One morning it was shining brightly when I woke up. I looked at the alarm clock. It said 3:45! It had stopped! What time was it? I climbed out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen clock said 8:30—I was late! My parents were away. My aunt had gone to work without checking if I was up. The school bus went at 8:00. I had missed it. I rang my friend Tony on his mobile phone.
    “Tell the teacher I'll be in as soon as I can!”I said.
    “Come on your rollerblades,” Tony said. “It will be faster than the bus.”
    I washed and dressed in a hurry. I grabbed an apple to eat on the way. That was my breakfast! Then I put on my rollerblades and set off for school. It took half an hour to get to the school. I took all the shortcuts I knew. I went across the park — even through some backyards! When I got to school, I was very hot and my legs ached. I had missed math, our first lesson of the morning. But I made it just in time for history, our second lesson. I was very happy because history is my favorite subject.

D

    He Jiang, a postgraduate（研究生）in biology. will become the first Chinese student to give a speech in the commencement(毕业典礼)at Harvard University on May 26, 2016.

    Given the highest honor by the university, He Jiang, who was born in a small village in Hunan province, said, "People in China often believe that it's useless to study and children from the countryside cannot be successful in the future. However, I cannot agree with them. Education can change a person's life. I hope my experience can encourage the students from the countryside to spare no effort in study and make their dreams come true."

    Different from many other families in the village, his parents never thought about finding a job in big cities and leaving their two sons at home without their care. His father was strict about their studies. He and his younger brother studied at home while the other kids in the village played in the fields. Unlike his strict father, his mother took her sons' side when her husband scolded the boys. She preferred to sit with her sons when they studied rather than chat with other women in the village.

    Getting the chance to speak at the commencement is no accident. During his first days in Harvard, it was quite difficult for him to follow the professors in class and he was speechless in campus because of his poor English. Instead of giving up, He Jiang spent all his free time on English. He also made friends with natives to improve his speaking English. One year later, he had little difficulty in class and soon became one of the top students in his class. With the encouragement from Professor Diana Eck. He Jiang decided to apply(申请）for the chance to speak at the commencement.“Few Chinese students had applied before, but I wanted to have a try. I just want to realize my idea of letting more people hear the voice from China and telling them that China is not what it used to be." said He Jiang. After beating three students from Harvard Kennedy School in the third and final round, He Jiang made it to get the chance to speak at the commencement.

    He Jiang will go to Massachusetts Institute of Technology after graduating from Harvard.

    Mrs. Smith is Jim's mother. She loves her family very much. She often buys food, fruit and clothes for Jim and his father. Now many clothes are on sale at good prices.

    Mrs. Smith comes to the store and she wants to buy some clothes. It has sweaters in all colors for ￥15 each (每件）and sports shoes for only ￥28. Mrs. Smith likes the red sweater and she buys one for herself. She buys a pair of sports shoes for her son. The T-shirts in the store are just ￥18! She buys a white one for Mr. Smith. And that's not all. The socks, in all colors, are ￥2 each. She buys five pairs.

    Here is our pet dog，Mr. Hawkeye. Mr. Hawkeye is seven years old，and we got him from our vet (兽医). He takes in a lot of cats. He receives his name because he is such a hawk (掠夺者) around food. If you are not looking，he will take a sandwich off your plate. He can smell the delicious food in the fridge from another floor in the house，and potato chips are his favourite thing to steal! This comes the name，Hawkeye. Hawkeye was a great animal at the vet. They thought he could bring good luck and he took care of all the new cats，giving them baths，etc. He does that at our house as well. Like I said，he is quite a character and very friendly. He always greets(问候) us when we come home. He has to check out all the bags to make sure if there's food there for him, especially chips!

    A heavy rain hit a small village. The floods (洪水) started to rise. A priest (神父) was praying (祈祷) in a church (教堂). The flood was almost above his knees. A rescuer (救助者) shipped to the priest and said, “Godfather, come up or you will die.” The priest said, “No, I'm sure God will save me. You may leave for others.”

    After a while, water covered his shoulder, the priest had to move onto an altar (祭坛). This time a policeman came over in a yacht (游艇) and said, “Come up or you will die!” The priest said, “No, I have to keep my church. I believe God will save me. You just go and save other people.” A moment later, his church was flooded. The priest had to hold firmly (牢固地) the cross on the top of the church.

    A helicopter (直升机) was flying over him where a pilot put down a rope ladder and shouted, “Godfather, come up! This is your last chance! We don't want you to die!” But he said firmly, “No, I have to keep my church. I believe God will save me. You just go and save other people. God will be with me.” Great flood soon came over. The priest was killed.

    The priest went to Heaven (天堂) where he saw the God. He asked angrily, “God, I served you honestly, but why didn't you save me?” The God said, “Didn't I? The first time I gave you a ship and you refused. The second time I gave you a yacht you refused again. The third time I sent you a helicopter you still didn't accept. So I thought you wished to stay with me in a hurry.”

    In fact, the obstacles (障碍) in our life are because we are stubborn (顽固) and ignorant(无知).