Gao Xinyi, 14, No 1 Middle School Affliated in CCNU Chao Yang School, Beijing

I was once asked to give a speech in English in front of several native speakers at an organization last summer. I was asked to talk about my experience. At the beginning, I explained to the organizers that I was afraid to speak without preparation. But they told me that I had better get over it. When I first stood up in front of the crowd, my mind went completely blank. But then I began to talk about my story and used some gestures and facial expressions. Although I didn't speak very well, I still did it.

Ye Tong, 14, Hangzhou Entel Foreign Language School, Zhejiang

    To be honest, I wasn't a brave girl. I still slept with my mother until I was a sixth-grader, because I didn't dare to sleep alone. Last year, one evening after I came back from school, my mom asked me to sleep in my own room. I thought I had grown up, so I should learn to be independent. Though I was frightened at first, I slept in my own room for the first time. I did it. I'm really proud of myself! This is the bravest thing I have ever done.

Zhang Yiyi, 14, Taiyuan Foreign Language School, Shanxi

I didn't dare to ride the roller coaster all the time. I thought it was a terrible thing. However, my friend asked me to try it when we were in Disneyland, in Hong Kong last year. I decided to take a try. It took off so fast. It was a cool feeling, like you were flying! That was extremely good fun. Someone once said, "Life is a roller coaster ride, tighten your seat belts, enjoy the journey, remember the up always has a down." That is right. I have fallen in love with the roller coaster.

    My name is Sally Miller. I am a student in No. 3 Middle School. Look! This is a ruler. It's yellow. It's not my ruler. Who lost it?

    “Anna, is this your ruler?” I ask my friend.

    “No, it isn't. My ruler is white. And it's in my pencil box now,” Anna answers.

    “Excuse me, Jack. Is this your ruler?”

    “No, it isn't. My ruler is black.” Jack answers.

    “You can ask your cousin Jenny. She can't find her ruler.”

    “Hi, Jenny! Is this your ruler?” I ask.

    “Yes, it's mine. Thank you very much,” Jenny says. She is very happy to find her ruler.

    "All right, everyone, listen up!" said Rey." I have something important to say."

    Rey had always had something important to say since the first day of primary school. "This is really a big project," said Rey. "Trust me. As long as I'm in charge, we'll have the most wonderful project ever!"

    "It seems like Rey is always in charge," murmured(小声说)Jake.

    It was true. Rey always seemed to be in charge of everything. He wanted everything to be as perfect as possible, and he just believed that he was the only person who could make that happen.

    This time, Rey decided to do a play about the Wright brothers and the first airplane flight. He announced that he would be the director, and he had also decided on the role that everyone would play. He would play the part of Orville Wright. He even had made the costumes, which Hannah would like to do.

    The next day, Rey announced he was going to play Wilbur Wright.

    "How can you play both of the Wright brothers?" asked Hannah.

    "I'll just put on different hats for each one," said Rey.

    The next afternoon, no one showed up at the rehearsal (排练) except Rey. An hour had passed, and he still hadn't heard from others.

    Finally, Rey called Stephen. "I quit the play," said Stephen. "In fact, we all quit. We're going to do something else."

    Rey spent the rest of the afternoon working on the play. Moving the set himself took too long, and running around to change costumes left him out of breath. Worst of all, half the airplane dragged on the ground as Rey pulled it across the stage. Rey felt upset and confused.

    He knew now that he couldn't do the play alone. He needed his friends' help if it was going to work at all.

    The next day at school, Rey had a talk with his friends, "I'm going to change. I promise I will listen to you. What do you want to do?

    "Hannah thought the play should he shorter and Jake wanted to make a new airplane that would be easier to handle. Stephen thought everyone should get a chance to play a real part like Wilbur Wright. Fern wanted to be able to act her part the way she wanted.

    "You are probably right," Rey said. "Let's try it your way.

    "Everyone smiled.

    Tom lived by himself a long way from town. He hardly went to town, but one day he went into town to buy a few things. After he bought them, he went into a restaurant and sat down at a table. When he looked around, he saw some old people put glasses on before reading their newspapers. So after lunch he decided to go to a shop to buy himself one pair, too. He walked along the road, and soon found a shop.

    The man in the shop let him try on a lot of glasses, but Tom always said, "No, I can't read with these."

    The man became puzzled (迷惑的) , and he said, "Excuse me, but can you read?"

    "No, of course I can't!" Tom said angrily. "If I could read before, do you think I would come here to buy your glasses?"

    There is a girl called Molly Whipple. She lives with her parents and two elder sisters, Polly and Dolly. Molly looks young for her age. Polly and Dolly sometimes laugh at(嘲笑) her, because she is so little. One day, the three sisters get lost in the woods(森林).

    "We're lost! We're lost!" Polly cries. "We'll never find our way home!"Dolly cries. But Molly says, "Of course we will. Look, there's a house. __▲__ "

    The house is very big. Who lives there? Molly knocks on the door. An old woman comes out. "Can I help you?" she asks. "I hope so, " says Molly. "We are lost. Would you please help us find our way home?" "Of course," says the old woman. "Come in and sit down. When my husband gets back, he will take you home. He loves children."

    The old woman closes the door. Molly finds a huge (巨大的) plate on the table and a huge pot(壶) on the stove(火炉). "Polly, Dolly…" Molly takes their hands. "I think we have to make our own way home."

    Some years ago, Danny gave up his job as a doctor to become a freelance(特约的) model maker, but now he has money trouble. He says that he wishes he'd never 1 to set up his own business.

    "I am now in such a bad situation," says Danny. "I hope I'm 2 working as a doctor. You see, I was 3 with my job, and I didn't have any fun. I said to a few friends that I wanted to go into 4 and they said that they could give me work, so I left the hospital.

    At first, everything was 5: I had too much work to do. I got too many orders every day. And soon I 6a large number of money. I had a really great lifestyle, and when the work was finished, I used to take good 7 in places like the beautiful blue Aegean Sea, Maldives, Hawaii and so on, just to get relaxed.

    Like this, I was busy having fun all around the world, and charged (支付) everything to my credit (信用) cards, but then I began to 8 how much in debt (负债) I was. At last, I had to sell all my office equipment (设备). Now I could do almost 9 even if people asked me. I've had to 10 my business now and I don't know what I'm going to do for money. It just goes to show if you set up your own business, you shouldn't spend money you don't have."