Hi, I'm Gina. In February, 2018 my mother had a yard sale. During the sale, she had a conversation with a young girl called Nancy, for they had a common interest in some books she had for sale. They enjoyed their conversation so much that they exchanged their phone numbers. Later they became friends and got together a few times. When my mom moved into her new house, she had a family dinner and invited Nancy and introduced her to my brother. Five months later Nancy married (结婚) my brother.

In 2018, there was another special "yard sale" that I'll never forget. One day, after work from school, I found one of my neighbors had a lot of things out in their front yard with cars and people everywhere. I ran to the yard at once and wanted to find some good cheap things too before everything good was gone. But then I found out it wasn't a yard sale. In fact, policemen were taking the stolen (被偷的) things out of the house. My neighbor was a thief! Luckily, I didn't ask how much the TV was.

    As two women walked into a New Jersey hospital, they laughed. It showed the love that had held them together1 forty years as best friends. Although they were laughing, one of these ladies would soon put her life in danger2her best friend.

    Patty Hurley and Eileen Riley met at high school and have been close friends ever since. But when Eileen,3nurse, became ill with kidney (肾) disease, she didn't go running to her friend—Patty came to help her, after4Eileen was sick. "My kidneys are failing," Eileen explained.

    "Can I give you one of mine?"5the immediate reply.

    The offer was so simple6Eileen thought she had heard wrong. But Patty repeated she was willing to help, and their journey to the operating table began.

    Eileen always knew that her friend would help. She said7, "When Patty makes a promise, she keeps8."

    The operation went ahead in May, and both women are now very healthy and9than ever.

    "There are no words to describe10amazing this woman is," Eileen said afterwards. "She gave me my life."

Duc-Hwan wasn't excited about going to the swim team's awards ceremony(颁奖典礼).

"I don't see why we have to be here, Dad,"he said. "It's not like I'm receiving an award.     ▲    "

"Not true,"said Dad. "You won third place at the last sports meeting."

"I can't imagine joining the team next year," Duc-Hwan said as he had his lunch.

"Hey, Duc-Hwan!" It was Coach Andy."Hurry up and finish eating. It's time for the awards."

"Yeah, Coach, okay," said Duc-Hwan, trying to sound as if he didn't care.

"You're part of the Dolphins Swim Team, and we're about to begin."

Duc-Hwan clapped (鼓掌) every time a teammate got an award. The ceremony seemed so long. Suddenly, Dad pushed Duc-Hwan's knee. "Coach just called your name."

Duc-Hwan looked around. Everyone was looking at him. "Are you going to come up here?"asked the coach. Duc-Hwan rose slowly and made his way to Coach Andy. "Duc-Hwan, this is the only award decided by a team vote(投票). I think it's the most important award. You showed your resolve (决心). Even when you came in last, you never gave up. I hope you'll join the team next year."

Duc-Hwan looked at the crowd quickly. Everyone was standing and clapping. Duc-Hwan smiled.

In English learning, spoken English is very important, but many students complain that they can't understand well when others speak English. And they say that their 1 English is not good, either. Well, what can we do to improve our spoken English 2 ?

The most important thing is to believe in 3 . Maybe many of us are afraid to make 4 while speaking English. But as English learners, we can usually make progress by 5 the problems in learning. It doesn't matter if our 6 can't be as good as the native people's. We should 7 it as a challenge, and then we can get 8 practice. We needn't worry at all that the native speakers will 9 us. Be brave enough, and then we'll improve our spoken English quickly. 

In a word, don't be 10 , and believe in ourselves. Next time we should speak English aloud in front of others whether or not what we say or use is right. 

Mr. King was new to the school and to us. He always seemed blue and silent, even though he was a great teacher. Then many students were afraid of him. I wondered if he 1 a hard time or some terrible experiences. 

One day, I noticed him 2 alone on the bench in the school garden. I finally gathered up 3 and walked down towards him. Before I came near him, I breathed 4 a few times. 

"How are you?" I asked with my voice 5 . 

He managed to say, "Fine."

"Well, good to know. "I tried to be relaxed. "Hmm. . ." was all I heard. 

"What's up with you? "I asked, then I saw a puzzled look on his face. "I mean, why don't you like all other people in the school? Why are you always so quiet and 6 Why. . ."

"It's hard to explain in a few words, dear. You are just a little girl. What will you understand? I think I'd better 7 those worries to myself" he said slowly, 

"But I don't think so, sir. If you share your feelings with me, it'll help to reduce the 8 in your heart."

With that, I realized that it might be 9 to say that-after all, he was my teacher. But I10 tried to persuade him, "I'll be a good listener and I 11 I will never tell anyone. If you tell me your problem, you will have a light heart and you will have the sense that someone 12 you."

"Maybe you're right. . ." said Mr. King, after a moment's silence. 

Soon after our little talk, there was a 13 change on his face. Later that day in the class, there's a smile on his face. 

, More and more14 might pile up in your heart if you always leave things unsaid. So why not15 your heart and share with others often, even with a child? 

It was a fine summer afternoon. Sam was going home from school. He walked along the road slowly, reading a book. Sam had spent all his money on the book. He liked it very much. When he came to the high road, there was a blind man, holding out his hat. The poor man said, "I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Please give me some money. I want to buy some bread." But Sam had nothing to give. So, he just walked on, feeling very sad.

Soon after, a fine carriage(马车) came up, and in it were Harry and his mother. The blind man still stood there and held out his hat. "Let us give the poor man something," said Harry to his mom. His mother found some coins in her bag and passed them to him. However, Harry did not put them into the man's hat. He threw them into the bush (灌木丛) beside the poor man. How could the blind man find them?

As Sam turned back to look at the fine carriage, he saw Harry throwing the coins into the bush. So he walked back at once and helped look for the money until he found all the coins.

As the blind man held the coins, he smiled. It touched Sam's heart. At that moment, Sam knew that kindness wasn't always about big actions; sometimes, it was the simple act of giving a helping hand that could make a difference.