One year, a college in the United States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold(金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in the nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.

    One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It was an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it, but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root (根）in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year; the field was covered by pure white marigold.

    Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.

    The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her eight children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics(遗传学) couldn't complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.

    Still, the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest(最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose...Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman's husband died, her children flew far, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.

    Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.

    A problem even experts couldn't deal with was solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Was it a miracle  (奇迹）?

To take root in the heart, even the most common seed, can grow into a miracle!

    Not only kids of Tiger Moms go to Harvard.

Dawn Loggins of Lawndale, N.C. is on her way to Harvard, one of the eight world-famous universities in the eastern US. Nobody encouraged her to study or paid for her special classes. This girl created her own future.

    The teen was abandoned by her family last summer, when her parents and two sisters moved to Tennessee. She found herself homeless and had to spend the night on friend's sofas.

    The school bus driver learned about Dawn's situation and invited Dawn to move in with her family. Soon, Dawn had a job at Burns High School. She worked from 6 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. before the first school bell rang. she swept floors and picked up trash again in the afternoons, before diving(跳水)into her studies in the evenings.

    Dawn's hard work paid off. she finished school with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2,110 on the SAT.

    "There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up," the 18-year-old said."But it was never in me to give up, because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education."

Even before Dawn's family left her, she led a difficult life. Her family was poor and cups of noodles were often the only food. Dawn "studied by candlelight" because her parents couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill(电费).

    Dawn has now reconnected with her family. They are proud of her accomplishments(成就) and are attending her high school graduation.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

    Barbara Finch, from England, started a friendship with Elizabeth Martin from New Zealand when the two were just 14 years old. And they have been penfriends for the past seventy years.

    "Seventy years is a long time and such a lot has happened," says Barbara. "I've lost my husband and my son, and she's lost her husband and her daughter. With things like that, her friendship means a lot to me."

    The two started writing letters to each other in November 1947. At that time, Barbara was a pupil. In her school. there was an exchange(交换) teacher from New Zealand. She helped her students to find penfriends from her country. Among the many penfriends, Barbara and Elizabeth were the only pair to form a long-term friendship.

    Now both 84, the pair continue to send weekly e-mails to tell each other about their daily lives. Barbara, who's a proud great-grandmother, has kept every single letter and card Elizabeth sent her over the years.

    "We e-mail each other now rather than write letters, partly because it's quicker but mostly because there's no cost," Barbara says.

    The pair not only write to each other, but they also meet face to face. They have visited each other 15 times. Barbara flying to New Zealand 10 times and Elizabeth flying to England 5 times.

    "Her family has become a second family to me. She says I am the sister she never had." Barbara says.

    A girl was walking in the woods when she found two weak birds. She took them home and put them in a small cage (鸟笼). She took good care of them. The birds grew strong. Every morning, they greeted her with a beautiful song. The girl felt great love for the birds. She wanted them to sing for her forever.

    One day, the girl left their cage door open. The bigger of the two birds flew out. The girl watched as he rose high into the sky. She was afraid that he would fly away and she would never see him again. As he flew close, she caught him in her hand and held him tightly. She was happy. Suddenly, she felt the bird go limp (无力 ). She opened her hand. The bird was dead! Her love had stolen life from the beautiful songbird.

    The other bird was pushing against the bars (条) of the cage. She could see how much he wanted to be free. She took him out of the cage and gently tossed him into the air. Would the bird fly away? She could hardly bear to watch. But the bird just wanted to stretch its wings. He flew around the girl twice and then came to rest on her shoulder.

    The girl watched the bird with joy in her heart. She wasn't worried anymore. She wanted the bird to be happy. The bird sat by the girl's ear and sang the sweetest song she had ever heard.

    The best way to keep love is to give it wings.

    It's a fine day. The White family gets up at seven o'clock. They have breakfast at seven forty. And then they go to the park. They take a basket of food and a carpet (地毯). The park is not far from their home, so they ride bikes there. When they get to the park, it's half past eight. Mr. and Mrs. White are talking with each other. Their son, Ted, is playing with a ball. Their daughter, Jenny, is taking photos.

    After about an hour, Ted and Jenny sit down to relax. At that time, they see a squirrel eating a pine nut (松子) in a big tree. When they see the squirrel eating, they feel hungry. They go to help their parents take the food out of the basket. Ted has a hamburger. Hamburgers are his favorite food. Jenny has an apple. Mr. and Mrs. White have some bread. They have a great time in the park.

Dereck and Beverly are wildlife animal filmmakers(制片人). They have made lots of films about animals and plants. Their job is to keep and protect the big cats of Africa from damage(伤害).Beverly also takes photos of the lions, and her pictures have appeared in National Geographic magazine.

When they were kids, Dereck was quiet and healthy, he was good at maths and science. Beverly had a twin brother. At that time, her brother and she often got their mother into trouble! Beverly was a dancer, an athlete, a class leader and she could play the piano. Her favourite subject was science and she always got excellent grades in her science exams.

When in the field, their work starts at around 4 am. After drinking a cup of tea, they drive out into the bush(灌木丛) to find their subjects. Sometimes that is a lion pride(狮群).Lions are family animals and they usually live in groups of 15 or more. Sometimes that is a single leopard(豹). They follow the animals for the day, filming, researching, and collecting facts, information or pictures. They don't stop working even when they have lunch. They are often back in camp by 8 pm.

When talking about the favourite places to explore, Dereck says, "We live in it!"Beverly thinks being in nature is her favourite. Dereck thinks running or taking a swim in the Okavango swamp (沼泽) — especially swimming close to crocodiles(鳄鱼) is great fun, but Beverly says,"Swimming is fun but crazy in these waters!"