From a young age, I've had a really deep connection with being outside. I've been skiing since I was eight or nine years old. I've been on expeditions(探险) in many places like China, Pakistan and so on. But it was in my home country, the USA, that I came closest to death.

    It was April 1, 2011. I was skiing in the Tetons with my friends Jeremy and Xavier, both experienced snowboarders. That day, l was the last person to ski. They were watching me from a safe area. Suddenly, I heard someone cry loudly. I turned around and saw the whole mountain start to move behind me. It was a massive avalanche( 大雪崩). The kind of avalanche that destroys trees, cars, buses, even houses! Tens of thousands of tons of snow were coming straight down the mountain behind me. I felt the snow push me forward, hundreds of meters, and then cover me. It was so heavy that I couldn't breathe. And then it pushed me forward again and up, out of the snowpack. I looked around, and for a few seconds I actually stopped being terrified. I had a moment to pause and to look at the power of the avalanche.

    I looked down into the bottom of the valley(峡谷). I could see trees that were 30m tall, because! Was so far away, and they looked tiny to me. "OK, I'm going all the way to the bottom!" I thought. Then the snow pushed me again down the mountain another 450m. I thought the force of the snow would destroy me; it was powerful. But in the end, I felt the avalanche slow down and I just popped ( 迸出 ) right out of the snow at the bottom of the valley.

    It took Jeremy and Xavier about 20 minutes to reach me. There was a pile of debris(碎片) across the bottom of the mountain 300m wide. They couldn't believe it when they saw me. I was so lucky.

    Has the experience changed me? Do I think about life differently? I don't know, maybe. But I do know that it's important to live your life with meaning. Life is a gift. So use it wisely.

    One day, Mr. Smith went to a dinner party. He was wearing very old clothes. He came into the room. But people in the room didn't look at him. They didn't ask him to sit at the table. He wasn't happy. But he said nothing.

    Mr. Smith went home quickly and put on (穿上) his best clothes. He went back to the party. Everyone in the room stood up and looked at him. They gave him good food to cat. Mr. Smith took off his coat, and put it on the food and said, "Eat, coat!" "The other people were surprised and asked, "What are you doing? Why do you do that?" Mr. Smith answered," I am asking my coat to eat food. When I wore old clothes, you didn't look at me. You didn't ask me to sit down. Now I am wearing these nice clothes. And you give me good food. Now I see, you give the food to my coat, not to me."

A fun farming class took place outside of the classroom!{#blank#}1{#/blank#} September 15, Grade 7 students from Jinan No. 34 Middle School, Shandong, went on a special trip. They learned about {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, reported Qilu News.

At the farm, teachers talked about wheat (小麦) and vegetables with {#blank#}3{#/blank#} and answered their questions. The students {#blank#}4{#/blank#} wheat and different kinds of vegetables. They touched the wheat and learned that farmers {#blank#}5{#/blank#} get the wheat at the end of September. "I wrote down all the useful knowledge in {#blank#}6{#/blank#} notebook," said Dong Guangye. He learned that eating fresh vegetables can be good for people's health.

Other students {#blank#}7{#/blank#} learned something new. "I knew about wheat only from textbooks. This time, I saw real one s and learned how they grow," said Fang Weiqian.

{#blank#}8{#/blank#} this, Ling Mingze thought that farming was something old. But this trip changed her ideas. "I saw really cool farming {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, and they showed me how Chinese farming changes {#blank#}10{#/blank#} and gets better," said she.

Both students and teachers thought this was a meaningful activity.

A group of people asked this question to a group 4- to-8- year- old children." What does love mean?" The answers were surprising. The children would answer like they did below. 

" When my grandmother hurt(伤害) her knees, she couldn't bent(弯腰) over and paint her toenails(脚指甲) any more. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands hurt too. That's love."

 Rebecca-age8

" Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so angry but you don't shout at them because you know it would hurt their feelings."

 Samantha- age 6

" Love is what makes you smile when you' re tired."

 Terri- age 4

"I let my big sister pick on(捉弄) me because my mum says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her."

 Bethany-age4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new clothes."

 Lauren- age 4

" Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

 Elaine- age 5

" My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

 Clear- age 5

" You really shouldn't say‘I love you' unless(除非) you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

 Jessica- age 8

 Mr Wilson is a 70-year-old man. His children work and live in New York. Mr Wilson doesn't like living in the big city. So he lives alone(独自) on the farm(农场). He often walks in a small park near the farm in the mornings.

 One morning, a little girl named Emily sees Mr Wilson walking alone. She walks up to him and says, "Good morning, sir. My name is Emily. May I have your name?"

 Mr Wilson says, "Morning, Emily. I'm Mr Wilson.      ▲  " Then they have a happy talk.

 From that day on, Emily and Mr Wilson become good friends. They often meet in the park and talk with each other. Emily tells Mr Wilson about her school, her favourite sport and her dreams (梦想). Mr Wilson tells Emily about his stories, old friends and life lessons.

 Sometimes, they bring something to eat and drink together. Mr Wilson often brings Emily her favourite fruit— apples. And Emily often brings Mr Wilson his favourite juice— orange juice.

 Their friendship(友谊) brings happiness to them. They learn that age can't stop friendship.