All of my friends had jobs but I didn’t. That’s because they had a “hook up”. At times, I wished I had a hook up! If I did, I wouldn’t have to go through all those nervous interviews, or waste my ink on those applications that probably got thrown.

One day I asked my grandmother, “Why does no one want to hire me?” She said it was because I didn’t have any experience. How was I supposed to have experience when I’d never had a job before? Even McDonald’s wouldn’t hire me. I applied there so many times. It was a shame.

The Gap was one of the hardest places to apply. Once you filled out an application, the managers would interview you right on the spot. It made me so nervous that I couldn’t talk right. The first question they asked was, “Why do you want to work for the Gap?” Your mind was telling you to say, “For the money.” But you didn’t want to say that because you didn’t want to make yourself sound greedy, even if it’s the truth. So I said, “Because I’m familiar with what the company does, which is selling clothes.”

However, not for long there was another question that always seemed to get me every time, “What can you bring to this company?” I didn’t know, maybe more customers? By the time I got ready to pick it up, I heard them say, “If we don’t contact you in 24 hours, you don’t get the job.”

But if I was asked that question now, I would say, “I’m a hard worker and a very reliable person, and with these kinds of abilities I cannot only do a good job, but I can influence other employees to do so too.”

Despite all the bad luck I seemed to have, I didn’t give up. Eventually, I finally found a summer job.

My name is Ann. I've been in China in a few years. With the help of Li Hua, a good friend of mine, I've been used to live in China. Li Hua, like other girls, are beautiful and lively. We became friends after we meet each other a few years ago. Although her English isn't easy to understand, but we enjoy chatting and we usually talk a lot about our favorite books. We're all surprised that Chinese culture and American culture are so differently. Now we are planning nice party for next Sunday. There, I will introduce Li Hua to my friends, one of who has been to China several time.

   I was at the post office early that morning, hoping to be in and out in a short while. Yet, I _____ myself standing in a queue that went all the way into the hallway. I had never seen so many people there on a weekday. It seemed someone might have made an announcement, _____ customers to carry as many packages as they could and bring them in when I needed to have my own package _____. The queue moved very slowly. My patience ran out and I got _____. The longer it took, the angrier I became. When I got to the counter finally, I finished my _____ quickly and briefly, and then walked past the queue that was then extending past the front door.

“Excuse me,” I said, trying not to be too pushy. Several people had to move _____ to make room for me to get to the _____.

I stepped out, complaining about the _____ conditions. Thinking I was going to be late for my dentist appointment, I headed into the parking lot.

A woman was coming across the parking lot in my direction. She was walking with determination, and each step sounded very heavy. I _____ that she looked as if she breathed fire. It stopped me in my tracks. I ______ myself and it wasn’t pretty. Had I looked like that? Her body language said that she was having a ______ day. My anger melted away. I wished I could wrap her in a hug but I was a ______. So I did what I could in a minute ______ she hurried past me — I smiled. In a second everything changed. She was astonished, then somewhat ______. Then her face softened and her shoulders ______. I saw her take a deep breath. Her pace slowed and she ______ back at me as we passed each other.

I continued to smile all the way to my ______. Wow, it’s amazing what a simple smile can do.

From then on, I became aware of people’s ______ and my own, the way we show our feelings. Now I use that ______ every day to make me ______ that when facing the world, I can try a smile.

   It has always been my dream to attend college. My parents were glad I chose this path. 【小题1】 Upset and stressed，I decided to look for ways to pay by myself.

My search for money began on the Internet. I went to every free scholarship search engine and spent a lot of time each day online looking for scholarships I was qualified for. 【小题2】 This gave me a way to prioritize（按优先顺序列出）my schedule. I finished applications due（到期的）in October in September，November's deadlines in October，and so on.

After organizing everything，it was time to fill out the applications. Some were easy and took little time while others were long and tedious. Despite the amounts，which ranged from $100 to $40，000，I took each scholarship seriously because together they would fund my goal.

【小题3】 Almost every one required an essay about my extracurricular activities，commitment to education and career aspirations. To perfect my writing，I turned to friends，relatives and teachers for advice.

Now I have won 80 percent of the scholarships I applied for. After many hours of staying up late to finish them，I managed to receive over $ 100，000. Now，I can attend college completely free. I feel that a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders. This fall，I am attending Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. 【小题4】

The scholarship search truly made me a better person. I learned the importance of setting a goal and accomplishing it. 【小题5】 I'm delighted that I had the opportunity to learn more about my drive to succeed — I can push ahead no matter what obstacles are in my way.

   I grew up in a small town. There was a man named Joe, who was uneducated and couldn’t talk _______. He was good-natured but not very smart, _______ everyone teased him.

One day when I was sitting on the porch, he came walking by. I was about 12 and thought it would make me _______ grown-up to play jokes on him as some _______ did.

He asked what I was doing. I told him that my father had _______ his job and that we were short of money. I could see my friends nearby _______ so I went on with the _______. From his _______ expression, I was convinced that I had fooled him ________

I knew he lived a ________ life with low income, so it was ________ when he asked whether we needed anything. I told him that we didn’t know if we would have enough to ________, and he replied, “You poon thing.”

That night I heard the door ________ softly. I thought it was the wind whipping against the door, so I ________ it. The next morning I found a small box of food outside my house. I knew it was from Joe. I looked into the box of canned food with ________ in my eyes. I felt ashamed of taking advantage of his ________ for me. Later I ________ the whole story to my father and said I wanted to return the box. My father scolded me and ________ that I keep the box; otherwise it would hurt Joe’s feelings.

Although the food was not ________, I knew Joe gave the best he had. I did not ________ the gift.