Nowadays, lots of foreigners are learning Chinese. Like many of them, I 1 knew two words of Chinese ("Ni Hao" and "Xie Xie") when I first came to Beijing, China in 2009. As you can guess, my life was 2 for a while after I arrived. Simple tasks like ordering food or taking a taxi were quite stressful.

    I knew I had to learn more Chinese, so I 3 a Chinese class. My teacher was 4, although I didn't learn enough to have a real conversation. Later I studied on my own as well, but my progress was still slow. And I decided to 5.

    Around this time, I started playing in a band with a Chinese man who became one of my best friends in Beijing. He taught me a lot of 6 about music, such as "melody". He learned a lot of English from me in return, so it was a good way to 7 language and culture.

    I have learned enough Chinese to 8 many problems like booking train tickets. These days, there are more foreigners who are studying Chinese. I can 9 why it's an amazing language. Finally, I found that the best way to learn a 10 is to make friends with native speakers and spend time with them.

    When I was five, I had cancer ( 癌 症). My family learned about an organization that provided photography (摄影) classes to kids 1   cancer. I took the classes and learned how to 2a camera and how to take photos in different lighting situations. Taking photos made me 3about being sick for a while.

    At first, most of my photos were of4little dog, Charlie. I took pictures of him sleeping or playing. I also took pictures of 5 like flowers, trees and rivers. I 6 took photos of a little mouse once.

    Last year, I got invited to be a photographer on the red carpet (地毯) of  a big show in Los Angeles. I was so excited 7I could take photos of famous people. It was my first time to get close to them! It felt 8.

    Being a photographer and taking photos makes me feel happy. Now I want to 9what I have learned with other kids. I can't wait to pass on everything I've learned about photography and make other 10feel great, too.

    One day, Jack's parents told him that his grandpa would retire (退休) after working for forty years. Jack said1, "I'm only seven, so it means my grandpa has been…er…a really long time!"

    His parents said, "Yes. There is a (n)2place in his heart that we don't know how to fill. That's why we are going to have a surprise party for him."

    Jack loved his grandpa and wanted to do something3for him. He remembered the business card his grandpa had given him two years before. He knew that his grandpa would no longer hold the position on that card, so he decided to build a new one for his grandpa.

    When the big night came, Jack was4. He put his gift in a small box. But he didn't want to put his gift together with others'. He carried it around with him the whole5.

    When all the other people6, he took his grandpa's hand and brought him over to a chair and gave him the gift.

    His grandpa smiled, "Well, it must be a beautiful7. May I open it now?" "Sure!" Jack said excitedly.

    As Jack's grandpa opened the gift, tears came into his eyes. He was touched by Jack's gift. Jack gave him the greatest gift he had8got! It was a business card with his new position FULL-TIME GRANDPA! Jack said, "Now your9job is my grandpa."

    "Well10do l get paid?" his grandpa asked, smiling. "As many hugs (拥抱) as you want!" With these words, Jack gave his grandpa a hug. "Well, I guess that means I'm the richest man in the world!" said the grandpa.

    How important is your appearance? Although everyone wants to be good-looking, are beautiful people always happier people? For example, it must be a problem to be a really beautiful woman, because some people may be more interested in looking at you than talking to you. They think of you as a picture rather than a person.

    Some people think that women who are exceptionally(格外地) pretty and men who are particularly handsome must be stupid. They believe that only unattractive(无魅力的) people can be intelligent(智慧的).

    On the other hand, no one wants to be really ugly, and have a face that even your mother doesn't want to look at; and no one wants to be plain, either--that is, to be neither attractive nor unattractive, and have a face that is easily forgotten. Being attractive is like being rich. It can help you find happiness, but it doesn't always make you happy.

    So maybe the best thing is not to worry too much about how you look, but simply try to be an interesting person. For interesting people have interesting faces, and interesting faces are almost always attractive.