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    An old woman walked into a clothes shop. She asked the salesgirl to let her have a look at a new dress on display, but the girl stood still behind the counter, taking no notice of the request.

    The old woman spoke to the girl again, raising her voice a bit, but still received no answer. The old woman looked closely at the girl and nodded to her, “I am too old to see well.” I can't even tell a plastic (塑料的) model from a real girl.”

    On hearing this, the salesgirl shouted at the old woman, “ What? Did you call me a plastic model?”

    The old woman was greatly surprised. “On, dear me,” she said. “The model can speak. Then it must be a robot of a new type.”

    Lisa has always been fat. She wanted to lose weight, not only because she wanted to look more beautiful and healthier, but also because it would make life easier.

    For example, it was difficult for Lisa to find ready-made clothes. She had to ask a tailor (裁缝) to make clothes that were large enough. In school, she needed a special chair that was bigger and stronger than other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly.

    She was also unhappy about the way people treated (对待) her sometimes. "People look at me and even make fun of me. It's true that I'm fat, but I don't think people should treat me differently. I can't enjoy having dinner with my friends because I'm afraid of getting fatter." Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn't want to speak to anyone.

    But now things are quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School Art Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role (主演) of the proud Queen who was tall and fat. Lisa agreed and practiced a lot.

    Soon after the play, Lisa became a star! She did so well that everybody remembered the proud Queen. Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance (表演).

    Now Lisa doesn't worry about being fat any more. She believes in the English saying "Every dog has its day".

    Nora was 16 years old. Her little brother Jim was sometimes naughty, but he made Nora1a lot. One afternoon2she was walking in the street, she saw a small boy3very fast to her. When he came near her, she was4to see it was Jim. "Hi, Jim," Nora shouted at him. "5are you running so fast?"6Jim didn't stop. He waved to his sister and shouted, stop two boys7fighting. Again. She laughed and 8important job for a little boy, isn't it? You don't do things like that very often. 9are the two boys?" "They are Tom and me," answered Jim when he10down the street very quickly.

Here is a part from Maria'sdiaries(日记) about her vacation.

The 3^rd Day:Yesterday we arrived in London in the rain. We went to some big shops.

The 4^th Day: Wecame to Paris. The day was cloudy and the food wasn't good. We liked the shopshere, but the things were dear.

The 5^th Day: Wearrived in Rome in the hot weather. We had lunch in a small restaurant, and thefood was delicious. We visited some shops. They were all wonderful.

The 6^th Day: Wewent to New York and the things in the shops were all dear. But we liked thewarm weather there.

The 7^th Day: Todaywe visited New York City. The weather was fine. We'll go back home tomorrowafter a week's vacation.

Confidence( 自 信 )is very important in daily life. It can help you to develop a healthy attitude(态度). A study shows that the people who are more confident are much happier. They can have more chances to make themselves successful. Here are some suggestions about how to be more confident. 

Speak loud When you are not confident, you can't do well what you want to do. You speak in a voice so low that other people can hardly hear you. Try to speak aloud enough so that people can hear you clearly. The high voice can help you become more confident. 

Play sports Physical exercise makes you tired but completely relaxed. A strong body helps you be full of confidence. 

Encourage yourself Write down a list of things you did during the day to see how many things you have done well. Did you finish your homework? Did you tell a joke that made everybody laugh? Give yourself praise for the good things you've done. 

Pick up a hobby If you like singing, sing as much as you can. In some ways, a hobby can make you outstanding and popular. And it will also make you confident. 

Get rid of（消除）fear Fear comes along with failure. But it's easy to overcome（战胜）if you know that failure is part of your life. Don't hide your head just because you said something stupid last time. Try to start again and believe you can do better. 

What would life be like if you were a rocker, a soccer player, a professor(教授）at Stanford University, and a Nobel Prize winner? Carolyn Bertozzi from the US lives such a cool life!

Bertozzi, 56, wins this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry and becomes this year's only female(女性) winner in science and the eighth female to receive the chemistry prize in history.

Bertozzi won the prize for studying the sugar coats of cells(细胞）. She has found a smart way to connect cells together. This finding helps to develop better tests for serious diseases like cancer.

However, Bertozzi said she only fell in love with chemistry until her second year at Harvard University."Most of my classmates thought the class was very difficult. But I liked it a lot because in my eyes the problems were challenging even though it usually took me long hours to solve them."

Besides doing science studies, Bertozzi has lived a colorful life. She was a keyboarder in a rock band and she also played soccer, winning an athletic scholarship from Harvard.

Moreover, Bertozzi never forgets her job as a female scientist. "In the late 1980s, only 10 percent of the students were females," she told Chemical & Engineering News. "There were maybe only one or two females in a lab, so we tried to support each other by starting a monthly get-together. Now, I'm so glad to see more and more females taking part in science." In 2022, Bertozzi won an award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her work to increase diversity(性别多元）in science.