I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I remember{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(tear) across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb.“There is no Santa Claus.” She laughed. “Even dummies(傻瓜) know that!” I {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(flee) to Grandma because I knew she would be straight with me. She always told the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(true).

“No Santa Claus?” she said. “Ridiculous!Don't believe{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Put on yourcoat, and let's go.” “Go where, Grandma?” I asked.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} we walked through the doors of the general store Grandma handed me ten dollars and Said, “Buy something for someone {#blank#}6{#/blank#}needs it. I'll waitfor you in the car.”

      I was only eight years old. Never had I shoppedfor anything all by myself. For a few moments I just stood there,{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (wonder) what to buy, and who{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(buy) it for. I thought of everybody Iknew. Then I thought about Bobbie Decker.

      He was my classmate with bad breath and{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(mess) hair, and he sat right behind me. He did not have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to play gamesduring the winter. I fingered the bill with growing {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(excite). I would buy Bobbie a coat.

    My doorbell rings at 11 am. On the step, I find an elderly Chinese lady holding the hand of a little boy. In her other hand {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (be) a paper bag. She is the little boy's grandmother, and her daughter, Nicole, bought {#blank#}2{#/blank#} house next door last October. Nicole has {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (obvious) told her mother that I am having a heart operation shortly, and the result is that her mother has decided {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (supply) me with meals.

    I know what is inside the paper bag — a bottle of hot soup and a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (contain) with a meal of rice, vegetables and meat. It's become a daily occurrence.

    {#blank#}6{#/blank#} us is somewhat difficult because she doesn't speak English and all I can say in Chinese is hello. Once, she brought an iPad as well as the food. She pointed to the screen, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} showed at message from her daughter telling me that her mother wanted to know {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the food was all right for me.

    So here we are, two grandmothers, neither of {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (we) able to speak the other's language but communicating one way or another (with some help from technology). The doorbell keeps {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (ring) and there is the familiar brown paper bag, handed smilingly to me.

    The task of being accepted by a university begins early for some students.Long before {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(graduate) from high school,these students take special courses to prepare for advanced study.They may also take one or more examinations to test how well prepared they are for the university.In the final year of high school,they complete {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(apply) and send them to the universities {#blank#}3{#/blank#}interest them most.Some high school students may be required to have {#blank#}4{#/blank#}interview with people from the university.Neatly {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(dress) and a little bit frightened,they are determined {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(show) that they have a good attitude and the ability to succeed.

    If the new students {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(accept),many universities will offer an instruction programme for them to get to know the procedures for students advising,university rules,the use of the library and all the other major services of the university.

    Beginning a new life in a new place can be very {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(confuse).The more knowledge students have about the school,the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(easy) it will be for them to adapt to the new environment.However, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} takes time to get used to college life.

    As a listening child,I often heard{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(old) people say:"What dreams I had!"and"If only I had my life to live over."I{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(understand) that these men and women had missed the fullness of life somehow.

    But I wasn't going to miss it,I decided at the age of fourteen.In a slightly{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(use) copy book,I made a full list of what I wanted from life.I would be devoted to{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(realize) them one by one.{#blank#}5{#/blank#},as years went by,I was middle aged and alone.My children had left to make their own full life somewhere.I,too,didn't realize even half the amount {#blank#}6{#/blank#}what I had planned.One rainy night,I went to the bookstore to get a paperback book to read{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(me) to sleep on.I picked up an Emile Zola book,{#blank#}8{#/blank#}reminded me of something I had read long ago: Zola had said,“To have a child,to plant a tree,to write a book.”That,he said,was a full life!A great stillness grew about me as I realized I had a child,I'd planted a tree,and in fact,I'd even written a book.

    Eventually,I came to a clear{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(conclude),and it is{#blank#}10{#/blank#}university one: To live,to struggle,to be in love with life is fulfillment.

    We want everyone to respect us. Do we respect everyone around us? The answer is a big NO! We don't respect {#blank#}1{#/blank#}we think is better than us, we don't respect poor and old people, and we don't respect who we feel is less better {#blank#}2{#/blank#}us. So how can we win respect? The easiest way {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (gain) respect is by giving respect.

    Winning respect might be difficult but not impossible. Don't use bad language. Being {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(help) and listening to someone are a sign of giving respect and {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(win) respect as well. With patience and practice, you can get any kind of virtue.

    Flowers are the main {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(attract) of any type of decoration and in the same way respect is the beauty of life. Life is terrible {#blank#}7{#/blank#}respect. Just think whenever you go to a party, every one there is not treated equally. Do you know why? Because of {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(they) manners.

    Why are we not treated sometimes as {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(expect)? Because we do the same to others who have expectations from us. Relationship can be healthy if we never cross the walls of respect. Without respect, you can't live. You need respect everywhere in life, in work, in society or in family. A respected person {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(speak) politely.