【推荐1】A Letter Home

How are you?

I’m happy in China. How are your days at home in the UK? Now I have many friends here. They are very nice and they always help me with my school lessons. I go to school from Monday to Friday. We have seven lessons a day. At school, I study hard（努力学习） .

All the teachers like me. It’s great for me to workout(解决) math questions. Our math teacher is fun. His classes are very interesting. I like Chinese, too. I know the beauty(美丽)of Chinese, and now I am good at Chinese.

This Sunday is my birthday. It is my first time to celebrate(庆祝) my birthday without(没有) you. My classmates have a birthday party for me. I get many nice things from them. I’m very happy.

I love my school days because they are great. And I love the food and the people in China. I think you can come here to have a trip one day!

Love from,

John

【推荐2】Luckily, I had my old friend, the radio, with me. She brought me lots of happiness. Why? She told me so many stories and I learned a lot from them: She took me to beautiful places around the world. Most important of all, she helped me to get to know more about this city. The radio had some games. I made phone calls to the radio programs to answer their interesting questions. It made my life more colorful.

Soon school began. I had some good classmates and friends. I wasn’t lonely any more. Now the radio still helps me a lot. Every day when the morning news starts, I know it is time for school without looking at my watch.

【推荐2】She didn’t like us, any of us. We didn’t do anything to hurt her and she didn’t know us. But that didn’t matter. She still didn’t like us.

As new teachers in the Emirati School, we Westerners greeted her every day. She came into our office and passed by us as she shook hands with all the non-Westerners in the office. Whenever we saw her, she avoided eye contact with us. Finally, we stopped trying to be friendly with her.

Her friends had been fired from the school. We were chosen to be in their place and we have different nationalities. These were enough for her to have nothing to do with us.

Well after 16 months in the school, we had a secret pal gifting. I drew her name from the box and that meant she was my secret pal. My role was to buy her a gift and say something about her when we publicly revealed who our secret pal was.

I bought her a small potted plant and asked one of the Emiratis to write a little message on it. Then I sent it to her room secretly. She was so touched. The next day I sent a beautiful candle but I wrote the message in English. She needed to know her secret pal was a Westerner before the reveal day so that she was prepared.

Then came the day of the reveal. We all gathered in the staff meeting room and everyone was excited. When you received your gift, you said something about your secret pal and passed the gift to him/her. What could I say? Everyone knew she didn’t like the Westerners. She taught music in the school so I said, “My secret pal is someone who brings music to our ears every day.” I didn’t even need to say her name. Everyone knew exactly who I meant.

She came forward with a huge warm and sweet smile. She hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks and politely accepted my gift.

This was a lovely experience but I wondered how it would pan out. Would she go back to avoiding eye contact with me and all other Westerners? Later that day, I passed by her. She was smiling and she told me she loved my gifts. One of my Western colleagues told me that she too was benefiting from this change in attitude.

I reached out my hand in friendship hoping to be befriended and in return I have been met with love and friendship. Things happen for a reason. We must have faith in seeing the goodness in others, and it is there. We may just need to show extra love to receive the rewards.

On January 9, 1896, Mao Yisheng was born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. He was a famous bridge expert, civil engineering scientist and educator of China. He joined the Communist Party of China in October 1987.

Mao Yisheng moved with his family to Nanjing shortly after he was born. In Nanjing, the young Mao received a modern education that included maths, science and arts rather than a more traditional Chinese classical education. He graduated from Tangshan Engineering College in 1916. In 1917, he was accepted into America’s Cornell University where he earned his Master’s degree. Then he moved to Carnegie Mellon University where he became the first PhD student in the university’s history. His dissertation (博士论文) contributed greatly to bridge theory in the 1920s.

Dr. Mao was considered as the founder (奠基人) of modern bridge engineering in China. He designed Qiantang River Bridge, the first road-and-railway bridge designed and built by a Chinese. His rich experience in building the bridge is worth writing about in international bridges. He also took part in the design of China’s first modern bridge—Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. Moreover, Dr. Mao also led the design of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. He became an academician (院士) of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955, and the first Chinese scientist to be awarded the title of a foreign academician of the United States National Academy of Engineering in 1982.

Upon his return to China, Dr. Mao worked in five famous universities and held the position of president (校长) of four of them. He greatly influenced Chinese engineering education by introducing new teaching methods. What’s more, Dr. Mao was a famous scholar of the history of science in China. He publicly supported popular science education, and wrote a large number of science articles.

Dr. Mao passed away in Beijing at the age of 93. He was awarded the title of “the most beautiful fighter” in 2019. Mao Yisheng played an important role in Chinese structural engineering. Today his bridges connect people throughout the country.