My First Marathon（马拉松）

    A month before my first marathon， one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks， leaving me only two weeks to train． Yet， I was determined to go ahead．

    I remember back to my 7th year in school． In my first P．E． class， the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball． I didn't do either well． He later informed me that I was" not athletic"．

    The idea that I was "not athletic" stuck with me for years． When I started running in my 30s，I realized running was a battle against myself， not about competition or whether or not I was athletic． It was all about the battle against my own body and mind． A test of wills!

    The night before my marathon， I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line． I woke up sweating and nervous， but ready to prove something to myself．

    Shortly after crossing the start line， my shoe laces （鞋带）became untied． So I stopped to readjust． Not the start I wanted！

    At mile 3， I passed a sign：" GO FOR IT， RUNNERS!"

    By mile 17， I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly． Despite the pain， I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again．

    By mile 21， I was starving！

    As I approached mile 23， I could see my wife waving a sign． She is my biggest fan． She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a．m． or questioned my expenses on running．

    I was one of the final runners to finish． But I finished! And I got a medal． In fact， I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had．

    Determined to be myself， move forward， free of shame and worldly labels（世俗标签）， I can now call myself a "marathon winner"．

While high school does not generally encourage students to explore new aspects of life, college sets the stage for that exploration. I myself went through this ____  (1)  ____ process and found something that has changed my ____  (2)  ____ at college for the better: I discovered ASL-American Sign Language(美式手语).

   I never felt an urge to ____  (3)  ____ any sign language before. My entire family is hearing, and so are all my friends. The ____  (4)  ____ language were enough in all my interactions(交往). Little did I know that I would discover my ____  (5)  ____ for ASL.

   The ____  (6)  ____ began during my first week at college. I watched as the ASL Club ____  (7)  ____ their translation of a song. Both the hand movements and the very ____  (8)  ____ of communicating without speaking ____  (9)  ____ me. What I saw was completely unlike anything I had experienced in the ____  (10)  ____. This newness just left me ____  (11)  ____ more.

   After that, feeling the need to ____  (12)  ____further, I decided to drop in on one of ASL club's meetings. I only learned how to ____  (13)  ____ the alphabet that day. Yet instead of being discouraged by my ____  (14)  ____ progress, I was excited. I then made it a point to ____  (15)  ____ those meetings and learn all I could.

   The following term, I ____  (16)  ____ an ASL class. The professor was deaf and any talking was ____  (17)  ____. I soon realized that the silence was not unpleasant. ____  (18)  ____, if there had been any talking, it would have ____  (19)  ____ us to learn less. Now, I appreciate the silence and the ____  (20)  ____ way of communication it opens.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report，released last week，has blamed firms for making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts and calls for an international standard or kitemark（认证标记）to identify sites that have clear terms and conditions．

“The term and conditions statement that we all carelessly agree to is meaningless drivel to anyone，”says Andrew Miller，the chair of the committee．Instead，he says，firms should provide a plain﹣English version of their terms．The simplified version would be checked by a third party and awarded a kitemark if it is an accurate reflection of the original．

It is not yet clear who would administer the scheme，but the UK government is looking at introducing it on a voluntary basis．“we need to think through how we make that work in practice，”says Miller．

Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark？“I think if you went and did the survey，people would like to think they would，”says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton，UK，who studies open data．“We do know people worry a lot about the inappropriate use of their information．”But what would happen in practice is another matter，he says．

Other organisations such as banks ask customers to sign long contracts they may not read or understand，but Miller believes social media requires special attention because it is so new．“We still don’t know how significant the long﹣term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in 20years’time，”he says．

Shadbolt，who gave evidence to the committee，says the problem is that we don’t know how companies will use our data because their business models and uses of data are still evolving．Large collections of personal information have become valuable only recently，he says．

The shock and anger when a social media firm does something with data that people don’t expect，even if users have apparently permission，show that the current situation isn’t working．If properly administered，a kitemark on terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to．Although they would still have to actually read them．

Lainey finished third grade．She had good grades and could read (1) grade level，but she did not like to read．On a family car trip，her Aunt Dede pulled out a copy of Harry Potter，as a surprise for her (2)．But Lainey took one look at it， (3) her eyes，and said，“Boring!”

Aunt Dede，a teacher，had read the book to her students，and they loved it．(4) the youngest children in the class were (5) by the story．They (6) with great interest and then (7)  joined in grand conversations about Harry′s adventures．

“How can you say it′s  (8)？Have you read it？”asked Aunt Dede．

“No，it′s too long and it doesn′t have any (9)．”complained Lainey．

“Oh，that′s where you are (10)；there are lots of pictures．Every page is full of pictures； you just have to read the words to (11) them．It′s like magic．”

“Nice try，Aunt Dede，”Lainey replied (12) from the back seat．

Another (13) was in order．“Well，if you don’t want to read it，give it (14)．Maybe your mom would (15) hearing the story．”The book sailed through the air to Aunt Dede and she began to read it aloud．By the end of the first chapter，(16) were coming from the back seat：“Please read a little  (17)．”

Lainey is an example of an (18) reader．As shown here，Lainey can become (19) about reading when (20) with literature on topics that interest her，and when the people around her model involvement in the reading process．

Hundreds of people have formed impressions of you through that little device（装置）on your desk．And they’ve never actually 　(1)　you．Everything they know about you 　(2)　through this device，sometimes from hundreds of miles away． 　(3)　hey feel they can know you 　(4)　from the sound of your voice．That’s how powerful the 　(5)　is Powerful，yes，but not always 　(6)　．For years I dealt with my travel agent only by phone．Rani，my faceless agent whom I’d never met 　(7)　，got me rock﹣bottom prices on airfares，cars，and hotels．But her cold voice really 　(8)　me．I sometimes wished to 　(9)　another agent．

One morning，I had to　(10)　an immediate flight home for a family emergency．I ran into Rani’s office 　(11)　．The woman sitting at the desk，　(12)　my madness，sympathetically jumped up．She gave me a 　(13)　smile，nodded while listening patiently，and then printed out the 　(14)　immediately．“What a wonderful lady!” I thought．

Rushing out 　(15)　I called out over my shoulder，“By the way，what’s your name？”“I’m Rani，”she said．I turned around and saw a 　(16)　woman with a big smile on her face waving to wish me a safe trip．I was 　(17)　! Why had I thought she was cold？Rani was，well，so　(18)　．

Sitting back in the car on the way to the airport，I figured it all out．Rani’s 　(19)　﹣her warm smile，her nods，her ‘I’m here for you’ 　(20)　﹣were all silent signals that didn’t travel through wires.