Millie: Do you know Richard Clayderman?

Kate: Of course. He is one of the most famous pianists in the world. I can also play {#blank#}1{#/blank#} his works.

Millie: Really? How long have you learnt to play the piano?

Kate: Since I was five years old. My teacher thought I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} playing the piano. I was so excited that I practice hard. My teacher also {#blank#}3{#/blank#} me to take part in some activities to show myself.

Millie: How wonderful you are! And we have a chance to enjoy Richard Clayderman's {#blank#}4{#/blank#} called Romance in China in Nanjing in Jan 15, 2016.

Kate: Fantastic! I can't wait to enjoy his performance. Do you have the tickets?

Millie: Not yet. We can buy together. There is {#blank#}5{#/blank#} if we book two tickets online.

Kate: Ok! Let's make it.

    A female swimming athlete once set a goal（目标）for herself. She decided to swim across the English Channel before she retired. If she could succeed, she would be the first person in the world {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  did it. On that day, she jumped into the sea without any hesitation（犹豫）and swam towards the opposite bank without any {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  . In the journey, she faced heavy fog, heavy rain and heavy waves. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} she was tired, she still carried on swimming. But in the end, she gave up. And she didn't know that the opposite bank was only one mile away when she gave up.

    Later she {#blank#}4{#/blank#} about the reason. And she said, “The reason why I gave up is that I could not see the place which I was going to reach {#blank#}5{#/blank#}” It was a great pity that one mile broke her dream.

    Since we were young {#blank#}6{#/blank#} too many success stories have been telling us about courage and persistence（坚持）. But they never told us where {#blank#}7{#/blank#} courage and persistence. You can only have courage when you know where your goal is. You can only manage to persist when you know where your goal is.

    And that's because when you know where your goal is, you can only prepare {#blank#}8{#/blank#} well in the mind. Courage and persistence never{#blank#}9{#/blank#} from the sky. They come from weighing between input and output.

    A life without goal is {#blank#}10{#/blank#}a ship without a compass. It goes nowhere. There is no courage or persistence in a life without goals.

Marie: Hi, Carla. What are you doing?

Carla: I am writing a card for my teacher.

Marie: Sounds interesting. Which teachers will you miss the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}after Junior high school, then?

Caria: Mmm, I think Ms. Li and Mr. Cai.

Marie: I know Ms. Li was very {#blank#}2{#/blank#}with you in the math class. She helped you work out the answers with some proper {#blank#}3{#/blank#}no matter how difficult the problems were.

Carla: Exactly, and Mr. Cai, our science teacher, guided me to do a lot better in science than before. He always spent time explaining things to me {#blank#}4{#/blank#}whenever I was in trouble. Who will you miss?

Marie: I will miss my English teacher, Ms. Criffin She {#blank#}5{#/blank#}me to speak English loudly in class. And she often encouraged tile," You can do it!" Because of her, I put in more effort and won the first prize in an English contest.

Carla: Well, shall we get each of them a card and a gift to say thank you?

Marie: It couldn't be a better idea. Let's do it right now!