C

    Hello! I'm Lily. I'm going to have a busy weekend. On Saturday morning, I 'm going to the Beach Park with my friends. We are going to ride bikes there because we can do some sightseeing on the way. We are going to play on the beach. At noon, we are going to have a picnic in the park. In the afternoon, we are going to visit our maths teacher. She wants us to go to her room and help us with our maths. In the evening, I'm going to visit my aunt with my mother, because it's my cousin's birthday. There is going to be a party in her house. On Sunday morning, I'm going to the bookstore with my good friends. I'm going to buy some storybooks. After lunch, I'm going to do sports with my brother. In the evening, I'm going to watch TV and clean my room. How busy I am!

    It was Sunday morning. A butcher（屠夫） heard the doorbell and thought it must be a customer. But he was surprised to see that a dog was coming into his shop. The dog had $10 and a note in its mouth. The butcher took the note and read it. It said, "10 pork chops（排骨）, please." So the butcher took the money and put a bag of chops in the dog's mouth.

    Then he quickly closed the shop because he decided to follow the dog. He found the dog on the street. The dog was waiting for a green light. Then the dog walked across the road. The dog went to a bus stop. When a bus arrived, the dog checked the number and then got on the bus

    After a while, the dog stood up on his back paws（爪子） to push the "stop" button（按钮）.The bus stopped and the dog got off. Then the butcher followed it to get off the bus.

    The dog ran to a house and dropped the bag in front of the front door. It then began to beat its head against the front door. After a while, a big man opened the door and began shouting at the dog. The butcher ran up and shouted at the man, "What are you doing? Your dog is a genius（天才）."

    The owner of the dog said, "Genius? No way! I always tell him to take the keys when he goes to the stores. But he never listens to me! "

Decide to Do Well

    Everybody makes decisions in daily life. They can be as important as what you will do in the future or as simple as what you will eat for breakfast. Any decision could be the turning point of your life.

    I made an important decision when I was in Junior 3.

    Before I made that decision I was one of the boys who tried too hard to act as an adult. I didn't know that only kids want to show themselves as adults.

    I didn't listen to my parents and teachers, and my grades became poor. Then came the high school entrance exam.

    At the turning point of my life, my mum wanted to have a conversation with me. I wanted to turn it down but when I looked at her eyes, I felt I couldn't refuse. Instead of asking me to study hard, to my surprise, mum just asked what I wanted to do in the future. Without thinking too much, I just said I would like to study hard.

    Mum smiled and asked again, "I asked 'what do you WANT to do'?"

    I never seriously thought about the question. So, I kept silent.

    "Whether you want to go on studying or enter the society," she went on, "it is your own decision. Your life ought to be decided by you, not by anyone else, including me. "After saying that, she had tears in her eyes.

    For the first time in my life I was asked to make my own decision. I sat in my chair and thought about myself, my life and what kind of person I wanted to become.

    It took me what seemed to be ages to make the biggest decision so far in nay life-I wanted to be a man who makes a difference in the world. To achieve that, I needed to study hard.

    The path to my future became clear to me. I didn't act rebelliously(叛逆地) any more. With passion (激情) in my heart, I studied hard.

    Now, I'm 17 and I'm in one of the best schools in my city, in one of the best classes at the school and I am one of the best students in the class.

    Thanks to that decision, I have become what I am today.

    On 26 February, I got an email from my friend David, asking me to go to Tanzania to train their software engineers. The company is located in Dares Salam, a beautiful coastal city to the west of the Indian Ocean. I stayed for about two weeks in that city last time I was there. During my stay there, David took me to the nearby beach and we had a wonderful walk along the coast which had left a deep impression on me. I was impressed by the ocean water and the deep blue sky.

    After more than 19 hours of air travel, I was finally here at Dares Salaam Airport. The temperature here was high as usual- over 30 degrees. I felt short of breath because of the unbearable heat in this tiny hall. When I finally got my turn, I handed my passport to the officer in front of me, He had a close look at my passport. Then he asked the purpose of my stay, I told him I just wanted to travel here.

    "Where do you want to visit?" he asked again.

    "Dares Salsam."

    "What's your job?" he asked.

    "I'm a software engineer.

I will never forget this experience that I had. I still love this country.

    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)".

    A student was going to spend his holiday in a cool mountain village. That evening he stayed at an inn (小旅馆) near the railway station (火车站). Before going to bed, he went to the boss of the inn and said, "Excuse me, sir. Will you please wake me up at a quarter to five tomorrow morning? I'll take the five o'clock train."

    "Oh, sorry, sir," the boss said in a hurry, "I'm afraid I can't. I won't be able to get up so early." The student was disappointed. When he began to return to his room, be stopped and asked, "Have you got an alarm-clock (闹钟)? Maybe it can help me."

    "Wait a minute, then." The boss said and brought out an alarm-clock. "Here you are, sir." "Thank you very much." The student said happily. But he found it was rusty (锈的) when he had a look at it. And it sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. He asked, "Will it ring in time?" "I don't know, either." said the boss, "But it doesn't matter. You just give it a good shake at a quarter to five. And it will ring on time."