Evelyn Glennie was the first lady of solo percussion in Scotland. In an interview, she talked about how she became a percussion soloist (打击乐器独奏演员) in spite of her disability.

    “Early on I decided not to allow the 1  of others to stop me from becoming a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began 2  piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the more my passion (酷爱) for music grew. But I also began to gradually lose my 3  . Doctors concluded that the nerve damage was the 4  and by age twelve, I was completely deaf. But my love for music never 5  me.

    “My 6  was to become a percussion soloist, even though there were none at that time. To perform, I 7  to hear music differently from others. I play in my stocking feet and can 8  the pitch of a note (音调高低) by the vibrations (振动). I feel through my body and through my 9  . My entire sound world exists by making use of almost every 10  that I have.

    “I was 11  to be assessed as a musician, not as a deaf musician, and I applied to the famous Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had 12  this before and some teachers 13  my admission. Based on my performance, I was 14 admitted and went to 15  with the academy's highest honors.

    “After that, I established(使立足) myself as the first full-time solo percussionist. I 16  and arranged a lot of musical compositions since 17  had been written specially for solo percussionists.

    “I have been a soloist for over ten years. 18  the doctor thought I was totally deaf, it didn't 19  that my passion couldn't be realized. I would encourage people not to allow themselves to be 20  by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart, they will lead you to the place you want to go.”

    One cold December morning, my dad and I were walking along the road to a store to buy Christmas presents. Suddenly a car ran to us out of 1. Pushed away by my dad, I was2 while he was unable to escape and injured. My dad 3 unconditional love to me when faced with the accident. Since that day, I have 4 the power of love and the 5it can teach to those who take anything for granted, as I did everything before.

    People wander into our lives for various reasons, but each one has something to 6 even the driver who caused the 7 He helped me a lot. Whether our8 is entirely good or not, there remains something to be gained from every person we9. I have come to view10in this way. Sometimes, when schoolwork gets tough and I lack 11. I remind myself that I am here to make use of every lesson that I have been given. What a 12it is to be able to acquire knowledge!

    This unconditional love I have for 13allows me to see the world through what some may call rose-colored glasses, which helps me to love and be loved in complete confidence as well.14it offers me the power to see things clearly in the 15 changing world and 16 myself to overcome difficulties in my life. I am 17 to learn, and because of my ability to love, I 18 the challenges that will help me grow. I approach everything with interests, and  19 an opportunity for education on every page of my books, and even with difficulties and20.

    Even though I've lived most of my life in China, English has always been an important part of my life.

    When I was four years old, my family and I1 to the US, where we lived in Houston, Texas, for a year. I was too 2 then to fully understand what it was like to be in such a different environment, but 3 English started to make its way into my life.

    At first, I didn't really know how to 4 with my foreign classmates with proper English, but they were nice and 5 and very soon English became like a second language to me. I could 6myself in both Chinese and English. I had another useful 7.

    English is 8 a tool of communication for me; it has also brought a new world of 9 to me. When I was in fourth grade, my friends 10me a very popular book series called Percy Jackson & the Olympians, and I felt then that I had never read any story that 11 me as much. I began to 12 the world of English literature（文学）and found that all the 13 books and stories I came across opened my eyes to a different 14 from the one I had been familiar with. I loved the stories I would otherwise have 15 if I had not known English.

    All in all, English has given me another tool for communicating with others, 16to understand and accept things I would never have 17 and brought me much 18through reading. I think I am very 19 to have learned English because it has helped20 my view of the world, and it still does.

    It was a Friday afternoon. An elderly lady was doing the 1 in a supermarket. When she returned to her2, she found four men in the act of 3 her car. So she 4 her shopping bags and took out her 5, screaming at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! 6 the car!"

    The four men didn't 7 for a second threat. They all got out immediately and 8 like mad.

    After she got into the 9 seat and prepared to drive away, she was 10 that she could not get her key into the ignition (点火开关). She 11 over and over again, and then she suddenly realized why, 12 she found that there was a football, a jacket and two packs of cigarettes in the front seat.

    A few minutes later, she saw her own car 13 four or five spaces farther down. She put her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her 14.

    The police officer to whom she told the story couldn't stop 15. He pointed to the other end of the corner, where four 16 men were reporting that their car was 17 by a mad, elderly woman 18 as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and 19 a large handgun. Not surprisingly, the elderly lady felt very sorry for what she had done, and 20to the four men.

    At thirteen, I was diagnosed with kind of attention disorder. It made school1for me. When everyone else in the class was2on tasks, I could not.

    In my first literature class, Mrs. Smith3us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I4my hand right away and said,“Mrs. Smith, you see, the doctor said I have5problems. I might not be able to do it. ”

    She glanced down at me6her glasses, “you are no different from your classmates, young man. ”

    I tried,7 I didn't finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it8.

    In the quietness of my bedroom, the story9all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time10the blind couldn't get much education. But Louis didn't give up.11, he invented a reading system of raised dots （n. 点）, which12a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.

    Wasn't I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “13” .students? My thoughts14out and my pen started to dance. I15the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others; I just needed a16place. If Louis could find his way out of his17, why should I ever give up?

    I didn't18anything when I handled in my paper to Mrs. Smith, so it was quite a (an)19when it came back to me the next day- with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these20: “See what you can do when you keep trying.”

    Two-year-old Samantha Savitz has a hearing problem. Living within a community where there are no other 1 people around, her neighbors found a way to make her feel 2 and included.

    Samantha lives in Islington Road in Newton, Massachusetts. She loves to talk to anyone who knows 3 language, but not everyone in the neighborhood knows how to communicate with her.

    "She's easy-going. She wants to talk with anybody." said her father, Raphael.

    "Her whole personality changes when people can 4 with her," said her mother, Glenda. It makes Samantha a little 5 when people can't interact with her.

    6, Samantha wanted to play with her neighbors badly. Whenever they see her on a walk or in her yard，the little girl tries to be 7. But they are frustrated because they don't know how to talk to her.

    "All of us would 8 to talk to her, but we don't know what to say." said one neighbor. "Basic conversation that one would have with a 9 ," said another.

    "Asking her about her day," said a third.

    "And make her feel that she is part of the neighborhood," said another neighbor.

    "Just be her friend," another neighbor added.

    It is clear that the neighbors all 10 to be there for Samantha as her friend. But they would need to 11 American Sign Language. It might be hard to believe for some—that a whole neighborhood would learn ASL just 12 a little 2-year-old girl — but this particular community did just that.

    On their own, Samantha's neighbors gathered and 13 an instructor. Now, they all participate in an American Sign Language class.

    The 14 says that this is a remarkable thing because some parents of deaf children don't even bother to learn sign language. "But here Samantha has a full 15 that are signing in my class and communicating with her, and it is a beautiful story," he said.

    Her parents have no words to express their 16 for what the community did for Samantha. Glenda finds the act "shocking and beautiful", 17 Raphael feels "so fortunate" that their daughter is receiving so much love.

    In fact, the couple is already seeing some 18 in their daughter. During ASL classes, the first thing that Samantha says to her neighbors is "friend". "We are sure that this energetic girl is 19 , now that she has friends around who 20 the same language as her. Thank this neighborhood in Islington Road for showing us the most important part of being a community." The instructor said.