Mary is worried about her 16-year-old daughter，Sophia．One day，Sophia comes back from a party，upset and unhappy．From then on，she  1  nothing but how to lose weight and become beautiful．She refuses to eat and keeps on2exercise．Sophia has always been a little heavy，so Mary encourages her to go on a diet．She feels that her daughter would  3  more attractive(有吸引力的)if she lost 5 kilograms．However，Sophia has lost over 10 kilograms until now．Her eating and exercising habits are having a harmful effect(影响)on her  4 ． She is too thin and is often sick．

    Her mother is trying to prevent her from going on a diet and  5 weight，but Sophia thinks that she is still too heavy and refuses to start eating as  6 ． Sophia's mind is full of the idea of looking like a model. Every day she goes to a club to do exercise．Sometimes she 7 her time reading magazines like Fashion&Beauty．The models in these magazines are very thin and beautiful．Sophia says “If I look like these models. I will be happy and the boys will like me．”

    Mary feels sorry for having encouraged her at first，because Sophia 8 feels good or pleased with her body．She's afraid that Sophia will never be happy  9 she always compares herself with the models in the magazines．Mary tries to tell Sophia that true 10  comes from the heart．The most ordinary face becomes beautiful when the person is filled with confidence．

    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.

Kevin sat at the desk in his study, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. "I don't know what to1," he complained to his dog, who was asleep at his feet. Kevin was talkative when speaking to his friends, yet he had2finding words he had to write.

    By bedtime Kevin had drawn a picture of his dog smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches(树枝) blowing in a high wind. He had also written a3asking his friend to go to the movies on Saturday.4he had not written a single word of his story.

    On Wednesday, Mrs Scott, Kevin's English teacher, asked the class to5the first draft() of their stories. Kevin had to turn in the only work that he had—the page with his name, the6, and the note.

Kevin wasn't7when Mrs Scott asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what8said to him. "Kevin, this is a fantastic story—the dog, the movie, the tree in the9. I can't wait to find out how they all fit together. I think you have the idea of a story there. Look at your note and the pictures and try to see10a story comes to you."

That night Kevin sat at his desk, and this was what he wrote: "One Saturday Tom went to meet his friend at the11. It looked as if it might rain, so Tom12his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in. The noise of the wind13like Tom's dog Spotty. Spotty really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Tom saw Spotty running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was full of blame(责备). Tom felt14because he had left Spotty outside. He turned and headed home with Spotty. Tom let Spotty in the door just and the rain started to pour down."

    Kevin had a story after all. The last thing he did was to write his name15at the top of the page.

    My name is John. I was a quiet boy at school. I wanted to do well in my study, 1it was not easy. I was trying to make high grades. However, I just could not find a 2 to do as well as the very smart kids. I became 3 and lost hope. I just started not to care about the grades and4 I would graduate(毕业) or not.

    Then one day I suddenly realized there were not5days of school left.  It scared me. I was6 an F in my English class all because of nay attitude(态度). I tried to blame(责备) it on nay7 , but the fact was that the only person stopped me from8 the exam was myself. So, I wanted to change. From that day on, I started working really 9 . And I kept asking for 10 when I couldn't work out the problems. A few weeks later, I was glad to see my grades go 11little by little.

    At the end of the school year, my teacher 12 me in the hallways. She told me she was proud of my coming back and she was glad to see my 13 . What she said to me made me feel so good. When I graduated from school, I felt I was the 14person in the world.

    Believe in yourself and try your best. 15 good studying ways and hard work, everyone can learn better and better.