①Last year I spent my whole winter vacation in the US with my host family. The most unforgettable experience I had there was joining the Boy Scouts (童子军) of America. It was there that I got to face a great challenge: camping in the rain.

    ②One Saturday, we went hiking in the rain for more than six hours. When we finally reached the camping site, my shoes, my clothes, my bag and all the things inside it were totally soaked.

    ③Then, an even worse thing happened. Our guide teacher stepped out and said: “Today's hiking is a test. We're not going back home tonight! We have to live here tonight!” Soon we began to accept the truth and went to work. We just covered ourselves with a kind of plastic sheet and lay down by the campfire. While sleeping, I woke up several times. But to my surprise, I adapted (适应) to the environment quickly. Many others didn't even fall asleep.

    ④The sun finally rose and our hope returned. The bus came at 6 am and sent us back to our lovely home.

    ⑤Many in China say that children in the US were born with an adventurous spirit. But I think they were born with nothing different. Instead, they make differences by facing troubles positively. The camping adventure was a gift they gave themselves. Many Chinese children are over-protected when they are growing up. Therefore, when facing troubles, how can it be possible for us to react positively?

    Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The building next door was only a few feet away from mine. There was a woman who lived there, whom I had never met, yet I could see her seated by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.

    After several months went by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I often said to myself, "I wonder why that woman doesn't wash her window. It really looks terrible."

    One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.

    Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly seen. Her window was clean!

    Then it dawned on me. I was always criticizing(批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.

    That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own mistake?

    Since then, whenever I wanted to judge(评判) someone, I asked myself first, "Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?"

    Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world around me more clearly and correctly.

    Once upon a time, there lived an old man. He had three sons. One day, he called them together and said, "Sons, I will die soon. To my eldest son give half my camels, to my second, one third(三分之ー), and to my youngest, one ninth(九分之一)." Soon after that he died.

    The old man had seventeen camels, and the three brothers didn't know how to do as their father said. They thought for a long time about the problem, and it seemed that they must either kill some of the camels and cut them into pieces, or disobey their father. At last, they went to their father's old friend and asked for his advice. As soon as he heard their story, he said. "I will help you. I was a good friend of your fathers. I am old. I have only one camel, but take it. It is yours."

    The three sons thanked the old man and took his camel. Now they found it was easy to do as their father wished. The eldest took half—that was nine camels; the second took one third—that was six; and the youngest took one ninth—that was two.

    After each had got his camels, they found that there was still a camel there. To show their thanks to their father's friend, they gave the camel back to him.

    May 10th is Meg's birthday. She gets a gift. It is a new coat from her sister. The coat is very beautiful and she feels very happy.

    One day, Meg finds that a button(纽扣)of her coat is lost. She looks for the button everywhere, but she can't find it. The next day, she doesn't wear that coat to school and feel sad all day. After school, she goes to the clothes shops and wants to buy that kind of clothes. But she feels disappointed.

    Meg tells her sister about that, her sister says," We can change all the buttons. Then the buttons will be the same." The coat is beautiful again and Meg feels happy again.

    Robert Fredy was general manager of a large hotel in Ashbury Park, New Jersey. One cold day two years ago when he stopped his car at a traffic light, Stephen Pearman; an out-of-work taxi and truck driver, walked up to Fredy's car hoping to earn some change by washing his windshield(档风玻璃) , Like many motorists who try to keep the beggars off. Fredy turned on the wipers to show he wasn't interested.

    Pearman put his head close to the window. "Come on, mister. Give me a chance. I need a job, "he said. Something in Stephen Pearman's voice moved Robert Fredy. In the seconds before traffic started moving again, Fredy handed Pearman a business card and told him to call if he was serious.

    "My friends told me he was just pulling my leg," said Pearman. But I said. No, he's a businessman. I need to give it a shot."

    Two days later, 29-year-old Pearman appeared in the manager's office of the big hotel. Fredy gave him a job and lent him packet money while training him.

    Today, Pearman works full-time setting up the hotel's dining halls for business meetings. In the past two years, he has found a flat, married and repaid Fredy's loans (货款).

    "Mr Fredy gave me a second chance." says Pearman. "And I took advantage of it. I could have just come here a while and left. But there is no future washing wind-shields."

    Fredy always keeps away from the street people, "But Pearman seemed so honest and open, asking for a chance rather than just money," Fredy says. "I don't hand my business card to just anybody. But I'm glad I did in this case."

Have you ever heard of typhoons (台风)?

Typhoons are some of the worst storms, usually around the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. Most happen in July, August and September. 

How does a typhoon happen? When lots of sea water gets hot in the summer sun, it evaporates (蒸发) into the air. This makes the air hotter. When the air gets warm enough, it starts to move higher up into the sky. Then, cooler air around it rushes in. It fills (填充) the space that is left. After the air gets warmer, it starts to move quickly, making wind. The wind goes in circles (圆圈), and it keeps moving higher in the sky. The warmer the air gets, the quicker the wind moves. And when the wind moves faster than 30 metres a second, a typhoon begins. 

A typhoon has two parts. One is called the "eye". In the eye, the wind does not move so fast. The other part is the wall of clouds around the eye. This is where the strongest winds and hardest rains are. 

Typhoons are very dangerous. In 2022, Typhoon Chaba killed (杀死) 25 people in China, and one was missing.

What to do when a typhoon hits:

Stay inside. Close all the windows and stay away from them. Try to bring all of your things inside. Strong winds could even blow away your bikes! Listen to the radio or TV for important information.