Hi, I'm Gina. In February, 2018 my mother had a yard sale. During the sale, she had a conversation with a young girl called Nancy, for they had a common interest in some books she had for sale. They enjoyed their conversation so much that they exchanged their phone numbers. Later they became friends and got together a few times. When my mom moved into her new house, she had a family dinner and invited Nancy and introduced her to my brother. Five months later Nancy married (结婚) my brother.

In 2018, there was another special "yard sale" that I'll never forget. One day, after work from school, I found one of my neighbors had a lot of things out in their front yard with cars and people everywhere. I ran to the yard at once and wanted to find some good cheap things too before everything good was gone. But then I found out it wasn't a yard sale. In fact, policemen were taking the stolen (被偷的) things out of the house. My neighbor was a thief! Luckily, I didn't ask how much the TV was.

    Dean felt his arms and legs were burning. With each breath, Dean wondered if he should be done, but as he touched the wall at the end of the pool he turned for another lap (圈). "I can do one more. This is for Kevin," Dean told himself. He was starting his seventh lap.

    Dean and the other members of his swim team were swimming to raise money for Dean's best friend, Kevin Hawking. Earlier in the year, Kevin fell ill. He needed expensive medical care that his family couldn't afford. After Kevin's friends learned what was happening, they started brainstorming ways to help. Several of Kevin's friends were on the swim team, which led to the idea of swimming.

    For a month, Dean and the other swim team members had asked for pledges (承诺) from anyone who would help: family members, friends, and neighbours. Most people pledged a dollar or two each lap. Dean's grandmother said she would offer $ 10 for each lap Dean swam!

    Finally, as Dean completed his tenth lap, he knew he was too tired to keep going. If I try another lap. I'll end up lying in the middle of the pool, waiting for someone to come and get me, he thought. Dean pulled himself up onto the edge of the pool and sat breathing quickly for a couple of minutes, quietly resting before he tried to stand.

    Dean's father came over and said, "Wow, Dean," shaking his head in amazement, "I am so proud of you. That's farther than anyone else has swum today, and I know it's farther than you've ever swum before."

    Dean stood up and slowly walked with his father back to the seats where the other swimmers sat next to Kevin. "Thank you," Kevin said.

    "It's no big deal. I know you'd do the same for me," Dean said.

Have you seen the movie Marnie's World? It tells a story about a clever and funny cat.

The orange cat Marnie lived a happy life, but it never left home. Marnie liked to watch TV shows. It knew the outside world through these shows. One day, the brother of Marnie's owner (主人) took it out of the house. Then Marnie began its trip in the outside world. On the way, it made three good friends. The dog Elvis always spoke loudly. It looked unfriendly, but in fact it was kind. Anthony was a very stupid and funny donkey (驴). It wanted to be a big star one day. The rooster (公鸡) Eggbert was always afraid. They all looked strange. Later the police wanted to catch Marnie and its friends because they thought they were thieves (贼). Of course they weren't.

How did Marnie save itself and its friends? Could Marnie finally catch the real thieves? Please go and watch the movie with your friends.

Next week our class is going to a rainforest to have a special biology class. We went online and searched for something about the 1  of plants. We are sharing the information with each other now. 

Jack " Plants 2  have great powers. One of their greatest powers is that they can 3  oxygen. They not only give us the oxygen we 4 , but also help to keep the balance of gases(气体平衡) on earth. "

Lisa " Plants can reduce(减少) air 5 . They take in harmful(有害的) gases in the air and let oxygen back into the sky. This way, they help to make the air 6 . Also, plants can reduce noise pollution by taking in and reflecting sound waves(反射声波). "

Tony " More 7 , plants can produce food for us. Through photosynthesis(光合作用), plants turn 8 , water and carbon dioxide(二氧化碳) into nutrients that people and animals need for their living. 9  plants, our food chain would break down. "

Mary" Plants can be used to make medicine for us. Many Chinese herbal medicines are from 10 . And modern science is looking for new medicine from plants. Plants help to keep us 11  and live a longer life. "

Dave " Plants help to make us feel great. 12  sometimes it's boring to stay in nature full of plants, it makes us feel relaxed and happy. Going to the 13  world to find some plants often can make us feel relaxed and forget worries. It's good for our body and 14 . "

Plants really 15  us a lot. By understanding the powers of plants, we can know how important plants are better. Then we will try to protect them for future uses.