When I was in Grade 6, I knew a girl. She 1 to point out my shortcomings and always said I was very thin, I wasn't a good student, and so on. I tried not to care what she said. 2 , I became very 3 in the end. I cried and ran to Daddy.

    Daddy asked, “Are the things she says true or not? Lisa, didn't you ever 4 what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's 5 . Go and make a 6 of everything she said and 7 the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

    To my 8 , I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't 9 (like being very thin), 10 a good number I could and suddenly I11to change. For the first time I got a clear 12 of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy. He 13 to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the 14  about yourself. But you have to learn to 15 . Don't just close your ears in anger, feeling 16 . When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be 17 to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don't 18 your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is 19 .”

    In my life, this is the best 20 that Daddy has given me.

    Mr. Black was a wealthy businessman, but he was not 1 with life. He did not sleep well and his food did not 2with him. The situation lasted for some time. Final­ly, after a  3of sleepless nights, he 4to see his doctor. The doctor ad­vised a change of  5  "Go abroad," he said. "But I'm not good at foreign languages," said Mr. Black. "It doesn't matter," said the doctor. "It won't 6 you to talk a little less. 7 on a trip. Take plenty of exercise. Try to8 your weight. Avoid (避免) eating rich food. " Mr. Black went to Switzerland. He did not know French or Ger­man, and had to 9  himself through gestures. He attended a physical training course. The instructor（指导者） 10 him bend his knees, swing his arms, stretch his neck and shake his  11.He had to lie on the ground and  12  his right and left legs in 13.  After a time his muscles grew hard and firm. He almost14 aside his financial(金融的) worries and nearly forgot the importance of 15 more money. He even began to  16individual trees and individual birds.  He ate and slept well. 17 he returned home.  But unfortunately his18 did not19 long. Soon he was a normal businessman again, worried about his property, his profits, his savings, his success in a competitive society, and things in20.

    During World Space Week(October 4～10)，you may learn about some of the space's myths. One is: “The Great Wall of China is the only man­made object1from space with the naked eye.”

    You might be2of this claim, but it's not true. In fact, astronauts say that the Great Wall is just one of many man­made3can be seen from space. From an orbit 217 kilometres4the earth，it is5to see highways，airports，bridges, dams and even large6.

    Cities can even be seen clearly from the International Space Station ( ISS, 国际空间站)，7circles about 400 kilometres above the planet. “You can see the8pyramids from space with a pair of binoculars(双筒望远镜). They are a little difficult to9with just your eyes，” said Ed Lu, a US astronaut10the ISS.

    “With binoculars  you  can  also see  roads, harbours and even very large11in the ocean. From the moon, astronauts cannot12any man­made features on earth and the continents are very hard13. On Mars，the earth would appear to the naked eye as14but a bright 'star'. ”15what about the Great Wall? “You can see the Great Wall from space，”Lu said. “But it's a lot16than a lot of other objects. You can only see it in radar images，17in ordinary photographs.”

    No one knows who18the Great Wall story. The earliest reference to it comes in a book by a US writer Richard Halliburton，published in 1938. He wrote，“Astronomers say that the Great Wall is the only man­made thing on our planet visible to the human eye from the moon.”

    Halliburton's books19quite well during the first half of the 20th century. So，if he didn't20the story himself，he certainly spread it widely.

    I fell in love with reading when I was a child. Through reading, I developed a good 1 with my parents.

    2 as a second-generation South Korean in America, I was raised in an environment in which my parents 3 to settle in American culture. My parents were awkward, strange and different. Their limitations as immigrants(移民) 4 me; as a child, I was alone and quiet. I grew up in a family where I was 5 to speak English. I wanted to 6 the depth of the books I read but the words 7 me, like my parents. I wasn't able to change the situation 8 I was placed in, but I worked very hard. Every 9, I went to the library to check out new books. I would have 10 reading all the books by Friday afternoons. I became a better 11. Pretty soon, I was the 12 reader in the class. People would look at me in 13 as they saw me read 500-page books in only a few days. But I believe the greatest 14 was reading every night to my parents. Every evening, we 15 together in our living room, and I read to them. Slowly but surely, our 16 grew. My parents can communicate with others 17; for me, grammar quizzes became a piece of cake.

    Today I'm 18 to have Asian-American parents who were 19 enough to learn English from a young boy and wise enough to 20 their son to read at a young age.

    “We have visitors this morning,” Ms. Myers told Class 5. “A journalist and a photographer from the newspaper are doing an article about our new school1. And some of you will be in the photo.”

    The kids were2, except for Brad. He knew he wouldn't be in the photo. Brad was small. Kids were always making jokes about how3he was.

    “They won't put Brad in the photo,” John said. “You'd need a magnifying glass（放大镜）to see him.” The other kids 4. Brad grinned (smiled widely), even though John's comment was rude. He5grinned when people made jokes like that. He figured they didn't mean to hurt his feeling.

    The newspaper people6half an hour later. The journalist was called Tegan and the photographer was a short, fit-looking guy named Rick. Tegan7to the class about how a journalist had to8clear sentences and paragraphs, and then Rick told them about some amazing9he'd taken. Once he had to hang on a rope from a cliff(悬崖) to take shots of a10.

    “I could be a photographer,” thought Brad. I'm not afraid of11. I wouldn't weigh much on a rope, either.

    “Any questions you want to ask our12?” said Ms. Myers.

    Brad put his hand up. “Rick? What things don't you like to photograph?”

    “13are tricky,” Rick said. “Once I had to photograph a mother duck that was looking after a baby duck. She thought I was trying to14the baby duck, so she started hitting me with her wings. Picking on a little guy like me!”

    Class 5 laughed again, and Brad grinned, too. It's OK when you make jokes about15, he thought. It was jokes from other people that could hurt.

Time to take photos. Rick said, “I'll have them.” pointing to 6 kids, Brad16. Brad could hardly believe it.

    In the hall, Rick put them in front of the new library's big painting of stars and planets and books. “It's big, eh?” he said. “We'll get you guys to17in front of it, so it looks even bigger.”

    “Is that why you picked Brad?” called one of the Class 5 kids. “So it looks really big?”

Some people laughed. Brad started to grin, as he usually did.18Rick shook his head. “No way,” he said. “I picked him because he's got a19two miles long.”

    He looked at Brad and said, “Plus, this guy is20inside, where it matters. Right, mate?”

This time, Brad spoke before he could think. “Inside, I'm three miles long.”

    Class 5 laughed again. But Brad knew that they were laughing with him, not at him.

Sometimes, in this world, champions come from the most humble places. This tale begins in Nigeria, a country whose people are1. It begins with a young boy who2of something he has no frame of reference for, but even so, he made it because of his3and strong will.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, recently4a rather impressive honor. He took first place in the New York State Scholastic Championships tournament at the beginning of 2019. For those who aren't aware, chess is a two-player strategy board game that is5in its rules but complex in its gameplay. It's not a game that's easy to6, and Tanitoluwa's life has never been easy.

In 2017, Tani's Christian family was forced to7their home in northern Nigeria for fear of 8by the Boko Haram terrorist organization. They moved to New York. It's not9for a family to make their way in the so-called "New World". Still, a year after they10, Tani began to thrive (显露头角) even while his family lived in a New York homeless11. Tani took up chess in 2018 and despite his young age, he seemed to be a talent at the12. He played at the shelter at first, learning the13strategy. With each hour of practice, Tani continued to14. Eventually, he found his way to New York State Scholastic Championships tournament and went undefeated throughout the15. He beat out player from elites (精英) who had private chess tutors to teach themselves 16, eventually claiming a victory. His parents were very 17, as was Tani himself.

Tani has 18 his dream and become a famous chess player. He certainly goes a long way, 19he still has a very long way to go, and we've no20 he will be more successful.