“Come here, boys and girls! Story time,” says Ms Lee to the class.

Great! The children love 1 very much. They all sit around Ms Lee, and she 2 the story. Then, FatherChristmas (圣诞老人) comes.

    “Excuse me, is Aaron in the 3?” he asks.

    Everyone looks at Aaron. He walks up to Father Christmas and says, “I'm Aaron. Do I 4 you?”

    “Get the beard (胡须) off my face, and you will know me.”

    Aaron is very curious (好奇的), 5 he gets the beard off Father Christmas' face. 6 does he see? His father!

    Aaron's father is a soldier (士兵). He 7 goes back home. This year he has a long holiday. He can 8 with his family. It's great. He dresses up 9 Father Christmas and comes to Aaron's school.

    Aaron is 10 to see his father. It's a great Christmas present for him.

    When you meet Esther Okade, she seems really like a 110-year-old child. She loves dressing up as Elsa from Frozen（《冰雪奇缘》）,2 Barbie toys and going to the park or shopping. But what makes the British youngster stand out is the3that she's also a university student.

    Esther, from Walsall, a town of the UK, is one of the country's4college student. The talented 10-year-old girl5the Open University in January this year and is already top of the class.

    It's so interesting. she says. It was super easy. My mom taught me6a nice way.

She adds, I want to finish the7in two years. I want to have my own bank by time I'm fifteen years old8I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people.

    And when people think her parents have9her into starting university early, Ester disagrees. Esther10wanted to start when she was seven. But her mom thought she was too young. After three years of11, mother Efe agreed to take the idea at last.

Esther's mother noticed her daughter's natural ability for12shortly after she began homeschooling her when Esther was only three.13, Esther's parents took her into a private school. But after a few short weeks, Esther cried out in tears and she said, I don't want to go back to that school. They14don't let me talk!

    In the UK, you do not have to start school until you are five. Education is not compulsory（义务的）until that age so I thought OK, and15will be doing little things at home until then.

    Maybe by the time she's five she will change her mind. said Esther's mother.

    I wrote my first note to my mother and it said, "Hi, Mom! Have a nice day! 1, Marie!" I was twelve when I wrote it, and I 2 the note into her change purse (零钱包). My mother worked 3 a cleaner in a clothing factory. I knew that when she bought meals in the dining hall, she had to 4 changes in her purse. I didn't know that she always kept that note, and carried 5 with her.

    After that, I 6 folded the small piece of paper into my mother's change purse, she and I left each other secret notes. My mother usually hid her notes in the fridge, under a lamp 7 beside the TV set. I even found one hidden in my shoe. Gradually, I understood 8 notes became the records of our days, ideas and wishes. But to my mother and me, they were a life-long communication with each other that 9 else shared.

    On October 20, 2018, my mother 10 after an illness. I stood near her bed, holding her hand. I didn't cry on that day when my mom passed away (去世). A week 11, I even didn't cry. I was so thankful 12 she no longer had aches and pains.

    Recently, I13a note that my mom left me. It was hidden in the pages of my favorite childhood book for years. It14"Dear Marie, I love you always. Miss you a lot. Don't forget me. Be15! Love, Mom" That day, I cried.

    I'd like to tell you something about my trip. First, we landed in Cape Town and took a taxi to our new friend Richard's house. We 1 there for a few nights. We did some cool things. We visited a bird and monkey park and saw many kinds of African 2 there.

    After 3 some time with Richard and his daughter, we left them to go to a place called Grootbos. 4 we were there, we saw my dad's friend Michael and we had supper together. We had fun5 Michael and staying at Grootbos. The food there was great. We really enjoyed 6. The next morning, we went to see whales and we got really 7 because we saw twelve of them. One pair came right up to the boat and rolled over on top of each other.

    From Grootbos we 8 to Cape Town to meet our friends who came to visit us on their vacation. We were both so 9 to have friends from home coming to 10 us in Africa. We spent a few days with them. It was very cool visiting Grootbos with them.

    Now we are going Oil Safari. I'll tell you about that later.