One night, when I was eight, my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. “Cindy, my company wants to promote (升职) me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you that you've done well and allowing you to skip (跳) a grade, but you'll have to leave your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?” She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was lost in thought. The question kept me wondering for the rest of the night. I had said “yes” but for the first time, I realized the difficult decisions adults had to make.

     For almost four years, my mother would call us from Brazil every day. Every evening I'd eagerly wait for the phone to ring and then tell her everything happened during the day. A phone call, however, could never take her place and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large empty apartment,   ▲  It was then I started to understand the difficult choices she had to make. She needed to think about both family and work. Faced with difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn't know whether you make the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with a positive attitude.

     Back home, I reminded myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she managed to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be independent. I learn how to take care of myself and set high but achievable goals.

My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the experience has really taught me. I've learned a lot because of this separation. There are lots of difficult decisions that we have to face in our life. We need to have a positive attitude no matter what happens.

    Every year hundreds of people try to climb the world's highest mountain or walk through rainforests(雨林). Let's take a look at two of the 21st century's(世纪的) greatest adventurers(冒险家).

    A mountain climber

    Do you know that more than 4，000 people have climbed Mount Everest? Gerlinde is one of them. She is one of the world's greatest climbers and has climbed all the mountains over 8，000 meters in the world. It's difficult to climb mountains in cold weather, but Gerlinde loves it. She started climbing the mountains near her home as a teenager. When she left school, she became a nurse but always went climbing in her free time.

    An Amazon adventurer

    Ed Stafford is the first person to walk along the Amazon River from the mountains of Peru to the mouth of the river in Brazil. His journey took two years and four months. There are many dangerous animals in the rainforest. But Ed was lucky and he was only bitten(咬) by small insects(昆虫). On his trip, Ed had to look for fruit or catch fish each morning. Sometimes food was hard to find and Ed was often tired and hungry. So he used a radio to ask the people of the rainforest for food and help.

    It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm but not too hot, so Mr Hunt was surprised(惊讶) when he saw an old man at the bus stop with a big, strong black umbrella ( 雨伞) in his hand.

    Mr Hunt said to him, "Do you think it is going to rain today？""No，" said the old man, "I don't think so."

    "Then are you carrying the umbrella to keep the sun off you？"

    "No, the sun is not very hot in spring."

    Mr Hunt looked at the big umbrella again, and the man said, "I am an old man, and my legs are not very strong, so I really need a walking stick. But when I carry a walking stick, people will say 'Look at that poor old man. 'and I don't like that. When I carry an umbrella in fine weather, people only say，'Look at that stupid(愚蠢的) man."

    Brenda Bongos was a happy, talented girl. She had one big dream-to play the drums in a band. But one big problem lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get them nervous. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone who would get mad.

    One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a musical astronaut.

With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble (透明圆形罩). This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out (抽出) all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit (成套设备) and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble，turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.

    It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos became very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a special space journey. Finally,           , and it was far beyond (超越) her first dream of playing drums in a band.

    Years later, when asked how she had achieved all her dreams, she thought for a moment, and said," If those old people next-door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened."

    There are four people in Simon's family. They have different habits.

    ◆ Simon's father is a doctor. He works in a hospital. He likes reading books very much. There are many books in his bedroom. He doesn't like going to the cinema.

    ◆ Simon's mother is a music teacher. She likes listening to music, but she has no time to go to concerts.

    ◆ Simon's brother is seven years old. He likes watching cartoons. He usually watches cartoons when his parents aren't at home.

    ◆ Simon is a middle school student. He likes playing football. He often plays football with his friends after school. He likes playing computer games at home. But he doesn't like watching TV.

    Tom is ten years old. He loves watching TV. But for one year, he didn't watch TV at all. What was the reason? Tom's parents said they would give him $600 if he didn't watch TV for a year. Tom's parents thought he watched TV too much.

    One day his mother read a story in a newspaper about a boy who didn't watch TV for a year. She showed the story to Tom. Tom liked the idea. He turned off the TV right away, and said," It doesn't trouble me not to watch TV. I just want the money. "At first, Tom's parents were very happy. Tom read books and newspapers, played outside, and played computer games, but soon he got bored.

    Every evening, he asked his parents." What are we doing tonight?" Sometimes his mother and father wished he would watch TV just for one evening. Tom always said," No, it would cost me money!" Finally the year was over, Then Tom started watching his favorite TV shows all day again. Tom got the money from his parents. What did he plan to do with the $600?"I want to buy myself a TV set!" he said.