Our village carpenter（木匠）, John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill（账单）for his job.

My wife said to me quietly, “That's his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said in a loud voice, “It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it?” “I'll decide about that when I see the bill,” I said. John laughed and gave me his bill for the work. I read:

One dining table                        10^th November, 2011

      Cost of wood                  ＄17.00

      Paint                         ＄1.50

      Work, 8 hours(＄1 an hour)       ＄8.00

      Total                         ＄36.50  

When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It's been a fine day, hasn't it? Quite sunny.”

“Yes,” I said. “I'm glad it's only the 10^th of November.”

“Me, too,” said John, “you wait—it will be a lot colder by the end of the month.”

“Yes, colder—and more expensive! Dining tables will be ＄20 more expensive on November 30^th, won't they, John?”

John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.

“If it's not too much trouble, John,” I said, “please add it up again. You can forget the date…”

I paid him ＄26.50 and he was happy to get it.

        A week in the sun relaxing in the beautiful March weather of Varadero, Cuba is a fantastic vacation for anyone. Luckily, my wife, two friends and I had the chance last year.

      To see Cuba, you have to talk to the Cubans. Our friends met us at the airport even at 1:00 a.m. which started our trip on a positive note. After a few days at the hotels, we got to know a local tour guide, Victor.

      The trip started off on a sunny morning. Our return trip would be along the coastline from Havana, but out trip to Havana would be through the countryside and the small towns. This trip was designed for us to visit the Cuban countryside.

      At first Victor brought us to Revolutionary Square, where Fidel Castro made his yearly speech praising the ideas of the revolution.

      Our second stop was the Bocoy Rum Factory. We walked through and learned how 5000 bottles of rum(朗姆酒) are produced every day. The smell of rum, and the huge barrels were interesting.

      The final stop was the market in Old Havana. Here my wife and I went away from our friends and we toured through this large shopping center. From store to store we saw so many items that all had a clear Cuban feel to them. We bought a picture and some special local things, and then we took off to meet up with Victor.

      As a tourist I was able to have a quick look at Cuban life with the help of Cubans. I felt lucky to have the chance. It was an interesting experience in my life.

    Hello! I'm Tom. Here is a photo of my friend. His first name is Mark. His last name is Hand. He is English. His school ID card number is 19922.My school ID card number is 12299. That's interesting(有趣的). Look at the photo! He is in a black and red jacket. His backpack is blue, and his watch is yellow. A baseball is in his hand(手).His telephone number is 235-3577.

    Do you have a vegetable garden? Have you ever watched a seed sprout(发芽) and grow fruit until it became the tomato on your plate? If you go to school in the USA, there is a good chance you have.

    At the moment, nearly 20 percent of schools in the USA have their own vegetable gardens that are planted and cared for by students. Next year, even more schools will have gardens and more USA kids will know the pleasure of growing their own food.

    Much of the growing interest in planting comes from the First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" project, which started in 2010. The First Lady wants to improve children's nutrition(营养) in the USA--and she began her project by planting a garden at the White House with the help of some local kids. The kids were more interested in eating the vegetables from their garden than in eating fast food. This gave the First Lady an idea.

    Because so many USA kids eat breakfast and lunch at school, the food should be healthy and good. Why not let kids grow the food for their own cafeterias (自助食堂)? Mrs Obama's project gives money to schools to start their own gardens, and more school gardens are sprouting up every day.

    Students also use the information from their gardens to study science and math, and they paint pictures of their gardens in art class. Many students choose to work in the garden instead of playing on the playground during their noon break. Sound like fun? Ask your teacher if there's room for a garden at your school, too.

In 2023, a group of the young drew much attention in their different fields. They have become role models for young Chinese by showing how excellent and active they are. Here are the stories of three of them.

Chinese writer Hai Ya's The Space-Time Painter won an important prize on Oct 21st. He is the third Chinese writer to win this prize. Hai Ya was born in the 1990s. His work mixes history and science. The Space-TimePainter, for example, tells us a story of a painter called Zhao Ximeng. 

15-year-old Chen Yujie won the 100-meter event at the second U15 Gymnasiade (世界中学生运动会) in August. Chen often takes hard training all day and all night. Although it makes her painful sometimes, she says, "I get used to the training and it gives me the chance to realize my dream. I will keep on running!"

On Dec 21st, the members of Shenzhou XVII carried out their first spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station. Among them, Tang Shengjie who was born in 1989 set a new record by becoming the youngest Chinese astronaut (宇航员) to have a spacewalk. "It's the highest honor (荣誉) for me." he said in an interview with Xinhua.