Today I went to Sam's school in the UK. It was really different from my school in China.

    Girls wore grey skirts and white shirts, boys wore grey trousers, and everyone wore the school tie.

    Some of Sam's lessons were a bit strange for me. We were reading Shakespeare in the English lesson, and there were quite some old words like "thou" and "thee" to mean "you". In history we studied 20th Century China. It was strange hearing a foreign side of history — and hearing English people trying to say all our Chinese names!

    Classes were also a lot more relaxing than in China. Teachers were called "sir" or "miss", everyone shouted answers and raised their hands in classes. It was more like a debate than a class. A bell rang at the end of each lesson and everyone jumped up to go to the next class.

    At break we bought potato chips and cookies in the dining room. Lunch was later than in China at 1 o'clock. We had big plates of pie with carrots. For dessert there was hot sweet rice called rice pudding.

    It was good that I'd had an excellent lunch, because at Sam's school Monday afternoons are taken up with sports.

    I played my first game of netball — a bit like basketball, but with some differences. Luckily I'd had a quick look in the rule book before I tried to join in the game.

    Jane is only four years o1d and she doesn't go to school. But she is very clever and learns a lot from her grandpa—an old teacher. One day, Jane's mother, Mrs John takes her to a party. The guests（客人）all praise（表扬）a rich woman's son. Mrs John asks him a few questions, but his answers are wrong. Jane begins to laugh.

    The rich woman is angry.  She te11s her friend—a teacher to ask Jane some questions, but the little girl answers all. Then she asks, "There are three birds in a tree. How many will be left（被留下）if I kill（杀死）one?”

    “One” answers Jane. “You're wrong!” calls out the rich woman. “All of them will fly away”,“Do you think a dead（死的）bird can fly?”asks the little girl.

    The guests begin to 1augh and the woman's face turns red.

    "Oh, my son!" a lady cried.  Her child fell into the river. The water carried him away quickly. A man came and said, "Can you give me the clothes or shoes of your son?"

    The lady gave him a pair of shoes. The man turned to his dog. He first pointed to the shoes, and then to where the child had sunk(下沉).

    The dog jumped into the river. Soon people saw him swim back with something in his mouth. When people pulled the child and the dog from the water, everyone was happy. The lady ran to her son. The child was alive(活着的)! The lady said to the dog's owner, "Oh, sir. Thanks for saving my son. I'd love to give you anything to buy the dog!"

    "Madam, I am very glad that my dog helped you.  But I would not give him to others for anything in the world," said the man.

    It seemed that the dog knew they were talking about him. He lay down beside his owner's feet and seemed to say, "Nothing can separate(使分离) me from my owner. "

    We never forget when Perronet came to us. It was on a spring afternoon. We never knew who drowned Perronet, but David pulled him out of the water and saved his life, People sometimes asked us what kind of dog he was, but we never knew, except that he was the nicest possible kind. Mother said we could not afford him because of the tax(税) and his keep. The tax was five shillings(先令), but it was nearly a year before the time when it must be paid. At last, we decided that all three of us would give up sugar toward saving the cost of his keep. It was the hardest for David because he was fond of sweet things, but then, he was fond of Perronet. So we all gave up sugar, and Perronet was allowed to remain.

    We were very happy that summer. The boys were especially happy. The only thing that vexed me was Perronet's tax money, for months and months went on and we didn't save it. One day, I found David alone with Perronet in his arms. He was crying, and feeding Perronet with cake. I can't bear to see boys cry. I begged of David to stop, and told him I should certainly think of something.

    One day, we were all in school. The schoolmaster told us that there was to be a flower show for the school children this year, and that an old gentleman would give prizes to the best arranged wild flowers. There was to be a first prize of five shillings, and a second prize of a half crown, for the best collection of wild flowers, with their names upon them. I squeezed(挤) David's arm, and whispered, "Five shillings!"

    I thought I could never get my lessons that day, for all day I was thinking about Perronet's tax money. At night, I said to them, "Look here! I'll make a collection of flowers. You two can make a collection of mosses(苔藓). There are ten kinds of mosses by the river, and we have names of our own for them." The boys agreed. Richard made me a box. We put wet sand at the bottom, then feather moss, and into that I stuck the flowers. I got all the flowers and all the grasses ready and printed the names on pieces of cardboard, to stick in with them. I didn't like it when it was done, but Richard praised it and that cheered me. I thought their mosses were beautiful.

    The day of the flower show was very hot. When we reached the tent, it was filled with grown-up people. It was very hard work getting about and trying to see the stands with flowers. We kept seeing tickets with "First Prize" and "Second Prize". It made me feel sick with heat and anxiety, to think of them. We had walked slowly all round the tent. We had seen all the cucumbers, onions, lettuce, grapes, long potatoes, round potatoes and everything else. At last we saw my collection! It had a label on it, marked "First Prize", and next to it came the boy's moss, marked "Second Prize". We cried "Perronet is paid for!"