All my life people have told me that I was bright and that I had a lot of potential. I usually did really 1in school and I even got a scholarship to a really good2 ． The only thing that I wasn't good at was 3friends. I was so shy that I had a hard time talking to people.I just didn't 4anywhere.

      Then it all changed.I started 5classes, getting into trouble and then I was6out of college. I started7with the other kids I grew up with that didn't have the same8I had.We lived in poor neighborhoods and we had no idea how much our 9couldaffect our future.We weren't kids anymore and the only thing we 10was the streets. I was looking up to the11people and I couldn't even recognize myself12 ． Tomake a long story short, I went to prison.Twice. I 13thought I would make it to see my family again, 14I did.

        Now I'm with my 15 ． I never cried through any of it, not even when I was in the hospital or in16 ． I suddenly felt so17to be home. My heart finally opened up and that 18of being abandoned was gone.All I want to do now is give to other people the19way I know now.Just decide who you want to be 20someone else decides foryou.

Netes：

potentialn ． 潜力

        Despite the popularity of school spelling competitions, adults in the US performed poorly in a survey comparing how English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic deal with commonly misspelt words.

        Sixty­two percent of Americans got“embarrassed”wrong, against 54 percent of Britons who struggled with the word in a survey last year. Adults in the US performed less well on most of the ten words tested, including millennium (52 percent wrong, against 43 percent in the UK), liaison (61 percent to 54 percent)and “accommodation”(42 percent to 36 percent)．Only “definitely”and “friend”were spelt correctly by more Americans.

      Jack Bovill of the Spelling Society, which sponsored(发起)the research, said the high inaccuracy rates in both countries showed the need for the English spelling system to be modernized.“When asked, only a quarter of adults thought they had a problem with spelling.The answers in the test prove that this_is_far_from_the_case ， ”he said.“What is holding the UK and the USA back is the irregular spelling system.”

Professor Edward Baranowski, one academic consultant for the project, said, “We have different spellings for the same sound, and a system which reflects how English was spoken in the 13th to 15th centuries, not how it is spoken today.So many sound changes have occurred in the language, which is not reflected in modern spelling, that we are left with a ‘fossilized(僵化的)'system.”

       The study found that 40 percent of the respondents would support updating words that caused problems while 16 percent opposed the idea.And 31 percent said it didn't matter.

        The US survey involving a sample of 1，000 adults was carried out online by Ipsos MORI last month, with the method based on a survey of 1，000 Britons in April last year.

        My daughter Chloe is starting out in college in the fall. With her newfound independence will come the newfound responsibilities of dealing with money.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Now I have a few lessons I'd like to share with Chloe, and with anyone else starting out in college.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}OK,this is almost the only lesson you need. The biggest reason you get into money problems is that you spend money you don't really have. Then you end up in the hole, and it's hard to get out of the hole. You work too many hours to keep up with your spending. And you end up with a life that's about nothing but trying to pay for all the spending on something you don't really need.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

        Make a very simple budget. It's a terrible thing for people who've never done a budget, but it will become very simple and easy if you know how to do it.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}If the bills add up to more than theincome, remove some bills. Pay bills right away. If you have the money, pay thebill as soon as it comes in. You can usually do this online, but if not, it's just a matter of writing a check, putting it in an envelope, and writing out an address—two minutes.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you let the bill­ paying get pushed back, it becomes a terrible thing.

      That's all you need to know. If you save when you're in college, avoid debt, and paybills on time, you're golden.

A．Why not enjoy your life in college?

B．Spend less than you earn.

C．So spend less, work less, worry less, be happier.

D．Like many young people, she hates thinking about money.

E．First, list your income, and then list your bills.

F．Find ways to get things done you need to get done.

G．Do this two­minute action at once, so you don't have toworry about it later.