Many students have hobbies, such as reading, painting, growing vegetables and looking after animals. Some hobbies are relaxing and others are active．Hobbies can make you grow as a person, develop your interests and help you learn new skills.21·cn·jy·com

 David Smith is a student，and one of his hobbies is writing．During the summer of 2010，he spent four weeks at a summer camp．Besides the usual activities，such as sailing and climbing , there was a writing class．"The teacher was a writer, and she asked us to talk about our lives and tell interesting stories. Then she envouraged us to  write about our experiences at the camp,”says David.

 Back at school, David wrote a story about the life of a sixteen-year-old boy, and it came out as a book in 2012. Mang young people love his book, and as a result, David has become a successful young writer.

 David has been very lucky because his hobby has brought him pleasure and success. But writing is not his only hobby. He is also interested in many other things. "I like playing volleyball，too，"says David．"I spend some of my free time playing volleyball for my school team．Maybe I'll write about my volleyball team in my future books.”

    It is not 1 for a woman like me to go shopping. Why do I say that? Firstly, I have three children to look  2. My husband doesn't even know how to 3 them. I think it's my own fault. I always do all the things myself instead of（而不是） teaching 4. So I feel very 5 every day though I am a homemaker（家庭主妇）. Maybe I think I feel even more tired than my husband. How can I find free time to 6? If I do, how should I do with my three children? The oldest of them is only five years old. Secondly, I am getting much 7. So it's hard for me to find clothes that fit me well. Lastly, and I think it's the most 8. We don't have enough 9 for pretty clothes. We have to raise（养育） so many children with the little money that my husband gains. Oh, how I regret（后悔） that I had so many children that I am living such a 10 life.

D

    Helen Keller lived in the U.S.A. She was a great woman.

    When Helen was a baby, she got very sick. After many weeks, the doctor said, “She is better, but now she can't see or can't hear.” Her mother and father were very sad.

    After a few years, things got worse. There was no way for Helen to speak with other people. She heard nothing. She saw nothing. She didn't understand anything.

    Then one day a teacher came to live with Helen and her family. The teacher helped Helen learn about words. Helen was a very bright child and soon she learned to spell her first word. When she was older, she went to college(大学).

Helen was very famous. She helped many blind(盲) and deaf(聋) people. She traveled around the world and helped many people.

    Helen was a very old woman when she died. The world remembers her today as a brave and wonderful person. She was blind and deaf, but she found a way to see and hear.

    In 1995, Oseola McCarty gave a present of $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. She wanted to help poor students. It was a very generous thing to do. But her friends and neighbours were surprised. McCarty was a good woman. She went to church. She was always friendly and helpful. But everyone in her town knew that McCarty was not rich. In fact, she was poor.

    How did a poor 86 year-old woman have so much money? Oseola McCarty was born in 1908 in Wayne County, Mississippi. She had to leave school when she was eight years old to help her family. She took a job washing clothes. She earned only a few dollars a day. Oseola washed the clothes by hand. Then she hung the clothes to dry. She did this for nearly 80 years. In the 1960s, she bought an automatic washer and dryer. But she gave them away. She thought they did not get the clothes clean enough! At that time, many people started to buy their own washers and dryers. McCarty did not have much work, so she started to iron clothes instead.

    McCarty never married or had children. Her life was very simple. She went to work and to church. She read her Bible(圣经). She had a black-and-white television. But she did not watch it very much. It had only one channel.

    McCarty saved money all her life and eventually had about $ 250 ， 000.When she was 86, a lawyer helped her make a will. She left money to the church, her relatives, and the university. McCarty just wanted to help others. She thought she was not a special person. But then people found out about her present to the university, She received many honours(荣誉). She even flew in an airplane for the first time! Oseola McCarty died in 1999. She was a shy and ordinary woman who became famous.

Each year, thousands of Chinese middle school students go to study in foreign countries.

"Chinese children hope to study abroad(到国外) to 1 a wider view(视野) of the world," said a Chinese writer called Chen Yi. Chen told the parents and their children that life in foreign countries can be hard for young people. "They have to meet a 2 shock(冲击) and language problems."

However, these are not the most difficult things. To most children, looking after 3 when studying alone in a foreign country is a big challenge(挑战).

Zhang Jia began to study in a high school in Australia last October. To his surprise, his teachers there didn't 4 students to study. And 5 there wasn't homework. "With these education(教育) systems, we have more 6 time and more space for thinking." said Zhang. "But if you don't know how to 7 your time and money, you will not have an easy time."

"Studying abroad at a young age can help students learn foreign languages 8 and open up their eyes, but students and parents should know about the challenges," Chen said.

9 you want to study abroad, try to talk to someone with 10 in foreign countries. Make sure that you are ready for it.