Many people are afraid of difficult things, and so am I. I lived in a small village in Vietnam with     1     family. But I thought the life there was too boring. Finally, I chose to do something different.

Last year, I     2     on a three-day trip to Thailand. It was my first trip in another country and I felt     3     about it. I kept thinking about the worst things.

On July 2, I took a     4     to Bangkok. After arriving at the airport (机场), I found Bangkok was amazing. The next day, I got up early     5     I couldn’t wait to visit Bangkok. I went to Chatuchak Market first. It is one of the     6     markets in the world. I tried different     7     of food there, too. Bangkok is also famous     8     its temples (寺庙). Temples are everywhere in Thailand.     9    , I was not interested in them.

On the third day, I took the train to go around Bangkok. I went to some shops to do some     10    .

I liked the food and people in Bangkok a lot, so I didn’t want to fly back to Vietnam. I hope I will go back in the future!

Gu Ailing, an 18-year-old girl, is known as a genius(天才) for her excellent performances in skiing. As a typical Chinese-American girl, she has quite a few hobbies, such as running, skiing, rock climbing, horse riding, shooting, ballet, piano and so on. As a sports lover, she is used to     1    . Her mum Gu Yan makes a big difference to her. Gu Yan was once a skiing coach and took her to skiing training all the time. They     2     each other and always have proper communication.

At the age of three, Gu Ailing first learned to ski and fell in love with this exciting sport. She showed special talent for skiing. As a professional skier, Gu Ailing is successful. She could ski through the forest freely at age 4. She got her first champion(冠军) at age 9. It’s reported that she had already gotten 45 gold medals(金牌) by age 14 before coming to China. In June 2019, she made the decision to     3     the 2022 Winter Olympic Games as a Chinese. “I can get a strong     4     when skiing. It’s one of the most wonderful experiences for me.” She said she would keep on challenging herself and try her best to let more people love skiing.

To compete and win in competitions, Gu Ailing needs to spend so much time skiing that she has little time to study. However, she keeps a good balance of training and schoolwork. She usually finishes her homework on her way from and to training.     5     she works hard, she has to take some after-school classes to get into her dream school—Stanford University, one of the top universities in the world.

She’s always thinking about challenging herself in the face of difficulties. One night she     6     of nearly 40°C. Her throat hurt so much that she just cried. She was taken to the hospital and stayed there until late at night.     7    , she woke up early the next morning and got home with another gold medal.

Gu Ailing hates housework, like making her bed, folding the clothes and cleaning the bedroom. “For me, doing chores is a waste of time. This makes my mum angry.” Her mum thinks family members should     8     to keep it clean and comfortable.