A Second Chance

I was in fifth grade and about to take a science test. Since first grade, I had always been good at school. Simple science was easy for me and I always did well on tests. When it came to fifth-grade science, however, I was struggling (挣扎). I couldn’t seem to ________ it no matter how hard I tried. I was anxious.

My mom and dad had always been so proud of my grade, and I didn’t want to let them down. So just before the test I had written several ________ from the textbook on my desk in pencil. The writing was so light that it could hardly be seen. I sat ________ as the teacher started to hand out to the test. I didn’t want to get caught, but I didn’t want to fail, either.

As the teacher was starting down my row, suddenly the fire alarm went off. It was an unscheduled fire drill (消防演习).We all ________   out of the door and stood together, waiting to be allowed back into the building.

As I stood outside in the warm sunshine, I realized what a fool I had been. I knew my mom and dad would still love me no matter what my grade was. As soon as we came into the classroom, I walked to my desk and ________ the notes away. I had been given a second chance, and I wasn’t going to waste it. I took the test, did my best and felt ________. I don’t remember what my grade was, but what happened that day has ________ in my heart and mind ever since.

Life is full of second chances, but you have to be willing to take them. You have to be willing to accept your ________ and grow from them. Every day when you wake up, you are given a second chance at life. Treasure it! And use it wisely!

During ancient times, children didn’t have much to enjoy themselves. What did they do for fun in their childhood? Let’s have a look!

Playing diabolo	Diabolo passed down to ordinary people during the Ming Dynasty (朝代). It was always made of bamboo and wood, and was hollow (空心的) in the center. By throwing and catching diabolo on ropes, the high-speed rotating (旋转) diabolo would make a sound.
Playing stone balls	During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in winter to keep warm. Stones were carved (刻) into small balls and kicked.
Watching shadow plays	Watching shadow plays was very popular during the Tang and Song dynasties. Shadow puppets (木偶) were made from the leather (皮革) of donkeys. People controlled puppets behind the white screen, told stories and accompanied by music.
Kicking shuttlecocks	Shuttlecock kicking came into being in the Han Dynasty. A shuttlecock could be made by chicken feathers (羽毛),coins and cotton cloth. It was kicked in groups of three or four during walking or running.

The whole school was talking about the coming trip at a winter camp. Everyone was excited and looked forward to having fun at the camp. But I was quite nervous about it.

“I’ll hate it,’’ I told my parents. “I’ll get homesick. I’ll look stupid at winter sports, and everyone will laugh at me.”

“You might be surprised, Jessica,” said Mom. “The only way to find out is to try.”

“It’s what growing up is all about,” Dad added.

When arriving at the camp, we were asked to share one fear.

“I’m afraid I'll be homesick,” someone said.

I wasn’t the only one! I began to relax. After lunch, we were asked to ski down to the field. I skied carefully, but I still hit a piece of ice and fell down.

“Ha! Ha!” Behind me, somebody started laughing. I looked back to see who was making fun of me. To my surprise, I saw a girl in the same awkward (尴尬的) position as I was in. “I thought I’d be bad at this, but I’m worse than I expected!” she said.

Suddenly, I started laughing, too. After being so afraid of falling, it was a comfort not to fear it anymore.

At dinner time, I was so happy to be talking about interesting things that I forget to feel homesick.

The next day, I was chosen to try ski jumping first, even though I didn't want to. But when my feet left the ground, I felt I was flying and it was wonderful.

Maybe Mom was right when she said, “You might enjoy it if you give it a chance!’’. We all worry about not fitting in and failing when we try new things. But things are always better than we expected. We should be brave enough to have a try.

Imagine this. There’s an apple and a piece of cake on a table. Which one would you like? The delicious cake or the healthy apple?  A bestseller, Willpower Rediscovering Our Greater Strength, suggests that willpower (意志力) is the ability to make decisions that are better for us in the long term, rather than in the short term.   

Here is a famous experiment in the book: the marshmallow (棉花糖) test. In 1972, Professor Walter Mischel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-olds to six-year-olds. In the experiment, each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow on a table in front of them. They were given two choices:  they could either eat it or, if they waited fifteen minutes, they’d be given a second one and then they could eat both.

So, what did the kids do?  Well, as you can imagine, 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes. But the other 30% showed willpower they controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow. But then Mischel discovered something really interesting. Twenty years later, he got in touch with the children, who, by then, were in their early twenties. And he found that those who’d shown strong willpower were getting better marks at university and were more popular.

Willpower is like a muscle (肌肉), and the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. So, if you do daily “self-control exercises”, such as making your bed or brushing your teeth, you’ll improve your overall willpower. And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals, such as studying for an exam or training for a marathon.

Be careful though. Just like any muscle, your “willpower muscle” can get tired. If you’ve had to do lots of things that require willpower, take a break or give yourself a treat. That way, you’ll build up your willpower again.

And one last thing,  the writer mentions people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So, congratulations!

You feel happiest when you create a healthy balance between giving and receiving. If you give without spending time filling your own needs, then it’s likely you will burn out, or feel upset. When you take without giving anything back, you never feel fulfilled, so you are always searching for ways to fill the empty space in your life.

The way to create a healthy balance between giving and receiving is to know and then live by your values. I break values up into two groups which I call “being” values and “having” values.

Your “being” values are the personalities (性格) of the ideal (理想的) person you would like to be. People can choose some “being” values that they are willing to make a promise to live by. An example of some “being” values are: kind, loving, generous, peaceful, wise and even powerful. By acting on these values, you give to others through your actions and you inspire (激励) others by being a positive role model. Mastering being these personalities becomes your life purpose.

Your “having” values are the feelings you need to create in order to be happy. These could be companionship, achievement or support. This is what you receive. You take responsibility for filling your own needs by taking steps to create these feelings and conditions in your life.

When you make a promise to live by your “being” values, it becomes easier to make conscious (慎重的) choices. If you usually talk about your problems, you could choose to think and act like a calm person. A calm person might go for a walk, or set a time limit before you react. If you usually worry about something, you could choose to act like a responsible or wise person. A responsible or wise person might have the courage to deal with difficulties they meet. In other words, you would act like the person you choose to be—this is the key to personal power.

When you choose to act on your values, you not only feel good about yourself, but you make your chosen beliefs stronger. Over time acting in this way changes how you see the world, and in turn the way other people think of you.

Some scientists were studying sea turtles in Costa Rica in Central America. Suddenly they found one turtle had something sticking out of its nose. It could not breathe. At first, the scientists thought it was a worm. But when they pulled the object out, it was a plastic straw.

The waste created by plastic straws is unbelievable. In the United States alone, 500 million straws are thrown away every day. That’s enough straws to circle the Earth twice, or fill 125 school buses.

Plastic straws are almost never recycled because they’re too small and could be made from several different types of plastic. Many of them end up as litter in our streets or worse, plastic waste in our oceans. They aren’t the biggest polluter of our waterways, but they can be some of the most dangerous to sea animals. Their size makes them easy for fish or birds to eat. About 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles are found with plastic in their stomachs. When these animals eat the plastic, they have a 50% mortality rate (死亡率).

Milo Cress is a boy from Vermont, America, who wanted to reduce (减少) and possibly end the use of plastic straws in restaurants. In 2011, at the age of 9, he founded the Be Straw Free project, which focuses on building awareness (意识) about plastic waste and its effect on the environment.

“I noticed that whenever I ordered a drink at a restaurant, it would usually come with a straw in it, and I don’t usually need a straw,” Milo said. He started asking the local restaurant owners to stop providing the customer with a straw unless he or she asks for one. Many of them agreed and joined the movement. By doing that, the restaurants report a reduction in the number of straws they use between 50 and 80%.

Drinking with a straw is fun. But think twice. For anyone who really likes to use a straw, there are several ways to go. The best one is trying a reusable one, which can be washed along with dishes. Bamboo, metal and glass can be used to make reusable straws. Another one is to use paper straws, which are recyclable and can be found in attractive colors and patterns. With choices available, there’s no reason to add to the plastic straw waste problem.

39. 假如你是李华，你们学校将举办废物利用创意作品展。要求每人制作一份手工制品（hand-made crafts）。你们学校交换生Peter给你发邮件询问相关事情。请用英语回复一封邮件，告诉他展览举办的时间、地点，并分享你设计作品的一些想法。

40. 榜样是一种力量，能够带动我们努力成长。

某学校英语社团正在开展以“My Role Model”为主题的征文活动。请用英语写一篇短文投稿，谈谈你心中的榜样。内容包括：谁是你的榜样，为什么他/她是你的榜样，你从榜样身上学到了什么。