My name is Peter. I was born in Paris. When I was three, my family moved to London. We stayed there for one year then my dad had to move to New York. We spent about two years there. I moved to Shanghai last May and I like the new country very much.

    I study at an international school in Shanghai. There are people from nearly all parts of the world. I like my school very much and I can learn many things. I love learning Chinese and keep practising it with my classmates. After school, my favourite sport is football. I like drawing and painting, too.

    Shanghai has four seasons and l like spring best here, because I can go out in the evening and play with my friends. In my hometown, the summers are hotter than Shanghai but the winters are not so cold as they are here.

    Shanghai is like a small world where all kinds of people and food can be seen. I like being part of it and I am very happy to stay here.

    Susan has a big and happy family. Alan and Linda are her grandparents. They are old but very kind. They like reading at home, and sometimes they take a walk in a park. Susan's father Peter is a teacher. He teaches in a middle school. He likes playing sports, such as volleyball, basketball and tennis. He doesn't like taking a walk in the park. That isn't interesting, he thinks. Susan's mother Jasmine is a beautiful lady. She goes to work from Monday to Friday. She is a policewoman. Peter has a brother. His name is John. He and his wife live(生活) in the big family, too. They have a daughter called Joanna. She and Susan are in the same school. She has many school things. She puts them in the right places. So her room is always tidy.

Today is my birthday. I'm 16 years old. I'm not a little boy running in the hallways(走廊) at school. I wanted to know who would 1 my birthday. I really wanted to have a birthday cake because I wanted to 2 .But I got up and found my 3 didn't do anything. My father was 4 a newspaper on the sofa. My mother went out to buy some things for lunch. I5 my computer and went online. There were just some people online. No one said 6 about my birthday. After thirty7 , my mum came back. She went into the8 and cooked. It seemed that the world forgot me and I wasn't9 at all. I said to myself, "You are 16 now. You're not a child. Forget your birthday."

But when I was doing my maths homework, my 10 came to me and asked, "What kind of cake do you want?"11 a surprise(惊喜)! At that time, I didn't know12 to say. I chose a chocolate cake in the end. I knew that the whole world may forget me,13 my mum wouldn't.

Also, when I went online in the evening, I talked to my friends. Many of them said happy birthday to14 . And my phone was full of text messages(短信)saying"Happy birthday".

It was a(n) 15 day after all!

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch （牧场）. He has let me use his 1 to raise money for youth at risk programs. 

The last time I was there he told me his story. When he was young, his family is too 2 to have a house to live in. As a 3 , he had a poor childhood. When he was in high school, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up. That night he wrote a seven- page paper describing his goal of 4 a horse ranch. He also drew a picture to show a 4000- square- foot house that would sit on a beautiful farm. The next day he 5 it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F. Roberts asked, "Why did I 6 an F?" His teacher said, "This is a （an）7 dream for a young boy like you. A horse ranch requires a lot of money. " Then the teacher added, "If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic （现实的） goal, I will reconsider your grade. "

The boy went home and thought about it for a （an）8 and hard time. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, "Look, son, you have to have your own mind on this. " Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no 9 at all. He told his teacher, "You could keep the F and I still keep my dream. "

Monty tells me this story because I am sitting in his 4000- square- foot house in the middle of my 200- acre horse ranch. He said a lot of kids' dream can be stolen. Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what happens. 10 he had enough courage not to give up his dream.