Kierman was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up near the sea. For more than 40 years, he raced in international sailing competitions.
In 1987, Kierman was competing in an around-the-world race when he began to1the huge amount of rubbish in the world's oceans. When he returned to Australia, he2to do something about it.
He organized a community3 called "Clean Up Sydney Harbour." On Sunday, January 8, 1989, more than 40,000 volunteers came out to 4away rubbish. The next year, Kierman made the clean-up a national event. It was a huge 5. Across Australia, about 300,000 people spent the day improving their local6.
Since then, "Clean Up Australia" has got7every year. In 2002, for example, 800, 000 people cleaned up almost 15,000 tons of rubbish from Australia's beaches, parks and streets.
Kierman was8with the success of his project. In 2003, he started an even bigger program. With the9of the United Nations Environment Program, he introduced "Clean Up the World", an international program that supports communities around the world in cleaning up and protecting the environment. "Clean Up the World" has grown10 and his wonderful idea has now spread from one city to the whole world.
The most famous food in the Republic of Korea is kimchi (泡菜).It is the food they eat every day. Also, there are about 190 kinds of kimchi. There are different kinds of kimchi for different seasons of the year. For example, in spring, watery kimchi, which is called mooli kimchi, and Chinese cabbage are popular. In summer, young radish (萝卜) kimchi which is called chonggak kimchi and cucumber (黄瓜) kimchi are common.
The Republic of Korea is a small country. There are not enough fields to grow vegetables. In winter, it often snows and it is very cold. In the old days, people there found pepper was very good for them. They also found salty water could help them keep cabbage longer, so they mixed pepper, salt and cabbage together. They named it kimchi.
Today, lots of things are added to kimchi, such as fish, lettuce, pears, apples and other ingredients. Some scientists say kimchi is very good for health, but others don't agree. What do you think of it?
An Irish priest (牧师) loved going fishing. It was his favourite hobby. However, the weather was so bad this year that he didn't have a chance to go fishing.
It was very strange that the weather was good every Sunday. But Sunday was the day when he had to go to work. The coming Sunday was good again according the weather report, so he called another priest and told him that he lost his voice and was in bed with the fever. He asked him to take over his work.
The priest drove fifty miles to a river so that no one would find him. An angel in Heaven was keeping watch and saw what the priest was doing. He reported it to God. He thought God would do something about it.
With the first throw of the line, a huge fish bit down the fish food. For over an hour the priest was busy running up and down the river bank to fight the fish. In the end, he landed the large size fish. It was a world record—a salmon (鲑鱼).
The angel did not know what was happening and asked God, "Why did you let him catch that huge fish? I thought you were going to teach him a lesson." God replied, "I did. Who do you think he's going to tell?"
My friend named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a lovely boy was walking around the shining car." Is this your car, sir?" he asked.
Paul answered, "Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was surprised, "You mean your brother gave it to you and it did cost you nothing? Sir, I wish..."He hesitated (犹豫).Of course Paul knew what the boy wanted, but what the boy said surprised him greatly." I wish, "the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that." Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said, "Would you like to take a ride in my car？""Oh yes, I'd love to," the boy answered.
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, "Sir, would you mind stopping in front of my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two stairs are?" the boy asked.
He went up to the stairs. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled(残疾的)brother. He sat on the stair and pointed to the car.
"There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a dollar. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."
Paul got out and lifted Buddy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed elder brother climbed in behind him and the three began an unforgettable holiday ride.
July is the time for some students to say goodbye to their mother schools. Every time it comes, I will think of my old deskmate, Xiaowei. She is the most unforgettable classmate in my junior high school life. It has been many years since I graduated, but she is still in my mind clearly.
Xiaowei was a lovely girl with long black hair. On hot days, her hair was sometimes seen to be tied up. She was always wearing a sweet smile. She was an artistic(文艺范的)girl who showed up before me every day. She loved reading novels and drawing.
She liked reading different kinds of novels, especially on history. She could finish reading a historical novel as thick as our Chinese textbook at an amazing speed.
Whenever she had free time, she would take out a drawing note and start drawing cartoons with a pencil. She drew from characters' heads to eyes and to faces, but the characters were always long-haired and wide-eyed. One day I couldn't help asking," Why don't you colour them?" She answered simply, "Because I don't have enough time." She kept her works as a secret and never talked about them with others. When we were told that she had won a prize in the drawing competition in her group, my classmates felt surprised.
There is a folk song called My Old Deskmate, which is sung widely among people of different ages. It was created because the creator, Gao Xiaosong, had never forgotten his deskmate. Whenever I hear it, I will think of Xiaowei. How are you, my old deskmate?
Teenager Jake Denham was sking(滑雪)with his family in the US when he fell over and lost one of his skis. His family didn't know that he had a problem. They kept on sking. When they got to the foot of the mountain, there was no sign of Jake.
Jake couldn't find his ski anywhere. In the end, he decided to take off his other ski and walk down the mountain. But he couldn't work out the right way to go.
It was now getting dark and he was a long way from any place of safety. He knew that he might die that night in the cold temperatures. But Jake kept calm. At home, Jake watched a lot of TV programmes about living in difficult situations. He remembered the advice from these programmes and knew that he should build a hole in the snow. He made a hole and pointed it up the hill so the wind couldn't blow into it. Outside the temperature fell to a dangerous-15℃ that night, but inside it Jake was safe from the cold.
But he had to get down the mountain. The TV programmes always said, "If you are lost, you should find someone else's tracks(轨迹)through the snow and follow them." "I wanted to live my life," remembers Jake. "So I got up and I found some ski tracks and I followed those." He walked and walked and finally he saw lights. Nine hours after he lost his ski, he found a team of workers, who came to save him. He was safe!
His mum was very happy when she heard the news. Amazingly, Jake didn't even have to go to hospital. He got through the terrible experience without any injuries.
So, the next time someone says that watching TV is a waste of time, think of Jake. Sometimes TV can save your life.
a. Jake made a hole in the snow. b. Jake lost one of his skis.
c. Jake finally saw lights. d. Jake skied with his family.
Many students have hobbies, like reading, painting and lookinganimals. Some hobbies are relaxing and others are creative. Hobbies can make you (grow) as a person, develop your interests and help you learn new skills.
David Smith is a student, and his hobby (be) writing. During the summer of 2011, he spent four weeks on a summer camp. As well as the usual activities, such sailing, climbing and mountain biking, there was a writing workshop with a professional writer. "She asked us (imagine) that we were in a story. Then we wrote about our experiences at the camp."
In senior high school David(write)a book about teenage life. Many teenagers love his book, and as a result, David has become a (success) young writer.
David has been very lucky because his hobby has brought enjoyment and success to (he), but he is also interested in many other things. "I like playing volleyball, too," says David. "I spend some of my free time (play) volleyball for my school team. Maybe I'll write more books in the future, I'm not sure."
There are many other interesting things to do in life, and we should try to do something new or different.
