Billy's favorite color is orange. But he can't see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.

    A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren't quite as big as a normal baby's. “Billy would never be able to see.” the doctor told his mother. After that Billy's mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.

    Billy does not only depend on his mother's descriptions to learn about the world around him. He sees with his cars and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls, he can tell the numbers they dial(拨).

    Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.

    “You can't let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can't move forward and reach your goals, “said Billy.

    Children often ask for money from their parents. But in the US, some students work as babysitters(临时保姆) to get money. Noa Mintz, a 15-year-old girl in the US, has her babysitting shop.

    About three years ago, Mintz, worked for some time as a babysitter. She found that there was no good way for families to find babysitters. So she wanted to do something about it. Mintz started Nannies by Noa in her summer vacation. It helps families and babysitters to find each other quickly.

    At first, Mintz helped write down the names of her friends and classmates who wanted to babysit(当保姆). Later, Nannies by Noa became a big shop. It now has 25 full-time nannies(全职保姆) and 50 babysitters.

    When talking about her work, she feels proud(自豪的). She knows it's just a start. “It's good to see that I give people jobs. It's great to see what I can do.” said Mintz.

    A father and his son went to a kite-flying festival. The son was full of joy when he saw the sky filled with colorful kites. He wanted to fly a kite, too. The father then bought a kite for him.

    The son started to fly the kite. Soon, his kite was high up in the sky. After a while, he said, "Father, it seems that the string (线) is stopping the kite from flying higher. If we cut it, the kite will be free and fly even higher. Can we cut it?" The father cut the string. The kite started to go higher. This made the little boy happy.

    But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And finally it fell to the ground. The son was surprised to see this. He asked his father, "I thought that after cutting the string, the kite would fly higher. Why did it fall down?"

    The father explained, "The string was not stopping the kite from going higher, but was helping it stay in the sky. You helped the kite go up in the right direction using the string. But when you cut the string, it could no longer support the kite."

    Sometimes, we may feel like there are certain things that are holding us back (阻碍) and stopping us growing. But in fact, these might be the things that support us the most.

    Being able to go to a perfect university is what every high school student dreams of. However, for Jin Chengkuang, a high school senior at Shenzhen Experimental Chenghan School, his long-standing dream has been to be a film director. He has received offers from four top art schools in the United States, which means he is already on the way of making his filming dream come true.

    Although Jin is only 18 years old, he has had some experience of filming. During his three years in high school, Jin produced four more short films besides Choose and Out of Control, which were more successful.

    According to Jin, he shot Choose with an Argentinian student when he was at a summer school programme in New York. It was a short film about freedom. The film was produced in a classroom with only a fish tank as the main prop (道具). To express the opposite of freedom, the tank was empty in the beginning, but suddenly, a fish appeared and swam freely in the tank. In the end, the fish disappeared, leaving us an open ending. It took Jin and his partner one month to finish the six-minute short film.

    As a beginner, Jin has been quite lucky so far. Last winter, he got a chance to join the well-known film director Chen Kaige when they travelled to Northern China to film I Legend of the Demon Cat.

    Jin said, "A great firm takes everyone's efforts. Although the conditions were pretty poor, it was all worth it because I learned a lot."

    One Sunday evening two men met in a London pub. One of them was very unhappy.

    "Life is terrible. Everything in the world is really boring," he said.

    "Don't say that," said the other man. "Life is marvelous! The world is so exciting! Think about Italy. It is a wonderful country. Have you ever been there?"

    "Oh, yes. I went there last year and I didn't like it."

    "Well, have you been to Norway(挪威)? Have you even seen the midnight sun?"

    "Oh, yes. I went in 1994 and I saw the midnight sun. I didn't enjoy it."

    "Well. I have just returned from Sahara Desert (撒哈拉沙漠) in Africa. Have you visited Africa yet?"

    "Yes. I went to Sahara Desert in Africa last year. It was really boring."

    "Well," said the other man, "I think you're very ill. Only the best psychiatrist(心理学家) can help you. Go to see Dr. Greenhaum in Harley Street."

    "I am Dr. Greenhaum," answered the man sadly.