At the midnight, thunder was crashing and the rain was pouring. Suddenly my father rushed into my room. “Adam! Adam! Get up! We're flooding!” he shouted and shook me by the shoulders. That woke me up! I ran downstairs to the basement (地下室). It was like a swimming pool. My mother and I immediately started to pick up things and take them upstairs. I had no shoes on, so my feet felt quite cold.

Things got worse every minute. Within the next hour, we had moved everything that we could to the first floor. The computer, big-screen television and heavy boxes filled with our most valuable things were taken to safety. However, our piano, sofa, washing machine and water heater were all still down there — being destroyed. There was nothing we could do.

That was the hardest part. Knowing that your home is being destroyed is bad enough, but realizing that you can't do anything to stop it feels even worse. Water had come in our front door. Rescue boats were floating in our streets. Mother told me to pack an overnight（通宵, 前夜） bag of clothes and valuables and get ready to leave.

When it was finally safe to walk outside, all the people in the neighborhood gathered at the street corner. People became friends, and friends became like family. People comforted each other. We learnt later that the National Weather Service had declared (宣布) the storm a flash flood.

I really have learnt something from this flood, I've learnt what destruction is. I have learnt what safety means. I know in the future, when I watch people's lives affected (影响) by natural disasters, I can understand them. I will show my great pity on them and I will do what I can to help them.

    Billy's favorite color is orange. But he can't see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.

    A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren't quite as big as a normal baby's. “Billy would never be able to see.” the doctor told his mother. After that Billy's mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.

    Billy does not only depend on his mother's descriptions to learn about the world around him. He sees with his cars and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls, he can tell the numbers they dial(拨).

    Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.

    “You can't let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can't move forward and reach your goals, “said Billy.

    Once upon a time, there was a tree which wanted to become a treasure box. One day, a farmer cut it down and sold it to a carpenter(木匠). The tree was happy because he thought the carpenter would make it into a treasure box.

    To its surprise, the carpenter made it into a feed box for animals. The tree felt very disappointed because that was not its dream. Several years later, the feed box was thrown away. Someone picked it up and placed it into an old temple. The tree forgot its dream little by little.

    One day, a couple came to the temple. The woman gave birth to a baby boy. There wasn't a bed in the temple. So they placed the baby in the feed box. They loved him and regarded him as their treasure. The tree suddenly realized that it became a real "treasure box" at that time.

    Sometimes you may think your dream will not come true. Don't forget your dream. It may be realized in another new way.

    Ron, a teacher at the skydiving school, was surprised when he saw the grey haired man drive up to the airfield. He was more surprised when the man said that his name was Walter and asked if he could take skydiving lessons. Ron asked Walter how old he was and Walter replied that he was 60. Ron explained to Walter that anyone over 50 had to be checked by a doctor before he could learn to jump from a plane.

    "I'm afraid you should have thought about that before coming here." Ron said, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you start learning without a letter from your doctor.

    Walter smiled, "Here's a letter from my doctor. He asked me to take lots of tests and he said that I was fine. "

    So Walter was able to join the skydiving school. He came to all the lessons and worked very hard, although the other students were much younger than him, mostly about 30. Soon it was time for him to make his first jump. Ron asked him if he was feeling OK. Walter replied that he had never felt better. However, he added that there was something he should have told Ron earlier. Ron asked what it was and Walter smiled. Then, just before he jumped, he told Ron that he wasn't 60. Ron asked how old Walter really was and Walter told him he was 75!

    Walter's first jump from a plane was six years ago and yesterday he made his eighteenth jump. "I should have started skydiving a long time ago!" he said.

    Walter has lots of other hobbies. He enjoys riding fast motorbikes and climbing mountains. Last year he was saved by a police helicopter in Wales.

    Walter's daughter Betty worries about him, "I think he should stop all these activities. But my mother says that as long as he's happy, it's OK."