After I mastered my first (协奏曲) at age 14, my parents decided to get me a nice violin. I tried out dozens of instruments before I found my match: a German violin. It was beautiful, but what I liked best about it was its voice. Confident and strong, it was everything I longed to be.

    I'm not sure how much that violin cost, but my parents made me promise never to let it out of my sight. They didn't understand that dragging a large violin case ran counter to my daily middle school task of being invisible (看不见的). I was a strange, absent-minded kid. When I spoke up in class, my comments brought confused silence from teachers and wild laughter from students. Like a deer in a wolf pack, I tried to be quiet and still.

    In contrast, my new violin was almost shockingly loud. Together, we could drown out the rest of my middle school orchestra(管弦乐队) — which was encouraged, since the other kids made sounds like cats' crying. For one glorious hour every day, I was showered with attention. Everyone wanted to hear what I had to say.

    Between classes, I bent under the combined weight of my violin case and a backpack filled with books. My posture suffered, but my confidence grew. With my violin by my side, I found my voice. More and more, I contributed to class discussions and even made a couple of friends.

    Today, I'm just an amateur violinist with a regular day job. As I sit in my community orchestra, sometimes I feel jealous(嫉妒的) my fellow musicians' instruments with their elegant voices. I may not be the best violinist around, but at least I'm still the loudest.

    At the beginning of the century there was a big farm called Hollywood Ranch. It was near Los Angeles in California. A few years later Hollywood was one of the famous places of the world. From 1910s to the 1950s Hollywood was the film center of the world. Every family knew the names of its film stars Charlie Chaplin, Grete Garbo, Bergman and hundreds more.

    The reason why people went to Hollywood to make films was the sun. At first people made films in New York on the east coast of the United States. But then they heard about Los Angeles where there are 350 days of sun every year. As they made all the films by sunlight, the west coast was a much better place to work.

    Also near Hollywood you can find mountains and sea and desert. They did not have to travel far to make any kind of film.

    When TV became popular in the 1960s, Hollywood started making films for television. Then in 1970s they discovered people still went to cinema to see big expensive films. After twenty years they are still making films in Hollywood and people watch them all over the world.

    Charlie is a teacher and his wife, Maria is an artist. The night before last, just before the longest day of the year, Charlie was sitting in a deckchair enjoying the warm summer air when Maria touched his shoulder and he could tell immediately she was a little worried about something. He asked her what the matter was and she replied that there was a strange thing on the jacket that was hanging in the bedroom. They had both lived in the West Indies (西印度群岛) and had seen a lot of strange creatures in their house before. But now they were living in England and so Charlie just laughed and said he would have a look at the "thing".

    He walked to the bedroom. He saw a jacket hanging in the bedroom and went up to it to have a closer look at the "thing". The moment he touched it, the thing sprang into life. Now Charlie experiences fear like the rest of us but when this creature opened its wings, he jumped out of his skin and ran screaming from the room like a small child doing about 100 miles an hour.

    For a moment the next-door neighbours thought that Charlie was murdering his wife because of the noise they could hear. In fact, it was a bat that frightened Charlie.

    Eventually Charlie managed to trap the bat in a box and took it to the garden to let the bat fly. Maria, who had been playing the guitar while Charlie was upstairs, asked Charlie if he had found out what the thing was. "Oh, nothing to worry about", he said casually hoping that the terror could not be seen in his eyes, "it was just a bat."

    I admire my father for as long as I can remember. I loved the way he treated people with such respect and kindness.

    On Sundays we usually took the bus into Manhattan, where we would do interesting things, like riding the Circle Line. He would point out every landmark and tell us the history behind it. He loved to take us on the subway to Nathan's in Coney Island. Once there, he would give my sister and me each a five-dollar bill and then he would enjoy himself for the afternoon with his newspapers.

    In 1968, we went to see the movie “Oliver”, a Charles Dickens' classic story of a young orphan(孤儿) boy called Oliver. On the way home from the theater that afternoon he told us how he was raised in an orphanage(孤儿院) in New York after both of his parents died. He told us the nuns(修女) were wonderful to him and loved him like a mother would. As he grew older, he was placed in a few foster(寄养) families before he joined the Army.

    When we were teenagers, he still took us out each weekend and he would ask us to invite specific friends to join us and he would pay for them. We often went to Yankee Stadium to watch the baseball game and he bought us tickets in the least expensive seats. To keep the cost down, he waited for us in the car where he read his newspapers and then took a nap(小睡).

    He was always happy and appreciated everything he had. He loved his two little girls and later his two granddaughters. He gave so much, yet he had so little. He thought he was the richest man in the world.

Summer Camps in Season!

    STEM Camp July 10 to August 14, Cost: $180

    90% of the jobs in the future will require STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) education. We find ways to make learning fun and exciting for students to help ensure their futures. Campers participate in fun and engaging STEM activities! Register:www.stemcamp.ca or Call:519-475-6600.

    Kandalore June 15 to 28, Cost:$2，340

    The finest traditional camp in Canada, providing the best of both canoe(皮划艇)adventures and in-camp activities. For more than 65 years, Kandalore has given campers the opportunity to know and be themselves. We create a warm and supportive environment where kids can express their unique self, grow in self-confidence and build lifetime friendships. Register:www.kandlore.com or Call:416-322-9735.

    ESL Summer Camp June 25 to July 21, Cost: $5,500

    Pickering College has an exciting ESL summer camp for students aged 12-18 who want to learn English and experience the wonders of summer at our 42-acre campus; students enjoy the excellent dormitory, dining, academic, and social facilities of one of Canada's oldest independent schools. Register:www.pickeringcollege.ca or Call:905-175-8900.

DEEP Summer Academy August 16 to 26, Cost: $465

    We provide highly motivated high school students from across the world with the opportunity for advanced study in a variety of engineering, technology, business and science subjects. Organized by University of Toronto, DEEP is one of the most diverse pre-university engineering programs all over the world with scholarships. Register:www.outreachengineering.ca or Call:416-946-0816.

    From the first use of the rocket to carry satellites into space to the setting up of space stations, human beings have been putting great effort into space research. And so far, we have achieved many successes. But there are still numerous tasks in front of us and we should not stop trying to progress.

    The international space station （ISS） is an important step we should take in space exploration. It is not only helpful but also essential. It provides a proper space environment for many experiments that we have wanted to do for a long time. It is also a base for the observations of the earth and the universe. It could also be an important base for later travel to the moon and Mars. In a word, if we want to explore space more, the first thing we should do is to set up a space station.

    As the space station costs a lot of money, it is hard for one country alone to establish one. The USA seem to be the only country that has the ability to build a space station alone, and it has tried to do so, but not very successful. So it aggregated many other countries to work on it together. Though it is still extremely expensive, it is much cheaper than doing it alone. It is really a job that needs everyone's effort and will benefit everyone.

    Led by the U. S. and Russia, the ISS is a joint project between six space agencies involving 16countries. Called the greatest achievement in human cooperation, the ISS has come to the end of a ten﹣year's hard work in construction. China has applied for participation in （taking part in） the project many times. Unfortunately all the applications were rejected, which drove China onto the path of independent development. As the Long March Ⅱ﹣F/T1 carrier rocket blasted off （leave the ground） and successfully carried the Tiangong﹣1into space on September 29, 2011, China takes a big step toward its Space Station Era.

    Some West media suggested that the successful launch of Tiangong﹣1 would disturb the balance of global space power, raising concerns about "China threat". China's space project is not designed for military purpose but for developing space technology to explore space resources and make use of them for mankind's well﹣being.