My name is Dora. I'm American and I'm thirteen. I'm a student in No. 7 Middle School. I like music very much. I can play two instruments — the guitar and the piano. I play them very well and I'm on the school art club.

    Jeff and Michael are my brothers. They are students, too. But we aren't in the same school. They like sports. Jeff plays basketball and soccer very well. Michael swims and plays ping-pong very well. I am not good at sports. They help me with sports after school.

    We live in London with our parents now. My mother is an English teacher and my father is a musician. My mother swims well. My father can play the violin.

    Mrs. Green works very long hours every day. She usually gets up(起床 ) at 5:40. She brushes her teeth(刷牙) and goes to her workplace (工作地点). Then she runs with some kids. After that she takes a shower(淋浴). she eats her breakfast at 7:00. Her work starts(开始) at 8:10. she is good at(擅长 ) history and many boys and girls learn history from her. All the kids（孩子） like her very much. She often talks or plays games with the kids. She  usually goes to bed(睡觉) after 22:00. she is often very tired(劳累) but she likes her job and loves the kids. She doesn't work on weekends. Mrs. Green likes reading at home on weekends(周末). Sometimes some kids' parents come to her home to talk about their kids. When Monday comes, Mrs. Green gets busy again.

    The date—— July 22, 2018— has meaning to Cui Qingtao, a boy  of seventeen. He will remember it forever.

    Cui Qingtao was working at a construction site(建筑工地) with his  parents on Sunday when he received his admission letter(录取通知书) from Peking University, which is considered as one of the best  universities in China.

    In last year's gaokao, the young man from a poor family scored 669 points and applied for( 申请) Peking University, where he was accepted as a student in the School of Journalism(新闻)and  Communication.

    Cui's home is in a small village in southwest China's Yunnan Province. He is the family's oldest son, with a younger brother in high school and a sister in the fourth grade.

    Cui is a caring son. To support his family, he'd get up at 3 o'clock in the morming to water plants in the family's greenhouses with his brother when he came home during the school breaks.

    On Sunday, Cui's family were doing construction work when he saw the letter. Cui and his family were excited as they finally received the admission letter, which they had expected for a long time.

    Cui Qingtao made his parents very proud because neither of them went to university. When his mother read the admission letter to his father, who cannot read, a big smile appeared on his father's face.

    "No pain, no gain(不劳无获)Don' t complain what a terrible life you have. As long as you work hard and try your best, your dream may come true. Now I'm leaving my home village for college, but I'll return and some day change the poor conditions of our village, "Cui said.

   His starting point is different from other students, but I hope his future will be bright, "one Internet user said on Chinese social media (媒体)site Weibo.

Cake with friends

    On the first day of July, 2019, everyone was amazed. Our teacher held a birthday party for 23 students. Most of the students' birthdays are in July. Our teacher gave them birthday cards. The cards' covers were printed with a group photos of our class. The teacher wrote birthday wishes to the students on the back. It was really sweet!

    Then, we sang a birthday song for the birthday kids. In addition (另外), all of us got to share cream（奶油） cakes, even if our birthdays weren't in July. I thought this was nice. I watched everyone eat their cake together and have some fun talks. It's nice to have good friendships(友谊) like this.

    Then, something funny happened! We started throwing the cake to each other. Some of us drew pictures on the birthday kids' faces. It was a really fun time.

    I was happy to be at school on that day. I watched all of my friends have fun together. I felt like it was one of the happiest times I've ever had in junior high school. I wished that I could stop time or make the best time lest just a few minutes longer. This isn't possible of course. But I do hope that all of my friends can cherish(珍惜) their friendships forever and enjoy friendships, just like I am now.

    I'm looking forward to the future. I hope I can make more good friends in high school.

    My name is Scott Christenson. My story is one you've probably heard before. It goes something like this:

    When I was young, I was always athletic and did sports every day. At that time, I was in good shape. I ate whatever I wanted and never put on a pound. Over the years, many bad habits had been formed, such as smoking, drinking and staying up late. I often ate junk food. Besides, I was too busy to do exercise. By the time I got out of college, I was out of shape. I was getting fatter and fatter.

    I realized those bad habits were not good for my health, so I decided to start teaching myself about healthy eating and exercise by reading books and surfing the Internet. My work in the healthcare industry as a writer also allowed me to study the knowledge of healthy and unhealthy behavior. I tried to have a healthy diet, and I exercised two hours a day. Amazingly, I lost 18 pounds last year. I've got back in shape and I still keep my good habits.