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    I'm a student with different interests. I play football for Whitburn AFC at under 19 level, where I play as a right midfielder(中锋) which I enjoy very much. I like talking with many different kinds of friends. The cinema is a place where I go as often I can, as I am a huge movie lover. I like both action and other types of films.

    The thing I would say I do the most is listening to music. I like mainly rock music. However, my CD collection includes a wide selection(精选物) of music. With my interest in music I go to see my favourite bands when they come on tour.

    The Internet and computers are something I usually do with when I'm free, but I would not say it's my main interest in life. Traveling to many different countries is a great experience. I have been to Spain, Belgium, Holland, France and even England. I went to a little town in Spain last year just outside Barcelona. Anybody there hardly speaks English, however, I found that I can communicate with these people who speak a different language from me and I am still able to understand. Meeting people from abroad is very interesting.

    Do you like making friends with me?

    In 1883, an engineer named John Roebling got an idea to build a bridge between New York and Long Island. However, bridge-building experts around the world thought that it was impossible. It had never been done before.

    After much discussion, he made his son Washington, a great engineer, believe that the bridge could be built.

    The project started well, but a few months later, an accident took the life of John Roebling. Washington was badly hurt and he was not able to walk or talk. However, Washington never lost his heart. He still wanted to complete the bridge. But all he could do was to move one finger. So he decided to make the best use of it. By moving his finger, he slowly developed a way of communicating with his wife.

    He touched his wife's arm with his finger, “telling” her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same way to tell the engineers what to do. The project carried on again.

    For 13 years, Washington tapped out (敲出) his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the Brooklyn Bridge stands as a monument(纪念碑) to one man's unbeatable spirit.

    It is also a monument to engineers and their teamwork, and to their faith in a man who was considered crazy by half the world.

    Three years ago, Mike and Ben took a holiday on the beach. They had a quarrel(吵架). Mike hit Ben on the face. Ben was hurt and he wrote in the sand, "Today my best friend hit me on the face."

    After that, they took a taxi back to their hotel. After dinner, Ben started to read. Mike went for a walk in the park. Suddenly, an earthquake happened. The small hotel fell down and Ben was under the hotel. Mike saved him. Ben wrote on the stone. "Today my best friend saved my life."

    Mike asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on the stone, why?" Ben answered, "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in the sand, and then the wind can blow it away. When someone helps us, we must carve(雕刻) it in stone, then the winds can't blow it away."

    John and Ann are from Dublin，Ireland．They've been friends since they were children．They lived in the same neighbourhood(社区)when they were young and they went to the same university．

    Today John is a 34-year-old policeman．He works in the heart of Dublin．He is very busy and doesn't have much free time．He found a maid(女佣)to clean his house on Saturdays，but during the week he has to make the bed and tidy up his room．He must also wash the dishes．Sometimes he cooks a meal，but most of the time he stops at a restaurant near his home and buys a meal for dinner．He often arrives home very late．Luckily．his maid is quite professional and takes good care of the house．In just 6 hours，the house becomes clean，with a flesh look and clean air．

    Ann is 35 years old．She lives in a small village in Dublin．She works as a doctor at the village's health centre．She starts working at 9 a.m and finishes at 4 p.m．There is a half-hour lunch break at 12：30 pm．After work，Ann has to pick up her two daughters from school．After they arrive home ，the children do their homework while Ann prepares dinner．Her husband usually does part of the housework when he gets home．First he prepares the…children's bath and then he washes clothes．Before dinner,he hangs(挂)up the clothes and then the children help him to lay the table(摆放餐具)and…it's dinner time!After dinner,Ann's husband usually does the dishes while she tidies up the kitchen．When there is too much rubbish，she takes it out．

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    Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

    Finally, there was only one family between the ticket office and us. This family made a big impression on me.

    There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children talked excitedly about the clowns. It was clearly a very important day out for them. The father and mother seemed happy as they could be.

    The tickets lady asked how many tickets the father wanted, he proudly answered, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adults' tickets, so I can take my family to the circus."

    The ticket lady told him the price.

    The man's wife lowered her head. There was no longer a smile on the man's face. He quietly asked, "How much did you say?"

    The ticket lady again told him the price.

    The man obviously didn't have enough money. But how could he tell his kids the bad news?

    Seeing what was happening, my dad took a $20 note from his pocket and dropped in on the ground. (We were not rich ourselves at all!) He then tapped the man on the shoulder and said,

    "Excuse me, Sir, you dropped this."

    The man understood my father was helping him. He picked up the money, looked straight into my dad's eyes, and in tears replied, "Thank you. This really means a lot to me and my family."

    Although we did not go to the circus that night, we didn't go without.

    Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, died on Decembr5, 2013 at 95.

    Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. He grew up in a poor village in South Africa. At school, Mandela learned about African history and the fight against racism(种族歧视).He wanted to help his countrymen. Later Mandela studied law at a university. He also joined a group that fought against apartheid(种族隔离).At that time, in South Africa, blacks were not allowed to use the same public toilets or chairs as whites, and they couldn't travel on the same buses as whites, either. Mandela hated this and he traveled all over South Africa and fought to end apartheid. As a result, he was put into prison(监狱) and stayed about 27 years there.

    On February 10, 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk released(释放)Mandela from prison, and the two worked together to end apartheid. Three years later, they won the Nobel Peace Prize,

    In1994, Mandela became President of South Africa. One year later, he created the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, a charity that helps poor South African children." Children are the future of our country," he said in an interview in2002. "They must be given love."

    Mandela served as President until 1999. He worked to improve housing and education for the country's large black population.