Looking After Stray Cats.

When I worked as a nurse, I was on day duty while my workmates were on night duty. On one shift, I sensed something strange just before going off duty at 1 1 am. I put down the tray (托盘) on the table and suddenly it fell off the table. At first, I didn’t care as I thought I had accidentally knocked it over, but then I felt the whole building shaking and heard patients were screaming and running madly.

At that moment, I realized that an earthquake was happening. My first thought was to rescue my patient and protect myself. I quickly caught hold of a nearby patient, who was terribly frightened and pushed her under a bed. And then, I got under another bed myself. As soon as the earthquake stopped, I decided to try and get the patient safely outside. I carried her out and helped her down to the grassland, where several other people had gathered.

As I was afraid that my other workmates were in danger, I went back inside the building again. When I met Lucy, our head nurse, I found her patient couldn’t walk. We made a seat for the patient by linking our hands and arms, and carried her outside together. We went back through the building to check if anyone was left behind in our sickroom.

Just then, we saw that a man doctor was calling for volunteers to go down to other sickrooms with him to help more patients and medical workers. So we followed him together. The doctor went ahead of us and found one of the nurses partially covered with broken stones, luckily still alive. Suddenly, the aftershock struck and the doctor ordered us to leave. The brave doctor intended to stay alone and risk his own life to save the nurse.

But no one was willing to leave.

My next task was to settle and care for the sick on the ground.

When I was little, I lived in a house with a beautiful garden full of all kinds of Bowers. There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting in the garden with my mother reading stories to me. When I was old enough to read, I enjoyed reading stories aloud to her.

I would never forget one day when I was in the third grade. I bad been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed (排练) my lines so hard with me. But however easily I acted at home, the moment I stepped on stage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside, explaining that she had written a narrator’s (解说员) part to the play, and asked me to change roles. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home after school that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to take a walk in the garden.

It was May and roses were blossoming and, under the trees, we could also see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass, as if a painter had painted our garden with red, yellow and green. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. ”I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. ”From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden. ”

“But I like dandelions,” I protested, “All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions.” “Yes, every flower is beautiful in its own way, isn’t it?” she asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. “And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.” Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled to me gently.

Para 1: “But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said.

Para 2: After the play, I took home the flower.

6 . Tariq Qaiser, an architect, is trying to protect mangroves (红树林). The trees could save Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, sitting on the Arabian Sea, from natural disaster. He comes to Bundal Island several times a week to document the illegal cutting of mangrove trees. Very often, “You can’t hear a single bird because the chain saws are so loud. The trees are cut down illegally for firewood,” he says, shaking his head. Besides, developers clear the mangroves to make room for construction.

Karachi has a hot climate, and its concrete buildings and paved roads make it even hotter. Offshore, there are islands where mangroves grow. They could be the key to slowing climate change. Mangrove forests pull carbon dioxide out of the air, holding four times as much of the planet-warming gas as other forests can. They support diverse ecosystems. As sea levels rise with global warming, the trees could play a big role in protecting coastal cities like Karachi from flooding. Karachi’s mangroves are disappearing. But its numbers are rising in other parts of Pakistan. With replanting efforts, the country has tripled (三倍于) its mangrove coverage over the past 30 years．

Qaiser’s work may have worked. Recently, a court in Karachi declared Bundal Island’s mangroves to be protected forests. But unforested parts of the island remain unprotected, and developers want to build there. City officials say this could provide much-needed housing and bring in billions of dollars. They claim that some of that money could be used to plant mangroves in other parts of Pakistan.

Ecologist Rafiul Haq appreciates Qaiser’s “extraordinary work” educating the public about mangroves. But he wishes Qaiser would look at the bigger picture. “Only 7% of Pakistan’s mangroves are in Karachi,” Haq says. He thinks it’s wrong to focus on the losses in 7% of the country while ignoring the success in 93% of it. But Qaiser believes it’s important to protect every bit.

7 . Labor Day in America began more than 100 years ago to honor low-paid factory workers.

Labor Day also informally marks the end of summer. Many students return to school after Labor Day. The hot days of summer turn cooler. Many Americans celebrate the holiday with an outdoor family picnic.

But Labor Day started with a struggle. On May 1, 1889, workers demonstrated on the streets of Paris, France. International Labor Day was born. Most industrialized countries in the world—except the United States and Canada—celebrate Labor Day on the first of May.

On September 5, 1882, in New York City. About 10,000 workers walked through the streets to show the strength of organized labor. For many years after that, American workers used the first Monday in September to ask for better working conditions and pay. Music was a part of many of those marches.

Labor songs traditionally tell stories of conflict (冲突) and hopes for a better life. Many traditional American labor songs came from workers in the coal mines of the South. Mine owners were bitterly against workers’ unions (工会). In Kentucky, company police searched for union leaders. They waited outside a worker’s home for several days to stop him from organizing.

The coal miner’s wife, Florence Reece, stayed inside with her children. She wrote this song, “Which Side Are You On?” Another American labor song is called “Bread and Roses.” It is based on a poem by James Oppenheim, published in December of 1911.

The poem speaks about the women’s labor movement. At that time, conditions in factories, where many women worked, were horrible. A fire at a clothing factory in New York killed 146 people.

A month after Oppenheim’s poem was published, textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts went on strike, which won them higher pay and better working conditions. Oppenheim’s poem gained more attention.

It was a cool early morning of the winter season. I was excited to start my morning walk. Every day I promise myself that I would start ‘walking exercise’ but it never happened. I saw, so many people were engaged in this amazing habit but I could never push myself. So that day I was determined to take the golden opportunity!

I got everything ready, my shoes, socks, hand glove, and jacket, etc from the previous night. I don’t know why I felt as if I am going to do some expedition! Oh yes! I was ready and started walking on the lonely road. The outside temperature seemed to be below 18 degrees. But I enjoyed the fresh air. Probably that day I was the only one who was walking on the road at that time. I think I was too early but anyhow I loved it!

After a few yards were covered, I felt delighted! Tall trees were on both the roadsides. It was so calm and quiet all around except randomly the little birds was singing sweetly in the trees. On one side of the road, a small pond was there. Since it was my first walking exercise, I thought to take a little rest just near the bank of the river and then continue. The sun was moving closer to the horizon scattering colors to the sky.

As the sky started glittering with beautiful yellow and red light like every day before the sunrise, I left that place and ended my journey furthermore. I comforted myself that the next day I would increase my exercise a little more. I turned and leisurely walked down towards my home.

From then on, I kept walking in the morning every day. And many things beautiful occurred. However, the one I’ll never forget is my friendship with a homeless dog, which finally became a member of my family.

I came across the dog while walking in the morning.

Returning home, I continued to walk, only to find a team of dogs following me.