Dave is my friend. His family is rich. His parents always give him lots of pocket money. But Dave thinks his parents work very hard and it's not easy for them, so he always tries his best to save money. He has some good ways to do it.

    Dave likes reading. He has lots of books. He tells me he often buys books online, because they're cheaper. And when he has free time, he often goes to bookstores or libraries to do some reading.

    Dave has a bike. He usually goes to school by bike instead of taking a bus. Sometimes when it rains or snows, he walks. These two ways help Dave keep healthy and save some money.

    Dave brings a bottle of water to school every day. When other students drink juice, he enjoys his water. He thinks water is the cheapest but the best drink.

    Some students think Dave is mean. But I don't think so. I think he is right. What do you think of him?

While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, nor a world record broken, but a show of someone's strong determination to win.

The event was a swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them made mistake when they started, so they were kicked out. That would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is what's important.

I watch the man jump into the water and knew right away that something was wrong. Now I'm not an expert swimmer but I do know a good jump from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he was swimming, the crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.

      I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man that was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. He tried his best, but clearly he was exhausted.

       But when they saw the man keeping on trying , they stopped laughing and beginning to cheer. Some even to stand and say: “Come , you can do it!” and “ Go for it！”

       A few minutes later ,this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.

       Just a short year ago, he had never swam, let alone raced. His country had been asked to Sydney as manners.

       In a competition where players remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch this game.

       A man that gave his all-knowing that he had no chance, but competed because of the spirit of the games.

    Many Chinese students don't pay much attention to spoken English at school. They think it necessary to practice speaking English in class, but not out of class. Here is a story to show you how important it is to speak the English language freely in everyday life.

    A foreigner once got hungry and went into a restaurant in London. He sat down at a table. When the waiter came, the foreigner opened his mouth, put his fingers into it and took them out again in order to express that he wanted something to eat, for he could not speak English. The waiter soon brought a cup of tea. The man shook（摇动）his head. The waiter then took away the tea and brought a cup of coffee. The man again shook his head. He tried again and again, but he wasn't able to make the waiter understand him. Finally another man came in. He spoke English clearly and fluently. In a few minutes, there was a large plate of meat and vegetables on the table before him.

    So you can see a man will go hungry if he doesn't master（掌握）a foreign language.

    My father died when I was five. It was hard on us all. My brother, who is eight years older than me, began to take care of my mother and me.

    He took on more responsibilities than expected. I remember he made sure the rubbish was taken out, and the yard was cleaned. He did on his own, without being told to do so.

    Because of my father's death, mom had to get a full time job. Brother would get me up for school and make me breakfast. While I was eating, he would lay out my clothes, make my bed, and gather my school books up.

    Hand in hand we would walk to the bus stop. As we waited, he would play games my father used to play with me. When we returned from school, we were alone for about half an hour, until mom was home from work. Before I did my homework, he would sit me down with three cookies and a glass of milk. Then he would prepare something for mom to cook dinner.

    Mom would greet us with a hug and kiss. This was our time to have some fun outside. This was my brother's time to be a kid.

    One Saturday in June several years later, my mother and I were at a store where the Father's Day cards were sold. I stared at the cards. Mom said," Cindy, I know this is hard time for you."

   "No, mom. That's not it. Why don't they have Brother's Day cards?"

    She smiled," You're right, your brother has exactly been a father to you. Go ahead to choose a card."

    I did so, and on Father's Day, my mother and I sat my brother down and gave him the card.

    As he read it, I saw the tears in his eyes. Mom said," Son, your father is proud of you, seeing that he raised a good man, and that you do your best to fill his shoes. We love you and thank you."