Every year on my birthday since I was 11, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card ever came with it. Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all. After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower, in soft pink paper.

I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments werespent daydreaming(幻想 )about the sender. My mother encouraged these daydreams. She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone. Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met.

    A month before my high school graduation(毕业), my father died. I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance, and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. My mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss (过) any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia: lovely, strong and perfect.

    My mother died ten years after I was married. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

How do you feel when a teacher says it's time for a test? Do you get worried about it? Look at the next test skills （技巧）!

☆Go to class on time and do your homework carefully.

In this way, you will learn the lessons, such as Chinese, English, maths, and so on. You won't have so many worries.

☆Relax and go to bed on time.

After you finish your lessons in the afternoon, you need to relax in the evening and sleep well at night.

☆Get ready well.

You may take paper, a pen, pencils, an eraser, a watch, and books or a dictionary with you.

☆Read the questions carefully.

You must read the questions carefully before you answer them, or you will make mistakes.

☆Breathe （呼吸） deeply.

When you feel worried, put your pencil down on the table, close your eyes, breathe deeply and count numbers to 10. In this way, you will feel relaxed and you can do well in the test.

There are many new ways of shopping and online shopping is one of them. You can buy almost everything on the Internet and it's very easy. First, you choose {#blank#}1{#/blank#}clothes, tickets, a mobile phone, even a new computer--and pay for it. Then you will receive it a few days {#blank#}2{#/blank#}by post. 

Online shopping has several {#blank#}3{#/blank#}First, you can shop at any time. The shops are always open. Second, shopping usually {#blank#}4{#/blank#}a lot of time. But to shop on the Internet you only need a computer and a mouse! 

However, many people like going out and shopping with friends. They don't like shopping on the Internet because they can't see the product or try the clothes on. Also paying {#blank#}5{#/blank#}the Internet isn't always safe. 

Say you're sitting around with some friends playing video games and someone mentions a game that happens to be one of your favorites. "Oh, that game's easy. So not worth the time," of your friends says. The others agree. Although you enjoy the game quite a lot, not wanting to argue with them, you go along with the crowd.

You have just experienced what is commonly referred to as peer pressure, also called peer influence. You will adopt a certain type of behavior, dress, or attitude in order to be accepted as part of a group of your "peers". As a teen, you are likely to have experienced the effect of peer pressure in a number of different areas.

We are all influenced by our peers at any age. For teens, as school and other activities take you away from home, you may spend more time with your friends than with your family. As you become more independent, your peers naturally play a greater role in your life.

According to Dr. Casey from Cornel University, teens are very quick and accurate in making decisions on their own and in situations where they have time to think. However, when they make decisions in the heat of the moment or in social situations, their decisions are often influenced by factors like peers. In a recent study, teen volunteers played a video driving game, either alone or with friends watching. The researchers discovered that the number of risks teens took more than doubled when their friends were watching, compared with when they played alone. This shows that teens may find it more difficult to control risky behavior when their friends are around, or in situations where they are extremely angry.

Just as people can influence us to make unwise choices, they can also influence us to make good ones. A teen might join in a volunteer project because his or her friends are doing it, or get good grades because his or her friends think getting good grades is important. In fact, friends often encourage each other to study, or try out for sports.

While we are always influenced by those around us, the decision to act or not is up to us. So when it comes to decision making, the choice is up to you.