13. Health and Life

　　As the saying goes, you don’t know what happiness is until you lose it’ you don’t know what health is until you are ill. “Health is of vital importance to life” sounds like a cliche to everyone, but it is absolutely true.

　　The negligence of the delicate balance of your body and soul, the harmful habits such as smoking, excessive drinking and burning mid-night oil will catch up with you someday. How many big plans are interrupted by bad health! Even a normal life is unimaginable without the guarantee of health.

　　How to keep fit is an eternal topic of diversity and controversy. Regardless of all the different suggestions poured from all kinds of sources, one should do at least two things for him/herself. First, hold an active and optimistic attitude toward life and maintain a mental well-being. Second, live a regular life and keep a balanced diet. Anyway, a healthy life is within reach when you begin to adjust your mind and body.

　　14. Energy Resources

　　China is rich in various energy resources. Coal and petroleum, for instance, are two major ones. They are essential in developing the country's industry, science and technology. China has done a great deal in the past few decades to raise its output of coal and petroleum.

　　Three energy resources are being used up rapidly, With the building of four modernization, new industrial and science projects are springing up like bamboo shoots after rain. They are all big consumers of energy resources. Besides there has been considerable waste in the utilization of these resources.

　　To avoid an energy crisis in the future, the government must take certain measures. First, it should let people know the importance of saving energy. Second, efforts should be made to develop new energy resources, such as solar energy, geothermal(地熱) energy and so on. We have reason to be optimistic in this respect.

　　15. Competition

　　Competition makes people original and creative. It very necessary to compete if human society wants to advance. (Even animals compete for survival.) Without it, we would become lazy and nobody would rake any responsibility. When three monks live together, there will be no drinking water. This Chinese proverb vividly describes why China's productivity was so low before Mr Deng came to power. At that time, we had the so-called planned economy. There was no competition at all. So neither farmers nor workers worked hard. China was on the edge of collapse.

　　Competition can stimulate people to try their best to do anything. For example, in 100-meter race, each sportsman runs as quickly as possible, trying to win the champion. The same things happen in our society and in our daily life. If a company wants to surpass others, it must compete with them. It must raise its efficiency. All the companies doing this will no doubt benefit the whole society and the whole human race.

　　Being a student, I must compete with other students in our studies. I must study hard in all the fields so that I can be a useful man when I enter the society after graduation.