Life is not easy, so I’d like to say, "When anything happens, believe in yourself．"
When I was a young boy, I was (1) shy to talk to anyone．My classmates often (2) me．
I was sad but could do nothing．Later, happened, and it changed my life．It was an English speech contest．My mother asked me to (3) it．What a terrible idea!It meant I had to speak before all the teachers and students of my school!
“Come on, boy．Believe in yourself．You are sure to (5) ．”Then mother and I talked about many different topics．At last I (6) the topic “Believe in yourself”．I tried my best to remember all the speech and practiced it over 100 times．With my mother’s great love, I did well in the contest．I could hardly believe my (7) when the news came that I had won the first place．I heard the cheers(赞美) (8) the teachers and students．Those classmates who once looked down on(瞧不起)me, now all said “Congratulations!” (9) me．My mother hugged me and cried excitedly．
Since then, everything has changed for me．When I do anything, I try to tell (10) to be sure and I will find myself．This is true not only for a person but also for a country．
When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr．Gibbs．He didn’t look like any 1 I 2 ．He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very 3 person．
When Dr．Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees．He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest．
The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees．He never watered his new trees．Once I asked why．He said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you 4 them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and 5 the weaker trees early．
He talked about how watered trees grew shallow(浅的)roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water 6 the earth by themselves． 7 roots were very important．
So he never watered his trees．He'd planted an oak and, 8 watering it every morning, he'd beat it with a rolled-up newspaper．I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention．
Dr．Gibbs died several years 9 I left home．Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees 10 I watched him 11 about twenty-five years ago．They’re very big and strong now．I planted some trees a few years later and carried water to them for a whole summer．After two years of 12 too much, whenever a cold wind blows in, they 13 a lot．
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons．Mostly I pray(祈祷)that their lives will be easy．But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer．I know my children are going to face difficulties．There's always a cold wind 14 somewhere, so 15 we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we can face it strongly and won't be beaten down．
We were going to play a team from a country school．They didn’t come until the game time arrived．They looked 1 than we had thought．They were wearing dirty blue jeans and looked like farm boys．We even thought that they had never seen a basketball before．
We all sat down．We felt that we didn’t 2 any practice against a team like that
It was already so late that no 3 could be given to them for a warm-up．
The game began．
One of our boys 4 the ball and he shot a long pass to our forward(前锋)．From out of nowhere a boy in a dirty T-shirt 5 the pass and with a beautiful form he shot and got two points．
They 6 us．
Then they got another 7 of points in a minute．
Soon it was all over．The country team 8 us．
We certainly learned that even though a team is good, there is usually another 9 a little better．But the important lesson learned was: One can’t tell a man, or a team, by the 10 ．
In the doctor’s waiting room, sick men and women were sitting on the chair．Bob, a school boy, was among them．They all looked very sad 1 Bob．He lost himself(沉浸于)in an 2 story in a magazine．Just then the doctor came in and said he was ready 3 the next person．Bob jumped up and 4 the doctor's room．“What’s your trouble?” asked the doctor．Before Bob could say a word, the doctor made him 5 on the bed．“Now I’ll listen to your heart beat．” Bob tried to speak, but the doctor told him not to 6 anything．
“I’ll 7 your temperature．” Bob tried 8 , but the doctor stopped him．After a moment, the doctor said, “Well, boy, don’t 9 ．There is 10 with you．” “I know,” said Bob．“I just come to fetch(取)some medicine for my father．”
Rudi Matt lived in a small village in the Swiss Alps in 1865．What he wanted most in the world was to climb 1 highest peak(山峰)in the Alps． 2 mother and his uncle, Franz, a mountain guide, wanted him to stop 3 and start working in a hotel．Rudi would not 4 his dream and secretly got in touch with an English mountain climber 5 was planning to climb the highest peak．
Franz was very angry when he found out 6 Rudi had done, but he finally agreed to let Rudi go if he went climbing, too．Franz also didn’t want to see Emil Saxo, a guide from another village, got to the top 7 him．
Rudi turned out to be a very good climber, 8 as they got close to the top, the Englishman got sick and couldn’t go on farther．Franz 9 behind to take care of him, but Saxo continued, wishing to be the 10 to the top．Rudi went after Saxo, hoping to 11 him to the top．When they met, Saxo fought with Rudi and fell down by accident．Saxo was 12 and hurt．Rudi must decide whether to carry Saxo back down to safety or to continue alone to the top．
He thought Saxo’s life was more 13 than his dream and helped him down．During that time, the Englishman and Franz continued the climb, and finally 14 reached the top．Later, the villagers 15 knew Rudi was the real conqueror(征服者)of the mountain．