Chores weren't popular at my house. My children didn't like to do chores. They always saw me do chores, but they hardly ever helped me dothem.

    A year ago, I made a game called "The Endless ChoreGame". It's really great. Here's how the game works.

    I make a card with forty squares(方框), and I write adifferent chore on each square. These chores can be easy and interesting likemaking dessert. Then my family roll the dice(骰子)to decidewhat chores we have to do. The card also has a few squares with fun things, like watching TV and singing. If you're lucky, you can watchTV when the others are doing the chores.

    My son likes the game very much. He goes to the kitchen happily every morning to do the game. It's really a good way to make my children do chores. You can have a try if you have the same problemas me.

     It was my first time in the US. I think there is no other country that I have heard so many things about before I visited it. Burgers, big cars, fat people, good wine and fantastic cities. For sure the real experience was quite different. Although you can find all these things there, you will also find many other things to discover.

     In Los Angeles, I stayed at a place where they even produced home-made videos. I always thought in Hollywood only movies with lots of money are produced. But in this place, even parts of the living room were functioned (运作) into a scene. But anyway, this shows what you imagined about a place before arriving might be totally wrong. Now I started to understand the city is not only the place where the big movies are made, it's also where people are crazy about movies, and always try to start a production even if they don't have lots of money. People there just really love movies, they are motivated (调动积极) to give their ideas a try and at least open up a channel online with their home-made stories.

     Of course, there are many other interesting places in Los Angeles. As I stayed only a few days, it was not enough time to see all. But I advise you to have two apps on your smart phone for traveling in America. First is Yelp to find the closest and best restaurant or coffee place. And the other is Uber because especially in Los Angeles, you won't find taxis and everything is so far. You can also drive but it's wise to park your car close to a subway station and go to Hollywood by subway.

    The morning was cold and clear. A yellow bus came around the corner and stopped near a wood (树林). A coach asked the students to get off the bus. Girls began to gather by the starting line. One of them is a young, little girl. She had prepared for this running race for the whole summer. She looked around at the other girls, noticing how she was different.

    There was a break in the silence, and everyone started to run. After about twenty-five minutes, every runner finished the race except the girl. She was still running for the next forty minutes. As she came near the finishing line, she saw her parents, classmates and the coach. They shouted her name and told her not to stop until the end. The sweat (汗水) was flowing down her face.

    She kept on running until she crossed the line. I was that girl, and that was the first time I had finished a cross-country race (越野赛跑). Finishing this race made me realize that I could do anything with my own strength. After that, I took more hard work to practice running. I was not a natural-born runner, but I want to become one. I continued to struggle (努力) with every run. Now I run much faster than before and become more and more confident. I am so thankful for running because it has helped make me who I am today.

    I am Steve. I was born and grew up in South Wales. My favourite place to play was out on the hills where my imagination had plenty of space to expand (拓展).

    My family moved out of Wales when I was thirteen. I went to a new school. One of my subjects was

    French. Because I had never learned any French, my teacher told me to sit in the corner and write anything

    I was interested in. That's the time I started writing, just for myself, and I've been writing ever since.

    I have always loved BIG IDEAS, and so I enjoy writing fantastic stories. And I also write horror (恐怖) stories. I think they are like the old fairytales (童话故事), and can teach you important things.

    I am in my forties on the outside, twelve on the inside. I like rock music, Indian and Chinese food, and

    I enjoy drinking. I live in a small village with my wife Mary,ducks,cats, goats,hens and lots of rabbits. If you'd like to find out more about me and hope to buy my books, go to www.sbowkett.freeserve.co.uk.