2008年奥运会和我(the 2008 olympic games and i)
    the year of 2008 is getting closer and closer to us. we need to take actions from now on to prepare for the game. what we need to do most is to work on our disadvantages and shortcomings. as a student of senior high, i can do my own part. although i can`t transform our city into more a beautiful place on my own, i can help beijing in small ways and encourage our classmates and people around me to follow my lead. 
    let me take the environment for example, the atmosphere around beijing is quite disappointing, factories and cars keep giving off exhausts into the air, we can hardly see the blue sky with our naked eyes, because the sky is covered with a thick layer of harmful substances. the sky is gray instead of blue. to our delight, the government has passed some laws of protecting the air, and we can do something useful, too. for example, whenever we go out for a long distance, ride the bike or take the buses and subways instead of taxis. you may not have a clue how it works. of course doing that only by one person is far from enough, but we can let more people do that together. in that case the result may be more than we bargained for.
    another thing we need to work on is our english skills. teachers and parents often put great emphasis on our english skills especially listening and speaking. i want to be a volunteer in 2008, to be an interpreter. for now, i must do something helpful to improve my spoken english. rome isn`t build in a day, so is english. it can`t be improved in a day or two. it takes time and energy. there are no shortcuts to improve your spoken english; the most productive way is to grab all opportunities around you to open your mout