【推荐3】My friend and I decided to go to Italy for a holiday and we decided to travel there without going through a travel agency. You know, you would be submerged（淹没）in crowds of tourists and lose lots of opportunities to get familiar with the country more closely. We started to think over our trip and managed to come up with a free tour of Italy.

The trip was not very long but it was still very pleasant. We look forward to going there again! Of course, we spent lots of time arranging the trip, but it was well worth it! Of course I was afraid that something would go wrong and I was especially anxious about my visa, but everything went quite smoothly in the end.

The most difficult part was getting a visa without an invitation. In the Italian consulate（领事馆）, one must hand in some official paper proving that one has a hotel booked for oneself in order to get the visa. Then we had to solve the ticket problem. Airlines often sell cheap tickets and we bought ours far in advance. The next step was to book a hotel. We finally booked a hotel about 30 km away from the heart of Rome and it was the perfect choice for our trip.

Every day we took a train that carried us to the heart of Rome. Our big house, which was surrounded by the forest, was a rare place for the fresh air and complete silence, beautiful views, hospitable hosts, comfortable living conditions delighting us to no end. Besides this, we were very lucky that our mistress, was Russian. She gave us a lot of advice that was of great use. She recommended us what transport we should choose and which best places we should go to.

Don't be afraid to plan your trip by yourself. It's not difficult! The only thing I'll say right now is that we really enjoyed traveling by ourselves. We walked with a map and a guidebook to wherever we wanted and we even met some of our fellow countrymen on the way just two or three times. So if you're also planning a 'single' trip, don't forget to take a Russian-Italian phrasebook as people in Italy prefer to speak in their native tongue.

【推荐1】I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal eggs and toast. Others had Cokes and candy for lunch, while I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids. But at least I was not alone in my suffering. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. We had to wear clean clothes every day. Other kids always wore their clothes for days. We felt embarrassed because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.

The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by 9: 00 each night and up at 7: 45 the next morning. So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break the Child Labor Law. She made us work. I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us.

Through the years, our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, however, would only be content with the black marks. None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.

She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults. Using this as a background, I’m now trying to bring up my three children. I’m filled with pride when my children think I’m mean because now I thank the meanest mother in the world every day.

【推荐3】One day, Lisa Holman told her family she would be out that night visiting her friend, only about half an hour drive from her house. So it was not alarming as the night grew on and she did not arrive home. As 11 pm passed, her family began to worry. They called her but did not get any answer. They then reached out to Lisa’s friend, who said Lisa had left to drive home at 9 that night.

The family thought about calling the police that evening but the police typically don’t define a person missing unless there is no contact for 24 hours. The next morning there was still no sign of Lisa. All the family could do was sit home and wait. Lisa’s son decided to drive along Lisa’s route and carefully look for her. He found Lisa’s car had crashed into a tree. What’s worse, there was no sign of Lisa at all.

The family called the police. The police began their search. But due to the heavy rain the search team was called back. The family was very disappointed but still hopeful and continued the search. 700 feet from Lisa’s car, they finally found Lisa under a rock.

After a few days in hospital, Lisa recovered. She explained that she passed out after her car slid off the road in the rain. After she came to herself, Lisa managed to climb out of the car. While walking to find help, Lisa was exhausted and unable to figure out the direction. So she couldn’t walk on and climbed under a rock as it started raining again. Scared as she was, she turned to her faith in hopes of living to see her son again.

【推荐1】My name is Sara, When I was little, I played the drums. I also had a guitar. In fourth grade, I started playing the trombone(长号). I practiced about four hours a week. All of this might not seem like a big deal for a lot of kids, but there’s something about me that makes me a bit different from others. I was born without hands. Since I was about one year old, I’ve worn prosthetics(假手).

This year, I got an invitation to join the high school marching band(行进管乐队). I told my mom I wanted to do it. But I had an instructor who thought I would not be able to march in the band—not because it is a high school band and I’m only in seventh grade, but probably because my body is different. All I wanted was to show that I, could do it, so I joined the band. And it paid off!

Music gives me energy. That happens sometimes. One time I was so down and I didn’t even want to get out of bed. Then I hit my MP3 player by accident. A song came on, and I got up and started dancing. It helped me say to myself, “OK, I can get through today.”

Around my musician friends, we all share the same problems, like working out how many beats(拍) there are to a measure(节). I have a hard time counting the beats, but so do a lot of the other kids. It’s a normal problem that we musicians share. When I’m with the band, I don’t feel as different as I do in other situations. It’s just another way that music makes me want to go on, and not to just sit down by myself and not care about life.

【推荐2】Gone are the days when you and your best friend shared everything about your life. Whether you’re at fault or she is, mending a broken friendship is far from easy. If the relationship means a lot and you aren’t willing to simply throw it away, fixing it is possible. That’s what I have learned in the past months.

When I first moved to Florida, I felt so out of place. I had come from a small town and was so unsure of myself. Luckily, my husband and I moved into a friendly neighbourhood, and things became better.  

For many years, my neighbour across the street and I shared happy times. But then a misunderstanding occurred, and she quit speaking to me. I tried many times to speak to her about the issue and tell her how sorry I was that I had let her down. But she refused to take my phone calls and avoided me when I was outside.

During our conflict, my husband and I put our house up for sale. We weren’t leaving the neighbourhood because of a feeling of hurt; we were having twins and needed more room for our growing family.

Months later, I moved away without talking to her and putting an end to our misunderstanding. It always made me sad when I thought of how poorly it had ended. For many times I wished we had renewed our friendship. I just hated the feelings left from our unsolved conflict. It was like a scab(痂) that kept reopening and worsening with pain and upset.

About eight months after we moved, I decided to take a drive back into the old neighbourhood. As I drove down my street, I saw my former neighbour washing her car in her front yard. I knew that I needed to stop and greet her. I opened the car door and got out. To my surprise, she came up and gave me a big hug. We both apologized for our actions, and I felt that I finally achieved closure. I was able to say I was sorry and have it accepted.