My name is Sam. I am a junior high school student. My school is close to my home, so I always go to school on foot. Classes start at 8 a.m., and I am seldom late. I like Geography best. I enjoy learning about different places in the world.

    In the morning, we usually study Chinese, Maths and English. We have our morning break at 9:50 a.m..  When the bell rings, I run to the playground with my best friends Tom and Jack. We often play games. Break ends at 10:10 a.m..

Lunch is from 11:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. Afternoon classes end at 3:30 p.m. Then Tom, Jack and I take part in the school bank practice. We make great music together.

    I always have a good time at school.

Some advice for safety:

    ①Always play in a safe place. A park is a safe place because there are no cars or trucks. But do not talk to anyone you do not know. Never go with a stranger into a motor car.

    ②Before crossing the road, stop and look both ways. Look left, look right, and look left again.

    ③Keep away from houses or buildings that are being built or knocked down. Something might fall on your head, or you might cut yourself on broken glass.

    ④Medicines or pills can be dangerous. Never swallow (吞下) any pills or medicines you find in the cupboard.

    ⑤Wear a life jacket whenever you go out in a boat, Even if you are not in the open sea and the water is not deep, you should have your life jacket on. It's easy to fall out of boat.

    ⑥Do not put your head out of a car, bus or train. Many children have been killed by doing this.

    As teenagers, you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big, such as winning the Nobel Prize, or they can be small, you may just want to become the best student in your class. Once you find a dream, what do you do with it? Do you ever try to make your dream real?

    Andrew Matthews, an Australian writer tells us that making our dreams real is life's biggest challenge. You may think you're not very good at some school subjects or it is impossible for you to become a writer. These kinds of thoughts stop you from getting your dream. In fact, everyone can make his dream come true. ①首要的事情是记住你的梦想是什么。 Don't let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want. Do this step by step and your ________ will come true faster because a big dream is made up of many small dreams.

    You must also never give up y our dream. There will be difficulties on the road to your dreams. But the biggest difficulty comes from yourself. ②You need to decide what is the most important.

    Without dreams, you won't make up your mind to learn more skills and new interests.

An American in Beijing Lives His Chinese Dream

    Wearing his bright red armband (袖章) and speaking fluent Mandarin (普通话), 62-year-old Terry could be taken for any regular Chinese man from a distance.

    His Chinese name is Gao Tianrui. He became interested in Chinese culture as a teenager when he read the Tao Te Ching by Laozi. At 18, he took a ship to Taiwan to learn Chinese. On the ship the captain advised him to have a Chinese name." He named me Gao Tianrui, based on the pronunciation (发音) of my English name," he said. Then he first visited Beijng in 1987 on business.

    Gao Tianrui lives in a Siheyuan with other three families. His neighbors are very helpful and friendly. Gao Tianrui once didn't know much about Chinese living habits and his neighbors helped him to overcome difficulties. Gradually, he could speak Chinese fluently.

    Having lived in Beijing for more than 20 years, Gao Tianrui has also finally achieved his Chinese dream: becoming a public security (安全) volunteer. Life as a"Xicheng Dama" has even made him an' online celebrity. Xicheng Dama is a club for volunteers, usually women in late middle-age, who roam (漫步) the streets of downtown at Beijing's Xicheng district. And now Gao Tianrui has joined their club.

    "I like helping others", he said. "I live in the Siheyuan and my neighbors and I usually help each other…This is where I live, where my friends are and where I call home."

Information Card

    School is not the safe place as it used to be. How to help students stay away from danger? There are many activities that teachers can do to teach safety in an easy way. Here are some stories from the students who have had the safety class in NO.1 Middle School.

    Milk Smith: About Sports Safety

    Once, our head teacher made up a story about sports safety. All we needed to do was to point out safe and unsafe sports behaviour in the story. From this lesson, we knew we should always do warm-up exercises before playing sports and drink some water after that.

    Amy Young: About Classroom Safety

    Yes, making up stories is a good way to learn and enjoy ourselves. We were once asked to make up a story about a boy called Naughty. He always did something naughty in the classroom and got himself into trouble. In this way, we learned to behave well and get on well with each other.

    Frank Green: About Fire Safety

    In our school, we have a fire emergency response practice(火灾应急演习) in September every year. So we know where to go if there is a fire in school. We learn to use the fire extinguisher(灭火器), too. But I don't think we should be allowed to put out the fire alone. It's too dangerous for young students like us.