More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn't take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.

      I have been used to school life since I came here two months ago, and I am starting to enjoy most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o'clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o'clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o'clock. After lessons, we have  hours of activity time, when you can choose from a number of activities, including many sports, such as rugby(英式橄榄球) , football, basketball and tennis.

As a boarder(寄宿者), the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional company, and the quality of food is excellent, and they are always trying to make the diet healthy. One of the obvious advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don't have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!

    Tommy and his mother go shopping(去购物) today. Tommy's father likes apples very much. They buy some red apples for him. Tommy's mother likes yellow bananas, but the bananas are green. “Look! The strawberries are very nice, Mom. Do you like them?” Tommy says to his mother. “Yes, I like strawberries very much.” Tommy's mother buys some for herself (她自己). The oranges are very nice. Tommy's mother buys some for Tommy. He likes oranges very much.

    They need some vegetables. The vegetables in the supermarket are very good. They buy some tomatoes, cabbages and carrots. Tommy doesn't like carrots, but his parents like it. They like carrots very much. They buy lots of carrots.

Anna Mary，known as Grandma Moses，grew up on a farm. As a child，she loved drawing. But she hardly（几乎不） did it because she had to do busy farm work. Grandma Moses spent all her life on the farm. When she was old and found farm work difficult，she started to paint at the age of 78. 

An art lover found Grandma Moses's paintings in a shop in 1938. He bought them，and the next day he went to her farm and bought all her paintings. Soon Grandma Moses became famous. In 1940，at the age of 80，she had her first painting show in New York. "Do your favorite thing，and you will finally be successful（成功的），"she once said. 

Grandma Moses died in 1961，at the age of 101. She painted over 1600 paintings in the late part of her life. Many people loved the bright colors and beautiful farm views in her works. After knowing Grandma Moses's life story，they felt relaxed about their future（未来） because becoming old didn't mean anything. Also，they thought confidently about their future. They finally knew that age wouldn't be a problem for those who wanted to make a change（改变）. 

Stamp collecting is a fun way for children to learn about the world.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} When the child collects a stamp from a different country, he can find the place on the map and put the stamp there. 

Strangely (奇怪) enough, the first stamp collectors were children. When they grew up, they kept collecting stamps.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Today, many children still have this hobby because it's interesting. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If a child is collecting stamps from different countries, he will ask everyone he knows to send him a letter from any country they visit. 

Many children just like pretty stamps - they really don't care what kind of stamp.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} They like to collect stamps with cartoon characters and lovely animals on them. 

Zhang Xiping is from Xi'an. In August 2022, the 58-year-old man {#blank#}1{#/blank#}one of the 2022 Chinese Final Piety figures (中华慈孝人物).

Zhang had an {#blank#}2{#/blank#}problem at birth and he couldn't see things. When he was young, his father died. It was difficult for his mother to raise (养育) him by {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. To help his mother live comfortably, Zhang started to {#blank#}4{#/blank#}eggs. Every night, Zhang {#blank#}5{#/blank#} about 3 hours preparing eggs for sale. Every morning, he{#blank#}6{#/blank#} up at 5 a. m. and takes a bus for two hours to sell his eggs. "It was very difficult in {#blank#}7{#/blank#} past. Luckily, {#blank#}8{#/blank#}many kind people's help, I solved these problems later," Zhang said.

Through hard work, Zhang now lives a much {#blank#}9{#/blank#} life with his mother. He always faces life with a smile{#blank#}10{#/blank#} he still has difficulties now and then. "Many people want to buy eggs from me only to support (支持) me. Because of my eyes, there are many things I can't do in my life. But I always try to live it to the full," he said.

One day, I went to the store to pick up the next week's food. I had something important to do so I had little time and Ihad to put off shopping for Christmas presents until later in the month. 

When we arrived there, I gave my son a dollar and asked him to give it to a poor man at the door of the store. We  went  in  and  soon  filled  our  cart(购物车)  with  food. Then we walked towards the self-checkout machines(自主结账收款机). I hated using them. I preferred to chat with the friendly cashiers(收银员), but there were too many people waiting there. As I stopped and waited, though, I heard  a  man  at  the  machine  next  to  mine  saying  something  angrily. Every time he put his old, wrinkled(起皱褶的) twenty-dollar bill into the machine, it spit out  （吐出）the bill. I quickly took a newer twenty-dollar bill out of my wallet and gave it to him. He thanked me with a warm smile and paid for his goods. I told him to keep his money but he insisted(坚持) that I should take his old, wrinkled twenty-dollar bill. I agreed, put it in my coat pocket, and wished him a Merry Christmas. 

After checking out, I remembered the saying, "Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you. " I reached into my pocket, smiled, and went outside. Then I gave that wrinkled twenty-dollar bill to another poor person and walked to my car happily. 

In my opinion, we should change the world with our love. It is easier than it looks, too. Just start with the person nearest you.