Everyone needs friends. They are very important because friends bring us happiness and hope in our lives. But the ability to make friends changes from person to person. To some people, making friends is not hard, and to others it's very difficult. Making friends is a skill, and the first thing is to know how to get on with others. If you have trouble in making friends, maybe I can tell you how to do it.

    a)Realize your own good points. You have skills and talents(才能) that others will like.

    b)Believe that you are a good person and have something nice to share with others.

    c)Be humorous. Learn to laugh at yourself and your weakness. Remember to smile at others.

    d)Respect(尊敬) the others. Everyone has his own idea. Learn how to listen to others' ideas without trying to make them accept yours.

    e)Be kind. If you are kind to others, they will usually be kind to you. There are hundreds of little things you can do to show your kindness. Open the door for someone. Wave to a friend and so on.

    f)Don't complain. Learn to accept what you can't change, and work hard to change what you can. No one is willing to hear your complaints all the time.

    g)Never give up. Even if you are faced with some closed-minded people, never give up. And try to find someone who will understand you.

Dear Editor，

    I'm a high school student. One day，on my way to school I found that along the river bank in Zhaowang River Park，the road was badly destroyed and some color bricks had disappeared，which would affect people's going out. ①Perhaps these bricks were carried away by some people nearby and kept by themselves. ②我对此事感到伤心。

    Since the public facilities are often destroyed like that，I suggest that our government should repair the road as soon as possible and take some measures to protect these public facilities. And as to us students，whenever we find someone destroying our public facilities，we should make efforts to stop him or her in time. Only in this way can we have a more beautiful and comfortable city to live in.

Li Qiang

    Here are some ideas for you on how to help others through volunteering.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    When people get older, it becomes harder to do many things, from walking to the store to doing the housework. Old people living alone can also feel lonely. As a volunteer. You can do a lot to help the old in your neighborhood. You could visit them and help them with their housework.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Many people with disabilities need help. You could volunteer to read books to the blind or deliver(递送) something for people who can't get around too well.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    There are lots of volunteer jobs to do in hospitals and health care centers. As a volunteer, you can make beds, deliver flowers and gifts, help serve meals, and do lots of other important jobs.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Some families don't have enough money to buy food and clothes for their kids. Some people don't have place to live at all. To help these people as a volunteer, you can give clothes, food or money t0, or raise money for, a charity(慈善机构).

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Sometimes people need more help when the holidays come. Holidays are happy, but for people who are alone or unlucky, they can be a lonely, hard time. As a volunteer, you can deliver holiday dinners to less lucky people, visit the lonely old people and serve food to the homeless.

    If the dream is big enough. A school was across from my home and I often saw a girl student playing basketball. She practiced over and over again, sometimes until it got dark. I asked her why she practiced so hard. She said, "I like basketball. I'm going to play for a top basketball team. I want to be the best."

    One day, I saw the girl sitting there, looking upset. I asked what was wrong. "Oh, nothing," she answered. "I'm just too short. "The coach told her that she was too short to play for a top team, so she should stop dreaming about it. But later she told me that her father said the coach was wrong. He just did not understand the power(力量)of a dream. Her dad told her that nothing could stop her if her dream was big enough.

    The next year, as the girl and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter(招生人员). She won the scholarship(奖学金)to study in a college and she could play for a famous women's basketball team! Her dream came true!