I am so tired of winter. First it was all the snow and now it's just rain, rain, rain. It {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (seem) like the cold and rain have been here so long that I can {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (hard) remember what the sun looks. It has been wet and miserable for weeks and weeks.

    All I want to do is climb into bed, crawl under the covers, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} hide from the world until spring is really here. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}official first day of spring is in less than a week, but you wouldn't know it at all from the weather.

    I have been feeling so bad lately and think it has a lot to do with the {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (depress) weather this month. March is just the {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (bad) month in my opinion.

    Today I got thoroughly wet{#blank#}7{#/blank#} my way home from work. It started to pour when I was walking to my car, which {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (park) at the end of the lot. Why do I always forget {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (bring) an umbrella with me?

    I had a hard time {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (drive) home. I was wet and the traffic was terrible. But I am home now and happy that the day is over.

    While {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(wait) for the airplane to take off,I was happy to get a seat by myself. Just then, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} air hostess approached me and asked,"Would you mind {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(change) your seat?A couple would like to sit together."The only possible seat was next to a girl with her arms in casts（石膏绷带）,a black and blue face,and a sad {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(express)."No way am I going to sit there,"I thought {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(immediate).But a soft voice spoke,"She needs help."Finally,I decided to move to that seat.The girl was named Kathy.She was hurt in a car accident and now was {#blank#}6{#/blank#}her way to treatment. When the snacks and juice arrived,it did not take me long to realize {#blank#}7{#/blank#}Kathy would not be able to feed herself.I considered {#blank#}8{#/blank#}necessary to feed her but hesitated,as it seemed too impolite to offer a service to a stranger.But then I realized that Kathy's need was more important than my discomfort.I offered {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(help) her eat, and although she was uncomfortable to accept,she did as I expected.We became closer and closer in a short period of time.By the end of the five-hour trip,we had become friends.Love sometimes flows beyond human borders and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(remove) the tear that keeps us separate.When we offer to serve another,we grow to live in a larger and more rewarding world.

    When we compare ourselves with great people, we may feel very ordinary (平凡的）unimportant. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, we must remember that those great people were extraordinary (卓越的) The world has more than 6 billion people, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} it is difficult for all of us to be extraordinary. What can we do? We can try to be the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (good) people that we can possibly be.

    This means that we Deed to be honest and hardworking. We also need to be open-minded and kind to other people. Most {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (importance), we need to be ambitious (有雄心的). We need to always set goals for {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (we) and work hard to achieve these goals.

    Madam Curie and Thomas Edison were hard-working, kind and ambitious, and they {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (work) hard to achieve their goals. Curie gave her life to “ease (减轻）human suffering”. Edison spent his life as an inventor. He invented a camera {#blank#}7{#/blank#} showed movement. Later people used cameras to make modem films.

    A famous writer from Ireland once wrote, "We are all in the gutter (社会底层）but some of us are looking at {#blank#}8{#/blank#} stars.” I often come up with this when I am unable to achieve something. It reminds me that we are all at a lower level {#blank#}9{#/blank#} that we all have a {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (high) goal to work towards.

    Tyler Thompson is{#blank#}1{#/blank#}unlikely star in the world of Peking opera. The 15-year-old from Oakland has fascinated audiences in the U.S. and China with his ability{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(sing) pitch-perfect Mandarin(普通话) and perform the ancient Chinese art form. The teen,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}is black and only speaks some basic Chinese, has been praised by teachers since he{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(pick) up the music as a kindergartner. “As soon as he opens{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(he) mouth and sings in Chinese, the Chinese are very surprised and they feel very proud of him,” said his music teacher. “When he puts on the costume, and all the acting, you can see that he is pretty good.”

    Tyler has learned to sing several well-known pieces of Peking opera, a centuries-old form of musical theater{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(know) for its highly structured costumes, changing gongs(锣) and cymbals(钹), wide-ranging voices and highly stylized{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(move). Tyler got{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(stand) cheers when he performed{#blank#}9{#/blank#}Justice Bao, a famous Song Dynasty judge who fought corruption, from the Chinese classic Bao Qing Tian. “The music is very beautiful, and it's very passionate,” said Tyler, “It's made me want to know{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(much) about the world outside of America or California or Oakland.”

    I am a huge fan of thrift shop (旧货店) and have several that I check out every weekend. It's how I relax and get some time to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (I). I actually look forward to it every week.

    One of my favorite shops started discounting certain pieces of clothing by 90%. I was {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (disappoint) at first that I couldn't benefit from this, because none of them was in my or my husband's size.

    Then it {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (occur) to me that I could stock up on sweaters and jackets for the coming cold weather and donate them {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the homeless shelter! In the last couple of {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (week) I've gotten six huge bags of clothes for under $20! I try to get unisex (男女皆宜的) colors and styles in case there are women {#blank#}6{#/blank#} need clothing, too.

    I went to the shelter today to drop off the clothing. It was pouring with rain, and there were several people huddled (挤成一团) inside {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (wait) for lunch. One poor man was lying on the wet floor. I asked him {#blank#}8{#/blank#} he wanted something dry to lie on and gave him a sleeping bag. He was thrilled and said he {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (real) needed one.

    Before dropping off the clothing I put {#blank#}10{#/blank#} smile card into one of the jacket pockets!