I loved everything about school except for one person: Mildred.

Every day, as we walked home after school, she 1 step on the backs of my shoes. Then, when I stopped to adjust my shoes, Mildred would slap (拍打) my back. She made me 2.

Soon, my mother realized something was wrong. I told her the whole story. My mom told me not to worry and said she had a 3.

The next morning, my mom walked up the4 with me. Just as we got to the top, we saw Mildred.

"Hello, Mildred, " my mom said 5. Mildred stopped, turning back, then standing as 6 as a statue (雕像). Her face was bright red. Her oversized coat hung open. There were only two buttons (纽扣) on it.

My mother didn't say anything at first. 7, she buttoned up Mildred's coat and turned the collar up around her neck.

"I'm Marion's mother. I need your 8, Mildred. " My mother's hands held Mildred's as she spoke. "Marion doesn't have any brothers or sisters. She needs a best 9 at school, someone to walk up the hill with her after classes are over. Would you be Marion's friend, Mildred?"

Mildred chewed (咀嚼) on her bottom lip and 10. "Oh, thank you!" my mother said. "I just know you are someone I can depend11. " Then she hugged us and left as if 12unusual had happened.

Mildred and I walked on to school. As I looked over at her, I saw that Mildred was 13! I'd never seen her smile before. We walked up the hill each day after school together and pretty soon we became best friends.

I didn't 14my mom's plan at the time. But in the end, I came to understand her message:15 never fails. It will make us into a friendly and beautiful person.

I was walking into my first school in America with fear. I had travelled a long distance from India in order to 1 my parents who had been here for three years, hoping America would help my future.

I was afraid 2 I would do everything alone. I didn't know3here! On the first day, I went to my4 period class after I had missed my first. With fear, I 5 the door knob (把手), opening it slowly. Everyone's 6 were on me as I entered the room. 7 paying attention to them, I went to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. His soft "yes" made me a little8. He gave me a piece of paper called Course Requirements. To my 9, he then asked me to choose the seat by myself. You know, in India we needn't do that. Since it was my first day, it was 10 for me to find the right directions, but I managed to get to my classes on my own. At the end of the day, I was 11 the way to the school bus which we didn't have in India either. I found my bus and sat down 12 thinking today wasn't so bad.

As time passed, I13some friendships and started to love my school. The teachers had a fun way of making hard things easy, 14 the teachers in my home country had a more strict way. We also had much 15 school days in India 7:00 am to 5:30 pm, while in America school was 7:30 to 2:30. The main difference I found in America is the amount I learned each day. Because of the great education here, I feel I am the luckiest person in the whole world.

On my 12th birthday, I got a cell phone! I hugged mom and dad. The next morning at school, I constantly showed off my phone and asked everyone for their 1  . At the end of the day, I felt 2 to get so many contacts. I wouldn't pay much attention to the teachers 3 I was too busy on my phone. 4 , I didn't get caught using it. A week later, I took a test and 5 . What was worse, my mom had to sign the test. Mom was used to seeing A's on my tests. It was 6 for me to show the test. Eventually I showed her and she couldn't believe it. She was 7 and disappointed. Seeing her like that made me feel bad.

Weeks later my dad seemed to 8 the fact that I had a phone. We would argue every day about why phones are bad for us. My 9 also joined the conversation. "Anahy, I have also noticed that you never pay attention to us, your brother or sister. It's like you have your own little world now."

Then I wondered if it was 10 that I was being impolite.

A week later, I tried going a whole day 11 a cell phone. I had so much fun because I was actually spending time with my family and paying attention to them. From that day, I had a different 12 towards cell phones.

Phones really take you away from the rest of the world. I'm not saying that phones are bad and not to use 13 , but you do have to make some time to spend with your family too and not get stuck with your phone all day. My phone 14 time from my homework and from my family. It also affected my grades. I will 15 using my phone, but I have it under better control now.

As a little boy, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather's farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded (包围) by miles of winding stonewalls, the house and farm provided 1hours of fun for a city kid like me.

I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. For a long time after my first visit to the farm, I'd wanted more than 2to be allowed to climb the stonewalls. My parents would 3agree. The walls were old. Some stones were missing, and others were falling into pieces. Still, my wish to climb across those walls grew4strong that finally, one spring afternoon, I summoned(鼓起) all my 5and entered the living room, 6the adults had got together after Sunday dinner.

"I, uh, I want to climb the stonewalls, " I said hesitantly(犹豫地). Everyone 7. "Can I climb the stonewalls? Immediately the women shouted, "No, you mustn't. 8you'll hurt yourself!" The reply was just as I 9. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather's loud voice. "Now10just a minute. Let the boy climb the stonewalls. He has to 11 to do things for himself. "

"Go, " he said to me, "and come and see me when you get 12. " For the next two hours I climbed those old walls and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my13. I'll never forget what he said. "Fred, " he said, smiling14, "you made this day special just by being yourself. Always remember, there's only one person in this whole world like15, and I like you as you are. "

Many years have passed, but I still remember what my grandfather said at that moment.

Mini－me is what I called my daughter Micah. We used to do many things 1 . But these days, "I'm Good" is about all she says to me. Code for "Leave me alone".

"Why doesn't she want to do things with me?" I thought as I set the table for 2  one evening.

"Mom!" Micah cried 3 . "Come quick!"

I 4  out and found a little baby bird on the ground. My eyes went to the branch above. For the last few weeks, we had watched mockingbirds make a nest and 5  eggs there.

"The wind must have 6  him out of the nest, " I said.

"No, it was Mr. Whiskers—our cat. You let him go outside!" Micah said.

"I'm sorry," I said and put the bird back. Happy to put the incident behind us, we went inside. Micah hopped on her iPad. "More cat videos?" I asked.

"I'm 7  what to feed it, " she said. She was more focused than ever. I wished she had been half as 8 in me.

"It needs a(n) 9 , " Micah said.

"How about Chance?I think he has a good chance of 10  it with your help. "

"I like it, " said Micah. Finally we could 11  something.

Early the next morning I got up to mix the bird food Micah found on the Internet. But the breakfast wasn't 12 , because his mother was back!

Micah kept close 13  on him. Weeks later, we went to check on Chance. The nest was empty. Chance was seated proudly on nearby branch. He was a(n) 14  bird.

Micah isn't a mini－me, I realized. She is her own person, 15  more independent every day.

My daughter cried as soon as she entered the door and shouted, "It's too unfair! " It 1that she was talking to her deskmate while having a math class. And they were caught by the teacher;2of them were punished after class. "There were some other classmates talking at that time, but the teacher only punished us. He just did it to warn others! " she said 3.

I knew that my daughter really 4 this matter. I calmed her down first and then I asked her patiently, "Should you be punished for speaking when you are having a class?" She 5, but also replied, "It is unfair for the teacher not to punish others who are also speaking! " I asked her again, "Should the teacher punish you?" She said, "Yes, but. . . " I knew what she was going to say and I 6 her at once, "Don't talk about others, just look at yourself. " She 7 her head silently. "You know what the 8 of speaking in class is. You did it and got the punishment. It's fair! " I said.

After hearing my words, she seemed not as angry 9 when she first entered the door. She asked me, "How about those classmates who are also talking in class?" I replied, "The teacher didn't punish these students not because of a special 10 for them, but because he chose to forgive(宽恕)them. From your 11of view, the teacher is unfair, but for those students he is forgiving, not unfair. " My daughter was confused(困惑). "Do you say there is anything unfair in this world?" I said. "Look! This earth is round, and there is no place in the world where the sun can't shine, so what could be wrong?But it 12what angle(角度)you stand at. "

Actually, everyone is very 13 about what they are doing and knowing whether they behave right or wrong. But when they are 14 others, the sense of unfairness naturally comes. The most important thing is to understand fairness in a 15 way, not from your opinion only!

For me, one Christmas stands out from all the others, and I will never forget it. That1Christmas began on a rainy day in the worst year of my life. I had no money, no job, and was on my way to 2 a job. I sat down in the streetcar and there against the seat was a beautiful silk 3 with a silver handle. I had never seen 4 so lovely. I examined the handle and saw a 5 on it. I found the name from a telephone book. Then I called and a woman answered. To her surprise, it was her umbrella, which was given by her parents as a birthday present. She was 6 excited that she wanted to invite me to her house and thank me in person. At her house, she took the umbrella 7 her eyes filled with tears. When I left, she took down 8 address.

The next six months were terrible. I was able to get only short­term jobs. Badly, my last job ended the day 9 Christmas. And the money I had could only 10 to get, Peggy, my little girl, a small tree without any decoration on it.

The air was full of the sound of Christmas merriment as I walked from the streetcar to my small apartment. I felt so 11 and lonely. But I tried very hard to 12 a smile to greet my daughter.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Peggy ran 13 to answer it, calling that it must be Santa Claus. It was a delivery man, and his arms were full of boxes. We were so 14 and opened them, a lovely doll, gloves, candy and a beautiful handbag. Unbelievable！They are all from the kind woman who owned 15 umbrella. After we decorated the little tree, a sweet peace flooded me. I became confident to face life again.

Billy Ray Harris was homeless. He spent each day on the streets of Kansas City, asking for money, for food and maybe a1for the night. Every day, as he sat thinking about his life, he sometimes 2 the sound of a coin or two dropping into his cup. One day, the noise was 3 than usual. A little later, when he looked into the cup, he was 4 to see a shining diamond(钻石)ring inside.

Billy's first 5 was to go straight to a jeweller's(珠宝店)and that's 6 what he did. To his surprise, he was 7 $4, 000. Billy thought long and hard.

Was it a mistake?8 then he thought about his grandfather who had brought him up and always asked him to do the right thing. He made up his mind to 9the ring and maybe one day its owner would return.

10, he did not have to wait long. Two days later, a young woman came near 11while he was begging. She introduced herself as Sarah Darling and asked 12 he'd found anything unusual in his cup. Billy reached into his pocket and pulled out the13. He gave it back to her.

Sarah and her husband decided to raise money for Billy to help him 14 the streets. Soon Billy got over $200, 000. And thanks to the news report, he got together again 15 his brother who he had been unable to find for 16 years.

All the good luck is just because Billy did the right thing—returning something that did not belong to him.

On May 22, China's "father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping died at 91. People in China and around the world felt1. Yuan was devoted to creating hybrid rice, which 2hunger of millions of people not only in China, but around the world.

3Yuan's graduation in college, he worked as a teacher at an agriculture school in Hunan. After seeing many people die of hunger during a serious famine(饥荒) that lasted from 1959 to 1961,he felt 4it. Then he decided to study hybrid rice 5. Back then, people thought 6 couldn't be crossed with other plants. But Yuan didn't believe this and 7 face the challenge. In 1973, he succeeded in growing the world's first high-yield of over 500 kg per mu, 8 than the 300-kg yields from normal rice. In 2020, hybrid rice developed by Yuan's team achieved a yield of 22. 5 tons per hectare in two growing seasons. Later, his 9 also started to research growing salt-tolerant rice, which is known as seawater rice.

Yuan once said he had two 10. One was to enjoy the shade under rice crops that were taller than men. The other was that hybrid rice would be grown all over the world. One day his dreams might come true!

Dave and his younger sister Tina lived in a small village. One day, they took part in a competition. They had to climb a few 1to win the competition.

In the beginning, things went 2. But after a few days. Dave was too tired to walk any farther. Tina was 3 him. In Tina's eyes. Dave could do everything well.

"Perhaps I should be the strong one and 4 him." she thought. So she said to Dave, "All right, but you should walk 5 me for the rest of the day. Then you can go back if you like" This was easy for Dave, 6 he agreed and they achieved their goal. The next day, Tina pointed to the next mountain and said. "I 7 you to walk to that mountain with me."

Dave agreed 8 because it was not far. Every day, Tina would set an easy goal for Dave so that he could walk with her. Finally. 9 finished climbing all the mountains and won the competition.

All of us face challenges (挑战). But if we 10 them step by step (逐步地), we will succeed in the end.