During all this time I never stopped thinking about escape. When I traveled across to the other side of the island (岛屿), I could see the other islands, and I said to myself, “Perhaps I can get there with a boat. Perhaps I can get back to England one day.”
So I decided to make myself a boat. I cut down a big tree, and then began to make a long hole (洞) in it. It was hard work, but about six months later, I had a very fine canoe (独木舟). Next, I had to get it down to the sea. How silly I was! Why didn't I think before I began work? Of course, the canoe was too heavy. I couldn't move it! I pulled and pushed and tried everything, but it didn't move. I was very unhappy for a long time after that.
That happened in my fourth year on the island. In my sixth year I did make myself a smaller canoe, but I did not try to escape in it. The boat was too small for a long journey, and I did not want to die at sea. The island was my home now, not my prison, and I was just happy to be alive. A year or two later, I made myself a second canoe on the other side of the island. I also built myself a second house there, and so I had two homes.
My life was still busy from morning to night. There were always things to do or to make. I learnt to make new clothes for myself from the skins of dead animals. They looked very strange, it is true, but they kept me dry in the rain.
I kept food and tools (工具) at both my houses, and also wild goats (山羊). There were many goats on the island, and I made fields with high fences to keep them in. They learnt to take food from me, and soon I had goats' milk to drink every day. I also worked hard in my corn (玉米) fields. And so many years went by.

In 50 years of traveling, Colin McCorpuodale has visited every country in the world except three. And everywhere he goes, he sends himself a postcard. He always chooses a postcard with beautiful scenery (风景). Usually he writes just a short message to himself. However, he wrote an interesting story on his latest one, from the Malians Island.

Mr. McCorpuodale lives in London. On one of the walls in his room, you can see a large map of the world. There are hundreds of little red pins (大头针) stuck in it. “These pins mean a lot to me.” says Mr. McCorpuodale, “I follow the rule. I'm allowed to stick one in only if I've been in a place for more than 24 hours.”

Naturally, Mr. McCorpuodale has his favorite places. New Zealand, he describes as “a wonderful country”. About China, he says, “This is the country in the world which is completely different. There is no European influence. ”

Wherever he goes, Mr. McCorpuodale takes with him a photo of his wife, a candle, a shirt with a secret pocket and a pen.

So why does he do it? For the postcards or the travels? Mr. McCorpuodale laughs, “Neither. Only for the meaningful life.”

    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.

    A man got lost in a desert. He walked for two days but he still couldn't find his way out. Dying for water, he found an empty house in the desert. There was a water pump(水泵）in the house!

    The man was so happy that he ran to draw water. But no water how hard he tried, no matter came out.

    He was sitting sadly on the ground when he saw a little bottle with a cork in it. On the bottle, there was an old note saying: You must add the water into the pump before you can draw water! Don't forget to fill it with water again before you leave! The man took the cork out and found the bottle was full of water!

    If I'm selfish（自私的）, as long as I drink the water, I can go out of this room alive, he thought. If I do as the note says, I might die of thirst. Should I take the risk or not?

    At last, he decided to do as the note said and began to draw water. Sure enough, lots of water started coming out from the pump!

    After he drank enough, he filled the bottle with water and added his words after the note.

    “Believe me, do as the note tells you!” he wrote.

    Most people always like to collect things. For example, they like collecting stamps, books, pictures.… But my friend Mr King likes collecting clocks. He has five hundred clocks now.

    There are clocks everywhere in his house. You can see shelves standing in every room. All the shelves are full of clocks. Though Mr King is glad to do this, his wife doesn't enjoy it at all. She has a lot of work to do every day. It's not easy for her to clean hundreds of clocks. She is also angry at the noise. Each clock keeps its own time, so she can hear clock strike(敲) almost any time during the day and the night. "There is something even worse. I am never able to know what time it is with so many clocks around."

    Mr. Green is from England. He is a good teacher. He teaches English in No. 15 Junior High School in Beijing. He likes(喜欢)teaching very much. He speaks English with his students in class. His telephone number is 69018812. My name is Wang Peipei, Peipei is my given name and Wang is my family name. I'm from Henan. I'm 12 years old. I'm his student. I'm in Class Four, Grade Seven. Mr. Green likes me very much. He is kind to(对……友好)me. We are good friends.