Cordia Harrington owns three McDonald's restaurants in Illinois. Being a single mom, she is very successful. Now let's talk about her story.

    This term(学期) we have a new teacher of English. His name is Mr. Peterson. He is American. He is not very tall and he is thin. He has a round face and small blue eyes. He wears glasses and they make him look smart. He has dark brown hair.

    Mr. Peterson works very hard. In class, he has many good ideas to make the class very interesting. We all like his class. After class, he always encourages us to speak more English. Sometimes, he plays games with us. He is very strong and he can play basketball and football very well. He is good at sports. Sometimes he plays table tennis with us, but he doesn't play it very well.

    Mr. Peterson loves living in China very much. He enjoys lots of things in China. He really loves eating Chinese food. He loves traveling in China too. He is going to visit Xi'an next month.

    Brenda Bongos was a happy, talented girl. She had one big dream-to play the drums in a band. But one big problem lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get them nervous. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone who would get mad.

    One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a musical astronaut.

With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble (透明圆形罩). This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out (抽出) all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit (成套设备) and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble，turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.

    It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos became very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a special space journey. Finally,           , and it was far beyond (超越) her first dream of playing drums in a band.

    Years later, when asked how she had achieved all her dreams, she thought for a moment, and said," If those old people next-door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened."

    Jimmy is a very kind young man. He works in a big supermarket. His workmates like him very much. Last month Jimmy caught a bad cold, and he stayed in bed for about two weeks. But after he got well, something happened-he couldn't stop winking(眨眼) . When he stayed at home, he was all right as usual. But if he went out, he couldn't stop his eyes from winking.

    Jimmy went to work the next morning. On the way he met a policeman and winked at him. The policeman felt surprised but said nothing. Then he met an old man and winked at him. The old man thought he must be mad. But still he didn't say a word.

    Real trouble started when he met women. First he met a young lady. He winked at her. The woman's face turned red, and ran away as fast as she could. And then he met an old woman who carried a walking stick. Jimmy winked at her. She looked closely at him. Jimmy winked again.

    Without saying a word, she hit Jimmy on the head with her walking stick. "Take that!" she cried out. "This is a lesson(教训) for you."

Poor Jimmy! How could he explain it? He ran away quickly. From then on, he always wears a pair of dark glasses when he goes out.

    Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year's Day, January 1st.

    During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candleholder. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles (原则). The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year's Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.

    Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa, "When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother."

    In 1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday "Kwanzaa". In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means "first fruits of the harvest (收获季节)".