B

    Are you a big fan of E.T. (Extraterrestrial) or aliens? Then you should read Extraterrestrial Civilizations (《地球以外的文明世界》) by American writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). In his 1979 book, Asimov looked at whether there is life beyond the Earth. He also talked about how we might be able tocommunicate with aliens someday. Asimov even told us that there are possibly about 500,000 civilizations (文明) in the galaxy (银河系). The book may be a little out of fashion since it came out in the 70s. But you'll still enjoy the good reasoning (推理) and imagination of it. Asimov was a science fiction (科幻故事) master. His most famous works talk about the relationship between robots and humankind.

    David walked down the street. All he wanted to do was to play basketball with Jim. But his mother told him to return his sister's books to the library on his way to Jim's house.

    In his eyes, books and summertime just don't go together. He thought he had read a lot during the school year. And he had never set foot inside a public library. Today he'd just drop the books off in the outside return box, but it was locked. He had to go inside to return them.

David walked inside the building a few minutes before closing time. He put the books into the return box. After a quick drink of water and a short stop in the toilet, he'd be on his way to meet Jim. He walked out of the toilet. The library lights were turned off. He was locked — in a library.

    David tried to use the telephone, but he couldn't find one. As the sun began to set, he searched for a light and found a little one on the desk. He used a pencil to write a note on a big piece of paper. It read, "I'm locked inside. Please call for help." He put it on the front door. Surely, someone passing by would see it. He then turned his attention to the library itself.

    He was surprised to discover that this place was not so bad. Rows and rows of books! When he saw a book about Michael Jordan on the desk, he picked it up. He opened the book and began to read. He felt that being locked in the library didn't seem to be such a terrible thing.

    On September 13th, I woke up in the best mood. It was a late start, so I got to sleep in. Not only did I get my full eight hours of sleep, but an additional two more hours as well. I got ready, danced in my room to my favorite music while I picked out my clothes, made my breakfast, and was on my way to school. I arrived at 9: 50 a. m. Little did I know, in the next 20 minutes, my life would change forever. As I got out of my classroom, there he was, holding the gun.

    Although everything happened so fast, in a matter of about 4 minutes, I remember it clearly. I remember every face I saw, and I remember every sound I heard. I remember the fear and the panic of the unknown. And lastly, I remember running. Running for my life. I ran down the stairs, out of the school's front doors, and down the street to the primary school. I remember looking down at my feet. As I looked down, I thought to myself, "How am I running so fast?"

    I finally made it to a safe classroom, and 20 other students and I settled in for lockdown. We stayed close to one another and cried. It felt as though the tears going down our faces would never stop. We passed our phones around to text our loved ones that we were safe and that there was a school shooter, shots were fired, and 4 students were injured thus far.

    The lockdown lasted about 30 minutes, even though it felt like forever. Our headmaster made his way to our room and explained that the shooter had been caught and we were all going to make our way to the football field.

    When I was in the seventh grade, I had problems behaving. My heart was in the right place, but I couldn't always follow the rules. I played many tricks on my schoolmates. Once, I even pulled a girl's hair on the school bus to get her attention. As a result, I was repeatedly sent to the office of the headmaster. Although 1 hated going there, I did nor hate the headmaster, Mr. Smith.

    Mr. Smith was a kind, elderly man. When he punished me for putting some ants into a classmate's pencil box, it didn't hurt at all, but it did hurt my feelings. I thought so much of him and moments like that seemed to prove I was hopelessly bad.

    When I was called to Mr. Smith's office for the sixth time, I had no idea what I had done. I felt disappointed as I walked down there. I went into his office, sat down, and looked at the floor. Then he said the last thing I expected to hear. "Kevin, I've heard you've been behaving really well lately. I want you to know how proud I am of you, and I just called you down to my office to give you a peppermint."

    "Really?" I was surprised.

    "Yes. Now you can take that peppermint and go back to class."

    I carried the peppermint with me as if it was a gold coin. When I got into my classroom, I bragged(吹嘘) to my classmates about nay turn around, excitedly. I wasn't so bad after all.

    Mr. Smith was really kind. He made me realize that I was just a kid who had problems with behavior. He bought some peppermints and took the time to notice me when I got something anything-right. Mr. Smith gave me some hope by giving me some love. I will just remember him for the rest of my life.