Last year, I went to a summer camp in the United States with my classmates. It was my first time to go abroad.

    I lived with a host family in Los Angeles for five days. My host family was friendly and gave me lots of advice. For example, they said I should say "excuse me" if I have to interrupt (打断) someone or ask for directions.

    I also took some classes. They were different from the classes I had had back home. In the US, each class is like a seminar. Students join groups, speaking freely and creating a cheerful atmosphere (氛围). I had to work hard to learn more vocabularies, so I could better communicate with my international classmates. I used to pay little attention to my word usage (使用), but now I pay more attention.

    During my visit, I also went to some famous universities in Boston, New York and Washington, D. C. We learned about the history behind the universities. At MIT (麻省理工学院), we saw lots of names on a wall in the hall. The tour guide told us they were the names of students who had lost their lives during wars. I was inspired (鼓舞) by the fact that they fought for their country.

This is a true story. There was a player1Jerry in the football team. He liked playing football, but he wasn't good at it. So he had few chances to play2his team. He felt very sorry for it.

One day, his father died from a terrible illness. He had to return home to deal with something. After that, an important3was going to begin. He found the coach at once, 4to attend the match. He was not good at skills, so the coach would not5him to take part in the match. But now, as he relented(心软), he agreed to let Jerry play for only three minutes. When the time was up, he would be changed by6.

    On the court，Jerry turned very agilely(敏捷地)7his practiced skills. He broke through the opposition line bravely. The coach was very satisfied with him. Three minutes 8, the coach made Jerry keep9on the court. Jerry continued his excellent10, leading the team11the match.

    The coach hugged him12and said, "Kid, you have never been so fast, so strong and so skilled. What happened on earth(究竟)?"

Jerry said, "My father is blind,13he has never watched my match. Now14to the heaven and finally can watch my match. As soon as I think of my father watching me, I am full of energy, and I feel confident, too. "

    The coach understood:15can drive everything. Do you agree with him?

    Rosa liked making up stories. She was so sure that her classmates believed her from time to time. In fact, the whole class believed her! At first she supposed it was 1. Now, as she got up to talk before the class, she knew that making up stories had some way of coming back to make you sad.

    Rosa's parents were separated. Nine months out of the year, Rosa lived with her mother in an apartment on Anderson Street. But when summer 2, she went to her father's farm in Arizona.

    The farm was great! Rosa rode horses and helped with some farm work. Her father, however, was so 3 that he couldn't find time to go to other places with her. When she arrived each summer, her father would meet her at the airport and take her out to eat. And the day she went back to the city he would always buy her a present.

    When summer came to a close, Rosa returned to her mother. At school she heard lots of stories her friends told about their family trips. Rosa wished she had a 4to talk about too.

    Not long after 5 began, Rosa was looking through travel magazines in the school library. They talked about many exciting places, like England and Germany. When Rosa's friends asked what she had done in the summer, she made up something that was not6. Remembering the travel magazines she had read, she told her classmates that she and her father had gone to England.

    When the class began studying England, Mr Thomas asked Rosa to tell all the things she could 7 about her trip to England!

    It's hard to make friends if you stay at home all the time, so get out of the house and do things that will put you in touch with(接触)other people. It's easier to make friends with them when you find you like the same things as other people.

Don't be afraid to show people what you're really good at. You can talk about the things you like and do best. People will be interested in you if they, hear something interesting about you.

    Look at people in your eyes when you talk to them. That way, they'll find it easier to talk to you, or people may think you're not interested in them and may stop being interested in you.

    Be a good listener. Let people talk about themselves before talking about "me, me, me” You can ask people lots of questions and show that you are interested in their answers.

    Try to make friends with the kind of people you really like, respect(尊敬)and admire(羡慕). You shouldn't just make friends with those people you will meet them easily. Try to be friendly with all kinds of people. That way, you'll have a bigger group of people to choose from. Then you'll be easier to make friends with other people.

Clothes Donation (捐赠) Box

    Have you ever put your old clothes into the donation box in your neighborhood? If not, you can do it right now because the clothes donation is becoming a trend (趋势) in Urumqi.

    "From time to time, my mother clears out the clothes which I no longer wear. You know, we teenagers are growing fast. I think it's a good way to help others." Lin Tao, a junior student says.

    "I often pick out some of my clothes which are out of style after going shopping. Then I put them into the donation box." Miss Li, a pretty young lady says.

    "That seems like a good idea. Some clothes in the box are quite new. People can either wear them or use them to make things such as handbags and pencil cases," Mrs Wang, an old woman says, "sometimes I also look through the box for some nice clothes."

    However, there are some problems along with the popularity of clothes donation. Recently, a UTV reporter from Focus on the City has made a survey. Here are the results:

    Some boxes are full of clothes in a short time. There is no more room for people to give away clothes.

    Some people sell the clothes in the donation box for making money instead of wearing them.

    Some communities set the boxes in unsuitable places. So there are few clothes in it.

    Many clothes are too old and shabby (破烂的).

    "What's worse," one of the staff in a community added, "we quite often see people throw rubbish into the box when they pass by. We've tried to stop them several times but failed. It has been the most serious problem since we set the box."

    In order to make the donation box work in an efficient (有效的) way, our government is taking action. Clothes donation will be better-organized and it'll be more convenient for people in need to take the clothes away.

Long March(长征) exhibition

The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to remember the Long March which took place over 70 years ago. More than 220 photos and 40 other things are on show. All the exhibition is explained in Chinese. The show will end on November 20.

Time: 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Address: 1286 Hongqiao Road

Ticket: 8 yuan for Chinese/15 yuan for foreigners

Thai elephants

Eight elephants from Thailand are an attraction for visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, dancing and blowing a musical instrument. The elephants give three shows a day at 9:30 am, 3:30 pm and 8:00 pm and there is an extra show at 1:30 pm at weekends. The show will end on November 15.

Address: 189 Daduhe Road

Ticket: 30-40 yuan

Dancing dolphins

Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, dancing to music, kissing people and doing easy maths problems, and seals and sea lions, also performing, have made a large part of the aquarium(水族馆) in Peace Park, which interests children greatly.

Hours: 10:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 7:30 pm

Ticket: 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children