I was 11 when you were born, and in your first few years I often looked after you, bathed and dressed you and took you out for walks. I have   (1)    memories of your childhood. Of     (2)   you up as a “rock star”. Of watching you dance    (3)    nightclothes. Of your insistence that I make your school lunch    (4)    I put so much more peanut butter on your   (5)   than anyone else. Of the   (6)    phone call we ever had—an echo(共鸣) of my own university years—when you wanted to   (7)   university and study dance.

Since we have grown up, I have lived through you, although you may not know it. You had the opportunity I so   (8)     wanted but never got—to train in the dancing arts. I encouraged our parents to support you because I have always   (9)  how my life would be if they hadn’t chosen a(n)    (10)   career path for me, their eldest child.

I know you have    (11)   to hunt for work and confidence, and that you probably wonder sometimes if you made the right choice.  (12)     , I am happy for you and proud that I played some small role in helping you to   (13)   your dream.

There’s a   (14)   between us now. It has grown since I first left home, and in the   (15)     I missed your teenage years. That    (16)    me greatly. I imagine that you believe we have very little in common — a    (17)  in the city and a biologist in West Africa—but in you I  (18)    some of my own dreams realized.

But beyond that, even at 12 or 13 I felt as much a mother to you as an elder sister. So, on the rare  (19)  when we see each other, I want to know everything, from your concerns, hopes to delights.

I wish I, as an adult, could hold you at arm’s     (20)  .I hope we can one day be sisters or friends again. I still make a tasty peanut butter sandwich for you.

  My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a yard with a lot of   (1)  Very often when we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some   (2)  to the area.

  Last summer, I found a tiny little   (3)   in the yard that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either. We decided to let it   (4)  growing until we could find out what it was.

  Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the   (5)  plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to   (6)  the weeds around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something   (7)  . The sunflower had not   (8)  where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big   (9)  and grown under and around it to reach the   (10)  .

  That’s when I   (11)  that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its   (12)  of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we   (13)  ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we   (14)  to go and get what we need for growth. 

   We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the   (15)  to achieve our goals. Like the   (16)  , it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had   (17)   initself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be   (18)  of who and what we are, then the environment will begin to   (19)   us. We will find a way to go under or   (20)   any “rocks” in order to reach our goals. 

      For long, a little boy was wondering why his deskmate could rank 1st in the class, but he himself failed to — he only ranked 21st.

    At home, he asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more   (1)   than others? I feel I am as hard-working and careful as him, but why I always   (2)   behind?”Hearing the words, Mom knew her son’s self-esteem（自尊心）had been   (3)   by the ranking system. Staring at him, she went   (4)  , not knowing how to explain.

       In another test, the son ranked 17th,   (5)   his deskmate remained 1st. Back home, he   (6)   the same question. Mom really wanted to tell her son that   (7)   differs, which means that students ranking 1st are supposed to be cleverer than   (8)   ones. Thank goodness she did not open her   (9)  .

       Time passed quickly, the son finished primary school.  (10)   studying harder and better, he was still unable to   (11)   his deskmate. In summer vacation, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she   (12)   to give out an answer.

       Now, the son   (13)  worries about his rankings, because he has been   (14)   by Tsinghua University with the 1st ranking. Back home in winter vacation, he was   (15)   to make a speech to the students and parents in his high school. In the speech, he mentioned a   (16)   experience in his childhood, “…When my mother and I was lying on the   (17)  , she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the seabirds over there? When the waves come near, little birds can rise quickly while “clumsy(笨拙的)” sea-gulls would take more   (18)   to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that   (19)    (20)   his mother.

The rays of the sunlight shone on my grandmotherˈs face. For just a moment she closed her eyes as if   (1)    the sunlight to warm her entire body. When oneˈs   (2)   is approaching its end. I    (3)  that all the bitterness and the boring moments will become meaningless.

My grandmother opened her eyes    (4)   , saying, " Donˈt live your life without living it. I worked too hard. I    (5)  many things because I was trying to make a   (6)  tomorrow for my family. What good is a tomorrow if you   (7)  missing today?"

   She closed her eyes once more as if allowing what she said to marinate (浸泡) within me. I realized that she was    (8)  her life as if she were a bystander. I knew that when my grandmother spoke those words to me, she was feeling  (9)  . Though we cannot change the past, we can   (10)  the future.

   As a college graduate, I knew my grandmother was showing me yet another   (11)  tool to add to my defense against this sometimes harsh world.

   That night, I slept the soundest sleep I ever had. A sense of   (12)   fell over me that I hadnˈt felt in along while. My    (13)   ,cares and concerns seemed weightless and were   (14)  by the words of my grandmother: " Donˈt live your life without living it. "

   I was   (15)  woken out of a sound sleep by my mother. Before she muttered the words through sobs and    (16)  ,  I knew why she was  

  (17)   me.

   Later that morning as I sat at the kitchen table, a single tear ran down my face. Through the window, a ray of sunlight   (18)    me inside out. I knew it was a hug from my grandmother. And I knew that for the rest of my life her    (19)   would reverberate (回响) in my thoughts. She had given me the best      (20)    I had ever had.

  (5)    was spending this special day alone.

At first she was  (6)     and decided against it. As I was   (7)     our plates into the dustbin she turned to him and    (8)   wished him a Happy Birthday. I could tell he was   (9)     by the way he looked at her. I   (10)      behind her and gave him my own wishes. He was  (11)     

As we walked away he called my daughter back and   (12)     her a brand-new gold $1 coin. She thanked him. But that wasn't   (13)      for him. He dug into his  (14)    and at that I kindly told him that wasn't necessary. He   (15)      me and pulled out an envelope with about a dozen of a different kind of gold coins. He  (16)      to give her another one and tell her how  (17)     it was and that one day it would be worth something . He then looked me in the eye and wished me a good day.

What a(n)    (18)     man. I'm sure my daughter    (19)       his day. On such a special day, how can I take away his glory and turn down his offering of   (20)   ?

Happy Birthday!

I taught a few years ago in second grade as a student teacher (实习教师). I was lucky enough to be with the  (1)    class for a whole school year. In May, when I 　  (2)    the teaching, I decided to buy star-shaped pieces of paper for each kid. I wrote on each piece, “Miss H. thinks you are a 　  (3)   because… ”and then wrote a little fact about each child. I wasn’t sure about doing this, since the kids were so 　  (4)    , but one of my friends　  (5)    that if the star meant something to one kid then my　  (6)     was useful and worthy.

One of the little girls, Megan, had ADHD (小儿多动症)and was going through more　  (7)    to see if she had another　  (8)    disability. The thing about her was, though, that she was so  (9)   .She was clever in her own way. On her star I wrote, “Miss H. thinks you’re a star because you remember names　  (10)    . I also think you are clever, and I really   (11)  you can do anything if you try hard enough.”

After I  (12)  the stars, I was standing in front of the  (13)   helping the children clean the classroom for the end of the day. Megan came up to me,  (14)  her star in her hand.“Hey, do you　  (15)   me to read that for you, Megan?” I asked her. “No,” she replied, looking at me with smiling eyes, “I already  (16)   it.” Then she said, “You think I’m CLEVER?” It was like I was the first person ever to  (17)  her that. It was like the thought had  (18)   even crossed her mind　  (19)  she read that star.

It was by far the greatest  (20)  in my teacher career. Whenever I feel discouraged in the classroom, I think of it.

Jerry was my schoolmate in high school. One day, I saw him walking home from school with all his ____  (1)  ____ I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books for the weekend? He must really be ____  (2)  ____"

   After a while, I saw several kids running toward him, ____  (3)  ____ all his books out of his arms and he fell down in the dirt. His glasses went ____  (4)  ____ and landed in the grass.

   My ____  (5)  ____ went out to him. So, I ran over to him. ____  (6)  ____ I handed him his glasses, he looked at me and said, "Hey, thanks!"

   I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it ____  (7)  ____, he lived near me. We talked all the way home. Over the next four years, Jerry and I became best friends.

   Jerry was the ____  (8)  ____ student of our class, one of those guys that really found ____  (9)  ____ during high school. Therefore he had the honor to prepare a ____  (10)  ____ speech. On the graduation day, I could see that he was ____  (11)  ____. So, I patted him on the hack and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be ____  (12)  ____!" He looked at me and smiled.

   He cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to ____  (13)  ____ those who helped you make it through those ____  (14)  ____ years. Your parents, your teachers...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best ____  (15)  ____ you can give him."

   I just looked at my friend with ____  (16)  ____ as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend and was carrying his books home. "____  (17)  ____, nothing happened. My friend ____  (18)  ____ me from doing the unspeakable(不能说出来的).

   Not until that moment did I realize that you should never underestimate(低估) the ____  (19)  ____ of your actions. With one small gesture you can ____  (20)  ____ a person's life. For better or for worse.

When I was 12, all I wanted was a signet (图章) ring. It seemed every girl except me   (1)  one. On my 13th birthday, my Mum gave me a signet ring with my   (2)  carved into it. I was in heaven.

What made it even more   (3)  was that it was about the only thing that wasn’t being “replaced”. Our   (4)  had been burnt out in fires earlier that year and had   (5)  everything—so most of the “new” things we got was really just to replace what we’d lost,   (6)  not my ring. My ring was new.

Then, only one month later, I lost it. I took it off before bed and it was   (7)  in the morning. I was   (8)  and searched everywhere for it. But it seemed to have disappeared. At last, I gave up and   (9)  looking for it. And two years later, we   (10)  the house and moved away.

Years   (11)  , and a couple of years later, I was visiting my   (12)  when Mum told me that she had something for me. It wasn’t my birthday, nor was it Easter or Christmas. Mum noticed my questioning   (13)  . “You’ll recognize this one,” she said,   (14)  .

Then she   (15)  me a small ring box. I took it from her and   (16)  it to find my beautiful signet ring inside.

The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently   (17)  to do some redecorations, including replacing the carpets. When they pulled the   (18)  up in my old bedroom, they found the ring. With my name on it, they realized   (19)  owned the ring. They’d had it cleaned up sendi  (20)  ng it to my mother. And it still fits me.