I sat in my seat as my new grade six classmates found theirs. At the front of the class our new math teacher stood1 us. The bell rang.

     “Welcome to a new school year. I'm Mr. Stevens and I'm sure I'll learn all your names in no time.” He walked around the class 2 math books. When he was done, he 3 to the front of the class and looked at us. “What are you waiting for? Get started?” he said. We looked at him,4 Wasn't he going to teach us? “Is there something wrong with your 5? You're not all deaf, are you?” A6 boy at the back of the class asked what we all wanted to know. “Mr. Stevens, aren't you going to teach us?” Mr. Stevens 7 “You're smart kids. Open your books and get down to it. If you have any8or any questions, raise your hand, and I'll help you.” We opened our books. Mr. Stevens helped anyone 9had questions. He would stop to teach all the students10when we all had the same question. It was a 11 method of teaching, but it was very useful.

    It was a 12 point in my life. Mr. Stevens made me13 I was good at math and also able to reach the14of any class I attended. I studied with his help until I graduated from middle school.

    Monty Python's Flying Circus was a popular television show back then. The actors 15 the best British humor (幽默) into our Canadian lives. Mr. Stevens would often act out one of their funny scenes (场景) in front of the class. Some thought he was strange, and I guess he was,16he knew how to make a math lesson interesting.

    I've carried his 17with me all my life. Whenever I am faced with a new 18 I think of my first day in grade six math.19 sitting and staring at the challenge, I just get 20 Before I know it, the challenge has been settled.

    Were you happy and a little worried at the time? I thought so. Soon it would be the holidays, but before that, there were year exams. All the1had been working hard for some time, reviewing their lessons for the exams. If they didn't 2, they would have to retake them in September. There were usually a few who 3, but Jane didn't want to be one of them. She had worked hard all year, 4 just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister Barbara was 5about her. She went to bed too 6. The night before the first exam, Barbara 7 that she have an early night and take a 8pill. She promised to wake 9 up in the morning.

    She was not relaxed. As she was falling asleep, Jane was afraid that she might oversleep. Her 10 kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of 11, she went to sleep. In no time（不久）at all, she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the examination 12 , but she couldn't answer any of the questions. 13 around her was writing pages and gages. 14she thought hard, she couldn't find anything to write 15. She kept looking at her 16. Time was running out. There was only an hour to go. She started one question, wrote two sentences, 17 and tried another one. With only half an hour left she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so worried that she started 18. Her whole body shook. It shook so much that she 19 up. She was still in bed and it had all been a 20 dream. A minute later, Barbara called her name.

    One of the most important events in the modern Olympic Games is the Marathon(马拉松)race. The race 1 one of the great events in Greek history.

    In 490 B C. about 10,000 Greeks 2 against the Persian army at a place called Marathon. It is 3 that the Persians were ten times as4 as the Greeks. However, where there is a will, there is a way.5 the brave attack of the Greeks, the Persians were badly beaten and6away from the plain of Marathon. When the Persians had run away, a soldier, who was the most famous7in Athens, was 8 to carry the good news to the city and he was also asked to march at full speed.

    Although he had fought through the battle and 9many wounds, the soldier at once started off toward the 10 city 11 was twenty-six and a quarter miles from the plain of Marathon to the Marketplace of Athens, 12 there the elders of Athens had gathered 13 for news. He ran and ran over 14 and across plains. As he went on, his lips became 15 and his breathing hard, but when he thought of the 16 of the people of Athens on hearing the news, he 17 harder than ever.

    At last the elders of Athens heard a great shout and saw a soldier staggering(蹒跚) toward them.” Rejoice! Rejoice! We won!” said the soldier, and fell down 18.

    In19of this noble soldier and athlete, we have in the modern Olympic Games the Marathon race,20 the athletes run this same distance.

    Experts say boredom is good for kids. It forces them to be creative, 1 their imaginations, and helps them discover new things. A(n) 2 in point is 13-year-old Luke Thrill from Dubuque, Iowa.

    Luke was 3 of playing video games and riding his bike, so he decided to build a tiny house in his backyard instead. He made money from cutting lawns (草坪) and 4 exchanged some services, such as gaining the help of an electrical engineer 5 sweeping his garage. Luke also 6 spare materials from his grandmother's house and other 7 materials from his neighbors for some of the windows and the door.

    The 89-square-foot home cost $1, 500 to build and 8 18 months. Inside there's a kitchenette, a back sitting room, a table and a mounted (镶嵌的) TV, and an upstairs bedroom can be easily 9 by stairway.

    Although Luke did the 10 and learned how to do all the work, he had his father's 11 throughout the project. Greg Thrill was very happy that his son learned to stay on 12 and deal with grown-ups. 13, he had some simple rules when Luke 14 the house: "You 15 the money. You build it. And you own it."

    Luke is now in love with 16. He has a YouTube channel and hopes to 17 other kids to start building. 18, he wants to build a bigger tiny house to live in, but for now, he 19 in his new home a few nights a week, does homework there, and uses it to take a 20 from his twin brother.

The Parents' Lifesaving Touch

    On March 25, 2010, Kate and David heard the words every parent feels frightened of: Their newborn wasn't going to make it. Their twins—a girl and a boy—were born two minutes apart and 14 weeks premature(早产的), 1 just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no 2. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he'd stopped breathing. The baby had just minutes to 3.

    "I saw him gasp(喘息) weakly, but the doctor said it was no 4," Kate told the Daily Mail five years later. "I know it sounds stupid, 5 if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn't going to give up 6."

    In an effort to cherish(珍惜) her last moments with the tiny boy, Kate asked to 7 him. The couple knew this was likely a 8.

    Kate removed the hospital blanket 9 the boy, whom the couple had already 10 Jamie, and ordered David to take his shirt off and 11 her and the boy in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible in their arms and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his 12. They also talked to him.

    "We were trying to entice(说服) him to stay," Kate told the Daily Mail. "We explained his name and 13 he had a twin who he had to look out for and how hard we had tried to 14 him."

    Then something completely 15 happened. Jamie started 16 again. Finally, he reached for his father's finger.

    The couple's lost boy had made it.

    "We're the 17 people in the world," David said.

    Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and 18. The parents only recently told the kids the story of their 19. "Emily burst into tears," Kate told the Daily Mail. "She was really upset, and she kept hugging Jamie. This whole 20 makes you cherish them more."

The Homeless Hero

    For many, finding an unattended wallet filled with £400 in cash would be a source (来源) of temptation (诱惑). But the 1 would no doubt be greater if you were living on the streets with little food and money. All of this makes the actions of the homeless Tom Smith 2 more remarkable.

    After spotting a 3 on the front seat inside a parked car with its window down, he stood guard in the rain for about two hours waiting for the 4 to return.

    After hours in the cold and wet, he 5 inside and pulled the wallet out hoping to find some ID so he could contact (联系) the driver, only to 6 it contained £400 in notes, with another £50 in spare change beside it.

    He then took the wallet to a nearby police station after 7 a note behind to let the owner know it was safe. When the car's owner John Anderson and his colleague Carol Lawrence returned to the car—which was itself worth £35, 000—in Glasgow city centre, they were 8 to find two policemen standing next to it. The policemen told them what Mr. Smith did and that the wallet was 9.

    The pair were later able to thank Mr. Smith for his 10.

    Mr. Anderson said: "I couldn't believe that the guy never took a penny. To think he is sleeping on the streets tonight 11 he could have stolen the money and paid for a place to stay in. This guy has nothing and

    12 he didn't take the wallet for himself; he thought about others 13. It's unbelievable. It just proves there are 14 guys out there."

    Mr. Smith's act 15 much of the public's attention. He also won praise from social media users after Mr. Anderson 16 about the act of kindness on Facebook.

    Now Mr. Anderson has set up an online campaign to 17 money for Mr. Smith and other homeless people in the area, which by yesterday had received ￡8, 000. "I think the faith that everyone has shown 18 him has touched him. People have been approaching him in the street; he's had job 19 and all sorts," Mr. Anderson commented.

    For Mr. Smith, this is a possible life-changing 20. The story once again tells us that one good turn deserves another.