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.

    There is a bar (酒吧) with the name “The White Horse (马)”. A picture of a white horse is on the door (门) of the bar. It is Mr. Webster's. Few (很少) people go to the bar.

    One day, Mr. Wilson comes in, drinks (喝) a cup, watches the bar, and then says to Mr. Webster, “Few people come here. Take down(拿下) the picture of the white horse and put (放) a picture of a black horse.” “But the name of the bar is 'The White Horse',” Mr. Webster says. “Yes, but do it,” says Mr. Wilson.

    After that, Mr. Webster goes to a store and says, “I want a picture of a black horse.” The next day, a picture of a black horse is on the door of the bar.

    The next morning, a man comes in and asks, “The name is “The White Horse”, but why do you put a picture of a black horse on the door of your bar?” The man sits down and asks for a cup. Then a second man comes in and asks the same question, and then a third man .... Many people (许多人) come in and say, “The picture on your door is not right.” After that, they all sit down and drink in Mr. Webster's bar.

    When I was a kid, I often played basketball. So I was thin but healthy. When l was about 15, I stopped playing basketball. I also started to drink a lot of drinks high in sugar and eat much more than before. Between 15 and 17, I put on a lot of weight-about 50 kg.

    I didn't know how big I was until I saw a photo one day. In the photo, I had a fat neck and my stomach was out there. I hated the way I looked. I knew I needed to lose some weight.

    I started to drink only water, and eat less and healthier. I ate mainly vegetables and only one piece of meat every day, and stayed away from sugar.

    I also started to exercise. Every day, I ran for 30 minutes first, and then I did some push-ups (俯卧撑) for 10 minutes. I also jumped rope for 15 minutes every day.

    I kept exercising the whole winter. When March came, many people said to me, "Oh, Dave, you've been a different person!"

    It was true. I had lost 25 kg in three months. I liked taking photos, and I noticed the difference in my looks.

    I loved the three months. It felt good to lose weight, and it felt even better to set a goal (目标) and go for it.

    When I was a kid, I did something really terrible. My father bought me two goldfish and named them "Iasc" and" Iasc Elie". He told me that meant "Fish" and "Other Fish" in Irish. To an eight-year-old child, the names seemed really boring.

    These boring names made me feel the goldfish were boring, too.  They did nothing more than swim around in their bowl. Sometimes, for fun, they would swim to the bottom of their bowl and dance around along the bottom, looking for interesting pieces of gravel.

    I tried many ways to make the goldfish more exciting. The most interesting thing was to see how long they could live out of the water. I took a fish out of the water with my hands and watched it gasping for air. Then I put it back in the bowl.  And then I would take them out of the water again, for longer and longer each time.

    Iasc and Iasc Elie started swimming towards the top of the water, not moving very much. Then they started floating on the top of the water. In other words, they were dead.

    I thought that bigger pets are more exciting, such as a cat and a dog. It would live longer than a goldfish, and then I kept a dog as my pet.

    One day, a man saw an old lady sitting inside her car at the side of the road. Though it was dark, he could sec she needed help. So he stopped his car and walked towards her .The old lady was worried, even though she noticed the smile on his face. Was he going to hurt her? "I'll help you start your car, madam, By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson," he said.

    While Anderson was fitting a spare tired(备胎) to her car, the lady began to talk to him. She thanked him much for coming to help.

    Anderson just smiled as he put his tools away. The lady asked how much she should pay him. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give them the help they needed. He waited until she started her car and drove off.

    A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small restaurant. She went in and a waitress came over with a sweet smile. The old lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕), but she never let the pains and aches change her smile when she served her..

    The lady finished her meal and paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to pay me back, here is what you do- not let this chain(链子) of love end with you."

    Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.