It's not easy to be an astronaut's son. Everybody expects you to be special or perfect. I often wonder how my father ever had a son like me. I mean he's so special and so good at everything he does. Even in middle school he was class president and captain of the football team.
    Well, to be honest, I often dream about being some kind of hero or doing something special—like saving a child from a burning building or discovering a new star. I was daydreaming at school one morning when my teacher said there would be a Father's Day writing competition for the whole school. “I hope we have a winner right here in my class.”
    When I got home, I started to think about what to write. My father is an astronaut. No, I wouldn't start like that．That was the way others saw him. How did I see my father? Hmm.
    I saw him sitting with me in the dark when I had a terrible dream. I remembered how he hugged me for hours when my dog Spotty was killed by a car. Yes, these were the things I was going to write. To me, he wasn't just a world—famous astronaut．He was my dad.
    My parents and I went to school on Thursday night. There were so many people in the big hall! My dad looked at me, and I shrugged(耸肩).
    The third prize was announced and it was not me. I was relieved(释然) and disappointed at the same time. The second prize was announced. It was me.
    I went up to the stage and read what I had written,“My father's son”. When I finished, the people stood up and cheered. I saw my father blowing his nose. Tears were running down my mother's face. Dad cleared his throat and put his hand on my shoulder. "Son, this is the proudest moment of my life."
    It was the proudest moment of my life, too. Maybe I'll never be a great hero or win a Nobel Prize, but it was enough just to be my father's son.

    They say that "travel is the best teacher" and there is no better example of this idea than the Ming dynasty travel writer and geographer Xu Xiake (1587-1641). His book The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, not only encouraged a love of travelling among Chinese people but provided important scientific information about the country's land and geography.

    Born into a wealthy Jiangyin family, Xu became interested in books about different places at anearly age and wanted to travel. When he was 18, however. Xu's father died and so, it seemed, did his travelling dreams. He now was responsible for the family farm and taking care of his 60-year-old mother as tradition required.

    But his mother had different ideas. Understanding her son, slove of travel and valuing the knowledge he could get from such experiences, this modern-thinking woman refused to keep her son at home. She agreed that Xu could travel for three months every year, when there was less farm work.

    So at the age of twenty and with his mother's support, Xu set off for the first time, leaving behind not only his mother but his new wife as well. He would repeat this goodbye each year for most of the next 30 years. During this time, he travelled throughout the Ming kingdom, carefully studying the lands he passed through and recording his experiences and many discoveries in a diary. This diary, which once had over 500,000 words, would eventually become The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.

    Although rich, Xu avoided comfortable travel, preferring to go almost everywhere on foot. This way he could research the environment in detail and get a true picture of the natural world. Many of his trips were to hard-to-reach mountain areas, and through wild forests where few people lived. His willingness to face hardships came at a cost however. Progress was slow and tiring and he was frequently sick, robbed and beaten during his journeys

    Sadly Xu became seriously ill during his last and longest journey, a 4-year trip through the Southwest of China. He died in 1641, soon after returning to his hometown for the last time. When his diary was finally printed years after his death, much of it had been destroyed or lost. Although incomplete, it still made Xu a travelling legend around the world.

A long time ago, there were two special boys, John and Joey. They showed great talents from an early age, and they did better than others around. 

They grew up but they chose different ways. John used all of his talents to find a good job. He joined in many activities and visited the most important people and places. Everyone thought that he would be the most important person in the world. 

But the second young man, Joey, was different. He always took a heavy responsibility (责任). He thought he should help others. He was always busy looking for ways to help others. 

One day, bad things happened and they met many problems. John didn't know what to do. But Joey always tried his best to solve all kinds of problems. He thought of some good ways and didn't let the bad things affect (影响) the people in his town. From then on, he was more famous than John. 

John then knew that our best talents were not only for ourselves. He learned from Joey that we should always help other people.

Yu Chuanya is a ballet（芭蕾舞）dancer from Shenyang. She began learning ballet at the age of 4. With a strong interest in it, she took dance classes three times a week. "In fact, my physical condition was not good. But I loved ballet, and I never thought of giving up. My mother always supports（支持）me. She encourages me to face challenges and have confidence in myself. My father is also supportive of me," Yu says.

In 2005, Yu went to study at Beijing Dance Academy. She put a lot of hard work into learning and practicing ballet. After she graduated（毕业）, she returned to Shenyang and joined Liaoning Ballet Troupe.

Since then, ballet dancing has become an important part of Yu's life. She has performed the lead roles in many ballets. She has also been invited to perform in Russia, Canada and South Africa.

Eight Heroines is one of Yu's favorite ballets. It is a story of eight women soldiers（士兵）who gave up their lives to protect our country. Yu performed the lead role, Leng Yun. To do her best to show the feelings of the character, Yu read lots of information to learn about the story of Leng. Eight Heroines has been staged（上演）many times since 2014. In 2017, it was staged in Russia and people there said it was great.

"Performers are the communicators of culture. I believe we Chinese ballet dancers will perform more ballets in the future to better tell the stories of China on the world stage," Yu says hopefully.

Carnival( 狂 欢 节 ) does not take place only in Louisiana. There are many celebrations around the world. 

In Brazil, the celebration goes on from the Saturday before Mardi Gras(大斋节前的最后一天)to Mardi Gras Day, but in some Brazilian cities the celebration can last seven or eight days. Just like New Orleans, not many important things are decided in Brazil from New Year's Day to Mardi Gras Day because everyone is preparing for or celebrating carnival. Most Brazilian parades have a topic, which could be political or historical. The parades had to have a topic tied to Brazil until 1996. Some cities in Brazil do not have a street carnival, but they might have an indoor party. 

Bolivia has carnival parades( 游 行 )for children and then more parades for adults. The children dress up in costumes and walk in the streets. The adults make traditional dance groups and dance in the streets. But the main part of Bolivia's carnival is getting wet. Almost everyone gets wet from water balloons and water buckets. In Oruru, Bolivia, their carnival is held in the last ten days of the carnival season. People there join in dancing, but their main carnival event is a ceremonial parade that lasts for twenty hours and parades for four kilometers. Over 20, 000 dancers are involved as well as 10, 000 musicians. This parade attracts at least 400, 000 people. 

The carnival in Venice, Italy is often regarded as the most carefully prepared carnival and lasts ten days before Lent( 大斋节). Many events are held in the canals including shows, concerts, dances and water processions. The official ending to the celebration is the party held in St. Mark's Square.