Give water, save lives

A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.

Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked(裂开), and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.

After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.

Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi' an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.

The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water. Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou, Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.

"I've heard that some children in drought-hit areas don't have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. "I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water," he said.

Kanu and Timo are brothers. They like playing soccer very much. They often play it with their friends after school.

One day, Mom asks them to buy some eggs so she can make （做） dinner for the family. When the brothers make their way to the store, they see （看到） some of their friends playing soccer on a field （运动场）.

"Let's play soccer for a short time （一会儿） first, and then go to the store," Kanu says to Timo.

Timoagrees. Then the brothers go to the field and play with their friends. They have a lot of fun and lose track of time （忘记时间）. "Oh, no, we have to buy eggs now."

Kanu and Timo run to the store, buy some eggs and go home quickly （迅速地）. "Sorry, Mom. We are late," the brothers say. "We play soccer and lose track of time."

"Boys, it's OK, But next time, do important work （重要的工作） before （在……之前） playing, OK?" Mom says.

Here is a story: A man sees a butterfly (蝴蝶). The butterfly tries to get out of its chrysalis (蛹). Feeling sorry for it, the man decides to help. He cuts the chrysalis and the butterfly comes out easily. Surprisingly enough, the butterfly is unable to fly. If the butterfly doesn't struggle (挣扎，奋斗) to leave the chrysalis, it can't fly! The struggle develops the energy in the butterfly which makes it fly. Similarly, the challenges (挑战) of life bring out the best in young people and make them fly.

When people are young, meeting and overcoming (克服) challenges will make them strong and ready to face life. When we look at successful people, we see that the most successful of them are people who have had to struggle. One famous businessman, who now owns many supermarkets, used to carry clothes on his back and sell them from door to door when he was young. Another successful man is Dennis. His father died when he was only twenty. His father's death forced him to mature fast. He had to bring up a family of nine people. He took up the challenges and overcame them. Today his brothers and sisters are leading successful lives.

Sometimes challenges do not appear to us because we keep away from them. So some parents and teachers actively encourage young people to face challenges. They might organize some activities for young people which provide them with challenges, like rock-climbing, camping, volunteer work and so on. However, just passing exams will not prepare a person for life. We must meet and overcome challenges. The young people of today will become the leaders of tomorrow. For countries to continue to become successful, it is important that the young people learn to meet challenges and overcome them.

Jose Naranja likes traveling very much He also likes to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} diaries about his trips in notebooks However, there are some {#blank#}2{#/blank#}between Naranja's notebooks and other people's Naranja not only {#blank#}3{#/blank#} words He also draws a lot of pictures in them There are many photos too Naranja took them {#blank#}4{#/blank#}different places all over the world.

Naranja {#blank#}5{#/blank#}making such notebooks about eighteen years ago Soon he found it was a(n) {#blank#}6{#/blank#}thingand he couldn't stop doing it Now, he has twelve such{#blank#}7{#/blank#} They are so interesting that people never feel bored{#blank#}8{#/blank#} they read them 

To many people's surprise, Naranja didn't take any painting lessons." I learned how to draw all by myself I was just an engineer(工程师) before deciding to spend {#blank#}9{#/blank#}life on travel and art,"Naranja said.

From Naranja's story, we can learn that we shouldn't {#blank#}10{#/blank#}afra id to try something new. It's never too late to start it.

The seven- year- old boy Kevin likes cars. He reads about cars in magazines 1 he watches shows(表演) about cars on TV.

 He asks his parents," Could you buy me a 2 ?"" No," says Kevin's mom." You are too 3 and you can't drive a car now."" No," says Kevin's dad."A car is very 4 and we don't have so much money to buy one for you."

 Kevin is very sad. He wants a fast orange sports car! He tries to 5 one! He reads books about cars. He goes to the car factory(工厂) and watches the 6 make the cars.

 Finally, he starts making his car! He tells his parents about 7 . They say it's too hard.

8 two months, Kevin asks his parents to see his car. They are excited! It is beautiful ! It is 9 ! It is a big toy sports car! Kevin can sit in it and drive!

 Kevin's parents are 10 happy. Kevin's dad says,"I was sure you can do it!" Kevin smiles and drives away.

Some people are taking a lesson on their computers. Let's have a look.