【推荐1】My name is Olivia. I am 8 years old and live in Maine. My parents were separated (分开) from each other two years ago. This caused a lot of changes in my life.

Before my mom and dad got separated, I lived a normal life. I was surprised when they told me their decision. On my dad’s last day at home, I felt very sad. So did my dad.

After my mom and dad got divorced (离婚), my dad moved to a different town. My mom and I also moved. I missed my dad. These are all things that changed in my life. But there are lots of things that did not change. I still go to the same school. When changes happened in my family, it took a while to get used to them. It was at first to understand what was going on and what would happen next. I felt worried and stressed. Sometimes I missed my dad a lot after he moved and I felt lonely without him. I began to be more afraid of things, like the dark, and sleeping on my own. Talking with social workers was helpful. With their help, I got through the most difficult parts of my parents’ divorce. So when you are in trouble in life, don’t feel shy or worried about asking questions and you can turn to them for help.

If big changes happen in your life, you may feel lonely and worried about who will take care of you. You may be angry at your parents’ decisions. You could feel all kinds of these feelings. But that is normal. Just remember life changes. The most important is that you have to learn to fit in with these changes. Now I am used to the changes that divorce brought to me. What has helped me most is writing down my thoughts along the way. I hope you can benefit from my story.

【推荐3】Most people want themselves to be happy forever, but few know how to find happiness. Others say if you own lots of money and success, you will be happy.     1     A famous Greek thinker, Aristotle, said, “Happiness depends on(取决于) ourselves.” That’s to say, we make our own happiness.     2    

The first secret of happiness is to enjoy the simple things in life.     3     For example, getting into college or getting a good job, which makes us fail to enjoy the present. You should enjoy life’s simple pleasures, such as reading a good book, listening to your favorite music, or spending time with close friends. If you live with a few close friends, you will feel happier and healthier.

    4     Many people go dancing or do sports. People can forget about their problems and only think about the activities.

Finally, many people find happiness in helping others. Studies show that people feel good when they spend their time helping others.     5     You can help a friend with his or her studies, go shopping or help out with some things around the house for an elderly person. If you can do that, you will feel happy.

During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong asked Feng Deyi to look for talented people.     1    

“I tried my best, but there are not unusual people at all.” Feng said.

“People are like tools. What we need to do is to make good use of their talent. You should check yourself for not noticing talented people.     2    ” said the emperor.

It is really true that each tool has a specific use.     3     We can’t use a knife as chopsticks. Like a tool, each person has a special talent. Nobody is perfect. We can’t expect a person to be good at everything.

With this idea in mind, Emperor Taizong discovered many talented people of different backgrounds. He offered them important positions, which helped them make the most of their talents.     4     Ma gave a lot of useful advice, so Emperor Taizong offered him a position and promoted (晋升) him many times.     5     During that period, the important officials around Emperor Taizong, such as Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, Li Jing, all were the brightest and the best of the time with their own strong points.

Emperor Taizong’s talented people helped the society develop and created a “golden age”.

William Shakespeare was the greatest writer of the English language and is known around the world.     1    

Shakespeare was a poet and a playwright(剧作家) and is widely known as the greatest writer of the English language. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, in central England, in 1564 and he died in 1616. His works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets(十四行诗) and some other poems.     2     They have been translated into many other languages and are performed more than those of any other playwright in the world.

When Shakespeare was 18 years old, he married Anne Hathaway.     3     Shakespeare went to London to work as an actor and a writer. In 1599 a big theater was built in London. And it was in this theater that some of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed.     4     However, a new, modern one was built near the first one in 1997, so even today you can go to the theater to see Shakespeare’s plays.

Shakespeare’s works are still very popular today. But why do we like these old plays?     5     His characters are so real: they learned to love, to hate, to fight and to live...