asked me. I froze for the second time that day and ordered myself to go back to reality. I had failed.

    This experiment, which many teenagers would never have the courage to try, was actually convenient to me. Even though my attempt(尝试) at going about my day without these luxuries (奢侈品) was a failure, I realized that if I really tried, I would be completely successful without my addiction to technology.

    These devices suddenly make my life easier, and I'm sure I wouldn't practice getting rid of them altogether, but I do believe the lives of today's teenagers would be dramatically different without our tech dependence.

It is a nice day. Kate is at home with her family. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She likes to read books very much. 

Her friend Mary calls her, "{#blank#}2{#/blank#} I have something for you. "

Kate goes to Mary's house, Kate sees a red note(便条) on the door. It reads, " Come in, Kate. And go to the sofa. " On the sofa, Kate finds a book. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It reads, " Go to my table. "

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Next to it, there is a yellow note. It reads, " Go to my bedroom. "

Kate goes to Mary's bedroom. And what does she see? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

" Happy birthday, Kate. " They say. 

It was a fine day. Harry went to a park to take some {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. When he finished, he wanted to stay a little longer. He found {#blank#}2{#/blank#} tree and lay down, putting his camera next to him. It was so warm {#blank#}3{#/blank#} he soon fell asleep.

When he woke up, he couldn't {#blank#}4{#/blank#} his camera. He was really worried. He told a policeman about it. The policeman told Harry that three people lost {#blank#}5{#/blank#} cameras in the park that week.

Harry put an ad in the newspaper. It said, "Bring me your cameras. I will buy them at a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}price. Come to my house at No.14 Lincoln Road every Sunday {#blank#}7{#/blank#} 9:00a.m. to 6:00 p. m.

One Sunday morning, Harry was drinking tea at home. At about 10 o' clock, a man came with some {#blank#}8{#/blank#} for sale. Harry chose an old black camera and looked at the number on it very {#blank#}9{#/blank#} It was his! He caught the man {#blank#}10{#/blank#} called the police at once.