Traveling in Vietnam was like visiting a mysterious neighbor. You have lived next door to each other for years but know very 1 about what happened on 2 side of the fence.

    I travelled there last August. A(n) 3 180-kilometre trip from a Chinese border town to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, 4 an adventurous eight hours. That's 5 the country still doesn't have a modern expressway system. The major passage going through the country is only a two-way road. 6, many areas are mountainous.

    Vietnamese drivers are 7 and fearless. They compete with each other at full speeds no matter how scared the8feel. When the bus shook us violently for the hundredth time, the driver made a 9 to make us feel better. "See, this is just a(n)10Vietnamese people give you, a free massage(按摩) service."

    It was midnight11I reached that hotel. Switching on the television, I was12by something: All the13in the TV plays spoke in the same voice. 14, modern Korean plays and historical Chinese plays are 15 with the Vietnamese. But it seemed they didn't have enough16to dub(为……配音)all these programs. So, the same boring woman appears17 every TV play to speak for the roles. The next morning when I opened the window, I found myself in a huge "18". The buildings in the streets were 19 in all kinds of colors you can imagine. Vietnamese are allowed to20their houses as they like. Each one was different. The large number of colors brought the city alive.

    In 1895, when he was 52, my grandpa, Dennis Fitzpatrick Sr. , had a young man's dream. He1 to own land and build a barn(谷仓) and house on it. In order to2 the dream, he left Hubbardston, Michigan and went to north to Slabtown. In the place, there was 80-acre wasted land with 3 fence(篱笆) and big bushes everywhere. Grandpa walked around the land, dreaming of the day when he would 4it into green meadow(牧场). where there are fields of crops, wandering 5, a big barn and a new house.

    He 6 there and started working. In the summer, a 4-acre field 7 a lot of crops and in the fall, he started working on a new8, carrying stones from a mile away. After the bam completed, a new house was started. By the age of 82, his dream had 9 30 years after he started.

    But by the 1990s the barn was in bad need of 10 or it would fall apart. So we worked to make it as strong as before. During the past years, it had 11 family, gathering, wedding reception, neighborhood parties 12 music and dancing, Christmas ball and more.

    Grandpa is gone now, but his 13 is still with us. Now I, his great-grandson, 14 the land that he cleared. All seven of my 15 live on or within a mile of the farm. Grandpa's dream so long ago—green meadow, fields of crops and a big barn—is now 16by his many descendants(子孙) more than a17later.

    Grandpa taught us very 18 lessons. It is never too late to 19 If you have one, work at it 20and you'll turn it into reality.

    It was early one hot morning in 2015 when, accompanied by my mother, I was1wheeled to the taxi stand. Three weeks earlier, I had2my left ankle at home. Now, I was on my way to being3 for an operation at the Philippine General Hospital.

    I was feeling 4as I'd never had surgery before and the thought of it5me. After waiting for6for more than 90 minutes, we were still standing there. It usually only takes a few minutes, but on this particular Sunday they would7 us either already filled with passengers or8to take us. Perhaps they weren't 9to carry my 10. My mother was starting to get frustrated as we were fast running out of time; our11was scheduled for 10:45am. Then a black SUV12 and stopped in front of us. The driver, taking a look at us, said, “You two look like you could use a13!” He told us he'd seen us earlier as he was taking his son to a14school activity. He was now returning home and saw that we were still there.

    With no questions asked, this good Samaritan welcomed us aboard and got us to the hospital. We arrived at 10:30 – just in time. He refused any15, saying people should help one another. He left with a smile.

    I was finally16. A long recovery process and physical therapy followed and now I am able to17again.

    To this day we have not18again this friendly driver who went out of his way, but his generosity towards us has19in our minds and taught me to keep watch for and help others 20.

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

    Ann and her mother had lived in a small cottage. Christmas was so close，and so was her birthday.

    Ann wished she could get a new1with lace as a wonderful Christmas gift. All her friends would be getting new dresses.2Ann did not want to ask her Mom for that.  She knew how hard her mom worked to make both ends meet. Maybe she could make a3maybe Santa Claus would come，even though she knew that Santa Claus is just an imaginary character.

    It was not just gift that4Ann. It was her mother. Nowadays she was working overtime and looked pale and worn out.

    The days passed and soon it was Christmas Eve. In everyone's house, except Ann's ,a Christmas tree adorned(装饰)the living room. In the5there hung the baked cakes and turkey. But6lovely was being cooked in Ann's house. Every child went to bed eagerly waiting for the lovely gifts that he or she would7the next day. Ann went to bed with a8heart. She knew that there would be no gifts for her.

    Ann wished with her whole heart that at least this time she would get a gift from Santa Claus. Ann slowly drifted off to sleep. She dreamt of Santa riding in the snow on his reindeers.

    Ring.…Ring.…Ann jumped, hearing alarm.

    She suddenly remembered that it was Christmas morning. Without much hope she looked9there were any gifts for her. Wonder of wonders! There lay a beautiful packet tied with a red ribbon.

    Ann excitedly opened the package. It was a pretty white dress with attractive lace. She10the gift carefully to find out who gave it to her. Suddenly a small piece of paper fell out from it. Ann11started to read the note.

    "Dear Ann ，

    This dress is given to you as a12for being a good girl. Hope you continue to do good things and help your mother.

    Your Loving friend ，

    Santa Claus"

    Ann felt that there was something familiar about this note. She looked into the note carefully. Then it13her. It was her mother who had worked overtime to save money to buy this expensive gift. Ann was happy14words. She knew that she was the15girl to have such a wonderful mother as a wonderful Christmas gift.

(2023年·广州二模)

In 1977, Irene Pepperberg, a Harvard graduate, decided to investigate the thought processes of another creature by talking to it. To do this, she would teach a one-year-old African gray parrot(鹦鹉), Alex, to reproduce the sounds of the English language.

Pepperberg bought Alex in a pet store, where she let the store's assistant choose him because she didn't want other scientists to say that she had intentionally chosen an especially smart bird. Given that Alex's brain was just the size of a walnut, most researchers thought Pepperberg's communication study would be futile(徒劳的).

But with Pepperberg's patient teaching, Alex learned how to follow almost 100 English words. He could count to six and had learned the sound for seven and eight. But the point was not to see if Alex could learn words by heart. Pepperberg wanted to get inside his mind and learn more about a bird's understanding of the world.

In one demonstration, Pepperberg held up a green key and a green cup for him to look at. "What's the same?" she asked. "Co-lour," Alex responded without hesitation. "What's different?" Pepperberg asked. "Shape," Alex quickly replied. His voice had the sound of a cartoon character. But the words—and what can only be called the thoughts—were entirely his. Many of Alex's skills, such as his ability to understand the concepts of "same" and "different", are rare in the animal world. Living in a complex society, parrots like Alex must keep track of changing relationships and environments.

During the demonstration, as if to offer final proof of the mind inside his bird's brain, Alex spoke up. "Talk clearly!" he commanded, when one of the younger birds Pepperberg was also teaching mispronounced the word "green". Alex knew all the answers himself and was getting bored. "He's moody," said Pepperberg, "so he interrupts the others, or he gives the wrong answer just to be difficult." Pepperberg was certainly learning more about the mind of a parrot, but like the parent of a troublesome teenager, she was learning the hard way. 

Some Ohio high school students have become winners in a national contest (竞赛) after inventing a mobile phone app that helps needy families find local food pantries (公益食品仓库).

And someday the teens, who are students at Ross High School in Ross Township, may be selling the app to food pantries and food banks across America.

The app was created as part of a computer science class — coordinated (协调) by Butler Tech career school system at the high school. Three students, Jacob Kahmann, Gunner Nonnamaker and Kyle Inderhees, recently were visited by Congressman Warren Davidson, who praised their work. Davidson lauded the teens for creating "this app to set the standard for efficient food collection and distribution (分发)".

Butler Tech IT Instructor Tom O'Neill said the students' app includes characteristics that help users locate the nearest food pantry and improve food collection processes, and that the national contest provides a real-life learning chance for his students.

The students are continuing to make additions to the app and are working on turning it into a product, said O'Neill, who in recent years has helped many Ross High School teens win national honors for their computer-science-based inventions.

"The teachers and students in the Ross School District continue to amaze me with their future-thinking and creation," said Superintendent Scott Gates. "Our students are not only thinking about careers, they are thinking about problems they want to change, solve or improve. The app that was created will make serving a population in need more efficient."