Have you ever picked up a pen to write some characters, but you can't {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(记得) what they look like?

    You're not alone. CCTV-10 started a show {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(叫做) Chinese Character Dictation Com-petition (《中国汉字听写大会》) last year. On the show, only three out of 10 adults{#blank#}3{#/blank#}（正确地）wrote bingjiling (ice cream 冰激凌), and no one could   write out penti (sneeze喷嚏). According to a survey, 94.1% of people said they had memory lapses (差错) when {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(写) some characters.

    It seems that Chinese characters are in danger. Since the digital(数码) age began, fewer and {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(少) people use pens and paper. Most people now write Chinese on keyboards using pinyin. As a{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(结果), many people would forget the features（特征）of a Chinese character, such as its structure and {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（意思）easily.

    Chinese characters are one of the world's{#blank#}8{#/blank#}（古老的）written languages, dating back (追溯到) to 1100 BC. It's not only a way for us to record things,{#blank#}9{#/blank#}（而且）it's important to pass on Chinese culture. For example, the character nan (male男) is made up of two{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(部分), tian (farmland田) and li (strength力). We can tell from it that in the old times Chinese men were in charge of (负责) working on the farmland.

    Willard Franklin came to my class half a year ago. From his first day here, he kept himself in his own world and never spoke to others. As his teacher, I tried {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (have) a talk with him but failed.

    As Christmas came near, our school decided to raise money for the poor in our school.

    "Christmas is a season of giving." I said, "By {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (give) a little money, you will help some poor students with toys, food and clothes. We {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (start) the collection tomorrow."

    The next morning, Willard Franklin came up to my desk with his head down and {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (drop) two coins into the small box. "I don't need milk for lunch," he said in a low voice.

    After school I came to our headmaster's office when he {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (read) a paper. I talked with our headmaster what had happened in the morning. "I may be wrong, but I usually thought Willard refused to be a part of our class. Could you please tell me how {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (solve) the problem?" The headmaster said, "I just received a list of the poor families in our school who most need help. Here, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (take) a look."

    I found Willard Franklin was among them on the list. At that moment, I felt I really knew Willard for the first time: a cold face with a warm heart.