I'm Philip．Whenever I think about my past life,one unusual experience comes into my mind．It happened during my summer holidays last year．

    Last May,my father began to work in a new factory and we moved to a house near it．There were hundreds of fish and snakes in a river not far from the factory．Among them，the cobra(眼镜蛇)was the most dangerous one．My brother and I played a lot in the river during our summer holidays．In the afternoons,we liked to go out to catch fish from the river．Sometimes we also caught some water snakes，but they were not harmful．

    One afternoon,as I put my hand into the river,I touched something cool．Thinking it was a fish．I gripped(紧抓)it at once and tried to bring it out．But to my surprise, it was a cobra!I relaxed my grip at once and ran away．My brother,a few metres away,was too surprised to speak when he saw the cobra moving towards him with its mouth open．He started to run．I stopped to pick up a rock and threw it at the cobra．Surprisingly,the cobra now turned towards me and I had to run again．But I was very tired at that time，and couldn't run quickly．Luckily, my brother soon found a big rock．He threw it at the cobra and killed(杀死)it．

    After that,my mother didn't allow us to play in the river any more．We listened to her．After all,it was something we'd never want to experience again．

    My name is Lisa. I'm from America, but now my dad, my mum and I are in Shanghai. My dad and my mom are English teachers. But sometimes My father goes to learn Chinese. So he is a student, too. We are in No.12 Middle School.

    Mary, Liu Ying, Wang Haobin are my friends. Mary is from England and she is thirteen years old. Liu Ying is from the capital of China. She and I are fourteen years old. Her English name is Rose. Wang Haobin is from Wenzhou. But he likes Shanghai.

C

    O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison（监狱）. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales（故事）were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader's surprise.

    Robert was a greedy（贪婪的）man. One day, he lost 30 gold coins. He went to his friend Mike's house and told him how he lost his gold coins. Mike was kind and decided to help him find them.

    The next day, Mike went to Robert's house and told him he found his 30 gold coins.

    After counting the gold coins, Robert said, "I had 40 gold coins. Ten of them are missing. You must have taken them. And you should pay me back."

    "No, I didn't take them, "said Mike.

    Robert went to court（法庭）and told the judge（法官）what had taken place between him and his friend.

    "How many gold coins did you find?" the judge asked Mike.

    "Thirty, "answered Mike.

    "How many gold coins did you lose?" the judge asked Robert.

    "Forty, "answered Robert.

    "Then those coins are not yours, "said the judge, "for you lost 40, while your friend found 30."

    Then the judge told Mike to take the 30 gold coins home.

    "If anybody reports that they have found 40 gold coins, I will send them to you, "the judge told Robert.

    Then Robert said that he didn't tell the truth and that he lost 30 gold coins, but the judge did not listen to him.

    Always be honest; dishonesty never pays.

    The Hunger Games is a book by an American author Suzanne Collins. It came out in 2008 and has sold millions of copies. You can buy it in 26 different languages.

    The story happens in the future, after the destruction（毁灭）of North America. There are twelve poor districts governed（统治）by the rich Capitol.

    The Capitol organizes the Hunger Games every year. One boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 in each of the twelve districts are chosen to fight. Only one person will live. The whole country must watch the games on television.

    The story is about Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl. Her younger sister, Prim, is chosen, but Katniss volunteers to go instead. She has to fight with a boy named Peeta.

    Where did the idea for The Hunger Games come from? One night in 2003, Suzanne Collins was watching TV. At that time, there was a war between the US and lraq. The only programs she could find on TV were "reality" programs and news about the war. Suzanne says that the two things started to mix together in her head and she had the idea for The Hunger Games.

    Some parents in the US have complained about the violence（暴力）in the book. But Suzanne says she is very worried about how much violence we see on TV nowadays. Suzanne is also worried about the amount of reality TV we watch." We put too much of our lives on TV, "she says." And we care less for people because of this." She says that writing about death and violence in the story was the hardest thing for her to do and she hopes it will make people think about what they watch in the future.

    "Has anyone seen my notebook?" Jo asked. "You're never going to see it again because I burned it!" Amy said. Jo's face turned pale. She grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "You're a wicked, wicked little girl!" Jo cried. " I'll never forgive (原谅) you !"

    When Mrs March came home and heard the story, she said to Amy, "How could you do that?" Those were stories Jo hoped to get printed in the newspaper."

    Amy realized what a terrible thing she had done and started to cry. Later, she begged Jo to forgive her, but Jo answered, "I'll never forgive you."

    The next day, Jo went to skate with Laurie. Amy went there, too. Jo turned away when she saw her.

    "The ice in the middle isn't safe!" called Laurie, "Stay near the edge." Jo heard the warning, but Amy didn't. She skated to the middle of the river. Suddenly, the ice cracked. Amy fell through the ice with a loud cry. Jo and Laurie pulled Amy out and quickly took frightened girl home.

    Mother wrapped Amy in blanket. She soon fell asleep. Jo asked her mother, "Are you sure she will be OK?" "Yes, it's a good thing you got her home so quickly."

    "Thanks to Laurie, it's my fault! I lose my temper (脾气) so easily. Why can't I be more like you?" "I get angry every day," said Mrs March. "But I've learned to hide it. I don't allow all of those angry words to leave my lips. You'll learn to do the same one day."

    Jo began to cry. This made Amy open her eyes and smile. Her smile hit Jo straight in the heart. They hugged on another. Everything was forgiven and forgotten.

    (Adapted from Little Women)