Students who get tired of looking at the four walls of a classroom might like to take the nature course being (提供) by Carvel College again this summer. Groups of about a dozen students each will be led by an experienced guide. They will go on a ten-day camping trip to the mountains to study the plants and animals that (生长) and live there.

    Students carry their own (东西), which include sleeping bags, warm clothing, food and water, and other useful tools. And what do the students do (全部的) day? Well, as soon as the sun (出来) up, they will eat breakfast and start climbing up the mountain to the next campground, which is five to ten miles away. As the students take notes, the guide will point out different plants and animals alongside the trail. The climb is (通常) over by afternoon, so the group spends the rest of the day (休息) or swimming in a mountain lake. Before dinner each night, they all come together and discuss the day's (活动).

    At the end of the course, the students write reports by using the (信息) they have collected. But they don't mind at all. What they do mind is leaving the beauty of the wilderness and the good friends they've made to return to their (正常的) in the city.

    Johnnie Martin was born in a worker's family. His parents lived a simple life, saving money for the day when they could send him to a good university. They had dreamed that their son could get a good1and live a better life. However, to Johnnie, school lessons seemed like a wall that was impossible to go through.

    One day when he was in Grade 11, Johnnie went2the school psychologist's(心 理学家的) office to ask for help.

    "Johnnie, I've been studying your marks of all the tests at school. I've made a3study of them," said the psychologist.

    "I've been trying hard," Johnnie was about to4.

    The psychologist put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "People have different kinds of talents, Johnnie. There are painters who are5able to learn math, and engineers who can't sing on key. Some day you will find6you are good at, and when you do, you will make your parents and all of us very7you."

    Johnnie didn't go to university. He found a job working in the gardens around the town. Soon8amazing happened. His customers began to notice that Johnie had what they called a" green thumb" The plants he9grew, and the roses blossomed(开花). People started to accept his10for gardening， because he had an eye for color and light.

    One day while he was downtown, he happened to11an unused dirty land behind the city hall. He volunteered to make it into a garden. That afternoon as soon as he got the permission(许可), he started the work,12he couldn't afford all the tools or the plants that were13. People gave him young trees, rose-bushes, benches and many other things. Before long, it had become a beautiful little14.

    Today Johnnie is the head of the business in gardening. Wherever he and his men go， they15beauty before the eyes of people.

Moving On

The end of school is here at last

It has come so very fast

We look ahead with such delight

The future looks so very bright

It's now time to say goodbye

We're all leaving junior high

Other subjects, a new class

Different teachers and exams to pass

For everyone in this hall

A new life awaits you all

So don't look sad and cry

You're moving on senior high

Other people, other places

Different schools, different faces

Please don't feel bad and grieve

On the day you take your leave

But celebrate and raise your glass

And say goodbye to all your class

    "Can I take your order?" Night after night, I had to say this as I worked in my family's restaurant. My father was a fantastic cook. He wanted me, his only son, to cook with him, but I didn't like cooking. Because of the restaurant, my father was always busy. He never had time to play football with me.

    During my high school and college years, I worked with my family at night. But I always avoided the kitchen. I couldn't wait to graduate so that I could move away from the family business. Several days before my graduation day, my father and I started looking at new cars. Finally, we found the right car. I was sure that my father would give it to me as my graduation gift.

    On my graduation day, my father gave me a book as a gift. It was his old cookbook. I was so angry that I gave it back to him and ran out of the house. Several days later I moved away and started my business. Although I often saw my father during holidays, we never talked about the graduation gift. Then one day, I got a call that my father was ill. I went to see him because I was very worried.

    That night, I looked through my father's books and saw the cookbook that he had given me years before. I carefully opened the cookbook and went through it. Then I found something that made me cry. It was a check(支票) for $ 30,000 dated(注有日期) the day of my graduation. And the price of the car my father and I chose all those years ago was $ 30,000.

    In Western society, especially in the English-speaking world, the chance for young people to see the other countries and experience life is considered important. Many young people, when they finish school at the age of 18, take a gap year before they go to university.

    Parents often want their children to grow up a little and see what the real world is like when they finish school. Although they are worried about their safety, many think that the advantages of independence and experience are worth the worries. Children are encouraged to be brave, independent and to explore the world on their own or with friends.

    Young people also want to experience freedom and see what life is like on the other side. This other side could be the other side of the world or just the other side of life. For example, if they have a rich life, they may want to see how people in poor areas live.

    A gap year after school is also an important chance for young people to spend time thinking about what they want to do with their lives. A little bit of growing up and experience will help them make their important career decisions, especially when they are unsure about what they want to study.

    Another reason for going straight after school is to get a break from studying before they start the next few years of university. So anywhere you travel in the world, you will meet young European people exploring the world.

    So much of the world has been traveled and explored. The young people are now looking for more worthy experiences. Some of them work as volunteers to do something for the country they are visiting. Many gap year volunteers are now spending a few months teaching English in Thailand, helping feed giant pandas in China or building a well(井) in a village in Africa.

    These young people's wish to explore the world is an expression of the values of the societies that they are part of. Both discovering the world and making a positive difference to it are important parts of the Western mind.