Maybe you don’t think animals have certain mental powers which human beings do not have. But the truth is that some of them have instincts, and besides this, I am sure they can feel certain things we humans cannot. A personal experience showed me this.

Some years ago, I had a dog named Howard. From the time when he was a puppy, he was timid, so we named him Howard, sounding like “coward”! He was especially afraid of thunderstorms. At the first flash of lightning or crash of thunder, he would run whining into his house and hide under a table.

I often went for a walk with Howard. Once, as we were walking along a road, it began to rain. I quickly ran to a bus stop for shelter. The bus stop had a roof supported by metal poles. Soon after I had got there, Howard caught my trousers in his teeth and tried to pull me away. At first I was puzzled and a little angry at his behavior. But I decided to humor him and walked away from the shelter into the rain and started to go home.
    When I was about two hundred metres from the shelter, there came a flash of lightning and soon after, there was thunder which nearly deafened me. Howard stopped walking and began whining. Thinking he was afraid, I bent to pick him up. As I straightened up, I glanced at the bus shelter we had just left. I was shocked to see that two of the poles were bent and the roof was lying on the ground, broken. The shelter had been struck by the bolt of lightning!

I wish there would be a way to describe China in simple terms but that’s impossible. For the most part Chinese people are friendly, easy-going and optimistic. They are curious and unusually patient and they are also the hardest-working people I have ever met.

In China, family is everything. In my English classes when the students were asked what they would do if they only had a few hours to live, most students told me how they would spend their last few hours with their families and parents. Many times the subjects in the classes center on families and friends. I teach many students a year, talking to them freely.

The cost of living here is very low compared with that of the US. The city of Xiang Fan I live in isn’t large and I live better. Non-imported(非出口的) foods are very cheap, so are clothing and articles of everyday use. The cost of public transportation is very low, too. Chinese value education. However, it is reported that many children can’t afford the expenses of schooling and are forced to leave school in some poor areas in China. But they organized Project Hope many years ago. It creates conditions for the poor children to go back to school. In my opinion, Project Hope is of great importance to the development of the rural education.

When we read news of China in the west, rarely, if ever, will we see anything mentioned of the positive changes China has gone through. While it is true that economic miracles have not reached many areas of China, but we also have the same problems.

When I am asked which country I consider better, China or the US, my answer has always been the same, “We are not worse or better than each other, we are only different.

Suppose you are thinking about attending college in the United States, but perhaps you might not be ready for a university with a four-year program. About 88,000 international students have found solution. They are attending U.S. community colleges. Such colleges are sometimes called junior colleges. They offer two years of education above the secondary or high school level.

  Community college students can choose from subjects like medical assistance, computer science or law. At the end of their study program, they receive a document of completion, called a certificate. Some students work toward an associate degree in traditional academic subjects like science or history. After getting it, the students can move on to a four-year college or university. They may have only two years of study left before they receive a bachelor’s degree.

  Many educational experts agree that saving money is the major reason to consider a community college. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) says that a public two-year college costs 3,000 dollar a year on average. That is true if the student lives in the same state as the school. A student at a four-year public college may pay 8,500 dollars a year for classes and user fees. That does not include books and other materials.

  Some international students may need more preparation in English before entering a community college in the United States. For example, Istrif Montgomery came to the U.S. from Kosovo in 2006. First, he worked to improve his English at Montgomery College for a year. Then for the next two years, he attended classes in basic subjects in a community college.

  The international students at two-year colleges need to find a place to live. Most community colleges do not provide student housing on their grounds. But Mr. Montgomery had a home nearby. He was able to ride the bicycle, and he was able to walk if he wanted. In fact, most community college students live within five to ten miles off the college.

Mark Twain was a famous American writer. He wrote many funny stories. Those stories are still read by many people all over the world today. Besides writing, he also liked hunting and fishing very much, so one year he went to Maine for a holiday and spent three very pleasant weeks in the woods there.

When Mark Twain had to go back home, he drove to the station with his baggage and there he asked a worker to put it into the train. Then he got into the smoking car and sat down in one of the comfortable seats there. There was nobody else when he got in, but a few minutes later, another man got in and sat down on the seat opposite his. After a while, they began to talk with each other.

The stranger said, “We have some beautiful woods in Maine. I think you’ve been in our woods, haven’t you?” “Yes, I have,” answered Mark Twain, “I’ve just spent three weeks there and I have a very good time, too. Although fishing isn’t allowed in Maine at this season, I’ve got 200 pounds of fish with my baggage in this train. I like to eat fish, so I put in ice to take it home with me. May I ask who you are, sir?”

The stranger looked at Mark Twain for several seconds and then answered, “I’m a police officer. My job is to catch people who hunt and fish during the wrong seasons. And who are you?”

Mark Twain was surprised and frightened. He thought quickly and then answered, “Well, I’ll tell you, sir. I’m the man who tells the biggest lies in America.”

In 1943, when I was 4, my parents moved from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Fairbanks, Alaska, where adventure was never far away.

We arrived in the summer, just in time to enjoy the midnight sun. All that sunlight was fantastic for Mom’ s vegetable garden. Working in the garden at midnight tended to throw her timing off, so she didn’t care much about my bedtime.

Dad was a Railway Express agent and Mom was his clerk. That left me in a mess. I usually managed to find some trouble to get into. Once I had a little fire going in the dirt basement of a hotel. I had tried to light a barrel(桶) of paint but couldn’t really get a good fire going. The smoke got pretty bad, though, and when I came out, a crowd and the police were there to greet me. The policemen took my matches and drove me home.

Mom and Dad were busy in the garden and Dad told the police to keep me, and they did! I had a tour of the prison before Mom rescued me. I hadn’t turned 5 yet.

As I entered kindergarten, the serious cold began to set in. Would it surprise you to know that I soon left part of my tongue on a metal handrail(栏杆) at school?

As for Leonhard Seppala, famous as a dog sledder(驾雪橇者), I think I knew him well because I was taken for a ride with his white dog team one Sunday. At the time I didn’t realize what a superstar he was, but I do remember the ride well. I wrapped(包裹) heavily and well sheltered from the freezing and blowing weather.

In 1950, we moved back to Coeur d’Alene, but we got one more Alaskan adventure when Leonhard invited us eight years later by paying a visit to Idaho to attend a gathering of former neighbors of Alaska.

Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer, navigator (航海家), and mapmaker. He explored much of eastern Canada and became known as the “Father of New France”.

Born into a family of sailors, Champlain, while still a young man, began exploring North America. In 1603, he sailed up the Saguenay River and the St. Lawrence River. From 1604 to 1607 Champlain joined in the exploration and settlement of the first permanent (永久的) European settlement north of Florida. Then, in 1608, he established the French settlement that is now Quebec City. He also made the first accurate (精确的) map of the Canadian coast.

Champlain spent most of the rest of his life going between France and Canada. His goals were to map North America and find a quicker way to get to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1629 Quebec was controlled by the English and Champlain was taken to England as a prisoner. When Canada was returned to France in 1633 Champlain returned to Canada as governor of Quebec and remained in Quebec until his death on Christmas Day in 1635.

Champlain was the first European to explore and describe the Great Lakes, and published maps of his journeys and reports of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the natives. Champlain was memorialized as the “Father of New France”, and many places and streets in North America use his name. The most famous of these is Lake Champlain, which lies between northern New York and Vermont.