After you get back home from a trip, one of the most pleasant things is sharing your stories with people. And that's what we'd like you to do. Our magazine's “True Stories” section is for your strange experiences, heart-warming tales and funny stories on your trip. So if you have good stories, please write to us!

    If your story is chosen as the best one, you will win the nine-day trip across North America, including a seven-night trip along the California coast. For more information, please call 800-227-2826, or e-mail us at TrueStories@hotmail.com.

    Besides, you need to remember a few things if you want to write a story:

    Keep the story brief (简短的) and lively (within 250 words).

    Please send your story as the body of your e-mail, not as an attachment (附件).

    Most of the stories we print have photos, so send pictures, but try not to go crazy. Send only the best one(s).

    Please send your photos as an attachment, not embedded in (把……嵌入) the body of your e-mail.

    We don't mind if you or your friends are in the pictures, as long as you tell us who or what is in the photos.

    We need to be able to get in touch with you, so tell us your phone number and home address.

    The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it. Man has been polluting the earth. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to an-other place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world. Air pollution is still the most serious. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO, is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution. The earth is our home. We must take care of it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.

Doctor: What's the matter, madam?

Patient: I cut my finger while I was trying to open a can of soup.

Doctor: Does it hurt?

Patient: Yes, it hurts a lot. It's very red. What should I do?

Doctor: I'm going to give you some Antibiotic cream to put on the cut {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a day. But you should {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the cut first.

Patient: What if it still hurts?

Doctor: If you still have the problem after {#blank#}3{#/blank#} or if the pain is worse, stop using it and come back to me.

Patient: OK. What else?

Doctor: Remember not to eat or use it in eyes. Use it on {#blank#}4{#/blank#} only. And you have to keep it at {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

Patient: I see, thank you.

    When this story happened, they were working around a very large house. Their job was to do the cleaning. It was not a difficult job, but sometimes it was a little dangerous, because they had to walk below where workmen were working. These workmen often dropped something from the top of the house many meters high to the ground.

    One morning Joe was working near the house with a cigarette(烟) behind one of his ears. Suddenly somebody on the top shouted, "Look out!" But Joe did not "look out". He looked up. And as he did so, a long knife missed Joe's head, but it cut off one of his cars. At once he put his hand to one side of his head and cried out, "I've lost an ear. Help! Help!" Jeff ran up to help his friend. "Look for my ear," Joe told him." It must be on the ground somewhere." Jeff looked everywhere for the missing ear. At last he found an ear on the ground. He picked it up and carried it to Joe. "Here you are", he said, "I've found it." Joe looked at it." No, that's not my ear." He said," Mine had a cigarette behind it"

    It's easy to just get fast food when you're hungry, but it can also be unhealthy and expensive. So I made my own food at home using healthy recipes(菜谱).

Trying new things

    I tried some zucchini noodles.  Zucchini isn't my all-time favorite, but I was surprised by how good this tasted.

Shaking up(重组) breakfast

    Two more days until my healthy diet was over and I felt really good about myself. For breakfast, I had a banana sandwich. Don't let the term "sandwich" fool you. The banana actually works as the "bread".

At-home burrito

    I found an easy burrito recipe. I needed black beans, garlic, tomatoes, lettuce and some other vegetables. What a great recipe for vegetables!