An American named Crum invented potato chips in 1853, although that was not his intention (意图). He was a chef(厨师长) at a beautiful restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. A regular dish on the menu was fried (油炸的) potatoes, which was an idea that had started in France. At that time, French fried potatoes were cut into thick slices (片).

      One day, a dinner guest at the restaurant sent back his fried potatoes to the chef because he did not like them so thick. So Mr. Crum cut the potatoes a little thinner and fried them. The guest did not like those either. That made Mr. Crum angry, so he thought he would just show the man. He sliced the potatoes paper-thin and fried them, thinking that the man would say nothing about it. However, to his surprise, the man loved the thin potatoes very much. Other guests tried them and also liked them. So, Mr. Crum's potato chips were added to the menu. They were called Saratoga Chips.

      Finally, Mr. Crum opened his own restaurant to sell his famous chips. Now potato chips are packaged (包装) and sold in stores.

    Max is one of my good friends. I first met him two years ago when he knocked on my door (敲我的门)."Hello," he said warmly. "My name is Max, and I've just moved in next door, so I'm your new neighbor."

    Max is a handsome, well-dressed young man in his twenties. He is quite tall and thin with brown eyes and black hair. He likes wearing sports clothes. He works in a hospital and goes to work early every day.

    He has a great sense of humor (幽默感). I love to listen to his interesting stories. What's more, he is a very kind-hearted person, and is always ready to help people in need. He often does volunteer work (志愿者工作) in an old people' s home. Because of him, more and more young people in our neighborhood want to help there.

    He enjoys dangerous sports such as bungee jumping (蹦极跳). He is a great dancer, too. He goes to the dance club every Tuesday and Saturday.

    All in all, life is never boring when Max is around. Who wouldn't be happy to have him as a friend and neighbor?

    Today was not a good day. Everything went wrong. First, I slept late and Mum shouted at me to wake up. I tried to wake up but I couldn't. I just went back to sleep, and she had to come and shout at me again.

    When I finally got out of bed, I went to the kitchen for breakfast. There was no cereal (谷类食物). I decided to have some toast (烤面包片) instead, but I burned it. I had to eat it anyway because there was no more bread. There was no juice, either. I just had a glass of water.

    When I was almost at the bus stop, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet, so I had to go back home and get it. Of course, I missed the bus and had to wait for the next bus.

    I was late for school and the teacher told me to stay in the classroom at lunchtime to catch up on (补上) the schoolwork I had missed.

    After lunch, it was the time to give the teacher our homework. I reached into my bag to get it, but it wasn't there. I had left it at home. I was in trouble again.

    When I got home, I went straight to my room to catch up on my homework. Mum cooked fish for dinner. She knows I don't like fish, but she thinks it is good for her son. I am going to bed early so that nothing else can go wrong. It was a terrible day. I hope tomorrow will be better.

Nick is my pen pal. He is 12 years old. He is from Canada. He lives in Ottawa. He speaks English and French. His favourite subject is Science. He likes Chinese, too. And he says he can speak a little Chinese, but he can't write in Chinese. He doesn't like Physics. He thinks it's too difficult.

Nick likes sports, too. He likes swimming best. He goes swimming at weekends with his father. He says he can swim very well.

Nick has a big family. There are his grandparents, his parents and his brothers and sisters. He has two brothers and two sisters. They are Bob, Tim, Jane and Susan. They are happy!