I remember it was a Saturday. I was invited to my friend's birthday party. 1 the first time, I was the first one there. I sat on her couch and just waited 2 for the party to begin. As a flood of guests came in with warm3, there was one short, thin girl who had a huge smile on her face. She just seemed so 4 from the other girls there. So I decided to begin a conversation with her.
I asked her "Did your mum drive you here?" She answered, "Oh, my mum was 5. " My heart sank. I continued, "When did she die?" "She died when I was seven. "
Later on, she told us what had happened the day her mother died. "I came home, 6 to tell my mum what a great day I had had.7 I entered the room, I saw my mother on a stretcher (担架). I began 8 my sister. She just said, ‘Emma, Mum just needs to go to the hospital. '"
The girl said that she went to sleep that night with 9, and woke up to be told by her sister, "Emma, please keep10. Mum's dead. "
I was so 11 by this girl's story. She lost her mother at such a young age, but she made up her mind to be strong. With such a big weight of the world on her 12, she looked positive and optimistic. She did not shed (流) a(n) 13 when telling us her story. Strength is something that can 14pain at the worst time. She lives every day of her life to the fullest, 15 with a heavy heart.
In Singapore, most of us love windowshopping while some others enjoy having a picnic at East Coast Park or Changi Beach on sunny days. Singaporeans are never bothered by the occasional (偶尔的) thunderstorms. However, we know that if it rains for long continuous periods, there will be more serious effects. Just recently the main shopping street of Orchard Road was flooded and some parts of Bukit Timah was impossible to traffic. People reacted by writing in to the newspaper to complain about this! We forget that other countries suffer much worse effects. Elsewhere, heavy tropical (热带的) storms often result in floods that ruin crops especially in Thailand and Malaysia. This in turn usually means that the price of rice and vegetables here in Singapore will rise because we import these products from them. If there is a typhoon or tsunami, thousands of lives are lost too. This happened in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand in 2004 and it serves to remind us of how Mother Nature can cause great damage.
Weather patterns in general have changed dramatically in recent years. Scientists believe that global warming and the resulting melting of the polar icecap has caused the level of the ocean to rise. This in turn causes flooding of lowlying areas in countries where the land is rather flat and some parts of which is below sea level. It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger, so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities, for example, illegal logging (伐木) or irresponsible forestburning to clear land for farming.
At the age of ten, my parents thought that I should learn to play an instrument. They chose guitar lessons for me. I had no interest in playing it. All that I wanted to do was to improve my soccer skills. However, my parents believed that playing soccer was a waste of my valuable time. They thought I should use the time to focus on school and develop my brain by taking on a difficult task, such as learning to play music.
However, since the first day of the lessons, I disliked the guitar. While learning to play the guitar, I just wanted to play soccer as much as I could. But what could a tenyearold do when his parents said they would punish him if he didn't do what they told him to do? Even though I loathed the guitar lessons with all my heart, I went to the instructor week after week. And week after week, I would come back and be tired of the lessons and of the amount of practice required.
After wasting a year of my life learning how to play the guitar, I still had not made much progress. My parents began to realize that I was not born to play the guitar and that I was not having fun trying to learn, either. They finally understood how much I wanted to play soccer. So after one bad year, my parents called the music instructor and told him I would no longer take guitar lessons.
I was very happy. Now I play soccer every day and I play it very well. I do think parents should let their children do what they're good at and what they truly love.
