Diane Ray was completely self-centred and very spoilt (宠坏的). Her parents gave her everything that she wanted, knowing that she would throw a tantrum (发脾气) if they did not satisfy her desire. She would scream and lie on the floor drumming her heels. Finally her parents always gave in.

That was why she was alone on the beach, wearing an expensive swimsuit. In order to get her parents to buy it for her, she threw a big tantrum. They were back at the beach house, recovering from the tantrum she had thrown when they told her that it was too dangerous to go swimming alone. “Dangerous?” she said. “You just don’t want me to have fun. I’m going and if you try to stop me. I’ll scream.”

“What are you doing?” a voice asked. Diane jumped and looked around. She did not know that the man was here until he spoke.

“I’m going to swim,” she answered coldly.

“You shouldn’t swim today,” the man advised. “There is a storm coming up.”

“You should mind your own business!” Diane replied and walked into the gentle waves.

“If you go out there you’ll be sorry,” the man called after her. But she did not want to reply.

Diane slipped into the water and swam happily until white waves began rolling in and it became harder to swim against the current. Sea water hit her face, making it difficult to breathe. “Oh, why didn’t I listen to the advice?” Diane asked herself inwardly.

Frightened, she began to cry.

After Diane closed her bedroom’s door, she was lost in thought.

My fourth of July vacation began with a scream. “Tara!”   I jumped, my eyelids snapping open. I realized that my four-year-old sister, Tammy, was staring down at me. I struggled to push her off me as she bounced on my legs. She screamed, and then ran out of my room.

It was as if Tammy never did anything wrong. If Tammy got angry, Mom would say she was trying to get her point across. When Tammy broke a plate, Dad said she was just   “helping” me empty the dishwasher. When Tammy scribbled (乱涂乱画) all over the wall, instead of scolding her, my parents chuckled and said, “She’s turning into an artist just like you, Tara.”

We were flying to Utah to visit my grandma for the Fourth of July. Every year I draw Grandma a picture for her birthday, but I sighed as I considered about what picture I should draw this time. When we walked off the plane, I was relieved to see the smiling face of my grandma. We raced over to her.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Grandma got down on one knee to hug Tammy and then swung her in the air. Tammy screamed with laughter. Then Grandma hugged me. “It’s so good to see you too,   Tara.”

After six hours of flight, I was exhausted—six hours of listening to Tammy scream with delight again and again and again. I wanted to be alone, so I went outside with my sketchbook and colored pencils. Looking at the scenery, I felt inspired to work on Grandma’s drawing. As I admired the shading on the mountains and the swirls of the sunset, I smiled to myself and thought, this is the best picture I have ever made.

Before I finished my picture, Mom was calling me inside for dinner. When I walked back into the room, my heart stopped. Tammy was lying on the bed, scribbling on a piece of paper. When Tammy saw me frozen in the doorway, she jumped from the bed. She ran over to me and grinned. “I drew you a picture.” she shouted.

“Out!” I screamed angrily, and she ran out of the room. I ran over to the bed. I picked up the paper, and it was just as I’d feared. My drawing had black scribbles all over it.

Mom appeared in the doorway with Tammy by her side.

I gathered up the courage to walk over to Grandma.

It was Father’s Day and I wanted to make it special for my father. I planned to surprise him with a homemade breakfast in bed and a day full of activities that he loved.

I woke up early that day and started preparing his favorite breakfast, paratha with butter and honey, and a glass of milk. I put a note on the side of the plate where I had written, “I love you, Dad!” and arranged everything perfectly.

With the plate in my hands, I walked toward Dad’s bedroom. I opened the door and tiptoed(踮着脚走)toward his bed. But to my surprise, Dad was not in bed. I looked around the room, but couldn’t find him there. I searched for him in the house. But there was no sign of him.

I checked his car and it was in the garage(车库). I was very worried and did not know what to do. Just then I saw my mum coming out from the other room. I asked her about Dad and she told me that he had to leave early for work that day. He had an important meeting and a car was sent from his office to pick him up.

I was sad to hear that. Then I slowly walked towards my room, and there I noticed a note on my side table. It was from my dad. He had written the same thing Mum had just told me, but he had also promised to buy oranges on his way back as I had asked him to do so the night before. He had also expressed how sad he was to be spending this day without me, but promised to make up for it as soon as possible.

Paragraph 1: I was disappointed but I knew that work was important to my dad.

Paragraph2: The next morning, I woke up early and quickly freshened up.