One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water. She by herself got up and down her bed, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared.
Her mother said, “Don't be afraid, honey. Take courage!”
“What's courage?” she asked, running to her mother's bed.
“Courage is the brave breath,” her mother answered.
“Mum, do you have courage?”
“Certainly.”
The girl held out her little hands, saying, “Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me.”
After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists(握拳) nervously, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.
Her mother said to herself, “It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath' to me. Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost.”
In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind. Who we should defeat(战胜) is nobody but ourselves.

   Mike is seven years old now and begins(开始) to go to school. His father is a driver and takes him to school in his car. Mike studies very hard(努力地) and all his teachers like him very  much.
   One day, Miss White teaches the students to count from one to ten. Mike can count them. Miss White is happy and asks him, “How many people(人) are there(有) in your family, Mike?”
“Two, Miss White, ” Mike says.
“Who are they?”
“My father and mother.”
“Oh?” Miss White is surprised(吃惊地). She says, “But I think there are three people in your family—your father, your mother and you. Am I right?”
“No. I'm not at home now. I'm at school, you know!” Mike says.

    Tom with his family 1 near the sea. Their house is not very high, but it is beautiful. There 2 big trees and a small garden in front 3 their house. They plant flowers in the garden. Some of the flowers are red, some are white 4 some are blue. Tom and his family love 5 garden very much.

      6 Tom and his sister go to school 7 bus. The bus is comfortable. There are air conditioners in the bus. And it is a double-decker bus. After school, they sometimes help their mum 8 some shopping at the shopping centre, and sometimes help their dad in the garden. At weekends, they often take some photos by the sea. 9 summer, they often go swimming 10 their parents.

      I used to be an active girl. But two years ago, an English speaking competition held in my school changed me a lot.

      I stood on the stage(讲台) for the first time. I was so nervous that my brain(大脑) suddenly became empty. Not long after I began my speech, the hall turned noisy. It seemed that they were laughing at me. I knew I failed.

      From then on, I became quiet and always stayed alone. I didn't want to express my ideas in public, even in class. Every time I wanted to say something, I thought people would laugh at me. My friends couldn't understand me, and they left me, one by one.

One day, my science teacher asked us why trees in forests were much taller than those in the wild. "Ha, what a silly question!" I thought.

"There's not enough space in the woods for trees to expand their branches. Of course they have to grow taller than others. The trees in the wild needn't do that since there's enough space. " I said in a low voice.

To my surprise, the teacher said, "Yes, you're right. It is a competition. " My face turned red right now. I hadn't spoken for a long time, especially in public.

Then the teacher explained how tree s in forests had to grow taller to receive more sunlight. If not, they would die. This also happened in our society.

      What's more, the tree that doesn't live in a crowd is just like a person who has no friends in life.

      I raised my head slowly and found the teacher was looking at me. His eyes were as warm as sunshine. I realized that I must stand up and face the truth.

    Tom is a schoolboy.He is only seven years old, but he is very busy on weekdays.One Saturday he decided to relax himself, so he went to the cinema.

    It was the first time for him to do that.He bought a ticket and then went in.But after two or three minutes he came out, bought a second ticket and went in again.After a few minutes he came out again and bought a third ticket.Two or three minutes later he came out and asked for another ticket.Then the girl in the ticket office asked him, “Why did you buy so many tickets? How many friends did you meet?” Tom answered, “No, I have no friends here.But a big boy always stops me at the door and tears(撕) my ticket.”

Decide to Do Well

    Everybody makes decisions in daily life. They can be as important as what you will do in the future or as simple as what you will eat for breakfast. Any decision could be the turning point of your life.

    I made an important decision when I was in Junior 3.

    Before I made that decision I was one of the boys who tried too hard to act as an adult. I didn't know that only kids want to show themselves as adults.

    I didn't listen to my parents and teachers, and my grades became poor. Then came the high school entrance exam.

    At the turning point of my life, my mum wanted to have a conversation with me. I wanted to turn it down but when I looked at her eyes, I felt I couldn't refuse. Instead of asking me to study hard, to my surprise, mum just asked what I wanted to do in the future. Without thinking too much, I just said I would like to study hard.

    Mum smiled and asked again, "I asked 'what do you WANT to do'?"

    I never seriously thought about the question. So, I kept silent.

    "Whether you want to go on studying or enter the society," she went on, "it is your own decision. Your life ought to be decided by you, not by anyone else, including me. "After saying that, she had tears in her eyes.

    For the first time in my life I was asked to make my own decision. I sat in my chair and thought about myself, my life and what kind of person I wanted to become.

    It took me what seemed to be ages to make the biggest decision so far in nay life-I wanted to be a man who makes a difference in the world. To achieve that, I needed to study hard.

    The path to my future became clear to me. I didn't act rebelliously(叛逆地) any more. With passion (激情) in my heart, I studied hard.

    Now, I'm 17 and I'm in one of the best schools in my city, in one of the best classes at the school and I am one of the best students in the class.

    Thanks to that decision, I have become what I am today.