In our country we think being modest(谦虚的) is a virtue(美德) and being proud is a bad thing. One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite 1 at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself understood or the girl had not heard him 2. He said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.” 3 the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn't know 4 to say.

    What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't 5 a compliment(恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer “Thank you” instead of “No”. She 6 understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the 7, people will feel 8 and confident when they are praised. So if someone says the 9 you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you”.

    If you are modest and say, “No, I'm 10 I can't do it well”, while working in a western country, people may think that you really can not do it. If you often say, “No”, you'll certainly be looked down upon by 11. When asking 12 a job, if one says something like, “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try”, he or she will 13 get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence. In my opinion, being confident does not 14 being proud, so sometimes you should be confident 15 being modest.

    The Nobel Prize in literature for 2012(诺贝尔文学奖) is awarded to the Chinese writer Mo Yan. Mo Yan is the first Chinese1to win the world's most important literature prize.

    Mo Yan is a pen name that2“Don't Speak.” The 57-yeat-old author,3 real name is Guan Moye, was born in 1955 and grew up in Gaomi in Shandong Province. His parents were farmers. During China's Cultural Revolution (文化大革命), he left school to work4the age of 12, first in agriculture and later in a factory. In 1976, he5China's People's Liberation Army (中国人民解放军) and began to study literature and write. He was6for his novel Hong Gaoliang Jianzu in 1987. The story happens in the eastern China countryside, which was changed into7languages. That story was later made into a movie by leading Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

    But Mo Yan is not the first Chinese-languages writer to win the Nobel Prize. Chinese-born Gao Xingjian was honoured in 2000, but he left8to  live and work in France in 1987 and became a French citizen(公民).

    The Nobel Prizes include prizes for different kinds of sciences9the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Prizes10given to the winners by the Swedish King every year on the anniversary of Nobel's death.

It was Friday afternoon. The students were having the last1 of this week. At the end of the class, the teacher2 the students to bring some tomatoes in a bag to school the next Monday. "And you should give each tomato a3 of the person you don't like. If you don't like five persons, you should bring five tomatoes. "the teacher said. 

The students didn't know why, but they felt glad4 they didn't need to do homework at the weekend. On Monday, all the students brought tomatoes. Some had two, some had six, and some5 had twenty in their bags. 

The teacher said, "This week, all of you have to6 these bags with you, anywhere you go for the whole week. "The students7 happily. Then it was Friday again. The tomatoes smelt8 as they already lost their freshness. "How did you9 this week?" the teacher asked. All the students complained about (抱怨) the smell. Some also talked about the heavy weight (重量) of their bags because they carried10 tomatoes. 

The teacher smiled and said, "These tomatoes are similar (相似的) to what you carry in your 11 . When you don't like someone, you carry that hatred (厌恶) everywhere and it makes your heart12 . You can't stand the13 and weight of these tomatoes for a week. Then how can your heart stand14 feelings when you carry them every day?"

The students looked at their tomatoes and15 the teacher's words. They decided to forgive (原谅) those who had hurt them and only keep good things in mind. 

It was the last day of our final exam. On the steps of one building, a group of engineering (工程学) students were 1 their exam, which would begin in a few minutes. There was 2 on their faces. This was their last exam—then on to graduation and jobs. After four years of college, they felt 3 to see the world. 

The exam, they knew, would be easy. The professor (教授) said they could bring any books or notes they wanted. They entered the room. The professor 4 the papers. And smiles became bigger as the students saw there were only 5 essay (论文) questions. 

Three hours passed. The professor began to collect the papers. The students no longer looked confident. 6 they looked scared. The professor asked "How many of you finished all five questions?" Not a hand was 7 . 

"How many answered four?" Still no hands. "Three? Two? One; then?" But the class still stayed 8 . The professor put down the papers. "That is exactly what I expected, " he said. "I just want to tell you that9 you have finished four years of college, there are still many things you don't know. The questions you could not answer are about things you will work with every day."

Then, smiling, he added, "You will all pass this course, but remember——although you are now college graduates, your education has just started." Not everyone remembers this professor's name. But 10 of his students remember his final lesson. 

Jenny is my classmate. She is an active but a little shy girl. She always dreams of becoming a  1 . Last week, our classmates and I decided to help Jenny realize her dream. We 2 a wonderful idea to record a short interview video. We used a pen instead of the microphone. We didn't have a video3 , either. So I took the video with a mobile phone.

Jenny started to introduce herself first. She was 4 because her hands were shaking. She also couldn't help laughing when she was watched by other classmates. We did not stop the recording because it's a way to show our 5 feelings. She interviewed our classmates by asking questions like" What is your dream?" Some of them were too shy to speak 6 . Some students were outgoing and they 7 us to fight for our dreams. One student even said we could interview him next time so that he could have more time to 8 . Finally, we finished the interview successfully. Our video got popular in our school.

I think we not only helped realize Jenny's dream but also made a great 9 of our school life. Although we are not experienced, we have love and energy. We may have many 10 on the road to our dreams, but they will come true at last if we keep on with the dream, and we can also become our own heroes.

It's reported that India is facing one of the worst water shortage in its history. 26-year-old Ramveer Tanwar knew a thing or two about it years ago. The young man comes from a small village in Greater Noida in India. A trip back to his hometown has totally changed his life.

During the trip, Ramveer noticed that many lakes where he used to swim and play with his friends dried up because of pollution. What's worse, many water bodies were disappearing fast. Instead of waiting for the government to take action, the young man decided to take matters into his own hands as soon as possible.

In the beginning, Ramveer went from door to door or held meetings to educate local villagers on the importance of water protection. He believed by teaching people the situation could get better. But later he found that was not enough. So besides talking to villagers, he teamed up with them and began to bring lifeless lakes back to life in the area. "We tried making a lake live again by removing all its waste. Many of the villagers came to help. Some of them worked with us while others offered us tools (工具) and equipment," Ramveer said. They even succeeded in getting support from the forest department, which provided them with plants to be planted around the lakes. ,

Since 2014, with the help of the volunteers, Ramveer has brought about twelve dead lakes back to life. Of course, he doesn5t plan to stop there. Today he is using his power and influence to call on more people to join him.