“Where there is a will, there is a way.” Perhaps not many students can understand this better than 22-year-old Michael Ha. Because of his story of success, he has become an example to many young people.

Michael Ha was born in a very poor family. His parents worked in Vietnam before they moved to Britain in 1980. They couldn't find work in Britain because they spoke little English. The whole family had to live on benefits (救济金) and they lived in a small house in Hackney, a poor area in East London. Growing up was not easy for Michael, but he never gave up.

     At the age of 10, he set his heart on going to Cambridge University. It was not easy, either. Michael studied at a school, which used to be called “the worst school in Britain”. However, young Michael made up his mind to try his best, no matter what kind of school he was studying at. The smart boy studied very hard and did well in every subject at school. Once he made a bet (打赌) with his friend to learn further math. As a result, after spending just four months teaching himself from a textbook, he got an A in AS-level further math.

Now Michael is the star medical student at St. John's College, Cambridge and has just won an award (奖) for his excellent grades. He hopes he will be an inspiration for other young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, destroying(摧毁)  fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to the hospital, and a number of other people received light hurt.

    In total, over two hundred people were homeless. Mr Tan said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour. “I was eating with my wife and children when we heard a loud noise,” he said. “Several minutes later, our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him safe but very frightened.”

    Mrs. Woo said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children. “There was no time to take anything,” she said. “A few minutes later, the roof came down.”

    Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded(水淹的) area and the welfare department(福利机构) brought them food, clothes and shelter.

    Mary is an American girl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. She doesn‘t know Chinese, but she is trying to study and speak it .She often tries to speak Chinese to her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand (理解 )her, because she can't speak Chinese well.

    It's Saturday morning. Mary goes out. She is on her way to the park. She is going there to see a flower show But she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and some paper. She draws some flowers on it, gives the picture to the boy and says something about it. The boy smiles and then shows ( 指 ) Mary the way to the park.

    A young man from a village called Nawalapitiya married a young woman from Maiyuwa, a small village. They lived with the man's big family-his parents, his brothers, their wives and children.  The family kept an elephant, in which the woman soon took a great interest. Every day she fed it with fruit and sugar.

    Three months later, having quarreled with her husband, the woman went back to her parents' home. Soon the elephant refused to eat and work.  It appeared to be ill and heartbroken. One morning after several weeks the animal disappeared from the house.

    It went to the woman's home. On seeing her, the elephant waved its trunk and touched her with it. The young woman was so moved by the act of the animal. So she went back to her husband's home.

    In England, it often snows in winter. When it snows, our garden looks very beautiful under the snow, and it is very nice to play in snow.

    When I got up this morning, the land was all white with snow. There was too much snow. It was Sunday, so we didn't go to school. After breakfast, some of my friends came over, and we made a big snowman. It had a big mouth and two ears. Its eyes were black and its nose was red. Someone put an old hat on its head. We were very happy. After lunch, we went to the park to make snowballs. In the park, we met quite a few boys from our school and we had a fight with the snowballs. I took a photo of our snowman. I like snow very much.

You're chatting with a friend and want to suggest a good book. All of a sudden, you can't remember the title! The harder you try to remember, . the more it eludes (使不记得) you. We've all been there, and everyone knows how hard it is to remember all the information in your head. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

● Repeat important information out loud. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you repeat something out loud, you aren't technically memorizing it. You're actually creating a pattern (方式) and sound that will make the information easier to remember in the future.

● {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Turn the TV off while you study and put down the phone while you're driving. When you do different activities at the same time, your attention is divided, which will make it hard to process (处理) the information necessary to remember what you're doing.

● Take notes and write things down. Taking notes will help you memorize the information, even if you never look at your notes again! {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So you'd better use pens and paper if you really want to remember your friend's birthday or an important meeting.

● Take a short walk. Studies show that taking a walk will increase your memory. If you're trying to remember something, spend a few minutes walking around your neighborhood to see if it helps. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}At best, you'll remember the name of that life-changing book from primary school!