One rainy afternoon, a 15-year-old American boy named John Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles, USA, to do his homework. From the next room, he heard one of his parents'friends say,"I wish I were John's age again. I would really do things differently."
After hearing what the person said, the boy thought over his life and then wrote down a list (清单) of 127 things he wanted to do. He wanted to climb the world's highest mountains, take a trip down the longest rivers, learn to fly a plane and so on. For most people, these things seem impossible (不可能的), but John really made these dreams come true.
In John's lifetime, he climbed 12 of the world's highest mountains, took trips on 15 of the world's most dangerous rivers, and visited nearly every country in the world … John met with so many dangers on his trips like being attacked (被攻击) by snakes and elephants. But he didn't stop. He finished more than 100 things on the list. He made a name for himself. His stories became the subjects of many articles in magazines and appeared in over 200 television shows.
Most people had big dreams when they were children. But as they grew up, they lost these dreams because they thought the dreams were impossible. But John Goddard's story tells us a big message: If you never stop going and are brave (勇敢的) enough, you can make your dream come true.
