【推荐1】It was about two o’clock in the early morning. I was sleeping when the earthquake started. At first, I felt a slight shake. Then I heard a loud noise like thunder(雷声).

Soon the real noise came, like bombs under the ground. The earth started to shake. Some people cried and ran out of the building in a hurry. I tried my best to run out too, but I could not. Outside, people were running in all directions while pieces of glass and bricks were falling down. Then the walls began to come down too.

Finally, the noise and shaking ended. It was dark and silent around me. I could not see anything at all, and I did not know if anyone else was near me. I felt afraid and my heart was beating fast. I knew I was trapped. A moment of fear went through my mind, but I told myself to calm down since I was still alive.

I shouted for help, but no one came. I started to pull myself slowly through the dark. Luckily, there was just enough space for me to move.

Hours later, as I was trying to find my way out, I suddenly heard some noise above me. I screamed for help. Then I heard shouts from excited people. They quickly moved away the bricks. I cried excitedly — I was safe.

Be my friend

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

My name is Bubu. I am a big blue monster（怪兽）and I want a new friend. I am 11 years old. My birthday is on the fifth of December.

♡ ~ About me ~♡

I am good at swimming. In summer, I like swimming in the sea and building sandcastles. I am good at cycling too. In winter, I like cycling to country parks.

I can play football and basketball. They are my favourite sports! I don’t like staying at home and I don’t like making things! I can’t play Chinese checkers or Chinese chess. They are boring! I can’t play the piano but I like listening to my sister playing the piano. She plays very well.

I want to learn to play chess. Can you teach me?

Do you want to be my friend? E-mail me at bubu@monster.com

(142 words)

【推荐1】It’s a funny thing, being in another country. It makes you realize the importance of all the things you love about your home, whether it be the food, the traditions, or the people. For me personally, reading and sharing books helps me to remember my friends, my family and my home country, the UK.

Here are just four of the books that can make home appear clearly in my mind:

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. This book takes the form of letters, and follows the story of a young girl, Judy, whose parents are dead, as she goes to university and discovers a whole world of new experiences. This book always reminds（使想起）me of my home and my mother, because she used to read it to me when I was ill in bed.

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling. I’m sure many of you have heard of this one! These books are about a boy who discovers he’s a wizard（男巫）, and has all kinds of adventures at a wizarding school. I love to read these again and again, because I can really get lost in the stories and the whole magical world the author（作者）has created. Recently, I have also been reading them in German.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Have you ever read a description of countryside that made you feel like you were there? For me, this book does exactly that. It is about a young girl who is taken to live in a big house in Yorkshire, England, and discovers a secret garden.

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit. This was one of my favorite books when I was younger, and for this reason it still strongly reminds me of England and my childhood. It is also set in Yorkshire, and follows three children and their experiences living next to a railway.

The book I would like to talk about is The Merchant of Venice. The book is a dramatic work by Shakespear, an English famous writer in the 16th century.     1     The main characters are Bassanio, Portia, Shylock and Antonio.

The drama begins with Antonio, who helps Bassanio borrow money from Shylock, and then brings out other stories.     2     He needs money to follow his dream to marry Portia—a very beautiful and rich lady. He first wants to borrow money from his friend Antonio, also a merchant in Venice. Antonio borrows the money from a Jewish rich merchant Shylock. Antonio does much harm to Shylock before because Antonio really hates Jewish.     3     He always gets interest (利息) from the people who borrow money from him. Antonio promises he will pay the money back in three months, or Shylock will be allowed to cut out 1 pound of flesh out of Antonio’s body.

Bassanio successfully wins the love of Portia but soon realizes his friend cannot pay the money back to Shylock on time.     4     Bassanio returns to Venice as fast as he can and attends atrial (审讯).

Portia, dressing up as a young lawyer, claims (声称) that the words “1 pound of flesh” not “1 pound of flesh and blood”. She says that Shylock is only allowed to remove flesh, but not any blood, which is impossible. Thus, she helps Antonio safe and makes Shylock fail.     5    

In the end, Bassanio and Portia have a happy ending.

【推荐3】On Saturday morning, every boy in the town was happy but Tom Sawyer wasn’t.     1     It was about thirty meters long and more than two meters high! Tom painted a small part, and then he felt bored.     2    

Tom knew that after a while, other boys would come over and laugh at him.     3     He picked up his brush and went back to work again.

Soon, Ben Rogers came. He was singing a song happily, with an apple in his hand. “Hi, Tom, would you like to go swimming with me? But I think you have some important work to do, don’t you?”

“Work? No, Ben! This isn’t work.     4     Not every boy can do it like this. I’m enjoying it very much!” Tom went on painting.     5     Ben was watching and he was getting more and more interested. After a minute, he walked up to Tom to ask to paint the fence for Tom.