Can you write down a Chinese word being read to you? Sometimes it can be difficult when you find the word is not included in most dictionaries.

    Lu Jialei, 14, from Hangzhou Foreign Language School, won the CCTV Chinese Character (汉字) Spelling Contest on Oct 18^th, 2013. About 160 people competed. The host read a word to the contestant, explained its meaning and gave sample sentences. The contestant was required to write down the word.

    Winning the contest was a “surprise” to Lu. “I was not the smartest one,” she said. “But I paid attention to details.” To prepare for the contest, she and her teammates studied the Modern Chinese Dictionary for 10 days. There are more than 56,000 entries (词条) including characters, words and phrases in it. She also had a secret weapon. She studied how Chinese characters were formed.

    “When others paid attention to the plot of a story, she looked at how authors use words and sentences to express themselves,” said Su Yunsheng, Lu's Chinese teacher. Su is happy to see students like Lu find the beauty of Chinese language.

    “Besides using something Chinese and having Chinese traditional festivals, learning to write Chinese characters is also an important part of inheriting (传承) Chinese culture,” said Su.

    Jenny works in school and teaches us music. She likes shopping. She loves her family very much. It's Sunday, January 1st. She wants to buy a new skirt for her mother, because it's her mother's sixtieth birthday next Sunday. Now many clothes are on sale at Renming Clothes Store. There they have skirts in all colors and sports shoes in different sizes. They are very cheap. Jenny comes to the store with her mother, Mrs. Green. Jenny has a look at a red skirt and asks her mother to try it on (试穿)in the dressing room. After Mrs. Green comes out of it, a salesgirl says to her "You look five years younger in this red skirt. After hearing that, Mrs. Green says, "I will not take this skirt, because I don't want to look five years older after I take off the skirt.''

    "Be proud of what you do," my father always told me, "whether you are a boss or a cleaner." When I was 15, I got a summer job in a hospital. I was told that my duties would include sweeping floors. I smiled and remembered Dad's words.

    Even though my job was the lowest, it made me feel excited. I saw it as a challenge because it was my first job. I learned to be on time and tried to do everything well. In return, I was treated with respect(尊敬) by doctors, nurses and patients. Each morning I imagined that the dirty dishes would make patients sicker if I were not there to wash them clean. After breakfast was done, I started sweeping the floors of all patient rooms and cleaning toilets. Though I was tired, I wanted the job to be done well. People would say, "That young boy really does a good job." That gave me pride.

    Working in the hospital taught me that being proud of one's job is important. It does not matter whether the job is sweeping floors or managing a large business. Through every job I have ever had, my father's words have always stayed with me. I have swept floors, and I have been a manager. I think Dad would be proud of me.