At the midnight, thunder was crashing and the rain was pouring. Suddenly my father rushed into my room. “Adam! Adam! Get up! We're flooding!” he shouted and shook me by the shoulders. That woke me up! I ran downstairs to the basement (地下室). It was like a swimming pool. My mother and I immediately started to pick up things and take them upstairs. I had no shoes on, so my feet felt quite cold.

Things got worse every minute. Within the next hour, we had moved everything that we could to the first floor. The computer, big-screen television and heavy boxes filled with our most valuable things were taken to safety. However, our piano, sofa, washing machine and water heater were all still down there — being destroyed. There was nothing we could do.

That was the hardest part. Knowing that your home is being destroyed is bad enough, but realizing that you can't do anything to stop it feels even worse. Water had come in our front door. Rescue boats were floating in our streets. Mother told me to pack an overnight（通宵, 前夜） bag of clothes and valuables and get ready to leave.

When it was finally safe to walk outside, all the people in the neighborhood gathered at the street corner. People became friends, and friends became like family. People comforted each other. We learnt later that the National Weather Service had declared (宣布) the storm a flash flood.

I really have learnt something from this flood, I've learnt what destruction is. I have learnt what safety means. I know in the future, when I watch people's lives affected (影响) by natural disasters, I can understand them. I will show my great pity on them and I will do what I can to help them.

    If you like reading fairy tales(童话故事), do not miss the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane(《爱德华的奇妙之旅》).It is a famous story by an American writer Kate Dicamilo in 2006．People, the young and the old, love this book. And it's so popular that it is one of the " “Top100Books for Children” in the US.

    The story is about a journey of a china rabbit (瓷兔子) called Edward. He lives with his

    ten-year-old owner (主人) named Abilene. Abilene loves him very much but Edward doesn't love her. During a holiday on a ship, Edward is lost. After spending 297 days in the sea, he reaches abeach and a man takes him home .Then Edward travels from one place to another, meeting manypeople. His name keeps changing, such as Susie and Maloney. Soon he begins to miss Abilene andwait for her. One day Edward falls into pieces. Someone repairs (修理)it and sells it in the market.

    Many years later, Abilene and her daughter come to the market and take Edward home. Finally

    Edward is with his owner again.

    There are many pictures in the book, so we can follow Edward's journey easily.

    You can learn that Edward learns love and never stops waiting for Abilene .This is why theymeet each other at the end of the story. The warm and sweet story will make you know more aboutlove．

    It was wonderful in Taiwan. I still remember my last trip to Taiwan.

First, I visited the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. It began to be built in 1962. It was completed in 1965. In this museum, you can find lots of exhibitions(展品). The museum keeps about 600, 000 artworks. The clerks of the museum say they change exhibitions every three months.

    Yinke was the second place I visited. It is a great town. There are some beautiful buildings in the town. The buildings look like European houses. These buildings make Yinke look like old England.

    It was a great experience to visit Keelung. The Keelung coasts are very famous for their wonderful scenes. There is also a seafood market. You can buy fresh product there.

    Then I arrived at Danshui. The most interesting place of Danshui is the Lover's Bridge. The bridge connects one side of the river with the other side. It is about 40 meters long. However, only one person can cross it at a time.

    I like Taiwan and I want to visit Taiwan again if I have free time.

    More and more people like bicycling and it is no surprise. It is fun, healthy and good for the environment. Maybe that's why there are about 1.4 billion bicycles and only about 400 million cars on roads worldwide today. Bikes can take you almost anywhere, and there is no oil cost!

    Get on a bicycle and ride around your neighbourhood. You may discover something new all around you. Stopping and getting off a bike is easier than stopping and getting out of your car. You can bike to work and benefit (受益) from the enjoyable exercise without polluting the environment. You don't even have to ride all the way.

    Folding (可折叠的) bikes work well for people who ride the train. Just fold the bike and take it with you. You can do the same on an airplane. A folding bike can be packed in a suitcase. You can also take a common bike with you when you fly. But be sure to look for information by accessing on airline websites. Not all airlines are bicycle-friendly to travellers.

    Health Benefits of Bicycling:

    It helps to prevent heart diseases.

    Bicycling helps to control your weight.

    A 15-minute bike ride to and from work three times a week burns off five kilos of fat in a year. Bicycling can improve your mood (心情).

    Exercise like bicycling has been shown to make people feel better, more relaxed and self-confident. Bicycling is healthier than driving.

A TV programme has become popular in China recently. It has made people all over China become interested in writing Chinese characters （汉字）.

The increasing use of computers and smartphones has left most young people hardly able to write by hand. Many of them are even unable to remember the 1，000 characters used in daily life without the help of electronic equipment.

CCTV started Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters to improve the population's handwriting skills. Contestants （参与者） on the show were school pupils， but it was found that 70% of the adults in the audience were unable to remember how to write the word "chanchu".

Because computers allow people to type characters simply by entering pinyin ，  they don't need to remember how to write them. "The keyboard age has had a big influence on the handwriting of Chinese characters，" Guan Zhengwen， who designed and directed the show， said. He added that he hoped to encourage people to keep it alive as an art form.

Hao Mingjian， an editor of a magazine， putting his heart into Chinese characters， said： "Learning Chinese characters goes on throughout your life. If you stop using them for a long time， it is very likely that you will forget them."