Saja Pahad, a small village in Chhattisgarh, India, has been dealing with severe water shortages for as long as anyone can remember. With only two wells available, locals were barely able to secure enough water to feed their cattle, let alone irrigate their crops. Villagers didn’t know what to do and the government ignored their difficult situation, but one “crazy” teenager took matters into his own hands.

Shyam Lal was only 15 when he took it upon himself to solve his village’s water problem. He identified a spot in a nearby forest and decided to dig a pond to collect rainfall that could then be used by the entire village. Lal shared his idea with the rest of Saja Pahad, but instead of volunteering to help, they just laughed at his crazy plan and called him a lunatic (疯子). But the young man didn’t let the people’s reaction get him down. Instead, he grabbed a spade (铁锹) and started digging the pond himself. He kept on digging for the next 27 years.

Now 43, Shyam Lal is considered a hero by his community. That small hole he started digging nearly three decades ago is now a one-acre, 15-feet-deep pond filled with precious water that serves the entire village.

“No one helped me in my work, neither the government nor the villagers,” Lal told the Hindustan Times. “It was my dream to secure enough water for the whole village and their cattle.”

The story of Shyam Lal’s determination recently went viral in the whole of India, and prompted authorities in Mahendragarh district to finally acknowledge his achievement. A member of the government recently visited Saja Pahad and offered Lal a $ 156 prize for his contribution to the village.

   Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga，Spain in 1881.When he died in 1973，he was ninety-one years old. But he still took up his paints and brushes to start a new picture as if he were seeing things for the first time，which is why we have called him the youngest painter. Young people are always trying new things and new ways of doing things. They don't hesitate to attempt one thing after another. Eager to experiment, they welcome new ideas.

When he was over ninety this great painter still lived his life like a young man. He was still restlessly looking new ideas and new ways to use his artistic materials. No one knew what to expect from him next. No one could be sure what kind of picture he would produce. If he had painted a picture of you, it might have looked exactly like you. Or it might have been all lines, squares, circles and strange-colored shapes. It might not have looked like human at all.

At such times Picasso was trying to paint what he saw with his mind as well as with his eyes. He put in the side of the face as well as the front. He may have painted it flat, as though it had no depth. Sometimes he seemed to paint just as a child painted, simply for his own pleasure. He didn't imitate others.

Most painters discover a style of painting that suits themselves and stick to that, especially if people admire their pictures. But Picasso was like a man who had not yet found his own particular style of painting. He was still struggling to find perfect expression for his own uneasy spirit.

The first thing one noticed about him was the look of his large, wide-open eyes. Gertrude Stein, a famous American writer who knew him in his youth, mentioned this hungry look, and one can still see it in pictures of him today.

Picasso painted a picture of Gertrude Stein in 1906. She visited the painter's studio eighty or ninety times while he painted her picture. While Picasso painted they talked about everything in the world that interested them. Then one day Picasso wiped out the painted head on which he had worked for so long. "When I look at you I can't see you any more!" he said.

Picasso went away for the summer. When he returned he went at once to the unfinished picture in the corner of his studio. Quickly he finished the face from memory. He could see the woman's face more clearly in his mind than he could see it when she sat in the studio in front of him.

Picasso was often attacked for this new, sometimes frightening style. It produced pictures like some of our worst dreams. The camera has made it unnecessary for painters to make exact representations of what they see. A camera can reflect real life more exactly. What great paintings give us is a view of life through one man's eyes, and every man's view is different.

   Clara Barton,founder of the American Red Cross , gained worldwide honour for her devotion to easing human suffering and earned the nickname“Angel of the Battlefield”.

Barton was born into a freethinking family in 1821. Her elder brothers and sisters happily educated her in math and reading, so when she entered school at three years old, she could read and spell three-syllable words. 【小题1】

Concerned about Barton's difficulty in making friends, her parents sent her to a boarding school,hoping it would make her more comfortable with her peers. 【小题2】 Barton lost her appetite（食欲）and cried constantly. After only one term, she had to be brought home. Then, Barton stayed out of school to nurse her brother through a serious injury and also volunteered to care for poor families during a smallpox （天花）outbreak.

In 1861, the Civil War broke out. The sight of wounded soldiers touched Barton deeply. She began to collect and give away food , bandages, medicines, and other supplies to the Union Army.

 【小题3】 There, with little concern for her own safety, she cooked meals, assisted surgeons, and comforted wounded soldiers.

Eventually, because of working too hard , Barton broke down finally. 【小题4】 It was there that she learned of an organization based in Switzerland called the International Committee of the Red Cross , whose work mirrored her own.

Shortly after Barton arrived back home in 1873,her sister died. 【小题5】 When recuperating（康复）at a health facility in New York, she began planning for the establishment of an American wing of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Although at first the government opposed it, her efforts finally paid off. The American Red Cross was officially organized on May 21, 1881. Her influence lives on today in the work of the organization she founded.

   36-year-old Victoria Murden McClure is a real adventurer. She has been on many mountaineering expeditions（探险）. She was also the youngest person in a team that skied 1，200 kilometers across Antarctica to the South Pole in 1989，and became one of only two women ever to travel to the Pole by land.

The journey across the Atlantic was her third attempt. The first time she failed because of illness，and during her second attempt，in 1998，she nearly died. She had rowed nearly 5，000 kilometers when her boat was hit by Hurricane Danielle. McClure was suddenly in the middle of 80 mph wind，and surrounded by waves that were 20 meters high.

Her little boat turned over five times. McClure was sure that she was going to die —she took the video recorder that she had brought with her and recorded a goodbye message to her family and friends. The hurricane continued into night，and The Pearl turned over five more times.

McClure was determined not to send a signal asking to be rescued-she didn't want other people to risk their lives. But after the eleventh capsizing（倾袭）of her boat，she finally sent it and a large ship came and found her. However，they couldn't get her boat out of the rough sea—it was found months later near the coast of Portugal.

Victoria Murden McClure had concussion（脑震荡）and a dislocated shoulder when she got home. Many people might have given up after an experience like this，but one year later，McClure was back in her repaired boat and tried again. This time she was successful，and although she again met a hurricane on the journey，which stopped her from breaking the record for the fastest transatlantic rowing crossing，she only overturned once！