钟琬婷5年级英语作文 

Happy Little Reporter’s Club  (1)

 By Zhong Wanting

 

Preparation

 

On Friday, June 25th, 2001, I went to the Ling Nan Youngsters’ Newspaper office and signed up for the Summer Vacation Happy Little Reporter’s Club. From the schedule, I learnt that it would be a great time. I expected the day to come soon.

It was the day before the exciting journey. Mum and I were packing my bag. Here is what I would take for my journey:

9  clothes (trousers and shirts, etc.)

1  camera

2  towels

1  umbrella

1  lunch-box

1  bottle of mosquito repellent

1  piece of suntan lotion

1  reporter certificate

‘Whoo, that’s a lot!’

As I lay down on my bed that night, I tried to sleep but couldn’t fall asleep as usual. I thought about tomorrow’s journey. My first time without Dad and Mum…

 

Journey Begins

 

When arriving at the Newspaper Agency in the morning, I received a sticker, a cap and a Ling Nan Youngsters’ Newspaper. For the security reason, I was in the Sunny Team for the kids under the age of ten. I went to my team and met some interesting friends. We talked and talked.

At 9 o’clock, we got on a bus and drove to the Club base in Pan Yu. Our team had two leaders. One of our leaders told us to call him Brother Hao. Well, ‘Hao’ in Cantonese sounds like ‘Hou’, which means ‘Monkey’ in Putonghua, but he was fat instead of thin! We all suggested that he should go on a diet. He didn’t mind, anyway! ‘Maybe I am a little overweight.’ He agreed.

The other leader was Miss Mei Mei. She was pretty. During the long journey, Brother Hao taught us how to sing the camp song---‘I am a Happy Little Reporter.’ It was easy to sing: ‘If you are a happy little reporter, clap your hands …’ Brother Hao’s voice was funny. He was humorous, too. We learnt the song in no time. However, we were tired of Brother Hao’s voice.

‘OK, let Miss Mei Mei sing, then.’

‘No, no, I … I can’t …’ she protested.

‘Do you want to listen to her?’

‘Sure! Yeah! Let her sing!’ We shouted.

‘Give her some claps. She is shy.’

We clapped loudly. ‘All right, I will sing. But actually I can’t sing well.’ She said.

She started to sing, but she had no sooner sung a few sentences than we laughed. Miss Mei Mei couldn’t help laughing, too, because she couldn’t carry a tune!

After that, we spent the time asking IQ questions or detective and science questions. The bus was bustling with noise and excitement. Time passed quickly.

 

Club Base

 

At last, we arrived at the base. The base was beautiful. I was amazed. It was so green, so blue and so colorful.

A stone-covered road led to a huge lake. Some little wooden houses were built on this lake, like prehistoric lake dwellings. We lived in these little houses. On the far end of the row of the houses was the Meeting Hall. It was like a large pavilion. We held meetings there. Opposite the Meeting Hall were the kitchen and the Dining Hall. They were huge with a number of cooking stoves and stone tables and chairs. Outside the Meeting Hall was another road. It led to the Raft Lake and a long wide river.

After a meeting, we had a plentiful lunch. Then we went to our dormitory on the lake. There were some fish in the lake. I slept in Room A5. There were four two-berth wooden beds. Each was a double bed. There were sixteen little girls in our room. I slept in a lower berth with another girl. The pillows were made of bamboo. We took out articles for everyday use such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap etc. Then we pushed our luggage into two cabinets.

At noon, we slept for a while. I couldn’t sleep well at all because it was too noisy. Four girls on the upper berth were starting a ‘Pillow War’. They threw pillows at one another. I climbed up the stairs to stop them. However, it was of no use. I got back and lay in bed. Finally, they were tired of the game and the ‘War’ ended.

Soon afterwards I heard a clear whistle, one long, two short. That meant ‘get up!’ I quickly jumped up, put on my shoes and cap, took my reporter certificate and ran out.

 

My Group

 

We went to the Meeting Hall. The host said that we would be divided into several small groups. I was in a group with some boys from the Environmental Team and some of the girls from my team. Our group leader was Brother Wei.

‘We should choose a flag so that we can see it clearly and no one would get lost. Right?’ He asked.

We agreed.

‘There are lots of flags over there, at the end of the hall. See?’ He pointed to the flags.

We all nodded.

‘Which color do you prefer?’ He asked.

‘Pink! Pink!’ We girls all shouted.

‘Green! Green!’ The boys shouted.

‘Go to pick one.’ Brother Wei told a boy as soon as he stopped the noise. The boy immediately got back a green flag. The boys were delighted. But not the girls!

‘This flag with only a green color is not nice. And you won’t recognize it easily. So we can draw some pictures and write some words on it.’ We all thought it a good idea. ‘First, we shall design a name for our group’.

We sat and thought. We did suggest some names, but Brother Wei didn’t like them. At last, someone said that it should be called ‘Love Group’. Brother Wei’s eyes brightened.

‘Is it a good name?’ He looked at us.

‘Yeah!’ We shouted. Although a few of us didn’t agree, a lot did like it. Therefore, the name was ‘Love Group’. Another girl and I wrote the name on the flag. In the place of ‘heart’, I drew a red ♥.

‘Very nice, give them some claps.’ He said.

Everyone clapped.

‘This flag isn’t good just with some words on it. We can draw a picture here.’ He added.

We designed one and drew it on the flag. It was a leaf, representing the Environmental Team, and a sun, representing the Sunny Team.

‘There is still some blank on the flag. We can write our watchword here. Give some suggestions.’ He said.

We thought and thought. Finally, Brother Wei took a girl’s advice: ‘Love, Love, Solidarity Together’. We wrote that on the flag and it was completed. ‘Yeah!’ ‘Great!’

 

图中所圈者为钟琬婷。 

 

Wire Bridge

 

The flag was completed. We carried it and walked out proudly. Our first game at the base was to cross the ‘Wire Bridge’.

The Wire Bridge was on a river. When I looked down, my heart beat faster and faster. The river was deep and rapid. It was wide and long. Moreover, you can’t imagine that ‘dangerous’ wire bridge! It was high up across the river. It had only one wire, like that used by acrobats. But surely we were not acrobats! Fortunately, there was a piece of plastic rope above the wire, so we could grip it when we crossed the wire bridge.

After giving instructions, Brother Wei told us to set out two by two. I watched how the others crossed the wire bridge. When one passed, we would cheer.

A strong wind blew. The wire swayed. Brother Wei helped steady the wire. I thought that the first several pairs to go were brave. Then it drizzled. The raindrops became bigger and bigger. At last, my turn came. I took off my cap and camera and wore a life jacket. Then I got ready to go.

‘Whammoo!’ As soon as the cheers ended, I stepped on the wire. I began to feel very frightened. What if I fell into the river? What if my shoes fell into the river? What if … But I quietened down by saying to myself: ‘Don’t be afraid! Be brave! See what the others did. It’s safe with your hands clutching the plastic rope. Moreover, you have a life jacket on! You can swim, too, can’t you?’

Brother Hao shouted on the other side of the river. I clutched the plastic rope tightly and turned my head to look at him. Then I took a deep breath and moved my feet very slowly, inch by inch. I was very careful so as not to fall into the river. Indeed, I was still a little afraid. Suddenly a wind blew. Nothing could have been more annoying. The wire began to swing. My heart almost stopped beating. The wire continued to sway. However, I was right in the middle of the wire! If I failed to grab the plastic rope, then … My feet shook and weakened. I felt the sweat on my hands, but I grabbed the plastic rope tightly like a drowning man clinging to a piece of wood. I waited for a short time. When I happened to look down, I saw the rapid river. I felt dizzy. I couldn’t stand up steadily. I began to sway.

Suddenly, I heard a shout behind me. ‘Go ahead! Go! Don’t be afraid! Don’t look down! Turn your head. Look at Brother Hao. Go to him. He’s your destination.’ Therefore, I turned my head and calmed myself. I moved forward slowly, my heart in my mouth. Then the girl in front of me reached Brother Hao.

‘Yeah! Another one in our group has reached Brother Hao successfully. Congratulations!’

I heard claps. I looked forward. The destination was not far away. I moved on more quickly. Brother Hao was near. Two meters, one meter …

‘Hurry, go ahead! Hurry, go!’

I moved faster. Brother Hao waved to me. I smiled. I could see the small cliff. Nearer, nearer, I could see the grass on the cliff. Closer, closer, I reached the cliff. But I realized the cliff was even more dangerous. I carefully stretched out a hand to Brother Hao and clutched the plastic rope tighter. As soon as he took hold of my left hand, I lifted my left leg onto the cliff. In a flash of time, my right hand unclenched the rope and I jumped onto the cliff.

I succeeded! I jumped up and down. I heard cheers from across the river. I heard claps. I felt like a great soldier.

 

Barbecue

 

After playing games such as Big Feet and Plum Blossom Post, we were all soaked with water. However, we didn’t worry about that, for soon it would be barbecue time!

We went to our dormitory to wait. When hearing a clear whistle, we immediately ran out to the Dining Hall and queued up. I could see flames dancing in the hall. We all waited outside the hall eagerly.

After we went into the hall, I sat with Brother Hao and eight others in a circle. Curiously, I peeked at what we would have. My eyes widened when I saw nice meatballs, sweet corns, sausages, fresh meat and my favourite food: chicken wings. There were cups of cooking oil, honey and barbecue sauce, too. We were armed with long barbecue forks. We also had bowls and spoons.

Soon the barbecue began. I put six meatballs on my long fork. Then I put some cooking oil on the balls. I began heating them. The fire was not very strong. I put the fork on the hand-held stove. Then I waited impatiently for the meat to be ready.

I looked at the others. Someone wanted to eat meat eagerly, so he put the fork straight on the wire net on the stove! Although some of us had warned him that perhaps his meat would fall into the fire, he didn’t listen. He kept rolling the fork and … Oh! His meat fell onto the fire and he tried to put it back on the fork! We all laughed. Some put their food too close to the fire. And you know, of course, what happened: the food became black!

Brother Hao was a great eater. He put his fork with a chicken wing above the fire, slowly turned it and waited very patiently. He never stopped talking about his ‘Golden Classics Chicken Wing’. He even hummed a tune. All of us were amazed by his wonderful wing and his patience. Some didn’t say anything, but some praised his wing. Others laughed, saying: ‘Ha ha, he is very good at eating!’ I pretended to be uninterested in it, but I kept glancing at the wing. If only I had had a wing like that!

Suddenly, I remembered my meatballs on the stove. When I looked down, I nearly jumped up. Good Heavens, parts of my ‘good food’ were charred, parts weren’t ready. I could only turn my fork and barbecue the other sides. Unfortunately, I put the fork too close to the fire. All my good meatballs on the fork became ‘black meatballs’. As most of us did not have much barbecue experience, our delicious products were either black meatballs or charred wings. However, the food was made by ourselves after all. I put some barbecue sauce and honey on my meatballs. I ate all in three gulps. ‘Mmm, it tastes great!’

The fire was gone. We fanned it, but it was of no use. Soon a kitchen worker came and helped us. There was fire again. I barbecued more food. I put my fork with a chicken wing over the stove. Now I turned it at times so as not to get it charred. After a while, I felt it. One part was still not very soft, so I put it on the fire again. Then I took some pictures of the barbecue with my camera. Oh, Brother Hao was still waiting for his wing!

I chose a sausage. One of my friends helped me with it. Soon it was ready. The barbecue sauce was used up, so I brushed some honey on it. It was delicious. Meanwhile, Brother Hao’s ‘Golden Classics Chicken Wing’ was ready. It was golden brown with a very pleasant smell, which would make someone salivate. He put some honey on it and began eating. We all stared at his wing and even stopped eating the food in our hands.

The barbecue lasted a long time. We sat around the fire and talked and laughed. The fire shone on our happy faces. The fire was very bright, but our faces were even brighter.

...... 

(to be continued)

 

 

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