I am from South Africa. I didn't at all know the weather here was so cold, but I am glad to say that I have all the clothes for this freezing weather.

When I First got to know that l would be attending this international conference here in Finland, I had no idea what kind of clothes I should take along. I didn't know what to do when I thought of this two-week stay here, with a very formal dinner, a few parties, social gatherings and a dance during the conference.

    Luckily, my friend Julia has been to northern Europe. Yes, she was a great help. She helped me with my biggest problem. She placed an order for some warm suits and dresses, business-type clothes, of course, of dark colors. She also bought me some skirts and blouses so that I could wear the same clothes in several different ways. A couple of lively colored dresses will give me a nice change from time to time. She also helped to choose a very warm raincoat and a pair of boots.

    Oh, how lucky I am to have such a helpful friend. She saved me a lot of trouble, nothing worries me about my meeting, nor my clothes.

    Every year on my birthday since I was 11, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card ever came with it. Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all. After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower, in soft pink paper.

I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments werespent daydreaming(幻想 )about the sender. My mother encouraged these daydreams. She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone. Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met.

    A month before my high school graduation(毕业), my father died. I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance, and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. My mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss (过) any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia: lovely, strong and perfect.

    My mother died ten years after I was married. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

    Homeless people face a lot of challenges, - such as not having enough to eat and no job opportunities. Some of the most basic challenges, - however, -are not having clean water and toiletries (卫生用品)-a big problem for homeless teens. That encouraged a young researcher to invent a multi-purpose product to help these teens.

    "I was born into a life of volunteering," said 13-year-old Leia Gluckman. And that's true. Her mom is a president of an organization providing help for homeless teens. Leia and her brother have volunteered there for years. When she was a young girl, Leia helped serve food where teens were eating. Now she's a teenager herself, and she's managing the toiletry and clothing work there.

    From her work at the center, Leia noticed that teens asked for some toiletries more than others. What they needed most often were toothpaste, body powder (粉)and shampoo(洗发水).Leia wondered whether she could create a product to serve all three purposes.

    It would need to take away dirt and oil from skin and hair. It would need to clean teeth. Also, it would need to kill bacteria (病菌)without being harmful to people. She wanted her ingredients (产品成分)to be natural, to be able to break down easily and to taste and smell pleasant. Moreover, this product had to be low﹣cost and have a long shelf life.

    Leia started by going to stores and looking at the ingredient lists for toiletries. Then she tried eight different ways. She tested each way to see how well it worked.

    Not all of them worked well. But she finally decided on three. Each includes salt and baking powder. Salt helps clean teeth and skin; baking powder helps take in bad smells. She also has some other recipes which include some special materials that give her products different tastes and smells, which would let teens choose a product based on personal preferences.

    It wasn't easy, but Leia came up with some model products. She presented them at the finals of Broadcom MASTERS science competition.

    Leia wants to develop her products further. "Could it possibly be used to drive away mosquitoes (蚊子)?" she wonders.

    "Science offers a way to go about solving problems and helping people," says Leia. And she thinks her products could benefit a great number of people, not just the homeless. Anyone in an area with little or no chance to get clean water could find her products useful, maybe refugees (难民) and soldiers who are sent to places without running water.

In a big country, a man was living along with his family. The man had a large amount of money. One day he took his son on a trip to the countryside. The dad's only 1 was to show his son how poor people live, so the son could 2 his good fortune（命运）.

During their journey, they reached a small village. There, they spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be 3 a very poor family.

On their 4 from their trip, Dad asked his son, "How was the trip, my son?"

The son replied with excitement, "It was a 5 trip, Dad." The rich dad asked, "Did you see how the poor people live? The purpose of the journey was to make you 6 how lucky you are having born in such a rich family."

"Oh yeah," said the son and smiled towards his father.

The father asked, "So, my dear son, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?"

The wise son answered, "Dad, I 7 a lot of things on poor people living. I saw that we have one dog and they had three. We have a swimming pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a river that has no 8 . We have imported designer lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio（露台） reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon（地平线）."

The father got a bit confused（困惑） with his son's answers.

The son 9 , "We have a small piece of land to live on and they have field s which go 10 our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others." The wise son's learning did not end yet. The son went on 11 his trip experience, "We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have 12 around our house to protect us, but they have friends to protect them. We spend our free time with television s and mobiles, but they spend their free time with family and relatives."

The son summed up（总结） his experience on the trip to the village, "Thank Dad for showing me how 13 we are...!!"

The wise son's words left the rich dad 14 .

Money can buy clothes, or cars, or big houses or many other things which make your life 15 . But there are a few things that money cannot buy. What makes your life rich is love, kindness, compassion, friendships...

Last week our school held(举行) a sports meeting. Everyone in our class felt very {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(exciting) because we were the winners(冠军). In the boys' relay race(接力赛), Michael {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(run) very fast and our class won first place. Yu Ting is good at the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}/lɒŋ/ jump and she also won. We were sorry that we did {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(bad) in the high jump than the other classes, but we were {#blank#}5{#/blank#}/ʃʊə/ we could do {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(well) next time. I took part in the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(girl) 400-metre race. I did my best and was the first {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(pass) the finish line. This encourages(鼓励) me a lot. Now I love sports better. I want to be a football {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(play). I will take more exercise every day and I hope some day I will be {#blank#}10{#/blank#}/ˈeɪbl/to take part in the Olympic Games. 

Dear Jenny, 

How are you these days?

You shared with me about your favourite subjects in your last letter. I like English too. I think it is interesting and useful. You also like Maths, but I am not good at it. I think it is too difficult. Maybe you can help me with it next time. 

Our classes are over at 4:30 p. m. and I can get home at 5:00 p. m. , but I seldom go home after class because I take part in different activities. On Monday afternoon, I have a violin lesson for an hour. On Tuesday and Friday afternoon, I go to the Reading Club with my friends. We talk about the books and the writers, and we enjoy it so much. On Thursday, I go to the Chess Club. I often play chess for about an hour. What is more, we have a school field trip every term. We often visit a farm. We can learn how to grow different kinds of crops (作物) and pick fruit. It is great fun. 

On Saturday, I don't have classes. I often practice singing in an art school. I like singing and I can sing better now. I usually go to the park with my friends or have a rest on Sunday. I am busy every day, but I enjoy my life very much. 

Yours, 

Alice