The morning was cold and clear. A yellow bus came around the corner and stopped near a wood (树林). A coach asked the students to get off the bus. Girls began to gather by the starting line. One of them is a young, little girl. She had prepared for this running race for the whole summer. She looked around at the other girls, noticing how she was different.

    There was a break in the silence, and everyone started to run. After about twenty-five minutes, every runner finished the race except the girl. She was still running for the next forty minutes. As she came near the finishing line, she saw her parents, classmates and the coach. They shouted her name and told her not to stop until the end. The sweat (汗水) was flowing down her face.

    She kept on running until she crossed the line. I was that girl, and that was the first time I had finished a cross-country race (越野赛跑). Finishing this race made me realize that I could do anything with my own strength. After that, I took more hard work to practice running. I was not a natural-born runner, but I want to become one. I continued to struggle (努力) with every run. Now I run much faster than before and become more and more confident. I am so thankful for running because it has helped make me who I am today.

    A man in Pakistan is now working to help children get an education. When he was a child, he did not go to school because he was too poor.

    It is reported that Pakistan has 25 million children who do not go to school. That is the second ­highest number in the world. Only Nigeria has more. Many Pakistani children must work to support their families.

    Mohammad Ayub was once one of those children. He is now a firefighter. He also manages a small school. VOA recently visited the school in the capital Islamabad.

    Ayub started with just one student in 1982. He saw a boy cleaning cars for days. He asked him, "Why don't you go to school?" The boy answered that his parents were dead and he had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters.

    Ayub was also an orphan and he, too, had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters. He said, "When my father died, everyone who came to the funeral said they were sorry, but no one helped." He sold newspapers and did other work to earn enough money to pay school fees for his brothers and sisters.

    Ayub wanted to help the young boy who washed cars, but he did not have enough money to pay the boy's school fees.

    Today, Ayub teaches many children at his school in a public park. Some of the children attend other schools in the morning, but come to Ayub in the afternoon to get help with their homework.

    Ayub has helped a large number of poor children since he began teaching. Many of them come from very poor areas near the park.

    Ayub said," I used to argue with kids who worked ' Why are you washing someone's dishes or their clothes? Why don't you study? ' "

    One of the children he advised to attend classes was Farhat Abbas. Ayub found him working with his friends about 12 years ago. "He followed us back home. He told our parents he wanted to teach us and asked them to send us to his school, "Abbas said.

    Today, Abbas is taking classes at a college and is helping Ayub.

    Many children are out of school, and those who do attend classes often get a poor education. Information gathered by an organization shows half of all Pakistani children in the 5th grade do not understand basic mathematics and cannot read a story in their language.

    A group in Islamabad reports Pakistan spends less on education than any other country in South Asia.

    I am Steve. I was born and grew up in South Wales. My favourite place to play was out on the hills where my imagination had plenty of space to expand (拓展).

    My family moved out of Wales when I was thirteen. I went to a new school. One of my subjects was

    French. Because I had never learned any French, my teacher told me to sit in the corner and write anything

    I was interested in. That's the time I started writing, just for myself, and I've been writing ever since.

    I have always loved BIG IDEAS, and so I enjoy writing fantastic stories. And I also write horror (恐怖) stories. I think they are like the old fairytales (童话故事), and can teach you important things.

    I am in my forties on the outside, twelve on the inside. I like rock music, Indian and Chinese food, and

    I enjoy drinking. I live in a small village with my wife Mary,ducks,cats, goats,hens and lots of rabbits. If you'd like to find out more about me and hope to buy my books, go to www.sbowkett.freeserve.co.uk.

    "It's time to wake up, Emily," my mom sings from the kitchen. I pretended to open my eyes. Why didn't the alarm on my cell phone ring?

    Soon, I realized it was April 8, the day for my program: "A day without technology." I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into until I was driving to school in my car. No radio blasting my favorite songs. I had to sing to myself.

    As soon as I got to school, I went to the library to print out my English project from my flash drive. "Uh-oh," I thought. "This isn't expected." Finally, I had to spend nearly an hour writing the report again.

    The school day went on and I finally got used to the rules. This wasn't so hard! I could do this every day.

    I drove home in silence again, and my mind eventually went into after-school mode (模式), depending on what I would eat for supper and who would be voted off (被淘汰出局)American Idol later that night. The last thing I knew, I was chat with friends on Face book, check email and watch a video on YouTube, all at the same time!

    My mom walked in and her jaw dropped.

    "What happened to no homework?" she asked me. I froze for the second time that day and ordered myself to go back to reality. I had failed.

    This experiment, which many teenagers would never have the courage to try, was actually convenient to me. Even though my attempt(尝试) at going about my day without these luxuries (奢侈品) was a failure, I realized that if I really tried, I would be completely successful without my addiction to technology.

    These devices suddenly make my life easier, and I'm sure I wouldn't practice getting rid of them altogether, but I do believe the lives of today's teenagers would be dramatically different without our tech dependence.