①Last year I spent my whole winter vacation in the US with my host family. The most unforgettable experience I had there was joining the Boy Scouts (童子军) of America. It was there that I got to face a great challenge: camping in the rain.

    ②One Saturday, we went hiking in the rain for more than six hours. When we finally reached the camping site, my shoes, my clothes, my bag and all the things inside it were totally soaked.

    ③Then, an even worse thing happened. Our guide teacher stepped out and said: “Today's hiking is a test. We're not going back home tonight! We have to live here tonight!” Soon we began to accept the truth and went to work. We just covered ourselves with a kind of plastic sheet and lay down by the campfire. While sleeping, I woke up several times. But to my surprise, I adapted (适应) to the environment quickly. Many others didn't even fall asleep.

    ④The sun finally rose and our hope returned. The bus came at 6 am and sent us back to our lovely home.

    ⑤Many in China say that children in the US were born with an adventurous spirit. But I think they were born with nothing different. Instead, they make differences by facing troubles positively. The camping adventure was a gift they gave themselves. Many Chinese children are over-protected when they are growing up. Therefore, when facing troubles, how can it be possible for us to react positively?

    Miss Green was sad. She took her favourite orchid(兰花)to school to show her students. She left the flower in the classroom, but later it was gone. Three students were still in the room. (One of them must be the thief(小偷).

    Two of her students, Max and Nina, decided to help her find who did it.

    The first student they talked to was Maria. "I have a cold," she said." I cannot even speak."

    Patrick was standing next to Maria. "Megan and Maria had already been in the room when I arrived," he said quickly. "I didn't see the orchid."

    Megan, who was known to love pretty flowers best, was the next to answer their questions.

    "Of course it wasn't me," she said to Max and Nina. "I have two orchids at home. I just stopped by to put a book on my desk. Maria was already in the room."

    "So how can you explain that, Maria?" Nina asked.

    "After I practised singing, I stopped to get my notebook, "Maria whispered(小声说). "I'll have a concert tomorrow. I didn't take the orchid."

    Nina and Max had a quick conversation with Miss Green and said, "We think we know who took the orchid."

    Alan comes from New York, and now he is having a great time visiting his aunt in China. Today is Sunday. It's his eleventh birthday. He gets up early and wants to make a cake for his birthday party in the afternoon.

    When he comes out of his bedroom, he sees a big bowl of noodles on the table. It's a bowl of tomato and egg noodles. Alan usually has bread and milk for breakfast in America. Alan likes the tomato and egg noodles, but he still wants to know why his aunt cooks noodles this morning

    "It's your birthday today," his aunt says, *in China, many people eat very long noodles on their birthdays. It's a symbol of long life. We never cut up the noodles, and we call the long noodles changshou noodles.”

    "Thanks. I think it's my first special gift I get for my birthday," says Alan.