There are many things in senior middle school that I still remember clearly. I studied three years in a country school, which is faraway. However, it has a good environment and strict but kind teachers, so I loved the school and all my teachers very much.

One Friday, just as we began to read books in reading class at our desks, our teacher, Mrs. Hill, said that she needed to be out of the classroom for a few minutes. She asked the class to read in silence while she was gone. And she said that those who didn’t read books in silence would have to be punished when she returned. It was well-known that Mrs. Hill was strict. So we had to be on our best behaviour.

But that Friday, Mrs. Hill hadn’t been gone for ten seconds before some students in the classroom started to talk. From one corner of the room I heard Josh ask Nick, “Can I trade my candies for your toy?” At the other end of the room I heard Samantha tell Kayla, “Let’s sit together on the bus for the museum field trip tomorrow.” And so it went all around me, until about half of the students communicated with each other.

After a while, I, too, forgot about Mrs. Hill’s instructions. I turned back and asked my friend Liza, “Can I borrow your storybook and keep it for a day?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Mrs. Hill walked into the classroom. The whole class returned to silence immediately. And we were full of fear.

Mrs. Hill slowly looked around the classroom and said, “If you were talking while I was gone, then please stand up.” The guilt (内疚) suddenly weighed heavily on me. “I shouldn’t have talked while she was not in the classroom. And now I should be honest and admit my mistake bravely. This is what my parents have always told me.” I thought. Then, I summoned up (鼓起) my courage to stand up, worried about the punishment that waited for me. Then I looked around.

To my surprise, no one followed me and I was the only one in the classroom standing.

With Mrs. Hill’s encouragement, another student stood up.

The Person I Admire Most

There are many respectable people around us. And the person I admire most is

That’s all. Thank You!

One morning, my family and I woke up and went to eat breakfast—until we heard barking and scratching at the door. When my mom opened the door, we saw a puppy (小狗). We looked around to see if we could find its owner, but there was no one. We took it inside and fed it.

Regardless of how badly I wanted to keep the puppy, we decided to look for the owner. We looked all day, but we failed. We talked about whether we should keep looking or if we should look the next day. We all agreed to look for its owner the next day.

So the next day my family and I looked for the dog’s owner. It was so hard looking for its owner. We were looking for flyers (传单) that involved the puppy, but no luck.

“We won’t stop looking,” my mom and dad said. We were going to take care of the puppy until we found its owner.

When we woke up in the morning, we went to a pet shop to buy the puppy some dog food. After that we went back home to feed the puppy, and then we gave it a nice bath. It was so dirty that the fur was black and sticky, but after we gave it a bath, it turned white. And I noticed there was a collar (项圈) on him, which said “Coby”. After a while, we went to look for the puppy’s owner, but my mom stayed at home, and it was only my dad and me this time.

We continued looking until we found a flyer. We looked at it. It said, “Lost Dog: Please Help if Found.” Then we looked at the picture; it looked exactly like Coby. We were all happy we found a flyer that was for Coby.

There was a phone number on the flyer.

We found the lady’s house, and then we knocked on the door.

The Power of Teamwork

A cactus (仙人掌) stood all alone in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle of the desert. “I do nothing but stand here all day,” it sighed. “What use do I have? I am the ugliest plant in the desert. My spines (刺) are thick, my leaves are tough, and my skin is uneven. I can’t offer shade or juice to the passing travellers. I don’t see that I am of any use at all.” All it did was stand in the sun day after day, growing taller and fatter. Its spines grew longer and its leaves grew tougher. It truly was strange-looking.

“I wish I could do something useful,” it signed. By day, hawks (鹰) circled high overhead, and the cactus called, “What can I do with my life?” Whether they heard or not, the hawks flew away. At night the moon floated into the sky and cast its pale light on the desert floor. “What can I do with my life?” the cactus called. The moon only stared coldly as it continued its course.

A lizard (蜥蜴) passed by, leaving a little trail in the sand with its tail. “What worthy deed can I do?” the cactus called. “You?” the lizard smiled, pausing a moment. “You can do something. Just wait for the right moment. The hawks circle their ways overhead, making beautiful patterns for us all to admire. The moon hangs high like a lantern at night, so we can see our ways home to our loved ones. Even I, the lowly lizard, have something to do. I decorate the sands with these beautiful trails as I pull my tail along. And you, you will show us your beauty some day.”

It went on year after year, and the cactus grew old.

The desert hadn’t known such a flower of it.

Students’ Union