Everyone wants a blue ribbon (丝带). Blue is the first place. Even kindergarten children (幼儿园小孩) ________ that blue ribbon. In sports, I was never a winner.

During the spring of my kindergarten year, our class had a field trip in a nearby park. We planned to have a race. However, it was not a common race. It was called the three-legged race. Our feet were tied together with a little red ribbon. One ________ boy got me for a partner. He almost always won, but I knew that, with me, he didn’t have a chance. Certainly, he didn’t ________ that at first.

The gun sounded, and we were off to the other side. ________ were falling around us but we stayed on our feet. Only one other pair even had a chance. Unluckily, only one foot away from the finish line, I fell down. We were close enough that my partner could have ________ pulled me across the finish line and won. But he didn’t. Instead, he stopped and helped me up, just as the other couple crossed the finish line. I still remember that moment, and I still ________ that little red ribbon.

When we graduated many years later, I stood on that stage and gave the valedictory address (告别演说) to that ________ group of students, none of whom even remembered that moment any more. So, I told them about that little boy who had made a ________ that helping a friend up was more important than winning a blue ribbon. I keep that ribbon ________ it is a reminder that you don’t have to be a winner in the eyes of the world, but to be a winner to those closest to you. The world may judge you a failure or a success, but those closest to you will know the ________ . That’s important to remember as we travel through this life.