【推荐2】It was a hot summer day, and I became thirsty. The sun was right above our heads, and my thirst became unbearable. My mouth was completely dry. We could see a village at the bottom of the mountain — four hours away, according to the smuggler. After a few minutes, however, we got to a small lake. The water was yellow and covered with algae, but the smuggler drank it and brought me a cup of water to drink. As I looked into the cup, I was reminded of the solution that we prepared in biology class in order to grow bacteria. This was the main source of water for the village. Who knows what microorganisms were swimming in that lake.

“I wouldn’t drink it if I were you,” my aunt said. But I closed my eyes and drank the whole cup at once. I would worry about the consequences later.

We reached the village just before sunset. After eating dinner and resting for several hours, we started to travel again. The night journey was magnificent. The sky was clear, the moon was full, and millions of stars seemed to be twinkling at the night travelers. We could hear the bells of another car a van coming from the opposite direction, getting louder and louder as it got close. The ding-a-ling of that caravan added a rhythm to the lonely desert.

Now we were on the land of the Freedom Fighters. We knew if they recognized the smuggler, they would kill all of us as spies. The Freedom Fighters and the Millitia are enemies to each other, and the Freedom Fighters did not trust anyone who was traveling with an agent.

At dawn we reached a small teahouse, where we had some tea and bread. We walked on, and soon a signpost got my attention. As I got closer, I was able to read the words: Welcome to Pakistan I started to cry, walking backwards to get one last glimpse of my beloved country.

【推荐3】Students of United States history often learn that Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts and Jamestown in Virginia were the earliest settlements in North America. But more than 50 years earlier, the Spanish had settled in the far northeastern corner of Florida in what is now the city of St. Augustine.

The Spanish controlled St. Augustine from 1565 until 1821, except for a brief period of English rule between 1763 and 1783. St. Augustine became part of the United States in 1821when Spain turned its Florida territories, which were too costly for Spain to keep, over to the United States.

Today, St. Augustine is a small town, covering 27.7 square kilometres and has a population of about 15,000. And even with centuries of Spanish rule, it is difficult to see Spain’s influence on St. Augustine because most of the buildings from that time are long gone.

The oldest structure in St. Augustine is Castillo de San Marcos. It is a fort (要塞) built by the Spanish in 1695 to protect against English attacks.   The fort is now a national monument.

The city was once a popular place for wealthy Americans to escape the difficult winters in northern US states. In the 1870s, businessman Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil, decided to build three world-class hotels for rich visitors. They were Hotel Ponce de Leon, Hotel Alcazar, and Hotel Cordova. But the rich did not stay long. Within 20 years, the rich discovered that Palm Beach on the other side of Florida had even better weather.

Today, Hotel Ponce de Leon is Flagler College and Hotel Alcazar houses city offices and a museum. Only Hotel Cordova, the smallest of the three, is still a hotel but is now called Hotel Cas a Monica.

Still, visitors remain a main source of income for the city. More than three million people visited the St. Augustine area between July 2021 and June 2022. Many stay for just the day, but the city hopes to bring in even more visitors as St. Augustine becomes more widely known as the oldest continuously occupied US city.

【推荐2】As Rena was driving home in the rain. “I can hardly see!” She worried. Just a few miles more, an electrical pole in front of her car was getting bigger and bigger. The car shot forward. Crash! Rena felt the force tear her from the seat. She felt a sharp pain in her lap. “I went through the windshield but I’m alive!” She realized.

Then she heard a sharp crack, looked up and saw the pole had broken in half and was plunging (下落) toward her! But luckily, the pole landed three feet from her head. The broken pole had torn down electrical wires and they were dangling (悬垂) just inches away from her, trapping her in between them! “An electric current... water... if those cables touch me, I’m dead!”

Less than a mile away, New York State highway officer Juan Diaz saw a flash in the sky followed by a loud crack. “Lightning must have hit,” he thought turning his car around. A few minutes later, he saw Rena’s crumpled car. “I’ve got to help this young woman!”

“Are those footsteps?” Rena thought, hope rising as she lay there. Through the cocoon of wires, she saw a blue uniform. “Please help me!” she cried weakly. “Don’t move!” Diaz shouted, “I’m going to get you out!” But how? He worried.

Suddenly, the base of the pole burst into flames! Diaz felt a chill of fear. He knew it carried thousands of volts. He thought of his wife and five-year-old son at home. “But I can’t leave her here,” he thought. In a flash he swallowed his fear and stepped toward Rena. As he did, the powerful current stung his feet. But he didn’t stop.

At that moment, one of the wires jumped, leaving a three-foot opening in the cables around Rena. “Maybe I can drag her through there. It’s the only chance we have.” Cables hissed (发出嘶嘶声) inches from his feet, but Diaz just kept on walking, four steps, then five... finally he was by her side.

“Don’t worry,” he said gently, “We’ll make it.” Diaz grabbed Rena’s ankles, then dragged her through the narrow opening in the tangle of wires. “We’re almost there,” he said over and over. The sureness of his voice checked Rena’s terror.

Suddenly, Diaz took her up in his arms and ran 20 feet more, taking shelter behind the patrol car. “We did it!” he shouted. Just then the transformer exploded, engulfing the area in flames. They both realized: We didn’t have a second to spare.

【推荐1】Years ago my family and I stayed in a place famous for its tropical beauty. We walked our dog twice a day, watered the dozens of potted plants, and wandered around, enjoying the break from our usual routines.

One morning, as we packed up for a day at the beach, a voice told me to do a final sweep through the house before leaving. Thankfully, I listened to it. In my grandson’s room I saw a thin curl of smoke rising from his bed. An old lamp was bent over the mattress, and the hot bulb and metal shade were burning a hole in it. I felt sick. Had we left without seeing the lamp, the house could have burned down. It was an old wooden structure with no watering system; it probably didn’t even have a smoke alarm.

We went on with our planned day at the beach. Every so often the close call would crowd into my mind, and my heart would race. I imagined having to contact the owners to tell them their home, filled with family photos, art, and books, had been destroyed. “Thank God it didn’t happen.” I whispered to myself. We finished our stay, leaving a few hours before the owners returned. When I spoke to them on the phone, I offered to buy them a new mattress and recommended they replace the lamp.

A few weeks later I received a note from the wife, telling me her husband had died from an infection he’d gotten while hiking on their trip. At first they’d thought it was no big deal, but six days after their return home, he was dead! It occurred to me then that if we had burned their house down, they would have come home early — perhaps before that hike. They would have been angry and sad, and I would have been filled with guilt. All my life I would have thought — Oh my God, I ruined their lives!

We never know, when misfortune happens, what other far worse disaster we might have avoided.