Mike always loves ships. When he was older, he said, “I'm going to be a soldier.” But his eyes were not very1and he did not get in.

    Then he said, “I'm going to2a small boat and I'm going around the world.” But boats were very expensive, and Mike did not have enough3

    Last summer Mike found a swimming4near his house. The lessons did not cost very5 and Mike began going to the school at every end of the week and having6. Now he is a good swimmer.

    Last week a little boy said to him, “You're a very good swimmer. How do7learn to swim so well?”

    “I'm not good at all,” Mike said and he smiled. “8 I'm in the water, I say to myself, “There are 9fishes behind me!” Then I'm very afraid, and I10quickly.”

    Jack thought himself a basketball fan. He watched quite a lot of American NBA basketball games. Not only did he watch them, he spent much of his free time playing on the court too. Then came the final year of his middle school. All of his regular teammates stopped showing up on the court because they were simply too busy preparing for the high school entrance exam to play. He was, of course, under much stress himself, like everyone else. A good exam result meant a good high school; a mediocre(平庸的) score meant a mediocre school. Much was at stake.

    However, he loved basketball so much that he still found time to play, this time with a group of guys who were said to have skipped classes(逃课) before.

    Some of his teachers started worrying about him. They asked his mother to go to school to let her know that Jack was hanging out with problem kids. When his mother returned home that day, she wanted to talk to Jack. Knowing the purpose of her visit to the school, Jack though his mother would punish him for befriending those bad guys. To his surprise, his mother was not angry with him at all. She wanted to hear her son's side of story. So Jack told his mother about what he knew of Simon and Peter. Simon's parents were badly ill; Peter's father had lost his job. They both seemed to Jack to be normal kids. Jack's mother thought for a moment, and then went on to say that she was OK with her son playing with them and that she and her son should think of ways to help these kids. Soon Jack's mother introduced some part -time jobs to Simon and Peter, which they accepted. She believed in her son and cared about those who were less lucky.

    Jack's basketball friends and he have left for different places, but they still keep in touch. He knows Peter is now a manager of a local bank. Simon is currently a freshman at a university. Sadly, it is impossible to get together to play basketball again, but whenever they get on the phone, they talk about all the time.

    Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, died on Decembr5, 2013 at 95.

    Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. He grew up in a poor village in South Africa. At school, Mandela learned about African history and the fight against racism(种族歧视).He wanted to help his countrymen. Later Mandela studied law at a university. He also joined a group that fought against apartheid(种族隔离).At that time, in South Africa, blacks were not allowed to use the same public toilets or chairs as whites, and they couldn't travel on the same buses as whites, either. Mandela hated this and he traveled all over South Africa and fought to end apartheid. As a result, he was put into prison(监狱) and stayed about 27 years there.

    On February 10, 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk released(释放)Mandela from prison, and the two worked together to end apartheid. Three years later, they won the Nobel Peace Prize,

    In1994, Mandela became President of South Africa. One year later, he created the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, a charity that helps poor South African children." Children are the future of our country," he said in an interview in2002. "They must be given love."

    Mandela served as President until 1999. He worked to improve housing and education for the country's large black population.

    There were two fishermen named Tom and Jack. They were close pals. One day they went out to catch fish together and have a fish meal in the field. They sat at a distance and started hunting for fish. Tom got a big and beautiful fish in a few minutes. He was so happy and placed the fish in the ice box. He decided to cook the fish in the noon. He spent some more time and caught a few more fish. He decided to make a grand meal with the fish. Also, he froze a few fish to take them back home.

    After an hour or so, Tom went to Jack to see if he needed any help. Jack said no. In a few minutes, Jack caught a large fish. However, he put it back into the lake. Tom was surprised at his act, but he remained silent. Jack caught more big fish, and put them all back into the lake. Very frustrated, Tom angrily asked him, "Are you mad? Why do you put your fish back into the water? They are beautiful and big!" Jack replied, I know they are big, but I don't have the big pan(锅) to cook the big fish! So I'm looking for a smaller fish that fits my cooking pan! God is troubling me today."

    "With one more world championship, I can apply for the Guinness World Records (吉尼斯世界纪录), "said Chen Yongning, a 93-year old ping pong lover in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Red Star News reported on April 2^nd, 2019. With 80 years of experience and a racket that he bought from a stationery shop for 15 yuan, Chen won World Veteran Championships in 2016 and 2018.

    "I'm not tired. I play with my hands and arms, and my feet don't move," said Chen after playing ping pong for 40 minutes with a younger player Ye. "Chen is physically strong. He can usually play several games with us," said Ye, explaining that Chen is energetic, though he is troubled by backache.

    Chen started to play ping pong when he was 13 years old. While he was playing with friends in his school playground, the headmaster saw Chen very carefully follow the rules of a game he was playing, while the other children tried to play tricks on each other. The headmaster called him over, gave him a ball and rackets, and asked Chen to play with him. Chen didn't know how to play ping pong at that time, so he just followed the headmaster's lead. Ever since that moment, Chen said, he had fallen in love with it.

    As he grew up, Chen worked in Shanxi Agricultural College (now Shanxi Agricultural University), where there were excellent ping pong facilities. He sharpened his skills and took part in various competitions in his spare time, winning a number of local medals.

    Chen has a son and a daughter. Both of them love their father and are successful in their own fields. One of them will go with Chen to the 20th World Veteran Championships which will be held in France next year.

    Chen has already decided he won't stop playing ping pong unless he is 100 years old.