I'm the type of guy who believes you can achieve anything you set your mind to, if you give it your all and don't give up. _________, when I decided to write a novel, it didn't matter to me that I had never done anything like that before. What did matter to me was that I had a great story in my head, a story that needed to be _________.

What I thought would take a couple of months or a couple of years. After five months of writing, I at last _________ the “finish line”—that magical day when you type “THE END”. Okay, so I wrote a manuscript（手稿）. The first thing I did was to copy it, followed by sending it out to all of my friends who _________ a lot, to get creative criticism（批评）. And then it was back to rewriting the story. Next, I hired a professional（专业人员）, who gave me great _________, which meant more rewriting. I soon learned a lesson in writing-writing is rewriting. There would always be _________ for improvement.

I had rewritten the manuscript time and time again for two years, and in the process, I learned _________ to write. Looking back, I had no idea how long it was going to take or how hard it was going to be. Writing the manuscript was the easy part, while going on the way to write a _________ book was the hard part.

Pursuing（追求）my dreams has made all the difference. Life is a journey. I can't see what _________ ahead, but I know one thing for sure: When I look _________ I see the things that I've achieved and I smile with pride.

Once a circle lost a piece of its own. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was not complete, it could only roll very slowly. It enjoyed the flowers and the sunshine along the way. It talked with worms. It found lots of different pieces. But none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on looking for the missing piece.

Then one day, the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. The circle put the missing piece into itself. It could be whole with nothing missing. It was so happy and began to roll. As it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to see flowers or talk to worms. It realized how different the world was when it rolled so quickly. It felt so sad that it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled away slowly.

Sometimes we are perfect when we lose something. A man who has everything is a poor man in some ways. He will never have hopes, dreams or something better. He will never know someone is loving him or someone is giving him something he has always wanted or never had.

We couldn’t be perfect, but we must be brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, kind enough to share happiness with others and clever enough to know there is enough love around us and then we can always live a wonderful time in our lives.

Entering high school means you have to make more effort on study. There are a few tried and tested skills that have always proved effective for learning. Here are some of them.

Firstly, make a timetable and follow it. This will include how many hours and which part of the day you will spend studying. Try to make sure that your study time takes place after you have rested so that you are fresh and can learn effectively. You will find that studying at the same time every day will help you concentrate better. It's also important to keep improving your timetable, to make it more effective over time.

Secondly, pick a place that will help you concentrate on study. The place should be far away from loud sounds which make you uncomfortable and prevent you from concentrating on your study.

High school study skills include a method called SQ3R. The first step is to survey what needs to be covered in order to get a general understanding of the subject. Next, you can learn about the material by answering questions such as what, why, how, when, who and where. As you study, ask yourself questions and look for the answers in your material. The third step is to read and then recite what you have read. The last step, reviewing, is often the most important one. People need to review any material about three times, before they keep it well in their minds.

Besides these study tips, you can come up with several of your own study skills for school. However, remember that time is the most valuable thing you have. All the study skills for high school will be nothing, if you don't use your time wisely.

An old farmer lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early to read his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the Bhagavat Geeta just like you but I don't understand it. What good does reading the Bhagavat Geeta do?”

The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told to, but all the water leaked out（漏出）before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. He told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water with a basket.

The old man said, “You're just not trying hard enough,” So the boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. He said, “See Grandpa, it's useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

“You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Krishna in our lives.”

Another popular tool for finding a job is the Internet. For example, people around the world can use the Craigslist Web site to buy things, meet people or find a job.     35    

Another useful way to find a job is through a university.     36     Many college students like this way better.

At times, some experts can also help people find a job. Susan has her own business called California Job Services in Los Angeles. She says her business helps people find a job by first helping them understand their strong points, aims and interests.     37     So with her help, many people have succeeded in finding a good job.

When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks each summer with our uncle. He was a geologist（地质学家）and loved to go on long walks to find stones to add to his collection.

One day, we left early, and this time, our uncle had bought us bags. “You can help me carry the samples（样本）,” he explained.

The whole day, we walked around and our uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit surprised that he also took some stones out from our bags at times.

When we reached the house in the late afternoon, we were tired out. The bags were so heavy. Yet our uncle’s backpack was half-empty.

“Why did you give us so many stones?” we asked.

“I didn't. You did,” he said, waiting for a while before continuing. “You did not know it, but I made you go through a little attitude（态度）test today. ”

“What do you mean an ‘attitude test’?” we wanted to know.

“It is something someone once did to me and I shall always remember it. You see, I listened to every word you said. And whenever you complained about anyone or anything, I added a stone to your bags. And whenever you talked about something with an attitude of positive（正面的）thinking, I took out a stone. Your negative（负面的）thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones in a bag. The more negative thoughts you have, the heavier your mind is. So look at those bags and start paying attention to what you say and how you say things.”

This little lesson was one of the most important I ever had. And I remember my uncle with great love for teaching us one of the most important lessons in life—the power of attitude.

56. 中央电视台少儿英语栏目（CCTV English Channel for Children）正在招收一名小记者，请你根据下面的提示写一封求职信，推荐自己担任该栏目的小记者。

Yours sincerely