Ben Jones was walking home from school one day when he saw a black cat. It was walking across the srteet in front of him. Ben stopped, turned around, and walked down a different srteet to go home. Why did he do that?
    "It's unlucky when a black cat crosses the street in front of you,”says Ben,“I did not want to walk down that street!”
     Many people think that some things bring bad luck. For example, some people think that 13 is an unlucky number. They never invite 13 people to a party.
    "I never walk under a ladder(梯子),”says Ben.“And I never open an umbrella inside the house. They both bring bad luck.”And what brings good luck?“We have a horseshoe over the front door of our house for good luck,”says Ben.
 “And when I find a peney on the ground, I always pick it up. That brings me good luck all day!”

Gao Xinyi, 14, No 1 Middle School Affliated in CCNU Chao Yang School, Beijing

I was once asked to give a speech in English in front of several native speakers at an organization last summer. I was asked to talk about my experience. At the beginning, I explained to the organizers that I was afraid to speak without preparation. But they told me that I had better get over it. When I first stood up in front of the crowd, my mind went completely blank. But then I began to talk about my story and used some gestures and facial expressions. Although I didn't speak very well, I still did it.

Ye Tong, 14, Hangzhou Entel Foreign Language School, Zhejiang

    To be honest, I wasn't a brave girl. I still slept with my mother until I was a sixth-grader, because I didn't dare to sleep alone. Last year, one evening after I came back from school, my mom asked me to sleep in my own room. I thought I had grown up, so I should learn to be independent. Though I was frightened at first, I slept in my own room for the first time. I did it. I'm really proud of myself! This is the bravest thing I have ever done.

Zhang Yiyi, 14, Taiyuan Foreign Language School, Shanxi

I didn't dare to ride the roller coaster all the time. I thought it was a terrible thing. However, my friend asked me to try it when we were in Disneyland, in Hong Kong last year. I decided to take a try. It took off so fast. It was a cool feeling, like you were flying! That was extremely good fun. Someone once said, "Life is a roller coaster ride, tighten your seat belts, enjoy the journey, remember the up always has a down." That is right. I have fallen in love with the roller coaster.

    Ann is my classmate. She comes from New York, and she lives in Shanghai with her parents now. Every morning, she goes to KFC to have breakfast. Sometimes she buys a hamburger for me. She can't speak Chinese well. In the evening, her father often helps her with it. He's a teacher in our school. He can speak Chinese very well.

    Ann thinks the school life(生活)in China is very interesting. Ann likes reading Chinese books because she wants to know more about China. She tries(努力)to talk with her Chinese friends in Chinese. She hopes to speak Chinese well. She is very happy to live in China. She loves people here.

    One weekend, Taylor, an eight-year-old girl, went shopping with her parents. She asked her parents to buy a toy she wanted. Instead of giving her money to buy the toy, Taylor's father encouraged her to make money by herself. "How can I make money?" Taylor thought for a while and had an idea, "Why not make cakes and sell them at church to raise money to buy the toy?"

    The next day, Taylor started her plan. She first needed some money for tools and materials. So she borrowed $40 from her parents and promised to pay it back. Then she began to make cakes by herself. To her parents' surprise, she made $175 by selling the cakes that Sunday.

    Everyone thought Taylor would buy the toy she wanted. She certainly had made enough money for it, but she didn't. Instead, Taylor decided to buy business cards and had her father's phone number on them. Then she began handing the cards out. More people knew Taylor and came to buy her cakes. Even large companies began to try buying her delicious cakes.

    Though Taylor has made a lot of money, she still works hard at school. She also likes to take part in other activities. So Taylor must carefully manage her time. For example, instead of watching TV after school, Taylor might have to bake(烘焙) a lot of cakes for customers. When she has dance lessons on some days, she needs to get her baking done on time so she isn't late for class.

    Making cakes may take time and be hard work, but Taylor sees the fun in it. "I think making cakes is mostly my hobby." she says. She also decorates(装饰) the boxes that are used to pack the cakes. Taylor uses all kinds of decorations to make sure each box looks special for her customers. People love the extra feeling Taylor gives them by decorating the boxes, so more and more people come for her cakes.

    Taylor's cakes are becoming very popular. She achieves a sweet success.