I am so grateful for the 21-Day Eco challenge hosted by Kindspring. Taking care of our sweet Mother Earth has always been __(1)____ to me in my life and I have taken __(2)____  in my everyday life to recycle, reuse, think about ways to protect our Mother Earth, etc. However, this __(3)____  awoke me even more.

Our Scholars Together community has taken on more than we have before __(4)____  recycling ,using our own china cups and metal water bottles when we go out ,not buying things in __(5)____  containers and having green lunches more consistently, not__(6)____  ,but the biggest change we made was setting a goal of Zero Waste.

We set up more boxes and bins for paper that we could __(7)____  again, recycled every sheet of use-on-both-side paper, plastics, cans ,etc. We also __(8)____  all of our food we cooked or bought ,instead of throwing some away. We really __(9)____  it a challenge. Each day we all saw how little __(10)____ could be in our dustbins. I realized that I had been throwing paper away that could be used on the other __(11)____ or could be recycled, and now I am looking everywhere for __(12)____  that can be used more __(13)____  until recycling time.

The videos offered by Kindspring have been so__(14)____  and useful to us all that I don’t want the Eco challenge to __(15)____ . We will continue to do our part and __(16)____  the news to our family and friends. Next week we are trying some __(17)____  in our local sandwich and sub shops where the kids like to go to see that we can bring our own __(18)____  in, rather than having them put in bags. It is cool to see how the __(19)____  spreads. Thank you Kindspring for __(20)____  the community with daily support and great researched videos and information.

Some years ago when I was in my first year in college, I heard Salome Bey sing for the first time. The moment was exciting. Salome’s  (1)   filled the room and brought the theater to life. I was so  (2)     that I decided to write an article about her.

    I  (3)   Salome Bey, telling her I was from Essence magazine, and that I wanted to meet her to talk about her career. She  (4)    and told me to come to her studio next Tuesday. When I hung up, I was scared out of my mind. I  (5)    I was lying. I was not a writer at all and hadn’t even written a grocery list.

    I interviewed Salome Bey the next Tuesday. I sat there  (6)   ,taking notes and asking questions that all began with, “Can you tell me…” I soon realized that  (7)    Salome Bey was one thing, but writing a story for a national magazine was just impossible. The   (8)    was almost unbearable. I struggled for days   (9)   draft(草稿) after draft. Finally I put my manuscript (手稿) into a large envelope and dropped it into a mailbox.

It didn’t take long. My manuscript  (10)    . How stupid of me! I thought. How could I  (11)   in a world of professional writers? Knowing I couldn’t  (12)    the rejection letter, I threw the unopened envelope into a drawer.

Five years later, I was moving to California. While  (13)    my apartment, I came across the unopened envelope. This time I opened it and read the editor’s letter in   (14)   .

Ms Profit,

Your story on Salome Bey is fantastic. Yet we need some  (15)   materials. Please add those and return the article immediately. We would like to  (16)    your story soon.

Shocked, it took me a long time to  (17)   . Fear of rejection cost me greatly. I lost at least five hundred dollars and having my article appear in a major magazine. More importantly, I lost years of  (18)   writing. Today, I have become a full – time writer. Looking back on this  (19)   , I learned a very important lesson: You can’t  (20)   to doubt yourself.

The journey my daughter Cathy has had with her swimming is as long as it is beautiful.

    Cathy suffered some terrible   (1)  in her early childhood. After years of regular treatment, she  (2)  became healthy.

    Two years ago, while Cathy was watching the Olympics, a dream came into her sweet little head—to be a swimmer. Last summer, she wanted to   (3)  our local swim team. She practiced hard and finally   (4)  it. The team practice,   (5)  , was a rough start. She coughed and choked and could hardly   (6)  her first few weeks. Hearing her coughing bitterly one night, I decided to  (7)  her from it all. But Cathy woke me up early next morning, wearing her swimsuit   (8)  to go! I told her she shouldn’t swim after a whole night’s coughing, but she refused to   (9)  and insisted she go.

   From that day on, Cathy kept swimming and didn’t   (10)  a single practice. She had a  (11)  intention within herself to be the best she could be. My ten—year—old was growing and changing right before my eyes, into this   (12)  human being with a passion and a mission. There were moments of   (13)  of course: often she would be the last swimmer in the race. It was difficult for Cathy to accept that she wasn’t a  (14)  ---ever. But that didn’t stop her from trying.

   Then came the final awards ceremony at the end of the year. Cathy didn’t expect any award but was still there to  (15)  her friends and praise their accomplishments. As the ceremony was nearing the end, I suddenly heard the head coach  (16)  , “The highest honor goes to Cathy!” Looking around, he continued, “Cathy has inspired us with her    (17)  and enthusiasm.  (18)  skills and talents bring great success, the most valuable asset(财富)one can hold is the heart.”

   It was the greatest   (19)  of my daughter’s life. With all she had been  (20)  in her ten years, this was the hour of true triumph(成功).

Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assignment－to draw a picture of something for which they were   (1)  .

Most of the class might be considered economically   (2)  ，but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These，the teacher thought，would be the   (3)  of most of her students’art. And they were.

But Douglas made a different kind of   (4)  .Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the teacher’ s true child of misery，weak and   (5)  .As other children played at break，Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the   (6)   Douglas felt behind those sad eyes.

Yes，his picture was   (7)  . When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful，he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an   (8)  hand. His abstract image   (9)   the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer，because farmers   (10)   turkeys. Another suggested a police officer，because the police protect and   (11)  people. Still others guessed it was the hand of God，for God feeds us. And so the   (12)  went－until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself.

When the children had gone on to other assignments，she   (13)  at Douglas’desk，bent down，and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy looked away and   (14)  ，“It’s yours，Madam.” She   (15)   the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here or there，  (16)  she had the other students. How often had she said，“Take my hand，Douglas，we’ll go outside.” Or，“Let me show you how to   (17)  your pencil.” Or，“Let’s do this together.” Douglas was most thankful for his teacher’ s hand.

Brushing aside a tear，she went on with her work.

The story speaks of   (18)  thankfulness. It says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing   (19)  ，and how much it means to the Douglases of the world. They might not always say thanks，but they’ll remember the hand that   (20)  .

Recently, I flew to Las Vegas to attend a meeting. As we were about to arrive, the pilot announced with apology that there would be a slight   (1)    before setting down. High desert winds had   (2)  the airport to close all but one runway. He said that we would be  (3)  the city for a few minutes waiting to  (4)  . We were also told to remain in our seats meanwhile with our seat belts fastened  (5)  there might be a few bumps(颠簸).Well, that few minutes turned into about forty-five minutes, including a ride that would make a roller coaster(过山车)  (6)  by comparison. The movement was so fierce that several passengers felt  (7)   and had to use airsickness bags. As you might guess, that’s not good thing to have happen in a(n)  (8)  space because it only  (9)  to increase the discomfort of the situation. About twenty minutes into the adventure, the entire airplane became very  (10)  .There was now a sense of anxiety and fear that could be  (11)   noticed. Every passenger simply held on for dear life …except one. A   (12)   was having a good time! With each bump of the  (13)  ,he would let out a giggle (咯咯的笑)of delight. As I observed this, I  (14)   that he didn’t know he was supposed to be afraid and worried about his  (15)  .He neither thought about the past nor about the future. Those are what we grown—ups have learned from  (16)  .He was  (17)  the ride because he had not yet been taught to fear it. Having understood this, I took a deep breath and  (18)    back into my seat, pretending I was  (19)  on a roller coaster. I smiled for the rest of the flight. I even  (20)  to giggle once or twice ,much to the chagrin(懊恼)of the man sitting next to me holding the airsickness bag.

Several years ago my husband and I bought an old farmhouse about a mile from where I grew up. Many people thought the house wasn’t   (1)   buying.   (2)  , we saw the beauty of the place--- something others couldn’t see. They saw a very old building that   (3)   too much work. Some said that we were  (4)   to even think about buying it.

After making a   (5)  , there was much to be done before winter came. We chose   (6)   heat, but we didn’t have a brick firewall for the wood stove or a chimney.

I knew the perfect person who could do the job   (7)  than anyone else was my grandfather, Richard Jones. The  (8)   was that he lived in Florida, a very long   (9)   from our home--- it was an 18-hour drive. Another problem was the   (10)  . Could we even   (11)   to pay him?

The distance   (12)   to be no problem at all. Retired at the age of 69, Granddad loaded my grandmother, their suitcase and his tools into their truck and headed north.

Each time I asked how much he would  (13)  , he replied, “ We’ll figure out the   (14)   when the job is done. Just have coffee and cookies ready when I get there.”

Granddad wasn’t   (15)  , I knew. He was   (16)  born with a sweet tooth. For two weeks the coffeemaker never stopped, and the cookies   (17)   before I could put them into the cookie jar. At last, he didn’t ask me for any money at all.

Whenever I look at the brick firewall, I will   (18)   my grandfather and the love he gave me. And I’m so   (19)   that they moved back to our area several years ago. Now they’re only seven miles away. As I write this, I seem to hear a   (20)   voice calling out to me, “ Do you have any cookies? Is the coffee made?”

     “How does the yard look?” My father asked, with his eyes shining. I could tell he was eagerly waiting for my   (1)  . “Wonderful!” I replied after I gave it a thorough  (2)  . Then I recited all the changes I had  (3)  in his yard and he smiled contently.

       When I was young, my mother  (4)  in a car accident, leaving my father alone to  (5)  their three young daughters. At the beginning, life was not always  (6)  and my younger sisters usually complained. However, Dad always  (7)  us to believe that life was good. Meanwhile, he tried his best to  (8)  that belief.

       In 1972, my dad developed a piece of waste land that had been  (9)  on Okaloosa Island. Every year at the first sign of  (10)  , he would begin spending countless hours working there to make it be bursting with colors. Through his continuous hard work, the land  (11)  turned into a beautiful garden with different types of flowers and other unique plants. While our friends were enjoying their vacation through traveling to different places, we were  (12)  working with my dad in his yard, watering the flowers, weeding or cutting off the branches. Sometimes, our friends were envious of our working vacation, and we would  (13)  them. Dad made his yard very  (14)  so that it became our vacation paradise during our childhood.

       For so many years, when we were  (15)  , we liked to visit Dad’s yard, because it could  (16)  us of Dad’s belief. It was Dad and his yard that gave us  (17)  that enabled us to survive and   (18)  major challenges in life. One day, it shocked us that Dad said he would not  (19)  the yard. Then he explained, “Twenty years ago I decided to start my work in that yard to tell you life is good. Now my work is done.” We were sitting in  (20)  , recalling what we had experienced. Life was good. Dad was right.

My brother was killed in a car accident. The driver was my brother’s friend. They were drinking and had gotten into a   (1)  . After quarreling for a while, my brother   (2)  climbed into the bed of the truck.   (3)   the driver moved to pass a car, he lost control and the truck   (4)  .

  At the funeral, Mom was pale. The driver’s parents paid their   (5)  . They hugged each of us and we cried together. It seemed that they also loved my brother. Although we were extremely sad, we   (6)   the funeral and then did our best to get back to our   (7)   routines. Finally my brother’s friend was   (8)   with drunk driving and manslaughter(过失杀人). After the stage of   (9)  , many of us were firmly in the anger stage. We insisted that the driver should be punished.

  However, Mom sent a letter to the court   (10)   for leniency (宽大处理) for the driver. She explained that she had   (11)   her loss and that a sentence would not bring her son   (12)  . She said the driver would live to know that his poor judgment caused the   (13)   of someone he loved. Her letter   (14)   everyone. The judge read it out loud to the open courtroom, and there wasn’t a dry eye. The judge stated that Mom’s letter   (15)   his decision and that he accepted her request.

  I asked her how she could decide not to have that man   (16)  . Through tears she said, “I am   (17)   for your brother. I miss him every day. But I cannot hold   (18)   in my heart for anyone or for what happened, or it will eat me alive. I have to   (19)  , or I will not be able to live.” Forgiveness is a   (20)  weapon for healing.

 My dad is my hero because he is brave, skilled，and respectful. I know many people say their dads are their heroes, but my dad   (1)   me about becoming a man, which is    (2)   important for a young boy.
  Respect goes a long way with my dad, as does patience. As a(n)   (3)  ，my dad must       (4)  people every day，some of whom are nice and some are not. Either way，he      (5)   his well-mannered attitude.
 Dad is not afraid of many things, or if he is, he doesn’t tell me   (6)   he wants to seem tough. He may not be a big guy but since he works with his   (7)   all day, he is very strong. Dad works outdoors in all kinds of   (8)   but the worst thing he has to do is   (9)  up and work in an attic (顶楼) in the middle of the summer. Trust me, this is the   (10)  place you will experience as an electrician and when you come back   (11)  ，what is in your lungs will make you   (12)  for hours.
 My dad and I have a very good   (13)  . We talk about almost everything. We go hunting, fishing，and everything a dad and son would do. My dad and I enjoy hiking   (14)  because it gives us time outdoors together and there is nothing like that. He has   (15)  and taught me everything I need to know about  (16) . 
 I am   (16)   to be the son of Mike , and would not have it any other way. People come up to me all the time to   (17)   me I have a good dad. It makes me feel   (18)   that a lot of people think so   (19)   of him. He is a good teacher of my life and would do anything for me. This is why my father is my hero.