Life is not easy, so I'd like to say,” When anything happens, believe in yourself.”

      When I was 14, I was1 nervous to talk in public. My classmates often2me. I was sad but could do nothing. Later3 happened. It affected my life. It was an English speech contest (比赛). My mother asked me to take part in it. What a/an4 idea!

It meant I had to5in front of all the teachers and students of my school! “Come on, boy. Believe in yourself. You are sure to6” Then mother and I talked about many different topics. At last I chose the topic“Believe in yourself”. I tried my best to7all the speech and practiced it over 100 times. 8my mother's great help, I did well in the contest. I could hardly (几乎不) believe my ears when the news came —— I won the first place. I heard the cheers from the teachers and students. Those 9looked down on （瞧不起）me before, but they now all said10 to me. My mother hugged (拥抱)me and cried excitedly.

      Since then, everything changed for me. When I do anything, I try to tell myself to be confident and I will find myself. This is true not only for a person but also for a country.

    On 28 of March Richard Byrd stood outside the small house. He shook hands with the men who were leaving. They were heading back to the main camp on the coast of Antarctica (南极洲). He would 1 to work at the base camp.

    "I don't like leaving you here alone,"Pete Demas said."I'll be 2,"Byrd replied. He was looking forward to the challenge of spending the winter at the base camp. He would be recording the weather. There was plenty of food and fuel (燃料) in the tiny house. He felt sure 3 would go wrong.

    But something did go wrong. Byrd was burning the fuel for4 . But the fumes (有毒气体) were not leaving the house. Slowly he was being poisoned (中毒). On May 31 he broke down. When he came to, he made himself into his sleeping bag. Three days later he 5 it was a Sunday. The men would be  6 his radio message. Byrd moved hard out of bed and 7 the call. He didn't want the men to know how 8 he was. It was too dangerous for them to come to save him.

    By will-power alone, Byrd managed to stay alive. He was so 9 that he could hardly walk. But he forced himself to do the basics. He 10  food and made myself eat. He took 11of weather and sent radio messages. But by late June, the men 12 that something was wrong. Most of the time, Byrd's messages made no sense.

    On August 11 Demas and two others reached the base camp. They 13 recognized (认出) Byrd. He was very thin and looked terrible. Byrd 14  them and then fell to the ground. The men had arrived in time. After two months of care, Byrd's good 15returned. He and his men worked together again.

    My mum works on Saturdays, so every Saturday my aunt, Jenny, takes me somewhere interesting. For example, once she took me to the sea museum, and then she made me do a project (专题研究) about my favourite 1.

    Last Saturday, Jenny took me to an old people's home. She was a volunteer there, so she 2 went there in her free time. There were a lot of old people there. Jenny introduced 3 to some of them. Then she asked me if I would like to read the newspaper to them. I was glad to do that. I read 4 so they could hear me. They said my reading was excellent. I felt really 5.

    Later, Jenny and I had 6 with them. I sat at a table with one man and two women. During lunch, they told me stones about their lives. The man had been a guide. The two women were from other 7. Mrs Wang came from China, and Mrs Guleed was from South Africa. They 8 their lives in their hometowns. It sounded different.

    After lunch, Jenny 9 the piano. Some of the people sang along to the music. The people there were very kind to me. I liked them so much that I began to 10 them as soon as I got home.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock

    Andreas watched the clock moving very slowly. This was his last class of the day - biology. Usually, Andreas really liked biology. But today was 1. Today there were tryouts（预赛） for the basketball team after school.

    There was only one thing that Andreas liked more than biology: basketball. Because of the tryouts, Andreas had been 2 for months.

    Tyrell had been Andreas's best friend since kindergarten. He was also trying out for the basketball team that afternoon. Andreas was glad he'd have his best friend by his 3.

    Suddenly the bell rang and class was over. Andreas and Tyrell walked down to the gym: When they got there, Andreas's heart sank (下沉). There were at least 60 boys crowded there, but the basketball team only had 4 for 20 people. Andreas and Tyrell looked at each other. What if only one of them made the team? That would be 5 than not making the team at all.

    The coach blew a whistle and the tryouts began. Andreas and Tyrell were separated into different groups. As soon as he 6 his hands on the basketball, Andreas felt better. This was why he loved the game. All the nights of practicing paid off as he took shots from the 3-point line.

    When the tryouts were over, the coach said he was posting a list of who made the team the next day before school. Andreas felt his stomach tighten. He knew he had played well, 7 was it good enough?

    "It's OK," said Tyrell. "I'm sure you made it. I just don't know if I did."

    "Playing on the basketball team wouldn't be any 8 without you," a little upset.

    They walked the rest of the way home in silence.

The next morning Andreas hurried to school and went to see the 9. Tyrell's name was at the very top—--he had made it! But Andreas didn't see his name anywhere.

    "Andreas!" He heard Tyrell's happy voice. "We made it!"

    "What do you mean?" asked Andreas. "My name's not on there."

Tyrell 10 up the first sheet of paper and pointed to Andrea's name at the very top of the second sheet. They shouted and gave each other a high-five（击掌）. They were going to be on the basketball team together.

    We look at the world around us everyday, but somehow we don't manage to see it until what we've become used to suddenly disappeared. That's to say that you may get used to some places and some 1 around you. For example, the neatly-dressed woman I used to see --or look at on my way to work each 2.

    For three years, no matter 3the weather was like, she was always waiting at the bus stop around 8:00 a.m. On 4 days, she wore heavy clothes and a pair of woolen gloves. Summertime turn out clean cotton dresses and a hat pulled low over her sunglasses. 5, she was an ordinary working woman. Of course, I 6all this only after she was seen no more. It was then that I realized how 7I expected to see her each morning. You might say I 8her.

    "Did she have an accident? Something 9?" I thought to myself about her disappearance. Now that she was gone, I felt I had 10her. I began to realize that part of our  11life probably includes such chance meetings with familiar strangers: the milkman you see at dawn, the woman who 12walks her dog along the street ever morning, the twin brothers you see at the library. Such people are 13markers in our lives. They add weight to our 14 of places and belongings.

    Think about it, while walking to work, 15we mark where we are by passing a certain building, why not mark where we are when we pass a familiar, though unnamed , person?

     "Hi! John." Mary ran towards me with a bright smile, saying. "I'm going to have a dance performance tonight. I hope you'll come. Here is the ticket. Don't forget!" Then she left in a hurry. "What? Dance? Is that1?" I asked myself. Mary was not such a kind of girl. She was quite common one. I had never seen her wearing colorful clothes. In fact, she really did not know how to dress up. What a terrible thing!

    "I should go to, I must go to." I thought.

    I arrived at the hall with the ticket, found my 2 and sat down. Her performance was the seventh one. I knew I would have a 3 time before her turn, for I had no sense of art, but her performance was worth watching, no matter how long I would wait.

    Time went4I tried my best not to fall asleep.

    Just then, came the words, "Let's welcome the next exciting dance - Latin!"

    Hearing this, I opened my eyes as large as possible, fearing to lose anything. Wearing a golden and shining skirt, Mary appeared. She5with a sweet smile, looking like a pretty butterfly flying. I could hardly believe my eyes.

    After the performance was over, I waited for her at the gate.

    "Hi!" She stood in front of me with her crystal（水晶）shoes. "How do you feel?" "Fantastic!" I answered.

    "Ha, ha. I knew 6 would be." She could not hide her excitement, laughing like a child. At the time, I realized that every girl has a pair of special shoes which are like the crystal shoes of Cinderella.