I'm Elisa. Several days ago, our family were sleeping in Canada's Banff National Park when a wolf (狼) suddenly1our tent. My husband, Matt, was hurt. This is a2thing to post on my Facebook, since I haven't fully understood3it had happened yet.

It was like something out of a terrible4. Matt threw his body in front of me and the boys, and fought with the wolf as5caught his arms and hands. We were shouting for help as he was fighting with it and trying to save us. I6my body on top of the kids and Matt made the wolf not move by holding its mouth closed with his hands, but he7and the wolf started to drag(拖) Matt away, while I was catching his8trying to get him back. I don't think I'll ever be able to describe the terrible experience9.

It was then that Russ10into the picture. He kicked the wolf and it finally let go of Matt. They continued to throw huge rocks11the wolf while we ran as fast as we could to the car for safety.12, the wolf ran away. And then Russ sent us to the nearest hospital and we got the13in time.

It could have been so much worse, and we are just feeling so happy that we are all still sitting here as a14family. Matt is our hero and we are forever15that Russ came to help and saved Matt's life.

Start Today

    "What can you do when you have done nothing but mess up your whole life long?" These were the words I heard when I 1 the TV the other day. They were coming from one of the talk shows 2 are so popular on TV these days. I started to turn the channel but the words I had3make me stop for a moment. I 4 the speaker of them. He couldn't have been more than 18 years old, but already he was writing off (认为) his life as a useless waste.

    I wanted to shout at him, "You're not5 yet!"

    It is 6sad that so many people cannot get beyond(摆脱) their pasts and live 7the present. There are so many people like that talk show guest. There are people still in their teens 8 their lives are over. There are people in their twenties who already think they have 9 the boat to success and happiness. There are people in their thirties and forties who sit around complaining that life has passed them by. I want to shout to them all, "Wake up! You're still 10! What have you done today?" If you want a happy life, you can't dwell on(纠缠于) your past 11. If you want joy and love in your life, you have to choose them today. God gives us a new chance at life every time we wake up in the morning. It is up to us to catch it.

    Today 12 be the beginning of a new life for each of us. We can choose joy right now. We can share love today. We can start to live happily at this moment. It doesn't matter how hard our past has been. Our present can be full of joy and our future can be full of 13. It doesn't matter if we are eight 14 eighty—we can still make our lives 15. Life isn't over until your last heartbeat. Start today, then, to make your heart beat with joy, love and light.

I was a kid who was always treated unkindly. One day, I was in the bathroom talking with my friends Maya and Lizzie. When Kristina, one of the bullies 1in. To my great surprise, she said that she was2 for the way she had treated me and wanted to be friends.

Maya and Lizzie didn't believe 3she said.  But I decided to accept her. Later that day, I sat with the popular girls 4 the first time, feeling important.

Over the next few months, I started spending 5 time with Kristina and her friends and less time with Maya and Lizzie. When my new popular friends gossiped", I laughed. Sometimes I did feel bad about it, 6 I didn't want to be a nobody again.

Then one day, Lizzie 7 to talk to me, which made me happy. But Lizzie showed her anger with me for being mean*to Maya. A 8 broke out between us. Feeling angry, I pushed her. She looked at me in terror*, shouting 9 ,"You are a bullet*!"

I 10 stood there with regret. She was right. I had become a bully, one who I had always disliked so much. I cried all the way home. That night, I decided that I was going to 11 being a bully*. The next day at school, I tried to say sorry to Lizzie, but she turned her back on me. 12 would talk to me. I felt like the loneliest person in the world.

Not 13 what to do, I told everything to the counselor*. With her help, Lizzie and Maya decided to give me another 14 . It took a while to win back their trust.

I thought I needed to be popular to be somebody. I was wrong. I am somebody because I am special and 15 to my friends. Best of all, I like me again, too.

    The first note I ever wrote for my mother said "Hi, Mom！Have a nice day！Love, Marie!". I was twelve when I wrote it, and I folded the 1 into her change purse.

    My mother worked as a cleaner in a clothing factory. I knew that when she 2 meals in the dining hall, she would have to look for change in her purse. I didn't know that she would     3 that note, and always carry it with her.

    From the day that I 4 folded the small piece of paper into my mother's change purse, she and I left each other 5 notes. They would be put in the fridge, under a lamp, or beside the TV set. I 6 found one hidden in my shoe. From the outside, our notes may have been general 7 of our days, ideas and wishes. But to my mother and 8, they were a lifelong communication with each other that no one else 9.

    On October 20, 2009, my mother died after a long illness. I stood near her bed, 10 her hand, I didn't cry the day my mom died, 11 I didn't cry a week later when I went to collect her things. I was so thankful that she no longer had aches and 12. Recently, I found a note that my mom had 13 me. It had been hidden in the 14 of my favorite childhood book for years. It read "Dear Marie, I love you always.

    Miss you a lot. Don't forget me. Be 15! Love, Mom" That day, I cried.

    A zero-waste life is a lifestyle that hardly creates any rubbish. So, a zero-waste theme store is about 1 people with a number of everyday, practical and pleasant zero-waste products to help them start on a one-stop, zero-waste life journey.

    "Zero-waste" or" danshari" was first 2by a French woman Bea Johnson. "Live a life and try not to create any rubbish; use different methods to protect the earth," she said.

    Yu Yuan, 27, is 3attracted by this idea.

    She and her boyfriend have lived in Beijing for many years. And earlier she used to be a customer without thinking a lot 4she saw a video about "zero-waste".

    The 5 is about a family of four, and the rubbish they produce every year is placed in a jar.

    After Watching the video, Yu wanted to  6this zero-waste lifestyle with her boyfriend.

    Yu says that a zero-waste life 7the 6R principle—Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Rot (腐烂).

    Over August-October when Yu followed the principle of zero-waste 6R, she and her boyfriend

    Joe Harvey both 8only two cans of rubbish.

    Now, the couple have opened a small 9 called The Bulk House in Nanluoguxiang, Beijing, to support a zero-waste life.

    At the store they use environmentally friendly products. For example, they use wood products to replace 10ones and prepare cloth bags printed with zero-waste logos for customers. Most of the products sold in the store can be reused, and a small number of 11which are not recyclable can degrade(分解). The store 12has secondhand books and audio-visual

CD/DVDs.

    For used toiletries (things like soap and toothpaste that are used for cleaning yourself) there is a company which accepts them, and the couple regularly mail their waste to it.

    Yu says that those who were once not 13 in the zero-waste lifestyle have gradually changed because of curiosity. "The zero-waste lifestyle", she adds, "is for everyone."

    "It's  14us at our fingertips". Yu expects some of her friends to 15 her on the road to zero-waste. As the saying goes, "many hands make light work".

    Once upon a time, there was a farmer named Harry. He worked very hard, 1his time in the field brought him no harvest. One day, he sat down under a tree for a rest. Then he saw a snake, and thought, "This is surely the goddess of the field, and I have not once paid her homage (敬意). That is2nothing grows in my field." After thinking it over, he got some3to the snake. The next day he returned and found a gold coin in the basin. And it continued4. He brought the snake milk, and always found a coin there the next morning.

One day, Harry asked his son to take the milk to the snake. The son did so. He brought the milk,5it there, and returned home. When he came back the next day, he found a coin. "This place must6gold coins. I will kill the snake and take them all at7!"

    Having8this, the son returned the next day with the milk and a stick. As he gave the milk to the snake, he suddenly hit her9the head with the stick but the snake didn't die. Filled with10, she bit the boy with her sharp, poisoned teeth. The boy fell dead at once.

    When Harry found why his son had died, he said that the snake had done11wrong. The next day, he once again took milk to the snake and praised the snake with a12voice. The snake appeared and said to him, "You come here from greed (贪心), letting even your pain for your son13. Your son, in his lack of understanding, hit me. I bit him. How can I forget the stick's blow? How can you forget the14for your son? From now on friendship between you and me will no longer be15." After saying this she gave him a pearl and said, "Do not come back." Then she disappeared into her cave.

    Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus (马戏团). Finally, there was only one family between the ticket office and1. This family made a big impression on me.

    There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could2they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not3, but they were clean. The children talked about the clowns (小丑) .4It was clearly a very important day out for them. The father and mother5happy as they could be.

    The tickets lady asked how many tickets the father wanted, he proudly answered, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and6adults' tickets, so I can take my family to the circus."

    The ticket lady told him the price.

    The man's wife7her head. There was no longer a8on the man's face. "How much did you say?" He9asked.

    The ticket lady again told him the price.

    The man obviously didn't have enough money.10how could he tell his kids the bad news?

    11what was happening my dad took a $20 note from his pocket and dropped on the ground. (We were not rich ourselves at all) He then tapped the man on the12and said, "Excuse me, sir, you dropped this."

    The man understood my father was helping him. He13the money, looked straight14my dad's eyes, and in ears replied "Thank you. This really means a lot to me and my15".

    Although we did not go to the circus that night, we didn't go without.

    Tony was a 15-year-old boy living with his little sister, Jane. Their parents had passed away long ago. Tony 1 Jane by himself.

    One day, Tony woke up at 3 in the morning as usual. When Jane was 2 alone, Tony left their little house m deliver(递送) the newspaper. As he did so, he found something unusual. One3 was sitting in front of his house. Tony was so 4that he stopped to look at him closely. It was a very 5 morning and he looked very old.

    The poor old man didn't have anything to cover himself with. Tony went into his house to get the old man a blanket (毯子), 6there were no extra blankets. Tony thought bard and took his father's 7. It was the only thing of his father's that he had left. Tony wrote a short 8 . "Sir, I routed you sleeping in front of my house. This is 9 father's coat. I hope it fits you well " He put the note in a pocket of the coat, and covered the old man with the coat. Then he went to work. When he 10three hours later, both the man and the coat were gone. Tony thought that it was the 11 thing he could have done with his father's coat.

    That afternoon, Tony hurried home after school because Jane was12alone. However, Jane and the old man were standing in front of the house, and Jane shouted to Tony, "Brother! He's our 13!"

    The grandfather smiled and said, "Tony. I have been looking for you all around the country for eight years. I'm not 14. But I can take care of you two. Thank you for giving me the coat and letting me know what a 15 person my grandson is. This coat was the very one that I gave my own son, a long time ago."

June 22nd, 1993 is a day that I will never forget. It was on that day that my life 1 forever.

I was a nurse working in a 2. After being a single mother(单亲妈妈) for 12 years, I was finally 3to enjoy life with my four children.

 4 on June 22nd, 1993, I had a(n) 5 on the way to work. I was seriously hurt. I 6 my job, and I believed my life was over, too.

I had a lot of surgeries(外科手术). 7 the first surgery, I was 8 helpless and could do nothing for myself. Several months later, the doctor said there was 9 else he could do and he let me go home.

At home, I had to spend most of my time in the wheelchair. Though my children 10 me carefully, I was upset and not 11 in everything.

After several months of being sad, I started to look at my life 12. Now I realize 13 the important thing in life is. I enjoy 14 time with my family. And I started to appreciate(欣赏) the little things that I 15 to care about before. Now I feel I'm living a new life.

My parents used to tell me how important school was for me, but I didn't think so. I paid little attention to it. But one thing let me finally 1 what my parents meant.

One day, when I2a mobile phone store, I saw an advertisement on its door.  It was hiring new workers! "Sir, are you hiring people?" I went3the shop and asked. "Yes, but you should be the man who we need," the manager answered. He looked at me for a few4from head to foot. "Do you have a high school diploma?" 5he, "Or do you have any work experience?"

I felt so ashamed and6 that I didn't know what to say, so I just turned around and left.  I could not fall asleep that night,   and I thought a lot about my 7. "I must go to school or I can't do anything without a good education," I 8 to myself silently. I never went back to the store again9I finished my study and got a diploma (文凭).

 10 looked the same when I returned to the store: the same people and the same design. However, compared with last time, I had more 11.The manager told me they needed new 12. So it was a great chance for me. I13my diploma to the manager. He looked at it and said, "Great, you are in."

Now I am still working in the same store. With this experience, I always 14 people to attend school. Education helps you have a bright future. Now I am not worried about my future because I'm still 15 in my spare time.