I remember the first time I got on a horse. I was two years old and we were watching a friend of the family ride. My mom agreed to let me take a short ride around the ground with the friend and that was it' I became crazy about having a horse. From then on, I drove my parents mad beg­ging for a horse. Whenever I saw a horse, I would beg even harder.

    When I was four years old, problems appeared in my life. I had Selective Mutism (选择性缄默症). This is an unusual childhood disorder (失调) in which children stop speaking in certain social situations, many times at around the age of four. I spoke to my parents as usual, my brother and certain other people, but was silent at school and in social situations. I went days, weeks, months without a sound at school. At most, I might very quietly speak to a friend.

    My parents looked for a cure. One psychologist (心理医生) had an idea. Having discussed his plan with my parents in advance, one day I was asked by the psychologist what I wanted more than anything in the world. He explained that I was going to be given a chance to work for what I wanted. I couldn't believe my good luck, but I could not answer. I just stood there. Finally, I was allowed to whisper (低声说) the answer in my mother's ear. "A horse," was all I could say.

    I was to get a little horse, but before we could even start looking, I had to try to talk. I had a chart of weekly tasks I had to finish. I had to answer the phone five times every week, something I had never done before. I did everything that was asked of me and the day came when my parents found the perfect horse. His name was Sequoia, a strong little chestnut (栗子马). He was perfect, of course, and I fell in love immediately. It truly was a dream come true. When I was with Sequoia, I forgot all about my problems and felt strong and life.

    By connecting with them, I have learned to hug what I was once not able to do and I found my voice back.

I'm Tony.From a young age，I began to love skiing.I have skied since I was eight or nine years old.But once in the USA I was close to death.

It was April 1st，2011.I skied in the Tetons with my friends Jeremy and Xavier.While I was skiing，they were watching me in a safe area，and then covered me.It was so heavy that I couldn't move.And then it pushed me forward again.

I looked down into the bottom of the valley（山谷）. "OK，I'm going all the way to the bottom!" I thought.Then the snow pushed me again down the mountains.I thought the snow would destroy me.But in the end

It took Jeremy and Xavier about 20 minutes to find me.They couldn't believe it when they saw me.I was so lucky.

Has the experience changed me？Do I think about life differently？I don't know，but I do know that it's important to live your life seriously.Life is a gift，so use it wisely.

This summer. I went for a budget trip(穷游). I visited Shandong with my father. What a special and surprising trip it was! My father and I only spent about 1,500 yuan on the trip. We tried some different ways to save money.

We didn't take planes because the air tickets were expensive. We didn't have enough money for air tickets. We decided to take trains. Hard seats were our first choice(选择). We chose the hard sleepers(卧铺) only when we were too tired. As for hotels, we chose to live in small and cheap hotels. We didn't want to spend money living in large and expensive hotels. We didn't eat out. We went to the shops to buy some vegetables and meat, and then we cooked meals in the hotel. We saved a lot of money in this way.

I learned a lot from the trip. I want to go for another budget trip next year. Would you like to go with me?

Our English classes are always interesting. Mr Chen told us to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (讨论) great books and write a book review of our favourite one this morning. I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (猜想) many students will take The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as their favourite book. This book describes how people lived in the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(南方的) states of America. The conversations in the book sound especially real because they are all in {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(日常的) English. 

Tom, the hero of the book, is a poor boy. Tom and his best friend decide to {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(逃脱) to an island. But a bad man is looking for him. Later, Tom and another friend run away from a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (洞穴). Not seeing them for a long time, people think they are{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (死 的 ). Then, they suddenly appear at their funeral. People are {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(惊讶的) to see them at first, but very pleased to find they are still {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(活着的). 

Its writer Mark Twain is my favourite{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (外国的) writer. He is a well- known writer. 

The first lesson

Our English teacher Ms Chen wrote the sentence on the blackboard and said, "Please write this down. "

We started {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(write). I wrote down the first word and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(stop). 

"That's not right. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} is it OK to point out the mistake? Is that polite, in the first lesson?"{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(question) jumped into my mind. 

"{#blank#}5{#/blank#} aren't you writing, Wang Han?"

I looked up at Ms Chen. My eyes met {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(her). My mouth felt dry. 

But then I thought {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the meaning of the sentence. I put {#blank#}8{#/blank#} my hand. 

"Ms Chen, there's {#blank#}9{#/blank#} mistake, " I said. "That sentence is from Confucius, not from Mencius. "

"Well done, Wang Han. {#blank#}10{#/blank#} fact, this is my {#blank#}11{#/blank#}(one) lesson for all of you. You are now in junior high school. {#blank#}12{#/blank#}(learn) will be more difficult. It's important {#blank#}13{#/blank#}(think) more in your learning. Please always remember this. "

That's really {#blank#}14{#/blank#} important lesson!