2 . Have you ever bought second-hand things? Will you choose to buy them? What do you think of them? Nowadays, second-hand things are popular, from clothing and books to electronic products.

People have made more money in recent years and bought more things than they really need. To live a simple life, some people start selling second-hand things at a low price. The good prices catch people’s eye, as well as the fact that buying second-hand things is good for the environment. Here we interviewed three people.

Zhang Wei, a book lover, often uses Deja Vu to buy second-hand books. He searches for the books he likes and adds them to his shopping cart (购物车), just like on any other shopping site. The difference is that the books are much cheaper—as much as 70 percent cheaper than new books. “As a student, I don’t have much money, so it’s a perfect choice for me,” Zhang said.

“Buying old books can connect readers together.” Zhao Lin, a 22-year-old college student, once found a note in a second-hand book she bought. “Its owner shared her thoughts and hoped I would enjoy the book. It was so heart-warming,” Zhao said. “It is a great inspiration (激励) to me and I have got much strength from the words on it. I think it’s more valuable than a new book.”

Chen Jie, a college student in Shanghai, likes buying second-hand things. When it comes to the reason, she said, “Second-hand things have memories. Owning a special thing which has its old stories brings back memories of the owner. It doesn’t matter how much money we spend on a thing—we just find the right thing that fits us. I love this feeling behind the thing.”

3 . Kenya (肯尼亚), a country in East Africa is a land of natural beauty.

Kenya lies along the equator (赤道) on Africa’s east coast. The Indian Ocean is to the east of Kenya. Highlands rise in the western part of Kenya. Mount Kenya, at 5,199 meters, is Kenya’s highest mountain. East of the highlands, the land goes down toward the coast.

Kenya’s most important river, the Tana, starts from the highlands to the Indian Ocean. Most of the country’s other rivers are short and shallow. They sometimes dry up when there is little rainfall.

Kenya has two wet seasons and two dry seasons. Rainfall is usually heavy from April to May and from November to December, while some areas are more cloudy without much rain between July and August and from January to March. Temperatures are generally warmer in the north and cooler in the highlands.

Kenya is home to many national parks. Green forests and bamboo grow in the highlands. The country’s animals include elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras and many rare (稀有的) animals. The Kenyan government has set up more than 50 nature parks. Inside the parks, the wildlife is protected from hunting. This makes them excellent places to take a journey.

5 . Jenny is excited to go to school these days. The 13-year-old girl is from South Gate Middle School in Los Angeles, US. She is taking care of three green abalones (鲍鱼) at school.

The students of Violeta Llamas science class, including Jenny, have cared for the sea animals since January. The science class has eight teams. Each team takes turns (轮流) to care for the abalones. Team Five—Jenny, Alexis, Jennifer and Ricardo—have now got their turn.

The abalones are kept in a box of seawater. Every day, Alexis should check whether the water has too much salt. Too much salt is bad for the health of the abalones. Jenny makes fresh seawater. Then the four students work together to clean up the waste in the box and give some food to the abalones.

“Sea life is like a baby. You have to clean them and care for them,” Jennifer said.

Nancy Cruse, a scientist, leads the project. She said the number of green abalones is declining because people have caught too many of them. She said protecting the sea lives now depends on the young students.

“The students love taking care of the abalones,” said Llamas.

“Taking care of the abalones could open the door for those who want to be a sea life scientist or an environment protector,” she also said.

The students’ time with the abalones will end this school year. Cruse and his workers will record the abalones and then let them return to the sea.

6 .

7 . Some students are talking in the English corner to practice their English.

I’ve owned a model plane since nine years ago. Now I’m a 14-year-old middle school student and I don’t need it anymore. This toy can still fly up in the air. So I’d like to give it away to someone in need.

To be honest, I used to hate my family a lot. My parents often argued and never cared about me and my brother Sam often fought with me. So I stayed in my own bedroom most of the time. But now everything has changed and we’ve got on well with each other.

Whose Coat Is This? is the most interesting book I’ve ever read. Laura Purdie Salas, an American writer wrote it for kids. According to different coats, this book introduces some different jobs. I have learned much from the book.

8 . A few weeks ago, I had a yard sale. I thought it would help to clean my 9-year-old son’s room. I agreed the money from the yard sale would belong to him.

I cleared out a lot of things from his bedroom. There was a bike among them. It was too short for my son. This little bike had 2 owners before it came to my son. It was not in the best shape, but it was still a bike, and the tires (轮胎) were still good.

I put a price of $10 on it but it didn’t sell. So after the sale was over, my friend helped me put it on the side of the road with a sign “FREE BIKE”. Five minutes later, a little girl asked whether the bike was really free. My friend said yes. Then the girl rode it away happily.

When I told my son how much money he had made at the yard sale, he smiled. He asked about the bike, I told him a little girl was very happy because she got the bike for free. He was so happy to hear that. And there was much more smiles on his face.

9 . Su Bingtian made history as the fastest Asian man. On August 1 of 2021, Su set a new record of 9.83 seconds (秒) in the Tokyo Olympics Men’s 100m semifinals (半决赛). It was 0.18 seconds behind the first runner. He was the first Chinese runner to enter (进入) the final in the event. He brought an unforgettable while for the world in the summer of that year.

However, it was not easy for Su to succeed. Once he was badly hurt in a training course, Su had to stop running after the accident for several years. He even planned to give up running in 2017. But the spirit to do something for our country brought Su back to the running team. He realized that if he could finish the semifinal in less than 10 seconds, he would win the chance to enter the final competition. It was difficult to get the goal. Su trained much harder than before. To encourage himself, he set a personal goal (目标) —9.89 seconds. He even made the number as his personal password (密码) for his phone and computer. Finally, he succeeded!

Now his spirit encourages many young people to try to realize their dreams.

10 . There will be many activities in our neighborhood this weekend.