I'm Sam. My hobby is playing chess（棋）—one of the greatest games in the world. My mom taught me how to play when I was 7. She beat (打败) me every time for the first year. But then on my eighth birthday, I won for the first time. I nearly always beat her from then on.

    It takes about a day to learn the rules (规则). But if you want to be good, you have to practice for years. You don't need much to play chess—just a chess set (棋具) and someone to play with.

    Chess sets can be quite cheap, or very expensive. Some people collect chess sets as a hobby, but some prefers playing.

    There is a chess club in our school, and we meet every week to play with each other. I'm the best player in the club, and the captain of the school chess team. This year we won the All English Schools' Championship (锦标赛), and I had to go up on stage (台子) in front of the whole school to accept the trophy (奖品).

    I'm saving up my money to buy a chess computer. It's very expensive, but very good for practice. In that way, I'll always have someone to play with. One day I will be the world chess champion (冠军).

    On September 13th, I woke up in the best mood. It was a late start, so I got to sleep in. Not only did I get my full eight hours of sleep, but an additional two more hours as well. I got ready, danced in my room to my favorite music while I picked out my clothes, made my lunch, and was on my way to school. I arrived at 9: 50 a. m. Little did I know, in the next 20 minutes, my life would change forever. As I got out of my classroom, there he was, holding the gun.

    Although everything happened so fast, in a matter of about 4 minutes, I remember it clearly. I remember every face I saw, and I remember every sound I heard. I remember the fear and the panic of the unknown. And lastly, I remember running. Running for my life. I ran down the stairs, out of the school's front doors, and down the street to the primary school. I remember looking down at my feet. As I looked down I thought to myself, "How am I running so fast?"

    I finally made it to a safe classroom, and 20 other students and I settled in for lockdown. We stayed close to one another and cried. It felt as though the tears going down our faces would never stop. We passed our phones around to text our loved ones that we were safe and that there was a school shooter, shots were fired, and 4 students were injured thus far.

    The lockdown lasted about 30 minutes, even though it felt like forever. Our headmaster made his way to our room and explained that the shooter had been caught and we were all going to make our way to the football field.

    About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio(影棚) to take part in a crowd- scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.

    We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.

    The next scene was a complete contrast(对比). The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen. An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

    Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film "stars"!

Love is the most (最) important thing in the world (世界). We need love in. our life and the world also needs love to get better.

When I was a little girl, I thought that my father didn't love me. He let me do everything by myself. I was afraid of darkness (黑暗)，but he let me walk home alone. When I did well in my study, he only said," Be better. "I couldn't understand (明白) him. Where was his love?

But one day, I understood his love. It was a rainy day. School was over. At first I was not happy because I didn't have an umbrella.

But then I saw that my father with a big umbrella walking in the rain. He kept me away from the rain with the umbrella and we ran home together. He was all wet. On that day, I knew my father loved me very much. I understand what love is.

Mohamed Nasar, a 58-year-old fisherman has supported his family of five by fishing in the Nile River for 17 years. But he says fishermen like himself catch fewer fish every. year as the Nile has been polluted. It has been filled with plastic bottles, bags and other waste. 

"Most fish are caught in plastic bottles, and they die," said Nasar. 

A local environmental group named "VeryNile" has asked the island's fishermen to use their boats to collect plastic bottles from the river. VeryNile says it buys the bottles at a higher price than the market price offered by traders or recycling factories (回收站).

The initiative (倡议) provides a solution for helping to clean up the Nile, while providing a way to make more money for fishermen like Nasar. 

"This job has helped us a bit. We come and collect about 20 kilos of plastic bottles, and we get about 10 Egyptian pounds (EGP) for each," Nasar said when he sat in his boat collecting bottles. 

Nasar used to make about 100 EGP a day after six hours of fishing. Now only by collecting bottles, he can make 200 EGP every day. 

Another fisherman said cleaner Nile water would-mean more fish. "For one thing, the Nile is cleaner, and for another, the fishermen now have more ways to make money," he said. 

With the help of more than 40 fishermen, over the past year VeryNile has collected around 18 tons of plastic bottles, and most of them were sent to the recycling factory and were made into new things.