One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried 1 for hours as the farmer tried to figure out 2to do. Finally he decided the animal was 3 and the well needed to be 4 up anyway, so it just wasn't5 it to rescue the donkey.

    He invited all his 6 to come over and help him. They all grabbed (握起) a shovel (铁铲) and began to shovel 7into the well. At first, the donkey 8 what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's 9 he was quiet.

    A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked 10 the well and was11 at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that 12 his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would 13 it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors 14 to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take another 15up. Pretty soon, everyone was surprised as the donkey stepped up over the 16 of the well and ran off.

    Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The best way of 17out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our 18is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest19 just by not stopping, never 20! Shake it off and take a step upward!

    Once a little boy found a caterpillar（蝴蝶幼虫）. After he was allowed to 1 it at home, the little boy got a large box from his mother and put plants to eat, and a 2 to climb on. One day the caterpillar climbed up the stick and started acting 3. The boy worriedly called his mother who came and understood that the caterpillar was creating a cocoon（茧）. The mother 4 how the caterpillar was going to go through a(n) 5 and become a butterfly.

    The little boy watched every day, 6 the coming out of the butterfly. One day it happened, a small hole 7 in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle（挣扎）to come out. At first the boy was 8, but soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard. But it looked like it was making no 9. Longing to see it out, the boy 10 to help. He cut the cocoon with scissors to make the hole 11 and the butterfly quickly flew out!

    To his 12, the butterfly had an unexpectedly large body and small wings. He 13 to watch the butterfly, hoping that the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the huge body. 14 nothing happened! It never was able to 15.

    The boy tried to 16 what had gone wrong. To help him, his mother took him to talk to a scientist. He 17 that the butterfly was supposed to struggle. Without the struggle, the butterfly would never fly. The boy's good wish 18 the butterfly.

    As you go through school, and life, keep in mind that struggling is an important part of any experience for 19. It is the struggle that 20 us to develop our ability to fly.

    My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse (松鸡). It's 1 for a grouse to have any contact (接触) with people. In fact, they're hard to spot, 2 they usually fly off when they hear humans approaching.

    This grouse came into our lives in 3.Tom was working out in the field when he 4her walking around at the edge of the field. She was 5 unafraid and seemed to be6about what he was doing.

    Tom saw the 7 bird several times, and she got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew 8 of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

    One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom 9he didn't see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

    Apparently, she didn't like to be 10 . She'd run up and peck (啄) at Tom's hands, then11 off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the 12 and left.

    As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to 13 more and more often. 14Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom's leg and stay long enough for me to get a 15 of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt 16 not just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

    When hunting season opened, we put a 17 at the end of our driveway asking 18not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road, 19warned people not to shoot her. 20, hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

    All of us in Monte Vista Christian School know we'll one day have graduation photos for the yearbook taken. As the time 1, the girls start to have a 2 about what they'll wear and where to take the photos, while the boys 3 hardly talk about it. As for me, I 4 for my photos to be taken by the sea.

    When I arrived there, I met my photographer, Annie. She asked me to make some poses and I 5 her advice. After that, I asked if she could make me look 6 by taking photos in a different way, 7 I'm less than 1.6 meters tall. To my 8 she responded, "I will make no 9 to make you look like someone you're not. You look good in your own way." She 10 that she wouldn't try to edit the photos either.

    I was shocked by what she said. Girls always 11 to look perfect by using different visual angles. When you go to a photo studio, photographers always try to hide your 12 by telling you to stand in a certain way. And picture editors can easily 13 your look by making you appear any you want to. 14, that's not the case here. Seeing I was 15, Annie explained: "Everyone has his uniqueness. You need to 16 your own beauty. You cannot live in a world of 17 photos."

    It was the first time that I had met a photographer who doesn't 18 photos at all. After the shoot, I saw the photos — they are 19 special and natural. But what's even more special are Annie's 20, which will always stay in my heart.

    One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to 1my strange problem—inability to 2. In the library, I found my way into the “Children's Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the 3 at random. The cover of a book 4 my eye. It 5 a picture of a beagle(小猎兔狗). I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, 6 to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

    There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked 7 to my dog. I ran my fingers 8 the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. 9, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

    Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. 10 pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been 11 from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final 12 of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together. My mother's call returned me to the 13 world. Something 14 me: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly 15 and I was going to read them. I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般的) 16 that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable 17 in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was 18 that her son had read thousands of books, was 19 a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the 20 has held.

Earth Day Birthday

April's parents are environmentalists. And because April happened to be born on Earth Day, all her birthday1had an Earth Day theme.

On her eighth birthday, there was a "Throw-Out Blowout". She and her friends had a garage sale and2the money to charity. When she turned nine, it was a "Tree Spree"—they planted trees.

"This year I want a3birthday party," April told her friend Bailey as they walked home from school. Then after dinner, April told her parents she would like to4her own party this year. They suggested a "Print Sprint" and collecting newspapers to recycle. But April insisted on going to Maze Craze (疯狂迷宫)instead. Her parents agreed finally.

April couldn't5for her birthday! She and her friends would have great fun. No shovels（铁锹）. No collecting recyclables. They wouldn't have to think one bit about the6.

On that day, April and her friends gathered in the parking lot outside Maze Craze. They7plastic bottles, snack boxes and waste paper everywhere on the ground. "Even though I want a non-Earth Day birthday, I couldn't have8knowing this mess out here." April frowned (皱眉).

Her parents fetched some trash bags from their car. The kids started to work. Before long, they had collected three bags with bottles, cans, and paper to9. April looked at the bags and smiled. It felt good to do something for the earth. And with everyone giving a10, it didn't take long.

"Happy Earth Day, everyone," said April. "Now I'm ready for Maze Graze."

"Happy birthday. April!" shouted her friends.