A Race Against Death

    It was a cold January in 1925 in Nome, Alaska. The town was cut off from the rest of the world due to heavy snow.

    On the 20th of that month, Dr. Welch 1 a sick boy, Billy, and knew he had diphtheria, a deadly infectious(传染的) disease mainly affecting children. The children of Nome would be 2 if it struck the town. Dr. Welch needed medicine as soon as possible to stop other kids from getting sick3 the closest supply was over 1,000 miles away, in Anchorage.

    How could the medicine get to Nome? The town's 4 was already full of ice, so it couldn't come by ship. Cars and horses couldn't travel on the 5 roads. Jet airplanes and big trucks didn't exist yet.

    6 January 26, Billy and three other children had died. Twenty more were 7 Nome's town officials came up with a(n)8. They would have the medicine sent by9 from Anchorage to Nenana. From there, dogsled(狗拉雪橇) drivers—known as “mushers”—would 10 it to Nome in a relay(接力).

    The race began on January 27. The first musher, Shannon, picked up the medicine from the train at Nenana and rode all night.11 he handed the medicine to the next musher, Shannon's face was black from the extreme cold.

On January 31, a musher named Seppala had to12 a frozen body of water called Norton Sound. It was the most13 part of the journey. Norton Sound was covered with ice, which could sometimes break up without warning. If that happened, Seppala might fall into the icy water below. He would14 and so would the sick children of Nome. But Seppala made it across.

    A huge snowstorm hit on February 1. A musher named Kaasen had to brave this storm. At one point, huge piles of snow blocked his15 He had to leave the trail (雪橇痕迹)to get around them. Conditions were so bad that it was impossible for him to 16 the trail again. The only hope was Balto, Kaasen's lead dog. Balto put his nose to the ground,17 to find the smell of other dogs that had traveled on the trail. If Balto failed, it would mean disaster for Nome. The minutes passed by. Suddenly, Balto began to 18 He had found the trail.

    At 5:30 am on February 2, Kaasen and his dog 19 in Nome. Within minutes, Dr. Welch had the medicine. He quickly gave it to the sick children. All of them recovered.

Nome had been20

    When I was 16, I wrote a list of things I wanted to do in my lifetime. Some things were easy, some difficult and some almost 1. One of the things on the list was to do a 2.

    Two years ago I spent three months travelling with a friend and it was a great experience. One of the most 3 things we saw was Iguassu Falls. The day after we visited the waterfalls we were 4 in a hotel in Brazil, playing games when my friend 5 noticed an advertisement on the wall 6 “Skydive over Iguassu Falls today!”. I realized it was time to realize my 7. Today would be the day that we would jump out of a(n) 8.

    That afternoon we were 9 and taken to the Skydive Centre. We put on our harnesses（跳伞装备）and helmets, were given some 10 and then took off into the air. My heart started to beat very fast and I felt very 11.

    Luckily, I was 12 to an instructor so I didn't have to worry about anything; I just had to 13 myself. He asked me if I was ready to fall from the plane but 14 I had enough time to 15, we fell to the ground at 400 km an hour! After about 40 seconds of 16, the parachute opened and everything slowed down. We 17 peacefully towards the earth, leaving the 18 behind us.

    This was definitely one of the scariest but most exciting 19 of my life. I would do another skydive if I had the20. I think that everyone should do something that scares them once in a while！

    There was once a famous king whose name was Tamerlane. Like Alexander the Great, he 1 to become the master of the whole world. So he raised a great 2 and made war on other countries. He conquered many kings and 3 many cities. But at last his army was beaten; and Tamerlane escaped alone from the field of 4.

    For a long time he wandered in 5 from place to place. His enemies were 6 him. He was about to lose all hope.

    One day he was7 under a tree, thinking of his failure. He had now been a wanderer for twenty days. He couldn't  8any longer. Suddenly he saw a small object climbing up the trunk of the tree. He looked more 9and saw it was an ant,10a grain of wheat as large as itself.

    There was a 11 in the tree only a little way above, and that was the home of the ant.

    “You are 12, Mr. Ant,” he said, “but you are carrying something that is too heavy for you.” Just as he 13, the ant lost its footing and fell to the ground. But it 14 held on to the grain of wheat. Tamerlane 15 the little insect. It tried the second time, the third time ... the twentieth time — but always with the same 16. Then it tried the twenty-first time.17, one little step at a time, it climbed across the rough place where it had 18 so often. The next minute it climbed 19 into its home, carrying the grain of wheat. “Well done!” said Tamerlane, “you've taught me a lesson. I, too, will try again,20 I succeed.” And he made it.

    I was walking around in a Big Bazar store doing a shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy who couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, "I'm sorry, 1you don't have enough money to buy this doll." Then the little boy turned to me and asked, "Uncle, are you sure I don't have enough money?"

    I 2 his cash and replied, "You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear." The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked 3 him and I asked him 4 he wished to give this doll to. "It's the doll 5 my sister loved most and wanted so much. I wanted to gift her for her Birthday. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there." His eyes were so 6 while saying this.

    "My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister." My heart 7 stopped. The little boy 8 me and said, "I told daddy to tell mommy not to go 9. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall."

    Then he looked again at the 10with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly11 for my wallet and said to the boy. "Suppose we check again, just 12 you do have enough money for the doll?" I added some of my money to his, without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some13money.

    The little boy said, "Thank you God for giving me enough money! I asked last night God to 14 I had enough money to buy this doll. He heard me! I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't 15 to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. "

    I finished my shopping in a totally different 16from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, which mentioned a 17 man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a 18 state.

    The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is 19, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a 20 of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

    It was a busy morning, about 8:30,when an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital .I heard him saying to the nurse that he was in a hurry for all appointment(约会)at 9:30 The nurse had him take a 1 in the waiting area, 2 him it would be at least 40 Minutes 3 someone would be able to see him I saw him4his watch and decided, since I was5busy—my patient didn't6 at the appointed hour, I would examine his wound .While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment .The gentleman said no and told me that he 7to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his8. He told me that she had been 9for a while and that she had a special disease I asked if she would be10if he was a bit late. He replied that she 11 knew who he was，that she had not been able to 12 him for five years now. I was13, and asked him, "And you14go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled and said. "She doesn't know me but I know who she is" I had to hold back 15 as he left.

    Now I 16 that in marriages，true love is17of all that is .The happiest people don't 18have the best of everything; they just 19the best of everything they have.20 isn't about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

Like many young people, 11－year－old Sean Lesniak is fascinated with sharks. However, little Sean was not only 1 in learning about them and watching them, but also tried his best to help them 2.

Sean's passion for sharks started very 3 in life. When Sean was just 3 years old, while watching Shark Week, he 4 that people did away with many sharks just to use their fins (鳍) for 5！ It is estimated (估计) that more than 100 million sharks are 6 around the world each year. He could 7 believe this was happening. As Sean's interest and passion for sharks 8, he wanted to take action to keep sharks from killing. And he decided to 9 at home when he learned that his state of Massachusetts didn't have a10 that prevented shark killing! Sean wrote a letter to his state representative, David Nangle, asking him to introduce a law that would 11 shark killing in their state. In his letter, Sean included a hand drawn shark with its fin 12 for eating. After a few 13, he was able to speak to Representative Nangle, who agreed to 14 the bill (法案) and in June, 2014 it became a law! Massachusetts is now one of the 10 states in America that have forbidden shark killing. Since then, Sean has focused his 15on helping sharks, working with Shark Biologist, Dr Greg Skomal.

He is also now 16 about helping to protect sea turtles in his state. And guess what Sean wants to be 17 he grows up. A shark biologist of course! Sean's 18 show how young people can make a big difference in the world. His advice to other youth is "if you feel strong about something and if you believe you can do it, you should try your best to make it 19. " He has set a good 20 to young people all over the world.