Mr. Turner liked fishing. It was his favorite sport. He often fished for hours without catching anything. But this did not worry him. Some fishermen couldn't catch fish. Sometimes they caught old boots or rubbish. Mr. Turner was even worse than the fishermen. He never caught anything - not even old boots. After he spent whole morning on the river, he always went home with an empty bag. "You must give up fishing!" his friends said, "It's a waste of time."  "But they don't realize one important thing. I'm not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a boat and doing nothing at all. It can make me forget the noise of the city and live quietly for some time." he always said to himself.

    "Mom, I'm bored," said Jason. "There is nothing to do." "You can clean your room," said Mom. "That's not fun." It was only the second week of summer vacation. It was still too chilly to go to the pool, and Jason was tired of watching TV. His friends went on a trip, and even his dog, Riley, was being lazy.

    Mom was getting ready to go downtown to the food kitchen to help out. She volunteered three times a week serving lunch to people that weren't as lucky as Jason. "Why don't you come with me to the food kitchen and help out?" Mom asked. "I don't know anything about working at a food kitchen," said Jason. "You just watch me, and then you will see how to serve the food," said Mom.

    It was time to go, and Jason was excited to try working in the food kitchen. He watched his mom put some chicken on a plate and some mashed potatoes. She then passed the plate to the next lady, and she put some green beans and bread on the plate. "I can do that," thought Jason. One of the volunteers left early, so Jason took his place in the serving line. He was in charge of putting salad on the plates. He served twenty-five people that day. After the kitchen closed, Jason and his mom stayed to clean up. "That was great!" said Jason.

    Jason was so excited and really enjoyed his day at the food kitchen. He couldn't wait to get home and tell his dad about how much fun he had. "Not only did it give me something to do, but I felt so good doing it," Jason told his dad. "Jason, that was nice thing you did today," said Dad. "You helped many people who aren't as lucky as you to have a hot meal," Mom said. "I am so proud of you, Jason! You worked very hard.

    Jason went to bed that night thinking about the food kitchen. "I am going to help out again," he thought. Jason made some new friends, and he didn't even know they lived so close to him in town! The best part was how good Jason felt inside.

   The cold wind blew strongly outside. Amaya was warm in her house, thinking about an article she'd read at school. The article was about kids who helped out their communities, and she thought it would be really cool to help her own town, Harvard.

   The only problem was that she wasn't sure how to help. In the article, the kids had grown food for people who needed food, but it was winter. She couldn't start a garden. Amaya was deep in thought when her mom said it was time to go shopping.

   As they drove along the road, Amaya saw a family walking on the sidewalk(人行道), wearing only light jackets. How could they must be! That gave her an idea! She could collect winter coats, hats and gloves for people who needed them.

   She shared her idea with her mom, who thought it was great. But how would they spread the idea to get plenty of winter clothing? Amaya decided to talk to her teacher, because then she could share her idea with her classmates at least.

   Ms. Monroe agreed when Amaya talked about her idea. They decided to call the project Hats in Harvard. Then they wrote a letter explaining the project. Ms. Monroe even said she could help Amaya talk to the headmaster aboutit, so they could get the whole school to join in it. They met with the headmaster during lunch time. He was excited about the idea, and said he would make sure copies(复印件) of the letter went home with all the students.

   They collected enough winter clothing in only one week. Then they left the clothes around two parks, so families who needed clothes could get them there. Three days later, Amaya and her mom went shopping again. She saw the same family that had given her the idea for Hats in Harvard. This time, though, the family looked nice and warm in some new coats, hats and gloves. Amaya felt warm in her heart, and was very glad she could help others.

Here is a story: A man sees a butterfly (蝴蝶). The butterfly tries to get out of its chrysalis (蛹). Feeling sorry for it, the man decides to help. He cuts the chrysalis and the butterfly comes out easily. Surprisingly enough, the butterfly is unable to fly. If the butterfly doesn't struggle (挣扎，奋斗) to leave the chrysalis, it can't fly! The struggle develops the energy in the butterfly which makes it fly. Similarly, the challenges (挑战) of life bring out the best in young people and make them fly.

When people are young, meeting and overcoming (克服) challenges will make them strong and ready to face life. When we look at successful people, we see that the most successful of them are people who have had to struggle. One famous businessman, who now owns many supermarkets, used to carry clothes on his back and sell them from door to door when he was young. Another successful man is Dennis. His father died when he was only twenty. His father's death forced him to mature fast. He had to bring up a family of nine people. He took up the challenges and overcame them. Today his brothers and sisters are leading successful lives.

Sometimes challenges do not appear to us because we keep away from them. So some parents and teachers actively encourage young people to face challenges. They might organize some activities for young people which provide them with challenges, like rock-climbing, camping, volunteer work and so on. However, just passing exams will not prepare a person for life. We must meet and overcome challenges. The young people of today will become the leaders of tomorrow. For countries to continue to become successful, it is important that the young people learn to meet challenges and overcome them.

A lot of students are playing all kinds of sports on the sports field. A football game is{#blank#}1{#/blank#} on right now between Class 3 and Class 4. We don't know which team will {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Look at those people over there! Some students of Class 1 are practising the high jump. One of them is the best high jumper in the school. He {#blank#}3{#/blank#} hard every day. Many people think he will break the school record in the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} meeting next spring. Not far away from {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, some girls are preparing for a race. They will have an 800-metr e race in ten {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Now on the corner of the field, you can see another group of students. Their teacher is telling them how to{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the discus(铁饼). 

In schools, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} and more students love sports now. Sports help people to keep {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. They also help people to live {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. And while doing sports on the sports field, many people will become good friends too. Do you think so?

Mary is a quiet little girl. She likes {#blank#}1{#/blank#} soccer very much. If you give her a soccer ball, she can play with {#blank#}2{#/blank#} for a day. Mary's classmates all make fun of her for her love of{#blank#}3{#/blank#} . They think it is a game for boys. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} she doesn't care what they say. Every day after school, Mary {#blank#}5{#/blank#} her homework first. And then she goes to play soccer. Her mom stands by her because she knows Mary's {#blank#}6{#/blank#} for the sport.

When Mary tries out {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the soccer team(队) at school, her classmate s make fun of her again. But Mary does {#blank#}8{#/blank#} and the teachers make her the head of the team. From then on, Mary never hears a {#blank#}9{#/blank#} word about her from a classmate.

Soccer is not only for boys, but also for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} . When you give a girl a soccer ball, you give her a wonderful world.