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.

    Most children like the summer holiday. It is usually long. During the summer holiday, children like to have a good time outdoors (在户外).

    Jimmy is a 15⁃year⁃old American boy. His summer holiday is coming. It is from July 1st to August 20th. He wants to travel. He usually travels in America, but this summer he wants to do something different. He learns a lot about China on the Internet, so he wants to take a trip to China. He also wants to learn about Chinese history, so he plans to visit Beijing and Xi' an. He is going to leave on August 3rd and take a plane to Beijing first. He plans to stay in the two places for 10 days. During these days, he plans to visit the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑) and Huashan Mountain. He hopes he will have a great time in China. He can't wait!

    Jenny is a good Canadian girl. She is 1.7 metres tall. She has a round face. Her eyes are very big. She likes vegetables very much，so she is not fat. She likes red，and it's her favourite colour. She looks very nice in red clothes. Jenny studies in China. She likes reading. She borrows books from the library every week. She is good at Chinese. She says Chinese is very interesting. Our classmates all like her very much.