My future life Unit 2 I know that you will be better at maths. Reading and vocabulary Look at the picture and choose the answers to the questions. There may be more than one answer. Who will probably get thanks from the school-leavers? Family. Friends. Teachers. What is the speaker probably going to say? Thank you. Good luck! Cheers! Now read the passage and check. Dear head teacher, teachers, parents and fellow students, I'm very proud that you have chosen me to speak to you today. I have three roses here: a red one, a yellow one and a white one. These roses are to thank three groups of people for the three most important things that I have learnt. These three things are friendship, effort and trust. I give the red rose to my friends. When I started school here, my Chinese was not good, and some of my mistakes were very funny. I once tried to say “xiexie”, but I said “xiaxia” instead. Of course some people laughed, and I felt quite silly. But they were not laughing at me. They taught me to say many things in Chinese and kindly invited me to join them. Today, thanks to their kindness, my Chinese is much better, and we have become friends. So, let me say “xiexie” again to all of you for your help. I give the white rose to my teachers, who have taught me that there is no success without effort. When I started running in the 800 metres, I always finished last and I just wanted to give up. But the PE teacher, Ms Huang, helped me. She ran along with me, and she said, “You only really lose if you give up!” I still can't run fast enough, but I've learnt to try my best, not only with running but with whatever else I do. I give the yellow rose to my parents for teaching me that love is about trust. When I wanted to learn the violin, my father told me that I should work harder at maths. I was disappointed. Then, on the morning of my birthday, I woke up to find a beautiful violin at my bedside. There was a note from my father: “I'm sure you will be good at music. I know that you will be better at maths.” I'm sure that you all have your own memories about the happiness of the last three years, and the people whom you want to thank for it, so let's all stand up and say, “Thank you, friends, teachers and parents! We love you!”