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    Every day, a homeowner in Pennsylvania is reminded of a mistake he made 13 years ago. At around 8 in the evening, his peaceful house comes alive with the noise of an alarm clock he dropped into the wall over ten years ago. It's been stuck in the wall ever since.

    13 years ago, Jerry Lynn wanted to make a hole through his living room wall, so he could pass the television cable (电缆)through it. He didn't want to destroy any pipes in the wall, so he came up with a good idea to make sure that he was drilling(钻孔) in an empty place. He took his alarm clock, tied it to a string(线) and set it to go off in 10 minutes. Then he lowered it into the wall, and waited for it to ring. His goal was to drill a hole in a safe place near the place where the ringing was coming from, making sure that there was nothing to pass through there. It all went smoothly until the alarm clock fell into the wall.

The man didn't get back the alarm clock, but thought it would probably run out of battery(电池)in several months, so he wasn't too worried about it. But 13 years later, the alarm clock still rings every day.

    As you can imagine, Jerry and his wife have gotten used to the ringing living room wall, but it can still surprise  guests. So Jerry decides to pull down that wall, just to stop that boring thing, though after putting up with it for 13 years, he think it will be a pity. He says, “I've never herd of a clock battery lasting that long and my friends think it may be interesting to see how long it will keep ringing for.”

    It's a good idea for families to talk about what they would do to escape（逃跑，逃离）a fire. You'll want to talk about escape plans and escape routes，so let's start here.

    An escape plan can help every member of a family get out of a burning house. The idea is to get outside quickly and safely. Smoke from a fire can make it hard to see where things are，so it's important to learn and remember the different ways out of your home.

    If you live in an apartment building，you'll want to know the best way to the stair or other emergency exits. If you're in a room with the door closed when the fire breaks out，you need to take a few extra steps：

    Check to see if there's heat or smoke coming in the cracks(裂缝) around the door.

    If you see smoke coming under the door—don't open the door!

    If you don't see smoke—touch the door. If the door is hot or very warm—don't open the door!

    If you don't see smoke—and the door is not hot—then use your fingers to lightly touch the doorknob(门把手)．If the doorknob is hot or very warm—don't open the door!

    If the doorknob feels cool，and you can't see any smoke around the door，you can open the door very carefully and slowly. When you open the door，if you feel a burst of heat，or smoke pours into the room，quickly shut the door and make sure it is really closed. If there's no smoke or heat when you open the door，go toward your escape route exit.

    One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school？

Listen﹣Listen when they are talking. Don't say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it's not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.

    Help them﹣If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don't do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra pencil or pen with you to classes in case they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.

    Be there for them﹣Be there for your friends to help make them feel better in hard times. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, "I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control, but if you can't stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve to be with me at my best." Always remember this! If you don't want to stay with your friends when they're in hard times, then you don't deserve to be with them when they're having a good time!

    Make plans﹣Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you'll remember these things when you're all old!

    When you visit America, you will see the word Motel on signs and notice boards. It is made up of "motor" and "hotel" and it is really a hotel for people who arrive by car (however, you don't need a car to stay at one). You have to pay when you arrive for your room, which usually has a bath. Meals are not provided, but there will certainly be a cafeteria (自助餐馆). Americans eat a lot of salads and sandwiches. Along the main roads there are a lot of motels. Each tries to offer more than next. Some provide television in every bedroom; others have swimming pools; and so on. Motels are especially useful when you are in the country, far from a town or city. You will also find them in the big National Parks.

    In these great National Parks, you may meet guests you don't expect to see. An American friend told me a little story. In the middle of a moonless night she heard strange noises outside her motel window in the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Thinking it might be a thief, she jumped out of bed, opened the door and crept towards a dark shadow. As she got close, she saw the thief. She was dreadfully frightened: it wasn't a human thief ­ it was a big black bear. The bear was turning over some empty tins with its paw, looking for tasty bits of food. My friend decided to leave that particular thief alone!

    There are also, of course, places called "rooming houses", where they receive lodgers (房客). You will see such signs as Tourists or Rooms Rent, and you could try one of these. A word of warning ­ looking for a room in New York during the tourist season is like looking for gold on the moon!

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I'm so glad I did.

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big hums (脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn't believe it—there aren't any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale—actually as big as our boat—was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools (漩涡) and waves. "She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side," my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe—and to give us a trusting (信任的) look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.