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I have friends who live in Tokyo and they are popular singers. They fascinate and inspire many people with their songs. Yes! They are**//ARASHI//**. You don’t know them? O.K. I will introduce my best friends to you. The names of the members who belong to this group are Masaki Aiba, Jun Matsumoto, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno, and Sho Sakurai. They formed the group about ten years ago and then I became friends with them. Now they are very famous and popular, but they had long hard times. Seeing them distressed was really unbearable. I kept on cheering them up saying like this, “Your efforts will pay off! Someday you’ll be stars in Japan!! Trust me! All you have to do is now is do your best!” They made a great effort and my dream came true. I learned from them that not giving up leads us to success. When I started studying for the entrance exam, we couldn’t meet as often as before. In contrast with their success, my grades declined. I thought, “My efforts don’t pay off. I had better give up my dream…” One day I received a package whose sender was unidentified. Opening it, I found album and a card in it. I recognized they were from**//ARASHI//**. The pictures in the album reminded me of our happy days together, going on a picnic, swimming in the river, performance at the concert, and so on. The card said, “I owe our success to you, Shoko. So this is our turn to help you. You told us ‘Your efforts will pay off.’ Don’t you forget this? No matter how hard you are now, never give up!! You can do it!” My heart was warmed. I realized that I forgot the most important thing. **__Your efforts will pay off. All I have to do is do my best.__** I will surely pass the exam and have a good time with them again in Tokyo next spring! (334words)
 * // My friends //**