One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water. She by herself got up and down her bed, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared.
Her mother said, “Don't be afraid, honey. Take courage!”
“What's courage?” she asked, running to her mother's bed.
“Courage is the brave breath,” her mother answered.
“Mum, do you have courage?”
“Certainly.”
The girl held out her little hands, saying, “Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me.”
After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists(握拳) nervously, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.
Her mother said to herself, “It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath' to me. Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost.”
In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind. Who we should defeat(战胜) is nobody but ourselves.

    Jim is an American. He is now living(居住) in China. He gets up at about half past six and has breakfast at seven o'clock. After breakfast, he says goodbye to his parents and leaves home at half past seven. He usually goes to school on foot. He gets there at five minutes to eight. He has his first class at eight.

    Morning classes are over at ten past twelve and he has lunch five minutes later, at about a quarter past twelve. After lunch he plays with his friends.

    Afternoon classes begin at half past one. Usually there are two lessons in the afternoon. They finish at half past three. Usually he plays games or other things at school, and he gets home at about a quarter past five. He has supper at six and then does his homework and then watches TV. He goes to bed at about half past ten.

When I was little，I was really little.But my dream was big.I dreamed of being a basketball player.I tried out for the teams at school，but I was never given a chance.

As I got older，I did grow a little bigger，but not a lot bigger.On my 12th birthday，I decided to try a new sport：running.I told Grandpa，"I'm going to be a sportsman.""

"Dave，"Grandpa began gently，"if you can't be big，you can do something big."

I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday.On my 13th birthday，I did it again，but I added an extra（额外的）mile.On my 14th birthday，I ran 14 miles.15 on my 15th，16 on my 16th，and you guessed it—17 miles on my 17th birthday.All this running inspired（激发） another big dream.Someday，I'd run the Boston Marathon（马拉松赛）.I told Grandpa about my decision."But，Dave，you haven't trained for the marathon.Are you sure you're OK？"Grandpa asked.But he was still sure to walk over and cheer me on.I ran fast that day.But I fell at Mile 18 and the workers sent me to the hospital.Later that night，I called Grandpa and told him I failed."No，"he said calmly，"you didn't fail.You discovered something."I did？"I asked.

"Yes，you discovered that big dreams don't just come true.They take work.If you train and work hard，I am sure to wait for you next year and cheer you on."

I trained every day，running miles and miles.Sadly，just two months into my training，Grandpa died.He wouldn't be waiting for my second Boston Marathon.I decided I'd run for him.

That day，I ran fast，"Keep going!You can do it!"His words filled my head as I forced my legs to make each painful step.As I crossed the finish line，I threw my arms in the air and cried， "Grandpa，I did it!"

Last Friday afternoon, my parents told me that they {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to take me to the countryside to enjoy the beauty of nature. I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} very happy about the trip. Before the trip, we prepared （把. . . . . . 准备好）everything for it. 

Then the next day, my father {#blank#}3{#/blank#}us to the countryside. Along the way, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery（风景）. The {#blank#}4{#/blank#}are taller（更 高）and greener （更绿）than those in the city. We stopped our car at times and went out to breathe （呼吸）the fresh air. It was so {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We felt so relaxed. 

Two hours later, we {#blank#}6{#/blank#}the countryside. It was so beautiful there. We saw some farmers working in the fields. We went to help them and they talked to us{#blank#}7{#/blank#} . 

We had {#blank#}8{#/blank#}picnic in the fields. We enjoyed ourselves very much. We all thought the life in the countryside was more interesting than that in the city. We all hoped to live in the countryside one day. 

One day,I was walking home from school and saw some 1 on the fence (栅栏) of a house.

It said "Happiness is a direction not a place." I was having a bad day but it became a little 2 after reading this. I also took out a pen and wrote one of my favorite quotes (格言) down at once.

When I came back to the 3 the next day, I saw another quote under mine in the  4 as the first one, I added another, so we kept on 5 for quite a while. One day, I was writing another quote on the fence and the old man, one of my neighbors, who  6 the fence, saw me. He came out and I was afraid he would be  7 for writing on his fence; everyone in my

neighborhood knew he was known to be very 8 . He gave me a look of coldness and seriousness and then read the quotes. He then went back inside 9 saying a word to me. I was even uneasier and 10 to go back to the fence. But when I did, I  11 no more quotes but two words in completely different handwriting had been added, "12 ".

Later, I saw the old man in his front yard. 13 , he called me over and told me how my quotes on the fence  14  him, how he thanked me and how he was glad to see young people still have "Values". We are now good friends and I talk to him a lot. This  15 has changed my life. I still don't know who wrote these quotes, but if he is out there, I'd also like to say thanks to that unknown friend.

Now pets play an important part in our life. More and more people keep pets in their families.

I have a dog called Huanhuan. She is really cute and friendly. She always brings happiness to my family. We all love her very much and we take her as our family member. When we have breakfast, she likes to jump to my mother's legs to ask for the food she likes. When we watch TV at night, she likes to sit on the sofa with us. When I am sad, she can do some funny things to make me laugh. When I make fun of her, she plays with me happily. Every morning, she always goes to do morning exercises with us. Now we can't be without her.

 We get lots of happiness from Huanhuan, but keeping pets needs time and money. So if you want to have a pet, you must spend time looking after it and you should be patient with it!