When I was in Grade 8, my teacher asked us to write an article about what we would like to do when we grew up. All I could think of was one sentence: I want to help other people! Over the years, I met many difficulties and failures. But I never thought of giving up. I realized that to help other people, I had to help myself first. I encouraged myself after I experienced failures, and I cheered for myself when I did well.

    Finally, my dream really came true.  I found a part-time job in a charity. I began to spend my days doing things for people in need. I have a happy life. That doesn't mean that this kind of life is easy, or that my work is always enjoyable. I am happy because I am doing what I want to do.

    What do you want to do? Write it down now. If you don't know, you can ask yourself, "What would I do if this was the last day of my life?" Then write down the first thing that comes to your mind, no matter how silly or how impossible it seems. Once you have an answer, you will know what your dream is.

    In ancient China, a woman told the best stories. She married an emperor(皇帝).Sadly, one day, this woman became ill and died. Everyone thought the emperor would soon find another favourite among his wives, but the emperor was very sad. He spent more and more time in his garden, and less and less time caring for the needs of his people. Everyone in the kingdom was worried.

    One day, a priest(牧师)passed when some children were playing with their dolls. The dolls made dancing shadows on the wall. This gave the priest an idea. He knew the stories the emperor's wife used to tell. What if he could bring those stories to life？

    The priest made a puppet(木偶)out of bits of clay(黏土).He painted the puppet to look somewhat like the emperor's wife. When the puppet was finished, the priest silently walked into the emperor's garden, carrying his puppet, a candle and a curtain. He placed the curtain near the emperor's chair. He placed his candle, his puppet and himself behind the curtain. He waited for the emperor to appear.

    The emperor did not even notice the curtain at first. The dancing shadow drew his eyes. As the priest moved the puppet behind the curtain, he told wonderful stories as the emperor's wife. It seemed as if his wife had been spending time with him. The emperor was no longer sad. At the end of each busy day, the emperor went into his garden to visit his shadow wife and hear her stories once again. That is how shadow puppets first began.

    In the 1950s, a female swimming athlete set a goal for herself. She decided to swim across the English Channel before she retired. If she could make it, she would be the first person in the world who did it.

    On that day, she jumped into the sea without any hesitation and swam towards the opposite bank.

    In the journey, she faced heavy fog, heavy rain and heavy waves. Though she was very tired, she carried on swimming.

    But in the end, she gave up. And what she didn't know at the moment she gave up was that the opposite bank was only 1 mile away.

    Later people asked her about the reason. And she said," The reason why I gave up is that I could not see the destination which I was so close to. "

    Too many stories about success have been lecturing us about courage and persistence(坚持). But they never told us where to find courage and persistence.

    You can have courage only when you know where your goal is. You can manage to persist only when you know where your goal is, and prepare yourself well mentally(心理上).

    Courage and persistence never fall from the sky. They come from weighing between input and output.

    A life without goals is like a ship without a compass. It goes nowhere. There is no courage or persistence in a life without goals.

    Gina comes from England. She is fourteen years old. Her mother is Mrs Johnson. She is a nurse at a hospital. She likes fruit and vegetables. She doesn't eat too much sweet food or meat, so she stays healthy. Gina likes chocolate and candy. But her mother tells her that too much sweet food isn't good for her teeth. Gina likes cola. But her mother tells her that it isn't a kind of healthy drink. Gina thinks her mother's words (话) are right. So she eats well and stays healthy. Gina's father is a bus driver. He likes having meat. He likes sweet food--chocolate and candy too. He eats too much food for dinner so he is fat. Gina and her mother often say to him, "Healthy food and drinks are important to everyone."

    On Christmas Eve a few days ago, an English couple, the Hardens, got a very special call. It was only a 20-second call but it was very 1. The Hardens' 15-year-old daughter has gone 2 six months before. On Christmas Eve she rang them. ＂I'm phoning to wish you a happy Christmas,＂ she said, ＂I love you.＂ Ronals and Edwine Harden were so 3 that they started a special telephone service （服务）called ＂Alive and Well＂. The service helps 4 to get in touch with children who have run away from home.

    Young people can phone ＂Alive and Well＂ and leave a message for their parents. The telephones are answered by answering machines. So 5 can speak to the child or make him return home. Parents of runaway children who are 6 eighteen can ask the police to bring their children home. So children do not want to tell their parents where they are. Through ＂Alive and Well＂ they can telephone their parents and they do not 7 about this or give out their addresses.

    The Hardens and their helpers 8 the telephone messages and connect（联系）the addresses given. About 30,000 British teenagers have left home and many of them are probably in 9. For only two pence（便士）they can go into a telephone coin box and call their parents. They can dial 5675339 and 10 a parent worrying: Is he dead or alive?

Grace wasn't a popular kid in her school. The girl, Ashley, was popular and had many friends. They were in the same class 1 didn't talk much.

During the summer school, the teacher asked them to 2 a project (项目) together. Ashley didn't like working with Grace at first, but she gave in. The reason was that her cool 3 were not in the class. However, when the project ended, they became good friends and Ashley introduced (介绍) Grace to the" cool girls". To fit in with 4 group, Grace followed them around and agreed with all their opinions. She began to do what Ashley liked.

One day, she heard Ashley and her friends talking 5 her." Grace just 6 you around, trying to be you. She loses her own personality (个性)," one girl said. Then Ashley answered,"I know. I wish she could find the group she is 7 in." Grace felt so sad and then thought of her mother's 8 ," Everyone is special. Just be 9 ."

Grace decided to find out who she really was. From that day, Grace changed. She was in every play after school and built confidence to be a much 10 self. The friends she made in the theatre are still her great friends to this day.