The teacher sent me home with a note for my mother that said I needed to visit the eye doctor because I failed the vision test. The trip home that day was very slow.

    My mother said it would all be just fine. "It wouldn't hurt a bit," she said. But I wasn't worried about pain-I was worried about looking 1.

    The next day, my mother pulled me to the eye doctor's office. I 2 a set of frames (镜框) and tried to believe my mother when she said they looked really 3 on me. The doctor said the glasses would be ready soon. But I wasn't ready at all, and I didn't think I ever would be.

    When the glasses arrived, the eye doctor put them on my face and walked me out onto the sidewalk in front of his office. When I looked 4 from my shoes, I found myself in a whole new world – a world filled with 5 pictures, bright colours, and fine detail everywhere I looked. Suddenly I 6 the beautiful outline of red leaves on trees. I could see the details of people's faces long before they were standing in front of me. I could see my mother 7 as she watched me see the world in a whole new way.

    "Glasses aren't so bad, are they?" Mom asked.

    "Not at all," I thought to myself. On that first day, they were a 8.

    The Monday morning came, and I had to 9 the kids in my classroom. And it happened, just like I feared it would be. A mean kid pointed at me in the middle of the maths class and shouted, "Four 10!" But at the same moment, looking through my new glasses, I could see all the way across the room that the kid who had said it had an awfully big nose.

    A young man went to visit a wise man living deep in the mountain for the wisdom of life.

    "Excuse me! Could you please tell me what the most1day in our lives is? Is it the day when we were born or the day we2? Is it the day when we fall in love or the day we succeed?" the young man asked.

    "3. The most important day in our lives is today, "the wise man replied calmly." Why?" The young man felt more than4. "Is it because there is a moving event taking place today?" "No. Nothing has happened today. ""Is it because of my visit?" "Even if nobody visits me today, today is5very important because today is the only wealth we have. No matter how memorable yesterday is, it has gone just like a ship going down into the sea. No matter how bright tomorrow may be, it is yet to come. But no matter how common today is, it is6our control."

    The young man still wanted to ask something, while the wise man7him and said, "When we are talking about the meaning of today, we have8a lot of it."

    The young man nodded and then went down the mountain.

    Actually, today is the only 9we have. So, what we should do now is10yesterday and tomorrow and seize today!

    I was small for my age. I was shy and sometimes it was hard for me to make friends with others. However, learning came fairly (相当地) easy for me. I was the best in most of my classes, but PE class was my nightmare (噩梦) and made me feel that I was not as good as the others. Miss Forsythe was our PE teacher. She was young and energetic. Everyone liked her. She said that we all had to come to her classes. No one could hide from Miss Forsythe!

    One day she told me that she wanted me to play a game with another girl in a PE show. I was rather worried that I wouldn't do a good job as she explained her idea, but she was excited. With her encouragement, I had no choice but to agree.

    It was a "boy meets girl" game. I played the boy and my classmate, Margaret Ann. played the girl. We were dressed in evening clothes and danced around the floor. According to Miss Forsythe. I had to pick up Margaret Ann when we finished the dance. Since I was not strong enough to pick the tallest girl up, it was she who picked me up. I suddenly felt ten feet tall! It was a huge success and everybody applauded (鼓掌) for our excellent performance. What a wonderful ending! Afterwards. I smiled confidently. Miss Forsythe's understanding and willingness to create a place for me in her show (which certainly did not need me) gave me some much needed confidence. She was and always will be my favorite teacher.

Martin Strel is a swimmer, best known for swimming the world's big rivers. He was born in 1954. He taught himself to swim when he was six and became a professional (职业的) swimmer in 1978. Martin holds Guinness World Records for swimming the Danube River, the Mississippi River, the Yangtze River and the Amazon River. 

Of all his achievements, the greatest is his Amazon River swim. The Amazon is known as the largest and most dangerous river in the world. Several swimmers had tried to swim it, but all failed. Martin decided to go all out and make history. He wanted to show the world that people could achieve their dreams with hard work and perseverance (毅力). On April 7th, 2007, Martin Strel completed his Amazon River all the way from Atalaya (Peru) to the Atlantic Ocean at Belem (Brazil). He struggled (奋战) with the river for 66 days and swam 3, 274 miles in total. He became a worldwide hero. 

Many people still cannot believe what he has done so far, so that is why they sometimes describe him as "Fishman", "Human Fish" or even "the Craziest Man in the World". 

In 2009, American filmmakers produced a documentary (纪录片) called Big River Man. And the book, The Man Who Swam the Amazon, has been sold in many countries. It tells us an inspirational story of perseverance and hard work, which has encouraged many people. 

Martin doesn't swim for money. Instead, he swims to teach people about the importance of keeping water clean. 

Martin has always been looking for the challenges (挑战) of the impossible. What is his next?

Bryan ran home." Dad! Look!" he called excitedly."I found the cutest pet in the river! I named him Hoppy."

Dad had a closer look," Oh, a frog! How handsome!"

" Do you think Hoppy will like it here?"

" Why don't you keep him for a while, and then we' ll see how he's going."

Bryan found a shoebox. Using a pen, he poked(戳) air holes in the top of the box." Welcome to your new home. In you go, Hoppy."

" Are you hungry?" Bryan asked. He lifted his frog out of the box and put some sandwich pieces in front of him." Eat up, Hoppy." Bryan watched... But Hoppy didn't eat. Bryan waited... Hoppy just sat and stared (瞪眼看)." Don't you like sandwiches?"

Bryan put Hoppy back in the box."I think Hoppy's tired. I'm going to make him a comfortable bed." Bryan cut the old newspapers into pieces and put them into the box. He put Hoppy on his new bed." Are you cozy now? I' ll tell a story to help you sleep." When the story was over, Hoppy was still awake.

" Can't you sleep? Why?" Bryan asked. Hoppy just sat… and stared. Bryan didn't know what to do and sat thinking.

" How are you getting along?" Dad asked.

Bryan cried," Hoppy doesn't want to eat or sleep."

" Think about what he really needs."

A little later, Bry an ran into the house looking for his dad." Whoa!" said Dad." What's the hurry? And where's Hoppy?"

"I took him back to the river," Bryan said." He was sure glad to be home! When I put Hoppy down, he jumped into the river, caught a fly and ate it. Then, guess what!"

" What?"

Bryan laughed." Just before Hoppy jumped into the water, I think I saw him smile at me."