1 . Finally came Wednesday! I walked onto campus feeling nervous even though I had walked on these same grounds for two years because my junior high school is next door. Everything looked and felt different now that I was in senior high.

I looked at my schedule. First period-German. Our German teacher was very friendly and I liked her from the beginning. What I didn’t like, though, was that I was surrounded by students from other grades, with only five familiar faces.

Then I had to walk all the way across campus and up three flights of stairs to get to my second period-biology. Our biology teacher is Ms Campeau, and I think that she will teach us a lot this year because she is very to the point. She also has her unique way of saying be quiet; she says“alligator”. She explained that she is the king, or should I say queen, of the class because alligators are the “king of the swamps (沼泽)”.

My third class was English. After surviving two periods without too much of a challenge, I began to feel good. However, the third period changed everything. Mr Valassidis, my English teacher, told us that we would have to write 40 essays (文章) and read AP-level books such as The 0dyssey this year. I love reading and writing, but 40ESSA YS?AP-level books? Now I was scared. He also talked about how important it was to be focused. Last year was not a very “focused” year for me. While doing homework, I was often talking on the phone, or busy with a conversation online. I planned on stepping it up this year because I wanted to stay an honours student.

When I was a child, I dreamed of go to one of the city’s five best high school. The admission was based only in a student’s performance in a single test. After spending several years struggled to keep up with my classmates, I was final able to meet my academic potential when I change my school. At my new school, teachers were attentive. Some of us offered to tutor after class. It was an opportunity, of that I took full advantage. I was started receiving top scores and performing at the top of my class. As result, I did well in the admission test.

When I was a kid, Mom used to cook food for us. One night in particular after     1     (spend) a long hard day at work, Mom placed a plate of bread jam and     2     (terrible) burnt toast in front of my dad. I was waiting to see if anyone noticed it. But while eating his toast, Dad just asked me     3     my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember I heard Mon apologizing to Dad     4     burning the toast. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Honey, I love burnt toast.”

Later that night, I     5     (go) to kiss Daddy good night and asked him whether he really enjoyed     6     (he) with the toast burned. He gave me     7     big hug and said, “Your mamma put in a long hard day at work today, really     8     (tire) and besides, a burnt toast never hurts anyone but cold words do!”

What I’ve learned over the years     9     (be) that learning to accept each other’s   faults is one of the most important     10     (key) to creating a healthy growing and lasting relationship.

7 . Everybody is afraid of something. That’s what more than 1,700 kids told us when we asked them about fears and scary stuff. We gave kids a list of 14 scary things and asked which one frightened them most. Here are the top 5 answers from our survey: ① Scary movies and TV shows; ② Scary dreams; ③Thunderstorms, hurricanes, and other horrible weather;④ War and terrorism; ⑤ Sounds heard at night.

But not everyone is afraid of the same thing. And what makes one person scared can be of no big deal for someone else. Plenty of kids said their biggest fear wasn’t on our list.

What is fear?

Fear is feeling that everyone has -- it’s programmed into all of us--and that’s a good thing because fear is there to protect us. We’re born with a sense of fear so we can react to something that could be dangerous. The baby cries, and their mom comes over to comfort him or her, helping the baby feel safe and OK again.

Real vs. Pretend

The best way to get over a fear is to get more information about it. As kids get older, they understand more and start seeing the difference between what is real and unreal. So when William’s imagination leads him to think of witches, he can tell himself, “Wait a minute. They’re only pretend things. I don’t need to worry about them.”

The same goes for the dark. A kid’s imagination can start playing tricks when the lights go out. What’s under my bed? Is that a thief i hear? With the help of a parent, kids can get more comfortable in the dark. Using a nightlight or shining a flashlight under the bed to see that there’s nothing there can help kids fight that fear.

9 . One day, 12-year-old Sean Redden surfed the Internet and went to a popular chat room. Just as he was about to be offline, he saw a name he’d never seen there before, Susan. Her brief message was “Would someone help me?”

Sean typed back, “What’s wrong?” A moment later he received this message, “I can’t breathe. Help me! I can’t get out of my chair.”

Oh, man, Sean thought. Pretending to be paralyzed (瘫痪) was a bad joke. Then he wondered   what if she really is sick? “Hey. Mom.” he called. “There’s a kid here who’s sick or something.” Sharon looked at the computer screen. “It’s not just some game, is it?” she asked.

The message was not a joke. Susan was actually a 20-ycar-old student, working late at night at a college library near Helsinki, Finland - almost 7,000 miles away from Sean’s home in Texas. While searching the Internet, she began to feel terrible pain all through her body. The library was silent and empty. The nearest phone was outside in the hallway. She couldn’t move that far. Any movement caused the pain to get worse. Then she realized she might get help on the Internet.

“I don’t think it’s a joke, Mom,“ Sean said. And he typed, “Where are you?” After a long while, the letters appeared, “Finland.” Sean and Sharon couldn’t believe it. Not knowing what else to do, Sharon called the local police.

Sharon explained the situation to the officer Amy Schmidt. Schmidt told Sharon to try to get the sick girl’s phone number. Texas police called the international telephone operator and asked to be connected to the proper agency (机构) in Finland. The call was put through to a nearby rescue station. The Texas police gave Susan’s address to the Finnish operator. When Sean heard that, he typed, “Help is on the way.”

In a few minutes, Susan heard people running down the hallway outside the door. Suddenly, the door opened. Emergency workers and three policemen ran in. Susan turned once more to the computer, “They are here. Thanks. Bye-bye.”

Four days later, the police in Texas received a message from officers in Finland: “Thanks to her Internet friend. Susan has received medical treatment she badly needed. She is doing well.”