When Dekalb Walcott Ш was just 8 years old, his father, a Chicago fire chief, let him tag along on a call. Dekalb says a lot of kids idolized (崇拜) basketball player Michael Jordan when he was growing up in Chicago in the1990s. Not him.

“I wanted to be like Dekalb Walcott Jr, ”he says of his father. So when his dad asked if he wanted to go on that call with him when he was 8, Dekalb was excited. “I'm jumping up and down, saying, ‘Mom, can I go? Can I go?’”

The experience changed Dekalb's life, and he told his dad on a visit to StoryCorps. “My eyes got big the moment the alarm went off, ” the younger Dekalb says. “This is the life that I want to live someday. ”

Now 27, the younger Dekalb is living that life. He became a firefighter at 21 and went to work alongside his dad at the Chicago Fire Department. Before his father retired, the pair even went out on a call together-father supervising (监督)son.

“You know, it's everything for me to watch young row, ”his father says. But he also recalls worrying about one particular fire that his son faced.

“I received a phone call that night. And they said, ‘Well, your son was at this fire. ' I said, ‘OK, which way is this conversation going to go?'”Dekalb Walcott Jr. recalls.

“And they said, ‘But he's OK. And he put it out all by himself. Everybody here was proud of him. ’”

“And the word went around, ‘Who was out there managing that fire? Oh, that’s Walcott!That's Walcott up there!’So, you know, moments like that, it's heaven on earth for a dad. ”

Dekalb Walcott Jr. has retired. The younger Dekalb says he's proud of being a second-generation firefighter. “You know, it makes me look forward to fatherhood as well, because I'm definitely looking forward to passing that torch (火把) down  to my son. ”

   Chances are the first Monday in September is a day off from school for you. If it is, you can _______ a man named Peter McGuire. Who's Peter McGuire?According to_______  , he's the founding father of Labor Day. On September5, 1882, McGuire led a_______ of 10, 000 workers in New York City一workers who took the day off from their jobs to hold a parade(游行) and a picnic. The_______ came to be known as Labor Day，and the idea_______ throughout the country. In 1887，Oregon became the first state to make it a statewide holiday, on the first Saturday in June. And in 1894，President Grover Cleveland_______ a bill that made . Labor Day a(n)_______ holiday, on the first Monday in September一the date we still celebrate to this day.

Labor Day began as a day for workers to protest, (抗议)_______ poor working conditions一long days, low pay and a lack of job security. Back in Peter McGuire's day, you could be_______ just for calling in sick -________  you were really too sick to work. Twelve-hour workdays were also________  . And workers had only short breaks for meals and other necessities.

McGuire went to work at the age of eleven, ________ newspapers on the streets of New York City. He had to help________ his family. McGuire saw poor working conditions first-hand. And he________ those conditions himself. That urged him to help________ the first trade unions in the United States.

The workers hoped strength in numbers would________ their employers to improve working conditions. They weren't always ________ . But' thanks to their________ the eight-hour workday and the five-day workweek became common practices. So did________ vacations and sick days. As for Labor Day itself, it became a day________  labor for most workers. So thanks to Peter McGuire, Labor Day means a day off from school for you and your teachers.

Howard Carter is one of the most famous explorer the world has ever known. He was bravely and loved to visit and explore new places. During his life, he discovered much amazing things.

Howard Carter did not go to school, and learnt to draw from his father, that was an artist. He was bright and curious about the world outside her hometown. In 1891, at age of 17, he set sail for Alexandria, Egypt. By the 1920s, he had become an explorer, search for the tombs of Egyptian kings. He finds several important ones. Inside the tombs, he discovered out a great fortune in jewels and gold, along with the preserved bodies of dead kings. These preserved bodies are known as mummies.