Gao Xinyi, 14, No 1 Middle School Affliated in CCNU Chao Yang School, Beijing

I was once asked to give a speech in English in front of several native speakers at an organization last summer. I was asked to talk about my experience. At the beginning, I explained to the organizers that I was afraid to speak without preparation. But they told me that I had better get over it. When I first stood up in front of the crowd, my mind went completely blank. But then I began to talk about my story and used some gestures and facial expressions. Although I didn't speak very well, I still did it.

Ye Tong, 14, Hangzhou Entel Foreign Language School, Zhejiang

    To be honest, I wasn't a brave girl. I still slept with my mother until I was a sixth-grader, because I didn't dare to sleep alone. Last year, one evening after I came back from school, my mom asked me to sleep in my own room. I thought I had grown up, so I should learn to be independent. Though I was frightened at first, I slept in my own room for the first time. I did it. I'm really proud of myself! This is the bravest thing I have ever done.

Zhang Yiyi, 14, Taiyuan Foreign Language School, Shanxi

I didn't dare to ride the roller coaster all the time. I thought it was a terrible thing. However, my friend asked me to try it when we were in Disneyland, in Hong Kong last year. I decided to take a try. It took off so fast. It was a cool feeling, like you were flying! That was extremely good fun. Someone once said, "Life is a roller coaster ride, tighten your seat belts, enjoy the journey, remember the up always has a down." That is right. I have fallen in love with the roller coaster.

    One day, Mr. Smith went to a dinner party. He was wearing very old clothes. He came into the room. But people in the room didn't look at him. They didn't ask him to sit at the table. He wasn't happy. But he said nothing.

    Mr. Smith went home quickly and put on （穿上） his best clothes. He went back to the party. Everyone in the room stood up and looked at him. They gave him good food to eat. Mr. Smith took off his coat, and put it on the food and said, “Eat, coat!” The other people were surprised and asked, “What are you doing? Why do you do that?”  Mr. Smith answered, “I am asking my coat to eat food. When I wore old clothes, you didn't look at me. You didn't ask me to sit down.

    Now I am wearing these nice clothes. And you give me good food. Now I see, you give the food to my coat, not to me.”

    It's a crazy dream! Riding from Shanghai to London! Starting on March 5, Zheng Sheng spent 136 days travelling eleven countries and finally arrived in London on July 18.

    Having studied maps for four months and borrowed（借） some money from friends, he left the company（公司） in Shanghai where he had worked for just a few months "I was very confident at the beginning, but after I left China, I felt a little worried that I might meet bad men," he said. Luckily, the trip was a safe one. Zheng believes that the safest place to sleep is somewhere people don't know about, so most of the time he slept in forests（森林）. He rode more than 100 km every day, but most of his food was just bread, as the food in Europe was too expensive. Later he learnt to add some cheese to the bread. Zheng didn't tell his parents about the trip before he left for London, as he didn't want them to worry. After he arrived home in Yunnan Province at the end of July, he finally told his mum about it.

    "I'm very confident for the future," he said, "because I know very well that everyone can do what they decide to do."

    A young boy was playing with a ball in the street. He threw(扔)it too hard and it broke(打破)the window of a house and fell(掉)inside. A woman came to the window and shouted(大喊) at the boy. The boy was afraid and ran away. But he still wanted his ball back. A few minutes(分钟)later. The boy came back and knocked(敲)at the door and said, "My father is going to come and repair(修理)your window soon."

    After a while, a man came to the door with tools(工具)in his hand, so the woman let the boy take his ball away.

    When the man finish repairing the window, he said to the woman, "Please pay ten dollars."

    "But aren't you the father of the boy?" the woman asked, looking surprised(惊奇). "No," he answered, looking more surprised, "Aren't you his mother?"

    I'll never forget the little boy called Dick. At that time, I worked in a hospital. There was a little girl. She was badly ill. The only chance to make her healthy again was a blood transfusion (输血) from her five-year-old brother Dick.

    The doctor told the boy about that and asked whether (是否) he would like to give his blood to his elder sister. Thinking of his sister, he thought for a moment, and took a deep breath. He said, "Yes, I will do this, if it saves her life."

    The moment came. His sister was lying on the bed next to him. The boy looked at her and smiled, but gradually his face became pale and his smile disappeared. He asked the doctor in a low voice, "Doctor, will I start to die right now?"

    The doctor smiled and said, "Of course not. You'll be stronger than before soon."

    The little boy thought that if he saved his sister, he would die, but he still chose to save her. What a brave boy!