I remember the first time I got on a horse. I was two years old and we were watching a friend of the family ride. My mom agreed to let me take a short ride around the ground with the friend and that was it' I became crazy about having a horse. From then on, I drove my parents mad beg­ging for a horse. Whenever I saw a horse, I would beg even harder.

    When I was four years old, problems appeared in my life. I had Selective Mutism (选择性缄默症). This is an unusual childhood disorder (失调) in which children stop speaking in certain social situations, many times at around the age of four. I spoke to my parents as usual, my brother and certain other people, but was silent at school and in social situations. I went days, weeks, months without a sound at school. At most, I might very quietly speak to a friend.

    My parents looked for a cure. One psychologist (心理医生) had an idea. Having discussed his plan with my parents in advance, one day I was asked by the psychologist what I wanted more than anything in the world. He explained that I was going to be given a chance to work for what I wanted. I couldn't believe my good luck, but I could not answer. I just stood there. Finally, I was allowed to whisper (低声说) the answer in my mother's ear. "A horse," was all I could say.

    I was to get a little horse, but before we could even start looking, I had to try to talk. I had a chart of weekly tasks I had to finish. I had to answer the phone five times every week, something I had never done before. I did everything that was asked of me and the day came when my parents found the perfect horse. His name was Sequoia, a strong little chestnut (栗子马). He was perfect, of course, and I fell in love immediately. It truly was a dream come true. When I was with Sequoia, I forgot all about my problems and felt strong and life.

    By connecting with them, I have learned to hug what I was once not able to do and I found my voice back.

    A girl went to her father and told him that her life was too hard. She said she couldn't work all the difficulties out 1. She just wanted to give up.

Her father said, "I think I know 2 I can help you. 3 me." They went into the 4. Her father put a potato, an egg and some coffee beans into three different bowls of water. Then, he started to boil (煮沸) the water on the stove.

After some time, he turned the stove 5 and took out the potato, the egg and the beans. He then showed each of them to his daughter.

"Look. The potato was hard before I boiled it, but now, it is 6 and weak. The egg was fragile (易碎的) until I put it in the water—now, it is hard inside. But the coffee beans were different. When they met the boiling water, they changed and became delicious 7."

Life 8 problems to us all. The potato, egg and coffee beans were all met with the same problem. But they each solve the problem in their own way. It is up to you to take the difficulties you face and find something good in 9. By making a(n) 10, the father taught his daughter a life lesson.

Mary and Lisa are sisters. They like the same colour— blue. They like the same sports— swimming and basketball. They go to the same middle school. But they aren't in the same class. They like music and art. Art is their favourite subject. 

But Mary and Lisa have a big difference (不同之处) . Mary has many friends. They like to play with her. But Lisa doesn't have any friends. Their mum sees the difference. She says to Lisa, "My dear, your smile (微笑) is very beautiful. Why not smile often?" Lisa says OK and she tries smiling often. Children come to Lisa. They like her smile. They want to make friends with her. Now Lisa has many friends. She is very happy.

It was half past seven on Monday morning: time to get ready for school. Jay Stone rolled out of bed. He did a couple of quick wake-up exercises and then he went over to his mirror (镜子) and looked at himself.

"Not bad, Stone, not bad," he said to himself and smiled. Maybe he wasn't ready for Hollywood, but with his dark brown eyes and his thick brown hair, he had the looks that turned girls' heads. He moved closer to the mirror and smiled, checking his teeth.

"Perfect," he thought. "Good enough for a toothpaste ad."

As his eyes moved down to his strong arms, he smiled again. The hours he spent in the gym and doing sit-ups have paid off.

But suddenly, the smile froze. His eyes moved from the upper part of his body down to his legs. His legs were short. Not just short, but far too short for his body. He had the upper body of a six-footer, but because of his legs he was much less than six feet! Six inches less! Sitting, he was as tall as almost anyone. Standing, he had to look up at most of the boys and even many of the girls.

Why didn't his legs grow with the rest of his body? He was one of the shortest boys in his class. He was the shortest in his own family, he was even shorter than his "little" sister—by three inches! Where did his legs come from?

He certainly didn't get them from his parents. They were both quite tall. Looking through old family photos, he found the answer. It was his grandfather on his mother's side. His short legs were a gift from Grandpa Tuttle.

Thanks a lot, Grandpa!

Of course, the kids at school all noticed Jay's short legs and they had a nickname (外号) for him: Stubs! Almost no one called him by his real name; they all called him Stubs. Stubs Stone, Jay didn't like his nickname, but he had to accept it. He had no choice.

But Jay couldn't see in the mirror what his legs could do. They were quick and strong. He was the youngest player on the Brewer High football team. He could run faster than anyone else in the team and, like a rabbit, he kept going and going. Even at basketball, where the other players were much taller than him, they were still afraid of him because of his speed.

Jay shook his head. "Stubs, Stubs Stone, the kid with stubby legs. Yeah, that's me," he said to himself with a little smile. Suddenly, he heard his mother's voice.

"Jay! It's breakfast time!"