As we all know, Chinese students are hard-working. But they’re   (1)  at the same time.

At school, they have to follow the strict school  (2)  . For example, they   (3)   have long hair or wear strange (奇怪的) clothes.

And at home, they’re always busy with their homework and they don’t have any free time to do what they like. Once (一旦) they don’t do well in exams, their parents will lose   (4)   for them.

On weekends, their parents tell them to take part in different classes they don’t like. They always feel   (5)   and bored. They   (6)   interest in school things slowly. Some students can’t   (7)   it and leave home. Because their parents only care about children’s study and they never   (8)   what they want.

“Many students can do nothing   (9)   study. Some students even don’t know  (10)   to get on well with others and how to take care of others,”said an expert (专家).

   “This is a serious problem. It’s necessary for us to think it over and solve it well,”said another expert.

Once there was a little girl living in a small, poor house on a hill. As she grows up, she began to play in her small   (1)  , she was able to see over the garden and across the valley a wonderful house high on the hill -and that house had  (2)  windows.

Although she loved her family, she   (3)   about how wonderful and exciting it must be to live in that golden house all day.

Then she  (4)   the age when she could play outside of her garden fence(篱笆），she asked her mother   (5)   she could go for a bike ride outside the gate. Her mother thought for a while and   (6)  allowed her to go. The little girl rode her bike   (7)  she got to the gate of the golden house.

As she leaned(倚靠）her bike   (8)  the gatepost, she focused on the path that   (9)  to the house and then on the house   (10)   and was so   (11)   . All the windows were plain(普通的)brand rather dirty.

   She was so sad that she didn't go any further. Heartbroken, she rode her bike back. As she  (12)  , she saw a sight that amazed her. There   (13)   the valley on the other side was a little house. Its windows glistened（闪耀）golden as the   (14)  shone on her little house.

   She   (15)  hat she had been living in her golden house all along. Everything she dreamed was right there in front of her eyes and in her daily life!

Planting flowers is my favorite   (1)  because I can learn something new from it.

I bought a flower pot (盆) and some flower seeds (种子) last week. Then I put some seeds in the pot. After a few days,   (2)   happened. But I didn’t give up watering. Another ten days later, I   (3)  the young plants come out. I felt very   (4)  because I could grow something.

Just like growing flowers, we can also plant happiness. Our life is   (5)   an empty (空的) pot. We have lots of things to do, but we   (6)  do them. That means we lose many things. What are the   (7)   things？Yes, they’re the seeds of   (8)  , love and dreams.

What should we plant in life? If we plant negative thoughts (消极思想) inside our   (9)  , we will feel sad in the future days; If we plant seeds of hope, we will get   (10)  .

Once my mother told me a story about the antelope (羚羊) and the lion in Africa. When an antelope wakes up every morning, the first thing it thinks about is,“I must be able to run  （1）  than the fastest lion, or I will be killed.”At the same time, a lion wakes from its dream. The first thing it thinks about is, “I must be able to   (2） ____  the slowest antelope, or I will be hungry.” So, almost at the same time, the antelope and the lion get up and start running toward the rising sun.

This is life: full of   （3）_____ . Whether you are an antelope or a lion, you must go ahead when the sun rises. For students, it is just the same. If we donˈt study hard, we will fall behind the other students.  （4） _____, I did not know what the word “exam” meant. Later, I knew an exam was a kind of competition. In competitions, there were   （5）_____  winners and losers. As I grew up, I began to understand what competition is about. In oneˈs life, there must be competitions, so people can  （6）______ .

Each time I saw little children playing games, and heard   （7）______  laughter, I wished I were that age again. However, I remembered my parentsˈ words: “You must work very hard in order to have a good future.” So I picked up my   （8） ______  and began to study hard again.

However, I was still not sure what competition really meant. One day, I took part in an English-speaking competition. When I went on the stage, I saw other students   （9）______ me kindly. I suddenly knew that competition was not always as cruel as my teachers and parents told me. Sometimes it could be   （10）________ .

I learned a lot from realizing this fact. Now I understand more about competition.

As we all know, Chinese students are hard-working. But they’re   (1)  at the same time.

At school, they have to follow the strict schoo  (2)  . For example, they  (3)   have long hair or wear strange (奇怪的) clothes.

And at home, they’re always busy with their homework and they don’t have any free time to do what they like. Once (一旦) they don’t do well in exams, their parents will lose   (4)   for them.

On weekends, their parents tell them to take part in different classes they don’t like. They always feel   (5)  and bored. They   (6)  interest in school things slowly. Some students can’t   (7)   it and leave home. Because their parents only care about children’s study and they never   (8)   what they want.

“Many students can do nothing  (9)  study. Some students even don’t know  (10)   to get on well with others and how to take care of others,”said an expert (专家).

   “This is a serious problem. It’s necessary for us to think it over and solve it well,”said another expert.

A good memory is a great help in learning a language. Everybody   (1)   his own language by remembering what he   (2)   when he is a small child. Some boys and girls who live in foreign countries   (3)   their parents seem to learn two languages almost as   (4)  as one. At school it is not easy to learn   (5)  second language because the pupils have   (6)  time for it, and they are busy with other subjects, too.

A man’s mind is rather   (7)   a camera. It takes photos not only of what we see, but of what we feel, hear, smell and taste.   (8)  we take a real photo with a camera, we have much to do before the photo is finished and ready to   (9)   it to our friends. In the same   (10)  , there is much work to be done before we can take a picture forever in our mind.

  (2)  ideas from you, and some like doing the same things as you. Do you like friends different from  (3)  the same as you? You may like the friends who have the same hobbies as you. But I don’t really  (4)   .

I have two good friends, Peter and James. Peter is like me. I’m  (5)   than most of the students in my class, and Peter is also quiet. And we  (6)   like going shopping. On weekends, we often go to the  (7)  to buy something. But the other friend of mine , James, is quite different from me. He is more outgoing , and he likes  (8)   funny stories and always makes me laugh. He also likes books, so he usually goes to the library and does some  (9)   there. You see,friendsare not   (10)   to be the same. Do you think so?

Some people think the greatest invention in the world is electricity, while others believe computers are the most   (1)   in modern society．But I think the invention of books is the greatest.

   A famous person has ever said, “Books are the best   (2)  .” Exactly! That's   (3)  I would like to say first. In the long history of humans, books have played an important part in spreading knowledge. And even today, the situation is   (4)  the same. Each year, millions of books are published (出版)in the world. Knowledge   (5)  our lives. People can make a difference by reading books. If a knowledgeable person wants to express some new ideas, he or she will probably choose to write a book.

   Books provide us with   (6)  ideas. And we make our own decisions to choose any one that fits   (7)  . Or you may choose none of them, just like me, instead of following books'   (8)  . I choose “books” as the greatest invention in my eyes.

   Books are thought of as teachers without   (9)  . But how are books different from our real teachers? I think the fact is that if a real teacher advises me to choose electricity or the computer as my topic today, you can imagine how much courage I will need to   (10)  . So don't you think it's more relaxing to choose books as your “teachers”?

Life is not easy, so I’d like to say,” When anything happens, believe in yourself.”

When I was 14, I was   (1)   nervous to talk in public. My classmates often laughed at me. I was sad but could do   (2)  . Later something happened. It   (3)   my life. It was an English speech contest (比赛). My mother asked me to   (4)   part in it. What a terrible idea!

It meant I had to  (5)  infront of all the teachers and students of my school! “Come on, boy. Believe in yourself. You are sure to  (6) .” Then mother and I talked about many different topics.

At last I chose the topic “Believe in yourself”. I tried   (5)   best to remember all the speech and practiced it over 100 times.   (6)   my mother’s great help, I did well in the contest. I could hardly (几乎不) believe my ears when the news came ——I won the first place. I heard the cheers from the teachers and students. Those   (7)   looked down on (瞧不起) me before, but they now all said congratulations to me. My mother hugged (拥抱)me and cried excitedly.

From then on, everything changed. When I do anything, I tell myself to be   (8)   and I will find myself. This is true not only for me but also for you.

It is not easy for people to sail (航海) around the world in quite small boats. Sometimes the weather gets bad. Accidents(事故) can happen easily and quickly.

One family once had an accident. A big fish swam under their boat and bit holes(洞) in it. Sea water came in and the boat soon went down. Luckily these people had another small boat——a lifeboat, so they all got into the lifeboat. They lived in the boat for many days. They ate and slept, and always hoped. At last people in a ship saved them.

How do people live in a very small lifeboat for a long time? They must be strong in every way. They must have a hope, and they must have a strong desire（愿望）to live. People cannot drink seawater. If they drink a lot of sea water, they will quickly die. They must catch rainwater and drink it. They must also catch fish and birds for food. Lifeboats do not often carrycookers. So people cannot cook their food in the lifeboats. Raw (生的) fish and birds are not very nice but they are their only food. They must eat raw food, or they will die.