An village had a1tradition. At the beginning of every year, any boy who had reached the age of majority(the state of legally being an adult) was given land and money to build a home. The boy had to 2 his home before winter. If this home failed to endure the cold weather in winter, the villagers could not 3him in any way.

    On 4 Paul and Marc reached their majority. They 5 theri land and money and decided to search nearby villages for ideas on building their homes. In each village, they found the nicest 6and talked to the owners. Each owner gladly offered 7 .

    After Marc saw several homes, he  8the best ideas and went back to his own land. Paul,  9, continued collecting more ideas. Soon he had so many great ideas that he began to 10 some of them. And he always believed he could find even better ideas in the next village.

    Marc began building his home. He had several 11 starts, but his home gradually rose from his land. By fall, Marc had finished his home. It wasn't perfect, but it was strong and he could 12 it later. Paul enjoyed all the beautiful homes and 13 with home owners. The first snow came and Paul, realizing he was running out of time.14back to his land. He built the best home he could in the time he had, but it was 15. The first winter storm destroyed his home and he froze to16 . The villagers mourned for him.Marc  17 the winter. Each year, Marc searched for other good ideas he could use to make his own home look better. He became a leader in the village,18a family, and lived a happy and content life.

    We all build and improve our own mental homes. It's  19 and fun for us to search for ideas from other mental home owners ,but we only improve our own mental home if we actually 20 the best ideas.

    The daughter of two "extremely intelligent and very, very hardworking" doctors, Katherine originally had plans to follow in her parents' footsteps. She told a careers adviser that her first 1 was medicine, followed by politics. The third on her list of career choices was musical theatre. "Even though those first two 2 were very different, I always want to do something that was going to make a difference," she said.

    By the time she 3 from high school, Katherine knew she wanted to be an actress. But she was 4 by every acting school, in that she was too young and didn't have enough life 5. So she 6 teaching herself everything she could about the craft. At the end of that year, some managers from the US visited Australia. She was asked to 7 an audition tape. The next day the managers called her to say they wanted her to audition. Needless to say she 8 it. Katherine 9 a school student Hannah who committed suicide in 13 Reasons Why. And she 10 a Golden Globe nomination for the role. Hannah's life, Katherine admitted, was 11 easy. "Luckily for me, my high school experience was very 12 to Hannah's. I went to a gifted and talented school, and I got 13 from a group of friends," she said.

    This year Katherine 14 in her film Love, Simon, which is another coming-of-age drama, this time 15 bullying. "What 16 me about Love, Simon was it's not a high school movie; it's a love story. There were so many narratives that felt 17 yet unique, just because of the way they were written and the way I felt they were portrayed," she said.

    Being thrust into the public eye so suddenly and so early in her career has meant a 18 learning line for Katherine, who now finds herself walking the red carpet at Hollywood events and being approached by strangers in the street. Despite being involved in such a massive hit, she's not particularly 19 in the size of her following on social media. She said, "For me, it doesn't matter how many followers I have, but if my followers love the show and I'm able to interact with them, that is the biggest 20."

Cali Scores a Goal

    It was the last game of the season. Cali had been playing soccer all summer. She really enjoyed 1 around with the other players in her blue uniform, chasing the black and white ball across the grassy field. As much as she tried, 2, Cali still had not scored one single goal.

    "Don't give up," said her coach. He showed Cali and her team how to pass the ball to each other and take shots at the goal. Cali was pretty good at passing the ball, but she couldn't kick the ball 3 the goalkeeper. She wondered if she should 4 soccer.

    "Don't give up," said her teammates. "You just need to keep trying and you will get 5 ." So Cali stayed on the team and did her best.

    "Don't give up," said Aunt Lisa. But it was half-time, and Cali was feeling 6 . She was trying! Every time she got a(an) 7 to kick the ball, it would go in the 8 direction or a player from the other team would take control of it.

    The break was over and the referee(裁判) blew her whistle to 9 the game again. The two 10 walked back onto the field, both 11 to win. Cali heard her aunt whisper in her ear. "Look for an opportunity to get the ball. You can do it."

    Cali took a deep breath. 12 she didn't get one goal all summer, she knew that she had tried her best. She dreamed she'd leave her team after the game was over. Suddenly, she was woken by some 13 that was the sweet, happy jingle of the ice cream truck. It was driving right beside the soccer field, playing its music loudly to attract 14 .

    The players on both teams turned to 15 at it. A few girls pointed to it and cheered. The soccer game had nearly stopped. Cali looked around and saw the soccer ball close by, 16 by the nearest player from the other team. Cali dashed over to the ball. She dribbled(带球) it between her feet, moving forward toward the net of the yellow team. By the time the other girls had 17 , Cali was positioned right in front of the net. The goalkeeper was 18 to one side, looking at the ice cream truck. She turned back 19 to guard the net as Cali kicked the ball hard.

    The keeper 20 out her gloved hand. The ball touched the tips of her fingers as it swooshed past, right into the net. "Goal!"

    "Paul must have been trying to carry his waste paper to garbage can and dropped a few pieces." I1, picking them up.2later I found more pieces. No quiet sighing this time. I3, "Who is throwing garbage?" No answer. Instead, I saw more bits of paper4floating down from upstairs. Looking up. I saw my seven-year-old son, Paul.

    "Stop making a mess." "It's not a mess. They're5." "Sorry, what did you say?" I hadn't heard him clearly.

    He didn't answer me. Paul has autism (自闭症) and6answers a question, especially when he's7attentively on something else. He ran down the stairs. "Where are my other butterflies he asked,8around. Every time Paul9five or more words together, my heart says a10of thanks. But lately he seems to11that the benefits of forming complete sentences when communicating are12of the effort.

    Butterflies. Of course. I rushed to13them from the garbage,14them off and handed them to my young artist "Want to see them15again?" he asked with a shy smile. "Oh yes! They're beautiful." I whispered. He ran back upstairs to float his16down again. They really did look like beautiful butterflies.

    That day Paul17me to look up at18instead of down at garbage. How many other masterpieces (杰作) do I miss because I'm too caught up in my19to take time to appreciate what's right in front of me? Life is not what happens to us. It's20we look at it Now, I look up.

A friend who was depressed wrote me a letter a few weeks ago.He said his life was full of 1 and that his heart was full of worries.He was 2 about his life.He ended his 3 with this question:"We can't really change our life,can we?"As a famous musician,I 4 immediately and started my letter with these words:"Yes,we certainly can!"

I can still remember the first time someone 5 my life.When I was a child, I started to like 6 but I had no talent for any instrument.When I was 8,I went to a 7 with my parents.The 8 impression(印象) it gave me was a musician playing the guitar.She 9 so well.Later, my parents led me to 10 her.She let me try playing her guitar.I did my best 11 I couldn't play well."I played so badly," I said 12 .She looked at me with her kind eyes,smiled,and 13 me,"You played so well and I'm proud of you."Those 14 words changed me.They gave me 15 .They planted a seed(种子) in my mind that continues to 16 to this day.Her encouragement made me realize that I could do as well as her.From that day on,we became friends and our 17 lasts until now.

You have something inside of you that is 18 and that could change your life for the better.You just have to 19 it,bring it out and work hard at it.And that is what I have tried to do all of the years since that 20 day.Can you change the world?Yes,you can!You can change it and make it better every single day of your life.

In a small town, there was a young man named Tom. Although he was just a(n) 1 person, Tom had a very kind heart and a strong sense of 2 . The town had a serious shortage of clean water. This problem had a big influence on the 3 . It messed up their usual activities and was a big threat to their health.

Tom, decided to do something. He spent a lot of time, working day and night to find possible solutions. He 4 different organizations and asked for their help. Many people around him thought it was a 5 thing and told him to stop. But Tom was very firm in his decision and always positive.

He 6 a group of people and they started a 7 to make people know how important clean water is. They gave out flyers all over the town and even went to every house to 8 the situation. Their efforts slowly started to work. People from all 9 of jobs in the town were 10 by their hard work and began to offer their help and resources.

With the efforts of the whole community, a new water 11 system was finally put in. The town now had clean and 12 water. Tom's action not only solved the water problem but also made the people closer to each other. It 13 that even an ordinary person can make a big difference in 14 if they are 15 and have a positive attitude.