This is a story about a boy called Sparky. For Sparky， school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He got a zero in physics. It made him the worst physics student in the school's history. He didn't do much better in sports. Although he tried to join the school's golf team， he quickly lost the only important match.

    He didn't have friends， either. Other kids didn't care about him. If a classmate said “Hello” to Sparky outside of school， he would feel very surprised.

    Sparky was a loser(失败者） and everyone knew it. So he accepted it.

But one thing was important to Sparky—drawing. He was proud of his artwork. In senior high school， he sent some cartoons to the editors of the yearbook but he was refused. Sparky was hurt. But he didn't lose hope because he believed in his ability and he stuck to drawing. He decided to become a professional artist.

    He wrote a letter to the Walt Disney Studios after graduating from high school. The studio asked him to draw some cartoons on a certain subject. Sparky spent a lot of time on the cartoons. Finally， the reply came from Disney Studios: they aren't like cartoons.

    Was it time to stop drawing?

Sparky didn't think so. He started to put his own life in the cartoons. He created his childhood self—a little boy loser: Charlie Brown. He wasn't good at football.But Charlie Brown would soon become famous worldwide. Sparky， the boy who used to fail in school and who was refused again and again， was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip and the world-famous cartoon characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

    Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything —tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.

    After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.

    Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ”“Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”

    Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren't joking. ”

    Tom is a good boy, but he cannot get up early. He often sleeps until nine or ten o'clock in the morning. His mother doesn't want him to be late for school. So she buys him an alarm clock. She says to him, "You must get up when you hear the clock ring" "Yes, Mum." Tom says. And from then on, Tom gets up when he hears the clock ring at six thirty every morning. One day his mother forgets to ring up the clock. And the next morning Tom doesn't get up at six thirty. It's time for breakfast. Mother goes to wake him up. Tom is in bed and his eyes are open. He says to his mother, "I wake up very early."

    "Then why don't you get up?" Mother asks.

"But," answers Tom, "You tell me that I must get up when I hear the clock ring. So I am now waiting for the clock ring."

Do you know what a long friendship is like? Let's have a look at the following examples.

I met my best friend fifteen years ago in my middle school. Now we work in different cities. Besides preparing a gift for him, I also write a letter to him on his birthday every year. And we send wishes to each other every holiday. Although we are very busy with our work, we never forget the important days. —Peter

I've known my best friend for ten years. I always keep in touch with her in my life. It doesn't mean that we talk to each other every day. In fact, I only call her up once a week. But it helps me make sure everything is okay in her life. I think it's important because she can know I'm always there for her. —Amy

I met my best friend twenty years ago in my primary school. In our lives, we have conflicts sometimes. But we usually speak out our ideas and make compromises to reach an agreement (协定). I think proper communication plays an important part in our friendship. And we never cover up our care for each other. —David

People often ask me for suggestions about how to learn English. As for it, everyone is different. I'll share some of my experience. I once took a school year English course in Wuhan University, but I mostly learned English on my own.

One thing I can tell you is that, once you've started learning, you should try to think in English as much as you can. If you see something when you' re riding your bike or walking down the street, just think about, " How would I say them in English?" At first, it might be with simple words or phrases, but later you should think about longer phrases and sentences. Now I'm in America, and for most of the time, I would think in English and speak it directly. It's amazing how much this helps.

For several years after I started learning, I was often afraid of talking with others in English because I didn't want to make mistakes. Finally, I got it over. And while traveling in America, I'd try to hang out with friends who couldn't speak Chinese, so that I'd have no choice but to speak English. And I also decided that if I said something stupid and other people laughed at me, then so be it. After that, my English started improving much more quickly.