It was a fine afternoon. As I was riding a bike home from my office as usual, I noticed a person cycling in front of me, about 300 metres away. I could tell he was a little _________ than me and I decided to try to catch up with him. It was about one kilometre to go on the road _________ I had to turn off, so I started cycling faster and faster.

Every block, I was gaining on him just a little bit. In a few minutes, I was only about 100 metres behind him. I got so _________ that I really picked up speed, trying my best to push myself. Maybe you have _________ I was cycling in an Olympic triathlon(三项全能运动).

_________ I made it. I passed him by and felt pretty good on the inside at that moment. I beat him, of course, but he didn’t even know we were _________. He was still cycling slowly along the street.

And after riding past him, I was _________ that I had missed my turn as a result of being so focused(专注的) on competing with him. I had gone almost six blocks further and had to _________ and go all the way back.

Isn’t that what happens in life when we pay too much attention to _________ with co-workers, neighbours, friends or even strangers, trying to pass them and prove that we are more __________? We spend our time and energy chasing after them and at last we miss out on our own __________. What’s even funnier is that we just put on a one-man show, for the people we see as our opponents(对手) may know __________ about it.

The __________ of such unhealthy competition is that it’s a never-ending cycle. There will always be somebody ahead of you in one way or another, someone with a better job, a nicer car, more money in the bank, etc. So, don’t __________ yourself in the event of endless comparison.

Take what life has given you: the height, weight and personality. Dress well and wear it proudly. Stay focused and live a __________ life. There’s no competition in destiny(命运). Run your own race and wish others well!

How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy. Over the centuries people have developed different ways of telling the time.

About 5,500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow (影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3,500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could measure the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows from one container to another, When the water reaches a certain level, it moves a lever (控制杆) and this shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3,400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.

In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries, it was developed. For example, springs (发条) were added around 1,500. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1936 the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It’s easy for ordinary people to own a clock, People began depending on then more and more to ran business, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And nowadays satellites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.

There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change. Many of us still have trouble getting out of bed on time and not missing appointments.

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