Forgiveness is not something you give to someone else. It is a gift you give to yourself.

A few months ago I entered for the election of monitor of our class. Unfortunately, my efforts ended in failure because my closest friend carelessly let out my plan to my opponent. Naturally, we broke up. So disappointed was I that I couldn’t focus my attention on anything. How tough a time it was until one day it flashed upon me that if I refused to forgive him, I would remain a prisoner of my hatred at the cost of a friend. I didn’t keep this “incident” in my mind any more. Gradually I recovered and we were friends again.

My forgiveness proved a great gift as it not only set me free but also won me a friend back.

题目分析：考查开放性作文。开放性作文给出了一个话题，并有部分的文字提示。给考生自由发挥的余地较大。对于考生的综合能力要求较高，要求考生有很强的谋篇布局的能力和组织要点的能力。在完成开放性作文时，首先要选择自己熟悉的短语或者句型，在你的能力范围之内，选择句式时要赋予变化，因为这样你才可以更好的驾驭。同时也要选择合适的连接词，把各个要点组织成一个完整的整体。

【亮点说明】范文用了一些常见短语：end in failure“以失败告终”， let out 泄露，broke up. 分手，at the cost of以…为代价， keep… in my mind 记住，not only… but also…不但，而且，还有范文中的句式也很出彩： Forgiveness is not something you give to someone else. It is a gift you give to yourself. 这两句话都用了定语从句。Unfortunately, my efforts ended in failure because my closest friend carelessly let out my plan to my opponent. 这句话用了原因状语从句，So disappointed was I that I couldn’t focus my attention on anything. 这句话是倒装句，How tough a time it was until one day it flashed upon me that if I refused to forgive him, I would remain a prisoner of my hatred at the cost of a friend.这句话用了感叹句，宾语从句，和条件状语从句。