An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart after a day's hard work. When he was not far away from his house, the light on the cart went out. He tried but could not repair it. He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light. When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old man.

    "Where is your light?" asked the policeman. "No man may take a cart along the road at night without a light. You know that. You have broken the law." "I had a light, but it has just gone out," said the old man.

    "I don't believe that story. What's your name and where do you live?" asked the policeman. "Please don't write down my name," said the old man. "My home is just there. You can see it from here. I had a light nearly the whole way."

    "You came all the way without a light. What's your name?"

    The old man quickly took the policeman's hand and put it down on the top of the light. The light was still hot and burnt the policeman's hand. The policeman jumped and he was very angry. "Now, what do you think?" said the old man. "Did I come all the way without a light?"

    Growing up in the US, I always wanted to know about another culture. The chance came when I was 15. After a few months of planning and preparing, I was ready to spend the second term of my first year of high school as an exchange student in Australia.

    The city I stayed in was Perth, Australia, and it is the fourth largest city of Australia. When I arrived at the airport, the family I would live with were already waiting for me there, and the new school term would start in only five days. The school I attended was very different from my school in the US. In the school we had to wear the uniform, and we were not allowed to wear bracelets (手链) or necklaces(项链). I was quite uncomfortable at first, because I had never been to a new school— even in the US. Everything went smoothly, though. The teachers were welcoming and the students were friendly.

    The most memorable time of my term abroad was with other international exchange students. We traveled around Australia during the breaks. The few weeks we spent together were filled with amazing activities. At the end of our stay in Australia, we had three weeks to share our stories and help each other. Our last day together was filled with tears. We packed our things, exchanged e-mail addresses, and got together to say goodbye.

    I really have learned a lot from my exchange experience.

When I was in Grade Three，I was chosen to be the princess in the school play.For weeks，my mother had helped me practise my words.But once on stage，every word 1 from my head.Then my teacher asked me to change my role to be a narrator（讲述者）for the play.Though I didn't tell my mother what had happened that day，she noticed my 2 and asked if I wanted to take a walk in the garden.

It was a lovely spring day.We could see dandelions（蒲公英） coming out through the grass in bunches.I watched my mother bend down by one of the bunches. "I think I'll remove all these weeds（野草），"she said.""From now on，we'll 3 have roses in our garden."

"But I like dandelions，"I said."All flowers are 4 ，even dandelions!"

My mother looked at me seriously."Yes.Every flower gives pleasure in its own way，doesn't it？"she asked thoughtfully.I nodded."And the same as 5 ，"she said.

When I 6 that she had guessed my pain，I started to cry and told her the 7 . "But you will be a wonderful narrator，"she said，8 me of how much I loved to read stories aloud.

Thanks to my mother's encouragement，I got to know everybody had his or her own 9 in the world.I felt proud of the role in the play.Eventually，I acted out my role so 10 that my teacher was really surprised by what I had done.

 The 16- year- old girl Xu Zhuoyuan from Changsha, Hunan Province, reached the top of Mount Qomolangma on May 15th, 2023. She became the youngest Chinese woman climber to do so.

 The girl's interest in climbing is influenced by her father Xu Jianglei. He was the first man from Hunan Province to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma.

 As a first- year high school student, Xu Zhuoyuan has already had a lot of experience in climbing. She has climbed five mountains, all above 5,000 meters, across China at a young age. She started her dream of reaching the top of Mount Qomolangma at the age of 12 and finally succeeded after years of hard work. To realize her dream, she had continuous training. Last year, she successfully reached the top of Muztagata, a 7,546- meter peak in Xinjiang.

 Being a high school student, she tries her best to do well in both study and mountain climbing. Usually she climbs during her summer and winter vacation. She hopes to continue climbing after she finishes her university studies. She wants to climb to the highest peak in each of the seven continents(大陆). She also wants to be able to reach the North Pole and South Pole one day.

Jim Smith is a middle school student. And he lives in New York, the USA. He is very busy during a week. He stays at school from Monday to Friday. He usually gets up at 6:30 in the morning. Then he brushes his teeth. School begins at 7:40 a.m.. He has five classes in the morning and two classes in the afternoon. He often exercises, because he thinks it is good for his health. He runs on Tuesday and Thursday after school at about 5:00 p.m.. He takes a shower at 6:00 p.m.. He does his homework from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.. He watches TV for an hour. Then he goes to bed at 10:00 p.m.. He isn't free on weekends. He takes a piano lesson on Saturday morning. In the afternoon, he plays soccer with his friends.