One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, "You speak very good English." But the girl answered, "No, no. My English is very poor." The foreigner was quite surprised 1 the answer. Thinking he had not made 2 understood or the girl had not listened to him clearly, he said, "Yes, indeed, you speak very well." But the girl still kept saying: "No, no." This time the American boy could not understand and didn't know 3 to say.

    What's wrong with the girl's answer? She didn't 4 a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, "Thank you" instead of "No". She 5 did understand what the American boy said, but she thought she should be modest (谦虚的). In the 6, people will feel proud (骄傲) and 7 when they are praised (表扬). So if someone says the dishes you cooked are very delicious, you should say, "Thank you."

    In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing. But in my opinion, being confident does not mean being proud, so sometimes you should be confident 8 being modest.

    If you are modest and say, "No, I'm afraid I can't do it" while working in a western country, others may think that you really can't do it. If you often say "No", you will certainly be looked down by 9. When asking for a job, if one says something like "Yes, I can certainly do it" instead of "Let me have a try", he or she will 10. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

    Once there was a father and a son. They were ill-tempered(坏脾气的) and never gave way to 1.

    One day the father2to ask some friends to dinner in his house. He 3his son to buy some meat in town. When the son walked to the town gate, a man was coming from the outside. The gate（大门） wasn't 4enough to let two men in and out at the same time. But neither of 5would give way to the other. They stood straight face to face inside the gate hour after hour. But the father was worried. “What shall I do? My son hasn't6yet. I can't wait any more.” He wanted to know what was the7with his son. So he left his friends at home ,and went to town  8 his son.

    “You may first take the9home for my friends .Let me 10here against him instead.” he said to his son when he knew what had happened.

    I work as the reception (接待) manager at my hotel. A booking came in a few weeks ago with a note attached that the guest would be travelling with her 1father. They wanted to make the trip to Ireland as soon as possible. When 2 this note, I knew I would be the one to check them in. I decided to learn some basic3language.

    I greeted the guest in my usual way, asking for the surname on the booking. Once I heard the name I4immediately who was standing in front of me. I had been learning for over two weeks how to say "Welcome to Ireland. My sign language is 5, but if you need anything during your stay just let me know and we will help you."

    I smiled at the father and daughter in front of me, turning to the father who I greeted in sign language and began the bit I had learned for him. The father smiled and was so6. Seeing his reaction was enough for me. It was so worth the last few weeks of learning basic sign language.

    On check-out I 7wasn't working, but they had left a gift for me with a note saying "Thank you very much for what you did on check-in. My father has been in amazing form since you checked us in and insisted we get you a 8 before we left. You have no idea how much this9 to my father and me and we can't thank you enough. You've made his trip very special with one simple gesture."

    They wrote a letter to the general manager, asking to give me a raise, which I really 10. I cried for 5 minutes when I came to work today to find this gift in my locker.

    I had always cared about sick children and tried to help them. But when my little grandson received third degree burns, I learned first-hand how 1  a loving adult feels when his/her child is suffering and he/she can't take the pain away. This experience 2  me to feel sorry for parents with sick children.

    One mom told me that she 3  like running into the street and screaming, "My child is sick. Would somebody please help us?" It breaks my 4  that these parents are so anxiously(忧虑地) searching for someone to care and help them 5  the hard times of watching their helpless child suffer. So I decided to do something to help them.

    Two years ago, I almost lost my eyesight. Luckily, I regained(恢复) some eyesight, but I was no longer able to work. 6  I had a lot of time. At first, I thought that my life was 7  because I couldn't do any of the things I used to do. I believed that my life had no purpose and I was no 8  to anybody anymore. I began to be interested in surfing the Internet for information.

    One day I received several emails asking for help for sick children. I decided to post their stories and pictures on a webpage. What began as a 9  has grown into a fulltime job I enjoy doing every day. Since my website was built, I've received tens of emails from worried parents asking me to put their child's story online. And over 325 volunteers have 10  me to send children "happy mail" without being paid.

    From North Wales comes the story of a young woman who returned to her car in the local multi-story（多层的）car park and found an elderly lady sitting in the back seat. As it was a 1 make of car, she first 2 the number plate. And she went around it to make sure it was indeed her car. She asked the lady what she was doing there. The old lady explained she had been shopping with her daughter and grandchildren but had felt 3 and wanted to return to the car for a rest. She said her daughter's car was the same make, 4 and color as the young woman's and she must have got into the wrong one—a 5 explanation. The old lady then began to breathe heavily and, holding her 6, asked to be taken to the local hospital, which the driver 7 to do. But just as the young woman was about to start up the car, she noticed in the rearview mirrow that the old lady's shawl（披肩）had 8 a little, showing a muscular （肌肉发达的）arm, thick with hair. "What should I do?" she asked herself. She was very 9 that she would soon be in trouble. At the moment the young woman had an idea. She asked the old lady to 10 her out of the parking space by standing to one side of the bay, and felt 11 when she agreed to do this. Once out of the parking place, the young woman 12 the doors and sped off the nearest police station to report the 13. Police officers then 14 the car, finding a rope and an axe under the passenger seat. The young woman had 15 to drive away fortunately, although the whole thing would not have happened in the first place if she had remembered to lock her car up before she went shopping.

    Roberta appeared on the stage. She took a1 breath and began to speak. Now she was Portia, a strong-willed character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venlce. The theater was filled with people. She was speaking with a 2 she had never before experienced, the words flowing (流动) smoothly from her.

    In fact, Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition (选拔试演) . She 3 being in front of other people. She was very shy at school. She had never thought she was good enough at anything to 4 much attention. She stayed mostly to herself, making few friends. She had 5 grades, but she always thought that something was missing.

    Two weeks before the audition, Roberta's mother had heard about it and 6 her to join in.

    "I can't think of anyone else better 7 to play the part. Remember all the plays you used to act out for us."

    Her mother wouldn't let the 8 drop. “You're just a little scared. Everyone get scared. You know you can do it. The trick is to look 9 the fear to find the love of what you're doing.”

    So Roberta had made an appointment (预约) with the head of the Drama Club. She had 10 the play and found herself excited by the idea of speaking such rich words. In 11 she practiced Portia's part, memorizing (记住) the lines by repeating them over and over. It wasn't hard, she 12 every minute of it. Every time she spoke the words, she had a new 13 of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels.

    On the day of the audition, she 14 two of Portia's famous speeches for the auditors. When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the 15 was hers, she knew she had made it.

    A very new, young officer was at a railway station. He was on his way to visit his mother in 1 town. He wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of his train, 2 she could meet him at the 3 in her car. He looked at all his pockets, but 4 that he did not have the right money for the telephone, so he went on and looked 5 for someone to help him. At last an old soldier came by, and the young officer stopped him and said, "Can you change the money 6 me?"

    "Wait a moment," the soldier 7, and he began to put his hand in his 8 "I'll see whether I can help you."

    "Don't you know how to speak to an officer?" the young officer said angrily "Now let's 9 again, Can you change the money for me?"

    "No, sir," the old soldier answered 10.

    Once upon a time, some children were playing at seaside when they found a turtle (海龟). They began to beat the turtle. Just at that time, a young man came and said to them, "Stop!" The children ran 1 quickly. The turtle was very thankful and said, "Thanks for your kindness. I really would like 2 you to a wonderful palace now. "

    The young man rode on the back of the turtle and was taken to the secret palace in the sea. When he 3 the palace, he was very surprised and said to the turtle, "What a nice palace!" To thank him, the king of the turtles gave him  4. He had never seen such a dinner before. He received a warm welcome there and was very5 everything.

    After dinner, the king of the turtles said, "I am going to give you two boxes,  6 you can open only one. ""You mustn't open both. Don't forget it!" the turtle warned him. "All right. I will open only one, "the young man promised (许诺). At this time, a large wave sent him out of the sea.

    After he7, he opened the bigger one of the two boxes.8 the box was full of gold. "My God!" he cried. "I'm 9 now." Then he thought, "Things in the other box must be expensive, too. "He could not wait any longer. He broke his promise and opened the other box. As soon as he opened it, he became an old man. His hair turned white. His face 10 an old man over eighty years old. It all happened in a moment. He was sorry for what he did, but it was too late.

    No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own 1.

    I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head 2 job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

    It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the 3 team at the end of the spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practice to 4 the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win,5 to my disappointment, we were beaten. I couldn't believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to know that my team 6 not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I knew I had to change my 7 about the ability and potential (潜力).

    I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most importantly, I began to treat them as winners. Instead of feeling discouraged, the members were in high spirits. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their 8, we met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football on the school football field.

    Six months 9 suffering our defeat on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number 10 team in the state. I felt that it would be a victory for us 11 we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys 12 the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the most exciting events of my life. All of us jumped up and down with excitement, most of them even cried.

    From the experience I learn a lot about 13 the attitude of the leader can affect the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and encouraged them. I helped them to see themselves 14, and they built themselves into winners.

    Winners are made, not 15.

Should I Be Allowed to Make My Own Decisions?

    Many teenagers have hobbies. But sometimes these can 1 the way of their schoolwork, and parents might worry about their success at school. Teenagers often think they should 2 to practice their hobbies as much as they want. Do you agree?

    Liu Yu, a 3 boy from Shandong, is a running star. He is 4 his school team and has always wanted to be a professional runner when he grows up. However, his parents won't allow him to train so much. "Of course we want to see him 5 his dreams," says Mr. Liu "My wife and I have supported 6  of his races. We have nothing against 7 ! But we think our son needs to think about other possible jobs. He's getting older now, so he needs to think about what 8 if he doesn't end up as a professional runner."

    Liu Yu doesn't 9 agree. "Well, I think they should allow me to decide for myself." He says. "My parents have always told me how important it is to work hard at school and enter university. I understand this, but I'm serious about running. It's the only thing 10 I've ever wanted to do."

    His parents believe that he needs to spend more time on his homework because it is difficult to become a professional sports star. But Liu Yu still disagrees. "I know my parents care about me. But I think I should make this choice myself. Only then will I have a chance to achieve my dream."