Miss Baugh taught seventh-grade social studies. She was the kind of teacher that just about everyone has had at least once: Scary. Her reputation was not unlike that of Dracula. Miss Baugh allowed no nonsense (胡言乱语). She drilled us and taught us to take school seriously. She also introduced to us the concept of “extra credit” for a correct response to a random question — and a frown for an incorrect one. Miss Baugh had been teaching for a long time and knew how to frighten even the naughty boys in the back row, including me. She managed to scare us all.

But I also had a life outside of school and had just discovered cheap prank (恶作剧) pieces —   an ink bottle painted to look as though it had overturned, and a piece of shiny black metal shaped like a puddle of ink.

Of all the people I could have pranked, I chose Miss Baugh somehow. At the beginning of the class, before she’d returned to her classroom, I dared to approach her desk. I opened her grade book and placed the bottle and the black metal on one of the pages, proudly noting that it truly did look like spilled ink! Then I went to my desk and waited for the fun.

I wasn’t disappointed. When Miss Baugh saw the items, she let out a little cry and looked for something to wipe up the ink with. The prank had succeeded the way beyond my expectations. But immediately she discovered that it was just a piece of black metal. She picked up the “puddle”, then the bottle, and examined them. She looked up with eyes sweeping the classroom with a deadly stare. Some of my classmates who had seen me set up the fake spill carefully avoided looking at me, so as not to give me away. Then came the unavoidable question: “Who did this?”

Moving My Curfew

For some time now, I have had an 8:00 p.m. curfew—the time by which I have to be at home, even on weekends. When I was younger, I didn’t really complain. But now I have reached an age when this curfew is no longer suitable. For several reasons, it is clearly time to move my curfew to 10:00 p.m. on weekends.

First of all, I’m soon going to be an adult. Like all teenagers, I need practice handling the greater freedom that goes along with being an adult. When teenagers don’t get practice handling freedom, they often make many serious mistakes. For example, some teenagers go away to college and suddenly they don’t know how to handle it, and they get into trouble. I believe it is better to increase freedom gradually. That way the teenager learns how to handle freedom responsibly. I believe I could handle a later curfew without making serious mistakes in judgment.

A later curfew is also important to me because I’m an active student. As you know, I am often on the committee in charge of running many extra-curricular activities. Because of my present curfew, I have to finish school activities over an hour before they are over. Other students must take over for me when I leave. A 10:00 curfew would allow me to stay until the end of school functions and give me enough time to get home without rushing.

Finally, I am a teenager who can be trusted to handle a 10:00 p.m. curfew. I know that many teenagers cannot handle much responsibility. However, I am clearly not that kind of teenager. I have proven myself to be a very responsible person. For example, I have never been in serious trouble, either at school or in the community. I also hold a part-time job and still manage to maintain a “B” average in school. In other words, I am a person who uses my time wisely, meets responsibilities and stays out of trouble.

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My sister and I are twins. People say that the sisters are very close, but the two of us are not like sisters. We always quarrelled with each other until the day which I would remember forever.

It was a Monday morning. Because we slept too late the night before, we got up a little late. After getting up, we quickly packed up the books and school supplies for the class. At the urging of our mother, we hurriedly took a few bites of breakfast and got in the car to school. On the way to school, our mother criticized us, "You two should go to bed on time and pack school supplies and textbooks one night in advance. If you don't bring textbooks or school supplies because of getting up late, I won't send them to school. " My sister and I nodded.

Unfortunately, I really forgot something of great importance.

After coming to the classroom, the art teacher said that she would check the watercolor pens in the afternoon. I was anxious because I found I left them at home.

Seeing this, the art teacher said to me seriously, "You must have the pens during my class. Otherwise, I have to talk to your head teacher and your parents. "

The words made me even more anxious. Remembering the words of my mother, I realized I had to find another way to get the watercolor pens. But what should I do? No one was willing to lend me as they also needed the watercolor pens. I tried many ways, but the problem wasn't solved. Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind: I could borrow some from my sister, who was not in the same class with me.

Thinking of this, I hurried to my sister’s classroom and called my sister out loud at the classroom door.

On the way back to the classroom, I gradually calmed down.