Once, in a small village, lived a family with two children, James and Jack. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} of them loved painting very much, but the family was so {#blank#}2{#/blank#} that it was impossible to send both of them to study at the art college at the same time. After many discussions, the two boys finally worked {#blank#}3{#/blank#} a plan. They would throw a coin. The loser would go to work in the mines（矿井） to support his brother's studies at the college. Then, when the brother at college {#blank#}4{#/blank#} his studies after four years, he would support the other brother's college studies.

    James {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, and so Jack went down into the mines. James worked with all his heart, and his paintings were soon much {#blank#}6{#/blank#} than those of most of his teachers. By the time he graduated, he was beginning to make a lot of money from his paintings.

    When James returned, the family held a big dinner to {#blank#}7{#/blank#} his great success. Soon after {#blank#}8{#/blank#} dinner began, James stood up from his seat to drink a toast to his dear brother. He said, "Jack, now you can go to the art college and your dream will come true. I will take care of you."

{#blank#}9{#/blank#} Jack said softly, "Brother, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it's too late. Now I can't even hold a glass."

James was heart-broken. One hour {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, he drew a simple picture of his brother's hands. This drawing is today known as the famous picture named The Praying Hands.

Two months ago, my husband's hand was badly hurt after an accident at work. Then we had to, drive to the hospital to do the physical therapy(治疗)for his hand three times a week.

Today while we were driving to the hospital. We saw a young man standing in the strong and cold winds. We stopped and asked if he needed a ride. He gladly accepted and jumped into the back seat. His name was Dan and he wasn't going far.

As we dropped him off, we noticed he had many large piles (堆) of cut wood in his yard. We asked if he was interested in selling any. He said," Oh, you can just come by anytime, even if I'm not here and take all you want." We asked how much it would cost for a trunk load (一箱). He answered," It's free. We have more than we'll ever use. So just come by and get it anytime. Thanks for the ride and have a great day!"

We still wanted to pay for it and would only get it when someone was home, but he just kept saying what he already told us.

Dan just wanted to repay (回报) us with the wood, never knowing how much that would mean to us because my husband isn't able to chop any wood for us this winter.

Ray was thought to be a strange boy. One day when he was flying his kite, he said to himself," Did anybody ever try to fly a kite at night? I think it must be very fun. But the kite can't be seen in the dark. What if I tie a light to it? That would be really good. I {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(try) it tonight."

As soon as it was dark, he {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(take) his kite and lantern, and went to a large field about a mile from his home. He tied the lantern to the tail of his kite. The lantern {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(make) of paper. The kite flew higher and higher. He tied the string (线)to a tree, and then he stood there, staring at his kite. It floated (飘) high up into the air. How wonderful! While Ray {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(enjoy) his special kite, some people in the village also saw it.

"Look! A light{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (fly) in the sky," one person said. "It can't be a light," said a man.

"Perhaps it's a big firefly (萤火虫) ,"said another,

"Maybe it's a comet (彗星),"said another man.

"How strange!" said a boy.

"Let's find out what this strange light{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (be)," the last one said. Then they went to the field.

Ray, who had gotten tired of standing, was sitting behind a tree. He{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (see) the men as they came, but they didn't see him. When they reached under the light, and saw what it was, they looked at each other and said, "There is nothing unusual {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(happen)! This is just a trick of some naughty boys, but it {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (fool) us all.

Let's keep the secret. "Then they laughed and went back to the village. When the men had gone, Ray thought it was time for him {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(go), so he went home, too. When his mother heard what he had done, she hardly knew whether to laugh or scold (责备), but just told him to go to bed.

Known as "soft gold", Gambiered Canton gauze (香云纱) is the only silk fabric (织物) that's still hand-dyed (手染的) using natural plants in the world today.

The skill has a history of more than 500 years. In 2008, it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage (国家非物质文化遗产). Ouyang Yongze is an inheritor of the dyeing skills from Guangdong. The man started learning the skills in 2017.

The dyeing process includes 30 steps. It can take up to six months and is done by hand with materials from nature. "The plant shuliang (薯莨), river mud, sunshine, and grass are all important in dyeing," Ouyang told China Daily.

To dye the fabric, workers put it in shuliang juice and let it dry on the grass. They repeat this many times until it turns brownish yellow. Then, they put river mud on it to help shuliang react fully. After washing and drying it again, the fabric turns black!

Mastering the skills is difficult, according to Ouyang, who put full effort into controlling the density (浓度) of shuliang juice. "Too much may cause color loss, and too little may nor lead to a dark enough fabric," he said. "Better control of the density comes after many failures."

Also, the job can be really tiring as workers have to be at work in the sun for 8 hours each day. Only a few people work in the industry, and skilled masters are getting older as fewer young people take part.

Considering this, Ouyang works harder to develop the traditional craft. He has got together other dyeing skills such as tie-dyeing (扎染法) and batik (蜡染) and has worked with famous fashion designers. They turn the silk into both traditional and fashionable clothes that are popular worldwide. He thinks this can help make the craft stay alive and drew people to the industry.

Just outside the city in South Africa，a special hospital saving wild animals lives nearby.Mario，an animal{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.set up the hospital two years ago.Since then，they have treated about4，000 animals.

The wildlife hospital{#blank#}2{#/blank#} treats small animals and large birds that are hurt.The hospital now has about 160 animal{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.Many animals coming to the hospital have not only physical illnesses.They also{#blank#}4{#/blank#} signs of stress from being hurt by people.Some animals，like the endangered pangolin（穿山甲），feel{#blank#}5{#/blank#} when they hear a voice from human being.That makes the animals remember the people who hunted{#blank#}6{#/blank#}.

Along with five full—time workers，the hospital gets{#blank#}7{#/blank#} from volunteers like Jenny who lives nearby.She cares for young monkeys.Their own mothers were{#blank#}8{#/blank#} in accidents.Every day，she brings fresh food to them{#blank#}9{#/blank#} plays with them.Alan is another volunteer.He usually walks young pangolin{#blank#}10{#/blank#} a nearby hill to search for ants to eat.

When the animals are ready to return to the wild，Mario and his team work with nature centers to take them to a new and{#blank#}11{#/blank#} home.Then the animals can live on their own in the wild.

A few years ago, my husband and I were in a village for the weekend with our daughters. One day when we walked around the 1 and didn't know what to do next, our daughters told us 2 what they wanted to do. "We want to 3 the rose garden", said Lisa and Emma.

As soon as we walked into the garden, we saw thousands of nice 4 . They all came out in the sunlight. My girls were jumping up and down 5 surprise, and I knew we made the right 6 to come to the garden. They had so much 7 !

I turned to the gardener working there 8 I was curious (好奇的), and asked, "How 9 do roses blossom?" She said, "About ten 10 . And in their short life, they make the world a more beautiful place." "Wow, only a few days!" I was so amazed, "I 11 thought about roses like this. Thank you."

After we said goodbye, I still remembered what the gardener 12 us. She was 13 . We all have something to 14 the world with the time we have. When we do what we can to take care of each other every day, we can make a 15 to our world. We have our own way of making the world a little better for everyone.