“Homestay is a form of study abroad program．It allows visitors to rent a room from a local(当地的)family to better understand the local lifestyle．It also helps to improve the visitor's language ability，"said a teacher during a school meeting last term．“Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday．I am sure you won't be disappointed(失望的)．”

    After this special meeting，I always thought about this kind of holiday．Last month I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London．a place where I had wanted to go since years ago．

    As we were still young，we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us．After we got to London. we went to stay with different families．I was lucky that my host family(寄宿家庭)was a white couple who had a daughter about my age．They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there．They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them，too．

    The holiday was filled with activities every day．After breakfast，a local teacher would come to take us in his car．Then we would have classes or go on a sight—seeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben，the London Bridge，and the Buckingham Palace．We would go back to our own homes after the activities．

    The holiday was a valuable experience for me．I enjoyed every minute of it．Yet，time really flew fast．Three weeks later，we had to leave “home” for Hong Kong．

    Mr. White's family decided to repair their house. Mr. White bought the house two and a half years ago. Since his kids were growing up, he and his wife wanted to make some changes to the house.

    They decided to knock down their living room wall to open up the space. When the wooden walls were moved, they were shocked to find a lizard (蜥蜴) stuck in the small space between the walls. The lizard's foot was stuck by a nail (钉子) which was knocked into the wall from the other side several months ago. However, they wondered how the lizard had survived so long without moving from that place.

    The family decided to wait for a while and see how the lizard survived several months without moving. While they were doing other things, they kept an eye on the lizard. The son, Ray, suddenly shouted, “Dad, look here!”

    Another lizard appeared, carrying food to the stuck lizard's mouth. That was a real surprise! Everyone was touched that the lizard fed the other one for all this time.

    Both lizards had never-ending hope for each other and carried their hearts with love and care. Why can't we humans always carry that kind of love in our hearts? Life is full of all kinds of difficulties. What we can do is to give our hand to the one in need and share our love. Sharing is caring.

    Once a traveller came into a village which was suffering from hunger. The villagers asked him to leave, for they feared he wanted them to give him food. They told him that there was no food. The traveller explained that he didn't need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with them instead. The villagers watched suspiciously as he built a fire and filled a pot with water With great ceremony(仪式), he pulled a stone from a bag, and dropped the stone into the pot of water. After a moment, he smelt the soup and shouted with excitement, “How delicious the soup is!” As the villagers began to show interest, he mentioned how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brought out a cabbage to share. This episode(情节) repeated itself until the soup had cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets—indeed, a full pot of soup that could feed everyone in the village was ready. This story describes when there are not enough resources(资源), humans will store things. We do not want to share. The story of stone soup helps us realize that, in doing so, we often prevent ourselves and everyone else from having a feast(盛宴).The meaning of this story goes far beyond food. We keep to ourselves ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer, but in fact we make the world, and ourselves, poorer. The traveller was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the ability to inspire(激发) them to give. In this way, they created a large meal that none of them could have created alone. Are you like one of the villagers? If you come forward and share your gifts, you will inspire others to do the same. The reward is a feast that can feed many.

    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.

    Nearly all students want to have a good memory so that they can study well. Yan Jiashuo, a young girl, is quite lucky. She has received the honor of "International Master of Memory". About 300 people have been honoured as masters. Yan Jiashuo is the youngest among them.

    Yan Jiashuo always has a good memory. And the good memory comes from good training. When she was 4 years old, her parents asked her to recite ancient poems and books. She has practised a lot. So when she is at school, it is easy and quick for her to recite texts in class. What's more, she loves reading. When she was in the third grade, she could read one book a day.

    Yan Jiashuo is good at not only Chinese, but also maths. For her, numbers are not boring at all. She can make up stories with these numbers. She compares remembering a lot of numbers to watching a movie. Every group of two numbers is imagined to be a picture of the story. And these pictures are made up into a movie in her mind. She said everyone could have a good memory by training and there were plenty of ways to train your memory.