In life, everyone once struggles for a dream, whether it's successful or not. I still clearly remember one day when I was in high school. I saw on a website that China's. Got Talent's mass-election（海选）for the best singers was going on. I was very excited and decided to go and try out. But it wasn't as easy as I had thought. When I got there, I saw at least 100 people already waiting in line. My hands started to sweat and shake as my turn got close. I got up and started singing, but I sang so badly that I stopped before I even finished the song. Afterwards I quickly said goodbye to my friends and walked home crying. I thought that I would never be able to show my face in public again.
    However, after about a year, that terrible experience became a funny memory. I realized that I didn't need to care about losing that dream, because I made a new and more realistic one. I'm good at English, as well as other subjects. I made it my goal to get accepted into Columbia University. Columbia is hard to get into, and about 1,300 students from all over the world are accepted every year. Though it is hard to get into, I think my dream will come true someday by working hard.

    Think of life as a game in which you are playing with five balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and spirit and you keep all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber (橡胶) ball. If you drop it, it will bounce(弹跳) back.

    But the other four balls, family, health, friends and spirit, are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be broken. It will never be the same. You must understand that and try to have balance in your life. How?

Don't look down on yourself by comparing with others. It is because we are different and each of us is special.

    Don't let other people set goals for you. Only you know what is best for yourself.

    Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. Don't be afraid of difficulties. Be brave!

    Don't run through life so fast, or you will forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

    Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is a treasure you can always carry easily.

    Don't use time or words carelessly. You can't get them back. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that's why we call it "the present". Life is not a competition but a trip, step by step.

    Once there was a famine (饥荒) in the town. A rich and kind baker(面包师) sent some bread to twenty of the poorest children. He said to them, "In this basket there is some bread for you. Each of you can have one loaf(一条面包) every day until the hard days end.

    The impatient children couldn't wait to gather around the basket. They shouted and fought for the bread because each wished to have the largest loaf. At last they went away without even thanking the good gentleman. But Shirley, a poorly-dressed little girl, did not join them. Instead, she remained standing modestly in the distance. When the other children had left, she took the smallest left in the basket, kissed the gentleman's hand and went home.

    The next day the children were as rude as before. Poor shy Shirley still took the smallest loaf. When she got home, her mother cut the bread open. Many new shining pieces of silver fell out of it. Her mother was very surprised and said, "Take the money back to the good gentleman at once, for it must have got into the loaf by accident. Be quick, Shirley! Be quick!"

    But when the little girl gave the rich man her mother's message, he said, "No, no, my child. It was no mistake. I put silver pieces into the smallest loaf to reward you because you are a kind and honest girl. Go home and the money is yours now."

    When I was 13 years old, the doctor said that I had a kind of attention disorder. So when everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I couldn't.

    In my first class, Mrs Green asked us to read a story and then write on it within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, "Mrs Green, you see, I have attention problems. I might not be able to do that."

    She looked at me and said, "You are no different from your classmates, young man." I tried, but I didn't finish the reading. So I took it home.

    In my bedroom, it was so quiet and the story suddenly became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn't get much education. But Louis didn't give up. Instead, he invented a reading system which opened up a new world to the blind. Wasn't I the "blind" in my class, being made to learn like the "sighted (有视力的)" students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up? I didn't expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs Green, so when it came back to me the next day with an "A" on it, I couldn't believe my eyes. At the bottom of the paper were these words, "See what you can do when you keep trying."

    I felt very sad not to be able to get the ticket to the film Titanic last Friday. I learned in the newspaper that tickets could be bought at the cinema box office in Richland Hills every day between 10：00 a.m. and 4：00 p.m. Because I work from 9：00 a.m.to 5：30 p.m., the only time I could go to the cinema was during my 45-minute lunch time. It is a pity that the cinema is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round(往返)trip in 45 minutes.

    Last Monday I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes, waiting for a bus. By the time I saw one coming around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip-so I had to go back to the office. The same thing happened on Wednesday. On Thursday my luck changed, I got on a bus right away and arrived at the cinema in twenty minutes. But when I got there, I found a long line of people at the box office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for fifty-five minutes. I found that I would not have enough time to wait in line. I caught the next bus and went back across the town.

    Then on Friday I understood my only hope was to make the trip by car. It was not cheap, but I felt it would be worthwhile to see the film. The trip by car only took 10 minutes, but it felt like one hour to me. When I reached the cinema, I was delighted to see that nobody was waiting in line. But I quickly found out that it was because they had already sold out all the tickets.