We had a sports meeting last Saturday. It was a big 1 in our school.

    Wu Ying, who is usually the best runner in our class, 2 fell and hurt her leg me day before the sports meeting. It was ten o'clock in the morning. It was 3 for the girls' 800-metre race with two laps (圈). My classmates asked me to run the race. But I'm not a good runner. 4 should I do?

    "Just try!" my teacher said. " 5 in yourself!" my classmates said.

    "OK."

    On the first lap, the girl from Class 2 was in the front. She ran much faster than I did. 6 I did my best to catch up with her in the race.

    "Come on!" When I passed the seats of my classmates. I could 7 them shouting. "Run! Run!"

    I was just running and running. I must catch up with her. At that time l was not far behind her. At the end of the 8 lap, we were neck and neck.

    "Come on! Come on!" I could still hear my classmates shouting.

    "Come on! Come on!" I said to myself too.

    There, the finishing line was right before us. We 9 it at the same time. Both she and I took the third place.

    "Hooray!" the students called out to me. "Well done!"

    But I was too 10 to go any farther and fell to the ground.

    An old carpenter(木匠) was ready to retire(退休). He told his boss that he was leaving1 an easy life with his family. The boss was 2 to see his best worker go and asked 3he could build just one more house. The carpenter said yes, but it was easy4that his heart was not in his work. He used bad wood and didn't work5 before. When the carpenter 6 his work, his boss came to see the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said. "This is your house, my gift to you. The carpenter was surprised! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all7. So it is the same with us. We build our life, a day8, often putting less than our best into the9.Then, in surprise, we know that we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it again, we would do it much more differently. But you cannot go back. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself job. So, build your10 well

    At my heaviest I weighed 370 pounds. I had a very poor relationship with food: I used it to1bad feelings, to make myself feel better, and to celebrate. Worried about my health, I tried many different kinds of diets but nothing worked. I came to believe that I could do nothing about my weight.

    When I was 50, my weight problem began to affect me2. I didn't want to live the rest of my life with this extra weight any more.

    That year, I3a seminar(研讨课) where we were asked to create a project that would touch the world. A seminar leader shared her4story —she had not only lost 125 pounds, but also raised ＄25,000 for homeless children.

    5by her story, I created the As We heal(痊愈), the World Heals project. My goal was to lose 150 pounds in one year and raise $50,000. In this way, I could not only heal myself but heal the world by supporting a movement set up 30 years ago to end hunger.

    6I began my own personal weight program, I was filled with the fear that I would run into the same difficulties that beat me before. While the7hung over my head, there were also signs that I was headed down the right path. I sent letters to everyone I knew, telling them about my project. It worked perfectly. Donations began 8in from hundreds of people.

    Of course, I also took some practical steps to lose weight. I hired a fitness coach. I began to eat small and9meals and exercise often.

    A year later, I10my goal: I lost 150 pounds and raised $50,000! I feel that I've been given a second life to devote to something that is meaningful and great.

    When I was a boy, I used to love walking in the 1 around my house. My mom warned me several times2 to travel so far or I would lose the way. Being a naughty(淘气的)boy, however, I soon found 3 walking further and further away, testing4 I could go into the woods without getting lost. But once after losing my way for two hours, I decided to leave a mark the next time I went for a walk.

    The next day I decided to try it. I walked into the woods5 the house couldn't be seen. Then I broke a small branch(树枝)to mark my place. I walked further and broke many branches. After a while I got tired and decided to return. When I turned around, I6 found my way home, but I felt7 rather than being proud. I could see the mark of destruction(破坏)that I left in the woods. I promised never to do that again. Instead, I started to value my time alone in the woods. I'd sit by the streams(小溪)and 8 their beautiful singing. I'd bend down(弯下腰)to 9 the flowers.

    I've tried to leave marks of kindness and goodness since then. I've tried to show others 10 they can do the same. May you always leave marks of joy in your life.

    One night in November, Itzhak Perlman gave a concert in a theatre. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that becoming a violinist is not a small 1 for him. He had to walk 2 the help of two walking sticks as a result of the disease he caught as a child. People sat 3 while he made his way to his chair and began his play. But this time, something went 4 Just as he finished the first few parts of the music, one of the strings(弦) on his violin 5 . We thought that he would have to stop the concert. But he didn't. Instead , he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then 6 the conductor (指挥) to begin again. The orchestra(管弦乐队) began and he played with such strong feeling and purity as they had never heard before.

    Of course, everyone knows that it is 7 for a violinist to play a pleasant work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman didn't want to accept that.

    When he finished, there was a terrible 8 in the room. And then people rose and cheered from every corner of the theatre.

    Perlman was excited. He smiled and said, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to 9 how much music you can still make with what you have left."

    So, suppose our task in this fast-changing world is to make music. At first we should try our best with all that we have. And then, 10 it is no longer possible, try to play it with what we have left.

    It was a Sunday afternoon. It was 1 and Mike decided 2 swimming in the river. His 3, Jim, wanted to go with him.

    "Take him with you, Mike," said their father. "He will do 4 you say, I think."

    They 5 the river quickly. 6 people were swimming in it. Mike told Jim to play on the bank, and then he jumped 7 the river. About an hour later, Mike swam to the bank with a fish in his 8. Jim was very happy. He found a bottle(瓶) and put the fish in it.

    Jim did nothing but watch the fish that evening. Suddenly(突然) Mike heard Jim crying(哭) in the room. He ran to him and asked, "What's the matter(怎么了), Jim?"

    "The fish has died," Jim said. "I thought it was 9. So I took it out of the bottle and put it on the chair. I 10 wanted it to have a rest."