Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year's Day, January 1st.

    During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candleholder. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles (原则). The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year's Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.

    Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa, "When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother."

    In 1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday "Kwanzaa". In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means "first fruits of the harvest (收获季节)".

    My pen pal John is a school boy. He is from the USA and he is 13 years old. This is his room. Let's have a look. His computer is on the desk. And a telephone is on it, too. His books are everywhere. Some are on the shelf（书架）and some are on the ground. Look, what's that under the bed? Oh, it's one of his socks. Where's his schoolbag? It's near the bed. You can find a dictionary, a pencil box and a set of keys in it. Where is his hat? Can you find it?

One day, a successful businessman was getting ready to go to his office in the morning. When he opened the door of his car, a stray dog(流浪狗) sleeping under his car suddenly came out and bit his leg! He was angry and threw a rock at the dog, but he was not able to hit it. 

Upon reaching his office, the businessman called a meeting of his managers. During the meeting, he took out his anger on his managers. His managers were upset about this, and took out their own anger on the employees(员工) working under them. Gradually, the businessman's anger spread through the whole company. '

The businessman was still angry after returning home. His wife opened the door. She asked him, "Why are you so late today?" The man shouted at his wife, "I didn't go to the office to play soccer, I went to work. So don't ask me such stupid questions!" His wife was upset about being shouted at for no reason. She turned her anger on their son, who was watching TV. "This is all you do. You have no interest in studying! Turn off the TV now!" She yelled. 

The son became upset as well. He walked out of his house and saw a dog passing by. He picked up a rock and threw it at the dog angrily. The dog ran away, barking in pain. 

Sometimes, when we are angry about something, we might take out our anger on others who are not to blame for our mood. This is not fair to others. We should learn to control our anger. 

①We usually think that garbage is dirty and useless. However, an art exhibition(展览) in 2022 proves that "useless" things can actually be helpful. 

②Dear Pretty Rubbish, an art event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN) and digital media art company Blackbow, was held in Beijing. It asked questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage. 

③"We hope that everyone who visited the show can think about how 'useless things' are produced, why they are tossed out and whether 'useless things' are really useless. " said Cao Yujia, the design director at Blackbow. 

④The organizers said that all the raw materials for the exhibition were collected from community garbage cans. 

⑤Artists Zhou Yuxuan and Liu Yifan collected nylon cable ties (尼龙扎带), LED lights and drink bottles from designers' workshops to create a work where plastics, in the shape of cells, "grow" in a corner. There, the lights blink (闪烁) to imitate (模仿) "breathing". When people walk near it, the work forms light patterns, as if communicating with the visitors. Speaking about the work, Zhou said, "It's like some kind of communication between humans and plastics. "

⑥Plastic has a life longer than almost any creature, taking centuries to break down. Though people blame plastics for damage (伤害) to the environment, they are a big part of our daily lives. 

⑦"So we want to ask the question: Although the damage continues, is there a way for humans to reconcile (和解) with plastics?" said Zhou. 

On Martin's birthday, his father gave him a gift. His father said, "Son, it's a magic book. But to find its magic, you must read it. "

Martin didn't like reading. But he needed to read it because he liked things about magic. The next morning, his father asked him, " Do you get the magic key?" Martin had a look at the book, but there was no key. After a short time, his young sister asked him for the book to read. His sister was different from him. She liked reading very much. After some days, she said, "I find the key of the magic book!"

"Is that so?" said Martin. So he wanted to read the book very much. At first, it was difficult to read. But after some days, he liked the book. And he found that the book was the key to magic. With the key, Martin can get many useful things from reading. 

 Look! This is our new school! You can find three buildings and a playground. It's not very big,1 it's really beautiful. We love it very much!

 As a new student of junior high, I make some plans. Firstly,2 many new subjects, so I need to get ready for every lesson. Secondly, I will start a hobby. There are many 3 to join. I decide to join Basketball Club because I have 4 basketball friends.

 My parents ask me, "5 do you feel about the new school life?" I say, "It 6 me excited, but I am a bit worried. I have a lot of tasks and homework. It's hard7 my time. What should I do?" They give me 8 paper boat and say, "Dear, you will face new problems. Sometimes, you have to sail your boat by yourself. 9 fact, it's OK to make mistakes. Just try10 best and work hard. We are always here to help." I feel so warm and thankful about their words.

All in all, I will enjoy my journey in junior high.