My interest in cooking started when I was 11, partly thanks to my mother. She didn't really like cooking and when she cooked, I didn't really like her food. Once I was watching something about cooking on TV and I thought I could do this, so I went to the bookstore and looked for the biggest cookbook I could find.

    During a year, I had produced most of its recipes(食谱) and was ready for a bigger challenge(挑战). I wanted to create my own dishes and I started cooking for more people than just my family. Now as a teen chef(主厨)， I have also cooked in top-class restaurants around the country. I am not doing it for the money, but because I love cooking.

    Now I know that when you stop caring whether you'll be famous or do well, your dream will come to you.

    I volunteered at the vet's (兽医诊所) last summer vacation. Minnie was the most interesting dog that I saw there. Long hair covered her body. And her tail looked like a mouse's tail.

    She was brought to the vet's because her owner didn't want her any more. Minnie was well-behaved(行为端正). "No one should judge(评判) her by her appearance," I thought. So the people of the vet's looked after her. Finally, I advertised Minnie in the local newspaper. "Funny-looking dog, well-behaved, needs a loving family." When a young man called, I told him that Minnie looked a little strange. The boy on the phone told me that his grandfather's old dog had just died. They wanted to bring Minnie to him. I gave Minnie a good bath. At last, an old car drove up in front of the vet's. Two kids brought Minnie to their grandfather who was waiting in the car. Then the grandfather held Minnie in his arms and touched her soft hair. Minnie kissed his face. She waved her tail so quickly. "She's great!" the old man said.

    I was glad that Minnie found a good family. That's when I saw that the grandfather was blind.

A long time ago, there was a young man. He kept some {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (sheep). One morning, the man found that one of his sheep {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (be) missing. There was a hole in the fold (羊圈), {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the wolf could come in and take away the sheep. The man's neighbor advised him {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (fill) the hole. But he {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (not listen) to him. He thought there was no need to do so since the sheep was already {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (lose). However, that night, the wolf {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (come) again and took another sheep. The next morning, the man found that another sheep was missing. He was very {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sad) but thought it was not too late to fix the fold. So he{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (quick) went to repair it. From that day on, he never lost another sheep.

The story {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (tell) us it's never too late to make a change. Everyone makes mistakes, but we will get better as long as we learn {#blank#}11{#/blank#} our mistakes.

 Three years ago, I started working at the University of Leeds and I was looking for things to do. I noticed that a community school was {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(提供) Chinese evening classes. I paid fora beginner class {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(没有) much thought. 

I had no plans to move to China. I just wanted to learn a new l{#blank#}3{#/blank#} , which is also a good chance for me to know more about Chinese culture and Chinese {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(传统习俗). I used to speak fluent English and Spanish. But I think there should be a huge difference between learning something new as a child and learning as an adult. 

I had Chinese lessons {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(严肃). There was only one lesson a week and each lasted 90 m{#blank#}6{#/blank#} . Mr. Kong, the teacher, was energetic. For each class, he would teach us what seemed   like hundreds of new words. After {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(数个) months, I got used to this. Through weekly classes, my mind would reorder and make sense of the chaos. 

 There are more than 6, 000 international students. It was not difficult to find Chinese students who want to {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(练习) English in exchange for Chinese. My new Chinese friends helped me go over everything I had learned in class. 

 Now I'd like to describe Chinese grammar as an easier one than that of English or Spanish. I am ready to overcome any difficulty and become fluent in Chinese.