Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.

   After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was backhitting the booksas hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.

   Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”

   Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No.”

“Well then,” she asked again. “What was it?”

Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking.”

For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He didn’t do much better in sports. Although he played for the school’s golf team, he lost the only important match of the season.

Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates…everyone knew it. Sparky never asked a classmate to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being refused.

However, one thing was important to Sparky – drawing. He was proud of his artwork. Of course, no one else appreciated it. In his senior year of high school, he sent some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook. Although the cartoons were turned down, Sparky was so confident about his ability that he decided to become an artist.

After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested. Sparky spent a great deal of time on it. Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been rejected（拒绝）once again. Another loss for the loser.

So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography（自传）in cartoons. He described his childhood – a little boy loser and underachiever. The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide. For Sparky, the boy who had little success in school and whose work was rejected again and again was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip and little cartoon character – Charlie Brown.

  I still remember that day. I was waiting to get some money for shopping in a bank.  (1)  the crowd, I noticed a little boy carrying some sunglasses in one hand and a big bag in the other.

    The boy was about l0 years old. He was walking around the people inside the bank and asked them to buy his sunglasses. But  (2)  would buy any from him. He tried from one person to another. From the look on his face, I knew he would not ))  (3)   anyway.

    Now, I decided to have a talk with him. I went up and asked, "Do you go to school?" He nodded his head. Then I continued, "Why do you sell sunglasses?" He said nothing. I gave him $20 and said that I was not in  (4)  of the sunglasses but he could keep the money. To my  (5)   , his face changed a lot, which is still in my memory" today.

    I didn't know  (6)   to say next. Then he replied, " Either you buy sunglasses or you  (7)  back the money. I don't need your pity. " I felt very   (8)   for what I did, and I told him that I would buy two pairs.

    I took these sunglasses home and kept asking myself, "Did such a young boy need to do it for his self-respect(自尊)?" He could ____  (9)   take the $20 and left. But he chose to sell his sunglasses and get the money not because of others'   (10)  . I will remember this lesson forever.

    Chen Guangbiao was born in Jiangsu in July,1968. He is the chairperson of a company in Jiangsu. Now he is one of China's richest men and he has donated a great amount of money to charity projects. He says he will donate everything he has to charity after he dies.

    When people are in need of help, he will appear at once. He helped people during the Wenchuan earthquake, the Yunnan earthquake and the Taiwan earthquake. He also gave a helping hand in Japan's earthquake. He has built many Hope Primary Schools to support the education in poor areas.

    He doesn't do charity for honour. He wants to encourage more people to make contributions to charity. After announcing he would donate everything to charity after his death, many businesses, overseas(海外)Chinese people and common people encouraged by him have also promised to do something for charity.

    As a philanthropist(慈善家),he is asked for help every day. Sometimes he gets very tired, but he has never stopped caring.

    So far, he has received a lot of awards, including Pioneer of the Year, and National May Day Labour Medal(全国五一劳动奖章). He is considered as one of china' s top philanthropists.

Jakie Chan was born on April 7，1954 in Hong Kong，China．His parents left mainland China for Hong Kong a short time before he was born．His parents named Film“Chan Kong-sang”，which means“born in Hong Kong”．They wanted to celebrate a safe trip to Hong Kong。

At first，Jakie’s family 1ived in the French Embassy(大使馆)．His father was a cook，and his mother was a housekeeper．When Jakie was seven years old，his family moved to Australia，his father then got a job in the American Embassy．Later，back in Hong Kong，Jakie’s father sent him to the China Drama Academy．Jakie studied and worked 19 hours a day．The students practiced Kung Fu and learned how to do many stunts(特技)there。

When Jakie was 17，he began to do dangerous stunts for films．In the early 1980s，Jakie went to Hollywood，but he wasn’t very successful。He went on to make films in Hong Kong and had great success．Finally，in 1995，Jakie Chan became famous in the United States．Today，Jakie Chan has both Chinese and American fans and his filmes make millions of dollars．

 The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning in my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my children to leave home and go to a new place — university. I felt so light-hearted after spending many years looking after my four children — cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them hew to look after themselves and manage many other things — that I actually thought "At last, I was free".

   But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was joyful, I realized I had not been really prepared for this day. I was too busybringing upthese adults of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and live by themselves.

   At first I didn't know what I wanted to do. I tried a part-time job, the result of which was that I ran out in tears. I started another business, but that didn't work, either. I grew my own vegetables and fruit, which lasted 3 years. But one day my doctor advised it was not fit for me to do this because of the pain of my feet.

   I began wondering whether I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn't known or wanted anything different.

   Then one day I saw an advertisement for foster(代养的) parents. I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and then I rang up the number. A week later, a girl named Tracy became a member of my family.

   I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my kitchen is dirty and in a mess and my bathroom is totally out of order. I now know, 8 years later, the meaning of my doing all these things with the spare hours, days, and weeks when my last child flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.

Every has a place which he remembers most from his childhood(童年)，and so do I. One of the places I remember from my childhood is a       (1)    inthe country. It belonged to my parents. I spent my summers in that place   (2)   I was a teenager(青少年)， and now I begin to miss the farm again.

  It was lovely to   (3)   there. There were a lot of   (4)  ----cows, sheep, hens, and naturally dogs and cats. My sister and I   (5)   helped to work on the farm. We helped the people graze(放牧) sheep or make bread or cheese. I can still remember that on Tuesdays we  (6)  the bread and on Thursdays, the cheese.

 I love that farm because I  (7)  to love animals and not to be afraid of them there. We saw a sheep give birth to its baby there, and we enjoyed staying there to see how lovely the   (8)   sheep was.

    Now my sister and her son are  (9)  this place. My nephew(侄子) is    (10)  with the place. I hope that he has a good time there and when he is older, he will remember the place as I do.

  At the first day of my senior high school, I met a nice teacher. She looked at me and said, "I am happy to have an international student in my class." I was very excited.

      One day I was three minutes late for school. She told me to write my name and the word "late" on a piece of paper. In that way she could know I was late for the first time. At the beginning, I was angry. But later I understood why she did that. She did it because she wanted to teach me an important lesson(教训): time is valuable(宝贵的).

      I learnt another important lesson during my first exam. After finishing my exam paper, I did not review the answers because it was the end of the exam time. One week later, she returned my exam paper. I found that one of my answers was wrong. Although A, B and C were the only choices(选择) on the paper, I chose D, but not C. I tried to explain my mistake, "I chose D although I knew C was the right answer." However, she told me, "I do believe you, but I am not going to forgive your mistake. This will remind(提醒) you to be more careful before you hand in your papers." I knew she was right.

                                                            Linda.