Years ago, there was an old man who loved his young son very much. And the old man had a lot of art collections, such as the works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others.

As war broke out in their nation, the son became a soldier and left to serve his country. Only a few weeks later, the old man received a message that his son died in the war.

On Christmas morning, a soldier knocked on the door and said, “I am a friend of your son. He saved my life before he died. I am also an artist, and I want to give you this painting that I drew in the war.” It was a portrait (画像) of the man's son.

The old man told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received. The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be sold at an auction (拍卖会)  on Christmas Day, the day he had received his greatest gift.

On Christmas Day the auction began with the portrait of the old man's son, The auctioneer (拍卖师) asked for an opening bid (竞价), but the room was silent. Finally, a friend of the old man said, “Will I take $10 for the painting? That's all I have.” The gavel (小木槌) fell.

The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced that the auction was over. He explained, “It is very easy. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the portrait of his son gets all his art collections.”

    It takes a lot of skills and hard work to set a world record in pumpkin-carving(雕刻南瓜). Steve Clarke, a sixth-grade teacher from Pennsylvania, is a famous carver(雕刻师). Clarke has set many world records for carving pumpkins quickly. When he competes, he must cut our two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and two ears as fast as possible. But Clarke knows something else about pumpkin-carving. It's easier to get a record than to keep it.

    He took the title in 2000 when he carved a pumpkin face in 74.8 seconds. That time was 19 seconds faster than what Jerry had set. From then on, Clarke broke his own records five times. In 2006, he set his best time in Florida. His winning time was 24.03 seconds!

    The only problem is that someone finally beat that mark. On October 7, 2010, David set the new record with 20.1 seconds. Clarke was not able to break that record this year, but he has planned to break the record. After Halloween, he will go to local pumpkin farms to practise designs and new skills.

    Clarke is popular because of his super pumpkin-carving skills. In 1999, he carved more than 30 pumpkins at the Halloween party for then vice-president Al Gore.

Every Thursday afternoon, the food pantry（食品储藏室） at the local high school opens up to provide fresh food bags for families who can hardly make both ends meet to get their meals to last through the weekend. Nearly a hundred families rely on the extra food. Some are between jobs, some got hit hard with medical bills for a few months, and some are new to the neighborhood, placed there by refugee services.

On one breezy afternoon, two young mothers walked in together, each accompanied by a young child. There was nothing different about their dress, but their manner revealed a shyness that they struggled to overcome. When they spoke, it was clear why: Their accents were thick, even though they were trying hard to make their English sound American. They were uncertain of being understood. But the pantry is run by grandmothers who are never pressed for time when it comes to conversations. So they sat for a moment and told their story while the little ones were held in arms so very familiar with children.

The two lived in apartments in the basement of the Methodist Church. They had been in the United States for one month. Their husbands were well-educated but working labor jobs to pay for food and save for more typical apartments.

Both had fled the war in Eastern Europe, one family from Ukraine and one from Russia. They ended up in the same church basement and discovered that they needed each other. They became fast friends. Their children played together. They shared meals and navigated their new world together.

There were no bombs or soldiers or rations in their new neighborhood, only a chance to start over. Friendships are sometimes hard to come by, yet matter so much to each of us. A good friend gives us strength, love, laughter and the courage to keep trying.

These two families—worn down by uncertainty and war, thrown together in a new country, a new community with a new language —found so much in common. And isn't that what we all need? A friend who faces the same life challenges, even if the forces above them have different political views. We are, after all, just mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors.

 "Turn left! Turn right!" In the information technology(IT) class, Zhang Ruixuan was controlling a robot to move around.

"This is part of our artificial intelligence of (Al) courses," said the 10th grader from Beijing 101 Middle School. The school provide AI classes to both junior and senior high school students. Apart from compulsory(必修的),courses that teach basic knowledge, there are also optional(选修的) courses if students want to learn more.

"This semester of compulsory class, we have learned coding(编程) through a programming language called Python," said Zhang. Using Python to code is an elementary skill for training AI models. In recent years, Python has been tested in high school graduation exams in places like Beijing, Jiangsu and Anhui.

In fact, having Al education in schools has become a growing trend(趋势) in many places, with Zhejiang Province being a typical example. In 2020, Zhejiang added AI education into textbooks from Grade 5 in primary school all the way to senior high school. In the city of Wenzhou, the government is planning to build 1,000 AI experimental schools by 2025.

"With the development of technology, our textbooks have been changing all the time,"said Shang Yin, an IT teacher from Beijing 101 Middle School."From typing to using Word and Excel, and then today's coding and AI, the courses are keeping up with the times and teaching students necessary skills. In the future, there will be more jobs where AI knowledge is required.Even in daily life, people may need to understand things like ChatGPT and the Internet of Things. AI education will become increasingly important," Shang added.

It's important for us to keep healthy. Li Ming gives us a good example. Meals was the time when family members got together. But now fast food and quick meals are threatening(威胁) such family get-togethers. Facing such a situation (情况), Li Ming has a good idea. Though his parents often go to work at night, he also eats the healthiest food. He learns to cook himself.

He takes exercise in the morning. He likes sports such as swimming, running and playing basketball. He goes to bed at ten in the evening and gets up at six in the morning. He can take care of himself. He takes a bath every day and washes his hands before meals. When he has meals, he eats all kinds of healthy food such as fish, eggs, vegetables and meat. He also eats much fruits. So he looks strong. Do you want to be a person like him?