【推荐1】At my primary school, I was one of the smartest kids there. I never studied, but always got perfect scores. I thought I was born clever. At least I believed so. I was also a prodigy in music according to myself. I could sing better than almost everyone else in my school. I was pretty sure that once I got to seventh grade, everyone would be surprised by me.

But actually they weren’t.

When I arrived at my new class, I couldn’t wait to show everyone what I could do. However, there was always someone else who could do better than me. My grades began to get worse.

Over the next two years, I had to work very hard. Every prize for the singing competition was given to me for hard work and effort. Grades was still very low but improving little by little. I worked really hard. However, I was never the best at everything. I haven’t realized until recently that I really don’t have to be the best at everything. I was too hard on myself. In fact, my classmates never laughed at me.

No one is perfect. There will probably always be someone better than me at something. Anyway, there are about seven billion people in this world. I will never be the number one at everything, and that’s really okay.

【推荐2】Franz Kafka was a famous writer. He never married and had no children. Once, at the age of 40, when Kafka was walking through a park, he saw a young girl crying. She lost her favourite doll.

He helped her look for the doll, but they couldn’t find it. Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would look for it again.

The next day, when they still didn’t find the doll, Kafka gave the girl letter “written” by the doll that said, “Please don’t cry. I have gone on a trip to see the world. I’m going to write to you about my adventures.”

Thus (由此) a story that continued to the end of Kafka’s life began.

When they met every time, Kafka read aloud the letters (which he had written, of course) of adventures that the girl found exciting. Finally, Kafka read her a letter in which the doll said it had finally returned to Berlin. Then, he gave her a doll that he had bought.

“This does not look like my doll at all,” she said. Kafka handed her another letter that said, “It is my trips that have changed me.” The girl took the doll home happily. A year later, Kafka died.

Many years later, the girl found a letter hidden inside the doll. It said, “Everything you love is very likely to be lost, but in the end, love will return in a different way.”

【推荐3】Aron just moved to a big city to start a new job. It didn’t take long for Aron to feel the stress (压力) of city life. The people, the noise, his heavy work… these all made him feel like giving up.

But one day, as Aron was on his way to work, he saw a homeless man on the street. He didn’t see a homeless person before. He stopped and had a short talk with him. Then he opened up about his life and complained (抱怨) about the problems he was facing. The man patiently (耐心地) listened all the time.

“I was wondering… how did you end up homeless?” Aron asked.

“I was in a war (战争). I saw lots of death. I got badly hurt and couldn’t find a job when I came home. Unluckily, my wife decided to leave me. I lost everything. Life hurt me so much,” the man said.

“But I’m thankful for every day for I’m alive. My life might be hard sometimes, but when I see something as simple as sleeping. I remember that even when life hurts, life means a lot.”

Compared (比较) to losing life in a war, getting hurt and becoming disabled, his own problems seemed less difficult to solve. If this homeless man could still see the good side of life after all he was through, then maybe Aron could too.

A few years ago, I worked in a local shop. While handing an ice-cream to an old woman at the drive-thru（免下车的）window, I noticed that she had a box of what appeared to be purple tomatoes. And they were unusual. When I handed her the ice-cream, I said, “Those tomatoes look delicious! What kind are they?” She laughed and replied. “Here, have some!” Within seconds I had a handful of purple tomatoes.

“Oh, no, you don’t need to give me any!” I said. “Those tomatoes look special and if you sell them, you can get a lot of money.” “Here, have more.” she insisted, and I had six of the prettiest tomatoes I had ever seen. It was awkward（尴尬的）to me, so I said, “Really, you didn’t have to give me any, but I appreciate（感激）it.” The woman smiled again and said, “I hope you enjoy them. And to answer your question, it’s what my family used to plant. So they aren’t like the ones you get in the store.”

I said thanks again, and she left. I thought she was like an adult version（版本）of the tooth fairy: I gave her the ice-cream and she gave me tomatoes.

About two weeks later, my boss at the ice-cream store sent me a text message, “I want to let you know that your gardener dropped off a box of vegetables and some seeds for you. She must be very nice!” Confused（困惑的）, I replied, “My gardener?” That night, my boss showed me the box. It was full of tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans. The tomato fairy was back! Why was this woman being so generous（慷慨的）?

I never saw her again, but her kindness inspired me to share my garden with anyone who’ll have it.

【推荐3】More college students find it a rich experience to help people in developing countries during holidays.

Zhao Yuti, a 21-year-old student, went to Siem Reap, Cambodia on Aug. 19 to teach English voluntarily for one week in a school. Such voluntary work has become a popular choice for college students. The experience was great for Zhao as he immersed (沉浸) himself in a new country. What touched Zhao most was the children’s need for knowledge.

“I felt I was needed and would like to let them know more,” he said.

The summer holidays provide chances for Chinese college students to travel or do internships. Voluntary work has become more popular among students, especially in low-income (低收入) countries.

Zhao enjoyed his time there and experienced a different culture. One young girl stayed in his memory because she had an angelic smile. He called her “the temple girl”, and every day when she came to class, Zhao said that he was won over by her beautiful smile.

Zhao came back to school in early September and continued to finish his study. “My heart has become stronger since I came back from Cambodia,” he said.

“I hope to look for more chances for voluntary work in more countries when I am still young.”

【推荐1】The days pass. Dorothy works very hard in the kitchen. She remembers Uncle Kerry and Aunt Em in Kansas. She remembers her friends the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. She’s very sad and she often cries. At night she goes to see the Lion. The Witch doesn’t give him anything to eat or drink, so Dorothy takes him food and water from the kitchen. Then she lies down next to him, puts her head on his warm body and sleeps until the morning.

The Witch watches Dorothy all the time. She’s waiting for the right moment to take the silver shoes. Dorothy wears them all the time. She loves them. The only time she takes them off is when she has a bath. The Witch doesn’t like water, so she’s afraid to go near the girl when she’s in the bath.

One day Dorothy is cleaning the kitchen and she slips on the wet floor. She falls over and one of the silver shoes comes off. The Witch is watching. She picks it up quickly and puts it on.

“Give me back my shoe!” Dorothy says.

‘No! It’s my shoe now?” the Witch replies.

“You are a wicked woman!” Dorothy shouts, “I want my shoe!”

There’s a bucket of water near the door. The girl picks it up and throws the water over the Witch.

“Aarrgh!” The Witch cries. “Water is the end of me!” And she starts to disappear in front of Dorothy’s eyes.   “The witch is dead!” Dorothy shouts, “I’m finally free.”

【推荐3】

I ran away from the huge living thing as fast as possible, and did not stop until I found myself in some fields. The grass was about seven metres high and the crops were about thirteen metres high. It took me an hour to cross just one field. The field had bushes at least forty metres high. ① The trees around were much taller. I was trying to find a hole in the bushes, so that I could get into the next field. I saw another huge man coming towards me. He seemed as tall as a mountain, and his feet were as long as about ten metres.

In great fear and surprise, I hid in the crops, and only hoped he would not notice me. ② He seemed to be a master and shouted in a voice like thunder. Then seven other huge men came here. The master asked them to cut down the crops in the field while I was hiding. As they moved towards me, I moved away, but at last I came to a part of the field without crops. There was not anywhere for me to hide, and I was afraid that the huge men would cut me into pieces with their knives. I lay down and prepared to die. I could not stop myself thinking of Lilliput. There, I myself was also a huge man and became famous for helping the people in that small country. ③ I began to understand how a very small living felt.

Suddenly, I noticed that one of the huge men was next to me. As his huge foot rose over my head, I screamed as loudly as I could. He looked around on the ground, and finally saw me. He looked at me for a moment, then very carefully, he picked me up with fingers and looked at me. I was now twenty metres up in the air, and I hoped he would not throw me to the ground. ④ I did nothing but spoke politely to him. Of course, I knew he did not understand any of my language. He took me to his master. They soon found that I was not an animal, but a smart living thing. The master carefully put me in his pocket and took me home to show to his wife. When she saw me, she screamed and jumped back in fear, maybe thinking I was an insect. But after a couple of days, she became used to me, and was very kind to me.

【推荐1】George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work when he was only eight. When George was fourteen, he became his father’s helper. He spent a lot of time learning about engines(发动机). And on holidays he often took one to pieces and studied each piece carefully. Soon he became a very good worker though he could not read or write. He began to learn the English letters when he was seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work, he walked a long way to have lessons from a young school teacher. On his eighteen birthday, he wrote his own name for the first time in his life. George invented（发明）many things in his life. The train was the greatest one among them. Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we’ll think of this great man—George Stephenson.