I lost my flat by accident, and then I discovered my car needed a new engine. That meant I would have to spend ￡ 1，000 to get the car back on the  (1)  . I suddenly found that I needed, first, somewhere to  (2)  and second, something to travel around  (3)  ．

I was trying to decide what to do when I  (4)  the advertisement on a board: Converted(改装过的) ambulance  (5)  ， ￡ 1，600. So I rang the number in the ad and  (6)  to go and see it. It was love at first sight! I made a   (7)  straight away. Two days later I was the   (8)  owner of a converted camper van(野营车)．

At first I was  (9)  . I wasn’t sure whether I could handle it.   (10)  ， gradually I’ve had feelings that I haven’t  (11)  before. Living in my van is just the  (12)  of waking up in the morning, and, for the first few seconds, not knowing   (13)  you are. Then you look out of the window; some strange trees  (14)  you, and some beautiful scenery makes your heart beat  (15)  . Living in a flat in the city I missed all that.

Now I begin to   (16)  what the travelers have been telling us. Living in a van is cheap. No rent. What’s more, there’s the sense of   (17)  my new lifestyle has given me. I love being able to go where I want and when I want. It’s  (18)  to feel that the whole world is your home. It is no  (19)  that so many people are  (20)  their houses and going on the road.

I got aboard and sat down in my seat. It was going to be a long flight.

Around me were some  (1)  "Where are you headed?" I asked．

       "Lakes Air Base. Weˈll be there for special training, and then to the front."

       After about an hour, an announcement was made that box lunches were  (2)  for five dollars. The journey would be several hours, and I decided to buy one．

       As I   (3)  for my wallet, I heard a soldier ask his buddy if he would buy lunch. "No, that seems a lot of money for just a box lunch." I looked around at the other soldiers.  (4)   were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and   (5)  the flight attendant a fifty-dollar bill. "Take box lunches to all those soldiers." I said．She seized my arms tightly．Her eyes wet with tears, she  (6)  me, " My son is a soldier in the front．．．itˈs almost like you are doing it for him."

       Picking up ten boxes, she headed to the soldiers．

       After eating, on my way to the restroom I was   (7)  by a man. "I saw what you did and I want to be   (8)  of it." With this, he handed me twenty-five dollars．

       Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming, looking at the seat numbers   (9)   he walked．When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his   (10)  , and said, "I want to  (11)  your hand." I stood and took his hand．With a loud voice he said, "I was a soldier．  (12)  , someone bought me a lunch．It was such an act of   (13)   that I never forgot." I was a little bit  (14)   when applause rang out from all of the passengers．These soldiers were giving their all for our country．I could only give them a couple of meals．

       Later, when I walked to the front of the plane to stretch my legs, a man  (15)   another twenty-five dollars in my hand．

       When we  (16)   I gathered my belongings and started to leave．A man stopped me, put something in my pocket, and walked away  (17)  a word．Another twenty-five dollars!

Seeing the soldiers   (18)  at the terminal, I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars．As I walked  (19)  to my car, I prayed for their safe  (20)  

I believe different people have experienced different adolescence.I must admit I was still an angry  (1)   in my first year of college.My   (2)   was that my parents didn't please me at all.

Our finances were   (3)  ， so I chose to go to a (n)   (4)   college and take a bus to classes every day. One day I had a(n)  (5)  fight with my father.We both exploded into shouts.I   (6)   out of the house and missed my bus to school.

I rushed all the way to school.As I   (7)   across the campus toward my class, I suddenly realized I didn't have the  (8)   that was due: a thought card.My professor asked us to   (9)   an index card with our names and the dates every Tuesday.   (10)   what was on the rest of the card, we could write a thought, a question or something else.

Now, outside the door, ten minutes later, I took an index card.   (11)   to write something

on it, I could only think about the  (12)   I'd just had with my dad.I wrote “I am the son of an idiot！”，then  (13)   into the room, and handed it to our professor.

Next day, our professor   (14)  the thought cards and I   (15)   he wrote, “What does the ‘son of an idiot’ do with the rest of his life？” The professor's innocent-seeming question   (16)  me to the issue: whose problem is it?   (17)  ， my thinking began to shift.I realized that I had created a life  (18)   I was not a central figure!

The   (19)   of growth wasn't easy or fast.   (20)   later，from a struggling student, I became a successful student and then a successful teacher.

AWelcomeGift

Dario and his mother loved their new apartment.The living room was larg enough for their piano.That night,the two of them  (1)  side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home.The loud  (2)  filled the room and made them feel very happy.

The next morning,  (3)  ,their happiness disappeared.Someone had left a  (4)  under their door during the night.One of their neighbors had written to complain(抱怨) about the sound of the piano.Dario’s mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it.But he said that they were all  (5)  people and he couldn’t imagine any of them had done that.Later that morning,Dario suggested that they write a letter to their  (6)  and apologize for their playing.

“Maybe we could go and  (7)  everyone in person,”his mother said.

“What if we invited them to come here for a  (8)  instead?”Dario asked.

They both loved the  (9)  .Over the next few days,they sent out invitations and prepared desserts  (10)  their guests.They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

Finally,the day of the party  (11)  .Some guests brought presents.Others brought flowers.Some even brought desserts to  (12)  .One woman,Mrs.Gilbert,  (13)  Dario’s mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

“I heard you playing the other night,”she said.“The sounds woke me out of bed.I  (14)  that you might play like this every night.So I wrote a short note.I hope you don’t think I disliked the playing.”

Dario’s mother smiled at Mrs.Gilbert.“I think maybe we  (15)  you an apology,”she said.“I didn’t  (16)  how late it was when we were playing.Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.”

“You play,you play!”Mrs.Gilbert said.“I like what you play!Just not so loud at night.”She pointed to the book she had given them.“These songs are not such  (17)  music.”

“These songs are beautiful music,”Dario’s mother said.“We will be  (18)  to play them in the evening.”

“And we won’t play so loud or late!”Dario said.He was already looking forward to  (19)  the new music.More than that,however,he was happy to see the big smile on his mother’s face.It gave him a feeling of  (20)  and made him feel that they were home at last.

Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a   (1)   part of the learning process. But all too often as parents and teachers we disallow this  (2)  right to our children.

　 When I see a child   (3)   to this kind of pressure, I think of Donnie.

　 Donnie was my youngest third grader. His   (4)  of failure kept him from classroom games that other children enjoyed. He  (5)  answered questions — he might be wrong.

　 I tried my best to build his   (6)  . But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned (安排) to our classroom.

　 She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included,  (7)  her. One morning, we were working math problems at the chalkboard. Donnie had   (8)  the problems with painstaking neatness. Pleased with his progress, I   (9)  the children with Mary Anne and went for art materials. When I returned, Donnie was in   (10)  . He’d missed the third problem.

　 My student teacher looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face  (11)  . From the desk we shared, she got a container filled with pencils.

　 “Look, Donnie,” she said, kneeling beside him and gently  (12)  the tear stained face from his arms. “I’ve got something to  (13)   you.” She removed the pencils, one at a time, and placed them on his desk.

　　“See these   (14)  , Donnie,” she continued. “They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are  (15)   That’s because we make mistakes too. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That’s what you   (16)  learn to do, too.”

She kissed him and stood up. “Here,” she said, “I’ll leave one of these pencils on  (17)  desk so you’ll remember that everybody makes mistakes,   (18)   teachers.” Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and a smile.

　  The pencil became Donnie’s  (19)   possession. That, together with Mary Anne’s frequent encouragement, gradually  (20)  him that it’s all right to make mistakes—as long as you erase them and try again.

One night, when I was eight, my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. “Sweetie, my company wants to   (1)   me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you that you’ve done   (2)   and allowing you to skip a grade(跳级), but you’ll have to  (3)   your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?” She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was puzzled. The question kept me   (4)   for the rest of the night. I had said “yes” but for the first time, I realized the   (5)  decisions adults had to make.

For almost four years, my mother would call us from Brazil every day. Every evening I’d   (6)   wait for the phone to ring and then tell her every detail of my day. A phone call, however, could never replace her   (7)   and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large   (8)   apartment, I became   (9)   how lonely my mother must have been in Brazil herself. It was then   (10)   I started to appreciate the tough choices she had to make on   (11)   family and work.   (12)   difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn’t know whether you made the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with passion and a   (13)   attitude.

Back home, I   (14)   myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she   (15)   to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be   (16)  . I learnt how to take care of myself and set high but achievable   (17)  .

My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the  (18)   has really taught me. Sacrifices  (19)   in the end. The separation between us has proved to be a   (20)   for me.

Never been on an airplane? Here’s your chance to   (1)   one for just one US dollar, or even for   (2)  if you don’t have the money. Retired pilot Bahadur Gupta will be happy to show you   (3)  . The plane, which never   (4)  , is giving an opportunity to poor people to

  (5)   what it is like to sit in a jet.

When Gupta started his career many years ago, people from his tiny home villages in India   (6)   asked him what it was like to be in an aircraft. None of them had ever

  (7)    areal airplane and they wanted a look at the aviation industry through Gupta’s   (8)  . For security reasons, Gupta was never   (9)   to take his fellow villagers inside an actual aircraft. But saying no always made him feel uncomfortable and   (10)   and he always wanted to do something that would give them a   (11)   of flying.

Finally, in 2003, Gupta sold some land, bought an old airplane and started offering

  (12)   “flights” to the public, charging them only what they could   (13)  .

To make the experience   (14)   real, the “passengers” are given boarding passes and even shown safety   (15)  . What   (16)   the amazing in-flight experience is when the kids

  (17)   slide down the airplane’s emergency landing slide, which many of the most frequent flyers have luckily   (18)   experienced.

The retired pilot says he hopes all his customers can   (19)   fly in a real plane, but in the meantime he is enjoying putting a(n)   (20)   on their faces.

At my heaviest I weighed 370 pounds. I had a very poor relationship with food: I used it to   (1)   bad feelings, to make myself feel better, and to celebrate. Worried about my health, I tried many different kinds of   (2)   but nothing worked. I came to believe that I could do nothing about my    (3)    .

      When I was 50, my weight problem began to affect me   (3)   . I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with this   (4)   weight any more.

      That year, I    (6)     aseminar where we were asked to create a project that would touch the world. A seminar leader shared her  (7)    story—she had not only lost 125 pounds, but also raised $25,000 for homeless children.

        (5)   by her story, I created the As We Heal(痊愈), the World Heals   (6)  . My goal was to lose 150 pounds in one year and raise $50,000    (10)   amovement founded 30 years ago to end hunger. This combination of healing myself and healing the world (11）     me as the perfect solution.

    (7)  I began my own personal weight program, I was filled with the fear that I would  (8)   the same difficulties that beat me before. While the   (9)   hung over my head, there were also signs that I was headed down the right   (10)  . I sent letters to everyone I knew, telling them about my project. It worked perfectly. Donations began     (16)    infrom hundreds of people.

      Of course, I also took some practical steps to lose weight. I consulted with a physician（内科医生）, I hired a fitness coach, and I b）gan to eat small and   (11)   meals. My fund-raising focus also gave me new motivation to exercise   (12)  .

      A year later, I  (13)   my goal: I lost 150 pounds and raised $50,000! I feel that I’ve been given a second life to devote to something that is   (14)   and enormous.