Do you think about success? Some people say that beginners have all the luck, while others believe that success 1 only with practice. In fact, I feel both of these statements（陈述）are not true all the time. Each is true in some ways 2 not in others. For example, I went to a drawing competition many years ago and 3 surprisingly. As a prize, I got a film ticket to see Titanic. I was really 4 because it was the first time I had taken part in any competition.Thinking that I might be lucky again, I 5 joining in other art competitions. But the result was that I 6 won again. I accepted the fact that the other people had a 7 artistic ability than I did. Art was not something I was especially interested in and I had never practiced the different art skills. So, the 8 I produced were not of a very high standard.These experiences taught me a lot. Though I might have been lucky 9 , I also need to put in hard work. As we know, 10 makes perfect, so I believe success builds on less luck and chance.
A
Betty is not a traditional American nice girl. She is unfashionable, has thick red glasses, untidy hair and large metal braces（牙套）on her teeth. But this hasn't stopped her from becoming one of American's favourite TV characters. So how did she manage to do it? The answer is that charm can be more attractive than beauty. Betty is the main character in a TV show Ugly Betty. The show is about her life as an office worker at a fashion magazine in New York. Betty has many exciting experiences and romantic stories. Betty is often looked down on and laughed at by the people around. But she manages to do better than others with her hard work, charm and wisdom. The show tells us about how a girl goes from an ugly young duck into a beautiful swan. Though you may know the ending of the show from the beginning and the story is familiar to many of us, it has still been a big success in the USA. It has attracted a large number of viewers and won two Golden Globes awards, one of the highest honors for a television program in the USA.“I think you can see a bit of Betty in all of us, and I mean men as well, because it's about the underdog（弱者），” says Ashley Jensen, who plays one of the characters on the show. The program is so popular because of the performance of the 23-year-old actress America Ferrera who plays the role of Betty. She brings the character alive on the screen.
B
Shu-How Lin was born on August 23,1988 in California in the USA. He's the newest well-known NBA professional basketball player. His ancestors lived in Fujian Province in China. In 1977, his parents moved to America. Although they live in the USA, they know they are Chinese. And they love their motherland. They try their best to earn more honor（争光）for China. When Shu-How was at high school, he showed a great interest in playing basketball. He practiced basketball much harder than any other student in his school. Because of him, the school team became the champion of all the high schools in America, which had never got a champion before. Meanwhile（同时）,he studied particularly hard during high school. He always got “A” in most of his subjects. After highschool, his dream was to join a university, which was famous for basketball, to major in basketball. But none of these universities in America accepted him. They thought that he was just a Chinese and a Chinese could hardly become an excellent professional basketball player. He felt so sad and he had to attend Harvard University by his good grades, where professional basketball players are not wanted. But before long, he became the first man in Harvard who entered NBA after 1954. Shu-How never gave up his basketball dream. He joined several NBA teams, but he was never given a chance to show himself in each game. One day, two players of his team were badly hurt. There were no more players who could play the game. The coach had to let Shu-How go for it. This was a great chance for him. He showed his talent in this game. He got 25 scores! After that,Shu-How became one of the most outstanding basketball players around the world. He set a great example to all of us. According to him, we know nothing is impossible if we try our best.
