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.

   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.

   The 30 miles of steep（陡峭的）roads that snake through the mountains of Logan Canyon in Utah are enough to make most drivers' hands sweat. But Andersen, a 46-year-old father of four, wasn't expecting any trouble on the road last New Year's Eve, when he set off for a ski trip to the Bear River Mountains with nine-year-old daughter Mia, four-year-old son Baylor, and nine-year-old neighbour Kenya. Andersen had driven through the Logan Canyon hundreds of times over the years.

The weather was fine-but the higher they drove, the more slippery the roads became. Rounding a sharp U-turn at mile marker 473, Andersen saw a truck that had skated off the road and immediately tapped his brakes. In an instant, the car was sliding at 25 miles per hour towards the shoulder of the highway, then rolling down a steep ten-foot dam towards the extremely cold Logan River. As it hit the water, the car tipped towards the passenger side, hesitated, and then rolled onto its roof and sank into the river.

There was no time to tell the kids what to do. The crash had broken a few windows, and within seconds, the upside-down car was filled with water. "It was frightening how fast we were completely underwater, "remembers Andersen, a soft-spoken product development manager. "You're thinking, is this how it's all going to end？"

Having lost the sense of direction, Andersen began to search the freezing water for the kids. Miahad been right next to him in the front seat；now, in the blackness, he couldn't find her. "I thought, if I didn't get out, maybe none of us were going to get out." Andersen got out of his seat belt, swam through a broken window, and, deeply and quickly, breathed air at the surface. That's when he saw a group of men, about ten in all, appear at the top of the dam. One after another, they raced down into the water. Leading all the three children to safety, they began to shout at the father, "Who else is in the car？"Andersen says respectfully, "It was like the sight of angels（天使）."

   Everyone gathered around and Paddy read out loud, slowly, his tone growing sadder and sadder. The little headline said: BOXER RECEIVES LIFF SENTENCE.

Frank Cleary, aged 26, professional boxer, was today found guilty of the murder of Albert Gumming, aged 32, laborer, last July. The jury (陪审团) reached its decision after only ten minutes, recommending the most severe punishment to the court. It was, said the Judge, a simple case. Cumming and Cleary had quarreled violently at the Harbour Hotel on July 23rd and police saw Cleary kicking at the head of the unconscious Gumming. When arrested, Cleary was drunk but clear-thinking.

Cleary was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Asked if he had anything to say, Cleary answered, “Just don’t tell my mother.”

“It happened over three years ago,” Paddy said helplessly. No one answered him or moved, for no one knew what to do. “Just don’t tell my mother,” said Fee numbly (麻木地). “And no one did! Oh, God! My poor, poor Frank!”

Paddy wiped the tears from his face and said. “Fee, pack your things. We’ll go to see him.”

She half-rose before sinking back, her eyes in her small white face stared as if dead. “I can't go,” she said without a hint of pain, yet making everyone feel that the pain was there. “It would kill him to see me. I know him so well — his pride, his ambition. Let him bear the shame alone, it’s what he wants. We’ve got to help him keep his secret. What good will it do him to see us?”

Paddy was still weeping, not for Frank, but for the life which had gone from Fee’s face, for the dying in her eyes. Frank had always brought bitterness and misfortune, always stood between Fee and himself. He was the cause of her withdrawal from his heart and the hearts of his children. Every time it looked as if there might be happiness for Fee, Frank took it away. But Paddy’s love for her was as deep and impossible to wipe out as hers was for Frank.

So he said, “Well, Fee, we won’t go. But we must make sure he is taken care of. How about if I write to Father Jones and ask him to look out for Frank?”

There was no excitement in the eyes, but a faint pink stole into her cheeks. “Yes, Paddy, do that. Only make sure he knows not to tell Frank we found out. Perhaps it would ease Frank to think for certain that we don’t know.”