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.

    The famous scientist and thinker, Charles Darwin, was born on February 12, 1809. His family lived not far from the River Severn, England. As a boy, Charles liked to go for walks in the fields and forests. He enjoyed watching nature, and comparing what he saw with everything he had read in science books. He also liked collecting very much. He collected many things, birds, eggs, stones and leaves.

    At sixteen Darwin was sent to Edinburgh University to become a doctor. But he was interested in the history of nature.

    Then he was sent to study in Cambridge University. There he studied until 1831.

    Some time later he heard that the ship Beagle was going on a trip to South America and wanted a scientist. His teacher advised him to go. So when the Beagle left England in December, 1831, Darwin was on it. The trip lasted almost five years. Darwin saw many new plants and animals. He collected all kinds of plants.

    In 1842 Darwin went to live in Kent, and there he continued his studies of change in nature. Darwin understood that plants and animals are not always the same, and that they really change. By 1859 Darwin had finished his famous book The Origin of Species.

    In 1871 Darwin wrote another important book, the Theory of Evolution.

    Darwin continued his studies in science until he died in 1882.

    I was in line waiting to pay. A little boy in the front was buying some clothes.

    I noticed that the little boy was paying mostly with change (零钱). It seemed that he had broken his pig bank to do this shopping. However, the cashier(收银员) told him he was $ 8.00 short after counting his money.

    It was clear that the boy had already used all the money. The lady in front of me said, "Well, I could pay half of that." I told the boy that I could pay the other half. We dug into our handbags. However, both of us only had ten-dollar bills (纸币). Other shoppers began digging into their pockets to find some change. It was amazing and touching as all these strangers seemed to react (反应) with the same mind. All wanted to be of help. Within minutes the cashier said, "I have too much money." The cashier didn't need our ten-dollar bills. Then the lady in front of me said, "Wait! I didn't even get a chance (机会) to give anything!"

    I smiled at her and said, "You did your share, because it was your idea and you started all this." The little boy smiled and thanked us. I left with a good feeling. I saw the love and goodness of others all around me. The woman in front of me smiled and said, "It feels good to give, doesn't it?" I smiled back and said, "Yes!"

Su Shi, known as Su Dongpo, was a famous Chinese writer, poet and painter.

When he was young, he read a lot of books and wrote many good articles. People thought {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (high) of him. Because of this, he became very proud and wrote a couplet (对联) for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (him).

Knowing all the words in the world;

Reading all the books on the earth.

A wise old man saw this couplet and thought, "It is necessary for Su Shi {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (learn) how to be modest." So, one day, he came to Su Shi's house with a book.

The old man showed Su Shi the book and explained, "So far, I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (read) the book several times, but there are still some difficult words that I can't understand. I have asked many people, but none of them could understand their {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (meaning). I have heard that you are a person of rich knowledge, so I come to ask you."

Full of confidence, Su Shi took the book from the old {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (man) hand, but when he opened it, he became very {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (surprise) because there were many words he didn't know. At that moment, Su Shi realized that there were many more things that he had to learn.

Actually, the old man knew every word in this book. He just wanted to make Su Shi know the importance of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (be) modest. Su Shi was embarrassed (尴尬的) and said, "Now I know why you came. I shouldn't have been so arrogant (自大的)."

The old man smiled and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (leave). Then Su Shi quickly took his brush and ink, and added some words to the couplet:

Working hard to know all the words in the world;

Being determined to read all the books on the earth.

 From then on, he worked even {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (hard) than before. Finally, Su Shi made great achievements in many fields, especially in literature.

Do you get angry when your friends sing loudly while you are trying to work? Or when your best friend does not wait for you after school? 

If you do, you need to take control of（控制）your feelings and stop getting angry so easily. Getting angry with people can cause you to lose friends. 

Gary Egeberg, an American high school teacher, has written My Feelings Are Just Like Wild Animals to help you control your feelings. It tells teens how to stay cool when bad things happen to them. The book says that getting angry only makes problems worse. 

It can never make them better. Getting angry is not a natural（自然的）way to act, the book says. It is just a bad habit, like smoking. The book says you can control your anger easily—all you have to do is to tell yourself not to be angry. 

When a baby falls over, it only cries if people are watching it. Like a baby you should only get angry if you are sure it is the right thing to do. 

The book gives many tips to help you if you get angry easily. Here are our top three: 

①Keep a record. Every time you get angry, write down why you are angry. Look at it later and you will see you get angry too easily. 

②Ask your friends to stop talking to you when you get angry. This will teach you not to be angry. 

③Do something different. When you get angry, wall away from the problem and go somewhere else. Try to laugh!