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In 1997, 12-year-old American girl Caitlin and 14-year-old Zimbabwean Martin became pen friends through their schools. They didn’t know at that time how their handwritten letters would change their lives.

It all began as a school task. Everyone in Caitlin’s class should choose a pen friend from another country. All the other kids picked countries like France or Germany, but Caitlin chose Zimbabwe because the name sounded cool.

Martin lived with his family in one of Zimbabwe’s worst place where they shared one room with another family. And a bed was their only piece of furniture.

When Caitlin’s first letters arrived at Martin, they were simple and common. The two kids wrote about their favorite music and what they liked to do. But as Martin wrote more about his life and his letters were written on pieces of rubbish, Caitlin found how badly Martin lived. Without telling her parents, she began sending money with her letters—$20 at a time. While the money was not much to Caitlin, it meant more food for Martin’s family and helping him pay his school fees.

It lasted six years from their first exchange of letters to Martin’s arrival in the United States. With the help of the money from Caitlin’s parents later on, Martin finished his university and got his MBA from Duke University.

Today, Caitlin and Martin aren’t only best friends, but they also share their story in a book called I Will Always Write Back. They want to tell readers to do something kind for others as well as looking beyond their own lives, which might make their lives change a lot.

Emperor penguins are the largest penguins on the earth. The largest emperor penguin is over a meter tall and up to 40 kilograms heavy.

For many months each year, emperors live near the sea in large groups called colonies. However, in May, the weather gets colder and ice covers large part of the sea. Each colony moves many kilometers from the water. There, each mother penguin lays just one egg. Then all the hungry mothers must walk back to the sea to find food. The father penguins put their eggs on top of their feet, under a special piece of skin called the brood pouch.

Working together

For two months, the father penguins keep the eggs safe and warm. They do this through some of the coldest weather on Earth. By July, it is winter in Antarctica. Most animals leave for warmer places, but the father penguins stay. In this time, without food, a father penguin can lose almost half of his body weight, so he is thinner.

New Life

By August, the babies begin to hatch. The mother penguin returns just in time to see her baby come out of its egg. The chick is then moved to her brood pouch. This can be difficult. If the chick falls, it may freeze quickly because of the really cold weather, so the penguin parents must be very careful. Once the chick goes into its mother’s brood pouch, the father penguin can go back to the sea to find food.

Growing up

Over the next few months, penguin parents take turns going to the sea for food. They each make the trip over a few times, bringing back food for the chick. The chick grows quickly and is always hungry.

Into the Water

By December, winter is ending. The chick is five months old and can live by itself. Soon it goes into the water for the first time. It will swim and eat. By next April, it goes back here. After a few more years, it, too, will start its own family.

The whole school was talking about the winter camp. And everyone was looking forward to it     60    （ 除……之外） me, because I missed my parents. But it is the way we     61    （成长） up.

When we arrived at the camp, we found the     62    （村庄） was so beautiful. It was in the     63    （北方） of China. It was famous for snowy weather. Every year     64    （百万） of people spend holidays here. It was very cold that day. The lake was covered with thick ice. Our coach asked us to skate on the lake. But we must pay much     65    （注意）to that. It was     66    （令人兴奋的） but a little dangerous. We laughed and shouted     67    （大声地） all the way. Suddenly, I hit someone in front of me and     68    （跌落） down.

Luckily, we didn’t hurt badly. And we stood up quickly and went on.     69    （在……期间） the next camping time, I had all kinds of experiences. I felt I was much more confident than before. Every moment I missed my parents, you’ll never imagine how much I wanted to share my happiness with them.