Mildred Webinga Freeman was an English teacher at the new middle school I attended in the ninth grade.She wasn't my1;she was the adviser to the safety patrol（巡逻）on which I2.I loved being around her and3her sense of humor and kind personality.She was4a good listener.

    At the end of the year,she5that she was moving to Florida,and I was very sad.We exchanged6and became pen pals.I could tell her7,and she treated me8respect even though I was a teenager.

    In Florida,Mrs.Freeman became a Realtor（房地产经纪人）,9she managed to find time to write letters.She wrote10stories and always took my concerns11.She had given me a(n)12invitation to visit,and I missed her so much.When I13to take her up on the14,she answered,"Get your shoes on and your bags15!You are welcome anytime!"

    I spent three weeks with her in Miami.Her16of poetry,music,and creative writing17me to follow these endeavors（努力）.One day18hanging sheets on the clothesline,she19and said,"You know,the sky is fuel for the soul."I had never looked at the20before hearing those words.Later that year,I received a call that Mrs.Freeman had died.

    ZhangZongyi, with the stage name of LiuLingTong, was one of China's most household Monkey King performers. And his son ZhangJinlai is also a1name to millions of Chinese. But he was2known as LiuXiaoLingTong, “the little six-year-old actor”. He immortalized(使永恒)the role of the Monkey King in the Chinese TV series “Journey to the West”. And it was in 1988, at 233he became a nationwide star.

    Indeed the 1982 Monkey King production was regarded as a milestone in the history of Chinese TV series. According to4estimates, China Central Television and local TV stations5the series more than 3,000 times6its debut(初次表演) in 1988. And it7such fame for LiuXiaoLingTong that8he went, he was called MeiHouwang or Beautiful Monkey King.

    Performing as the Monkey King in local operas has been a tradition of Zhang family9back to the Qing Dynasty. Zhang's grandfather performed as the Monkey King. Then Zhang's father10to raise monkeys as pets as well as his teachers to11them, Zhang said, “I often examine12expressions and movements, not only at home but also in zoos,13I can act more vividly in my performances.”

    Zhang has only a daughter, he said it's14for her to play as the Monkey King, 15, he16an art school to teach people to act as the Monkey King. He17that the art of acting as the Monkey King can continue among18is interested in learning the art, whether they are Chinese or foreigners.

    “19born in China, the art of Monkey King 20the whole world,” Zhang insisted.

    In mid-January the weather stayed clear and cold for several days. Jess had to 1 a week of school to stay home and2 his father to manure（给……施肥） the fields. This was his bad3, for he would have to make up his lessons as best as he could. It wasn't4, though. All the boys and girls at Pumpkin Hollow School were often kept home when they were needed.

    Jess5 manuring, but he couldn't get out of it. Filling the wagon（马车） with heavy manure was a tiring 6. With a full load（装载）, his father drove over the fields; Jess stood in the back and spread the manure.

    After several days at this job, both Jess and his father grew7 and impatient. It seemed as though life was too8 to stand. They fell into bed at night worn out, with nothing to 9 but another day of the same hard work. Jess was even 10with it. "Why does brother Ben stay in a warm prison while I myself tried to do his work？ It's 11!" Jess thought.

    His mother watched him 12. "You're looking thin," she said. Then she turned to Jess's father and said," Joseph, couldn't we hire（雇）somebody to help13the manuring is done？"

    Mr. Wright didn't 14, and Jess guessed why. His father couldn't15 to hire a man. The hundred dollars he had paid for Ben's fine had wiped out the family's savings. Jess said, "No, Ma, we don't 16 to hire anybody. Pa and I can manage.17 I'm tired, and so is Pa. We'll18 it in a few days."

    The19 look his father gave him for understanding the problem was reward enough. When they went to the fields and were silently working together, Jess was 20 he'd spoken up.

    As a banker, Chip Paillex had never planted so much until he moved to rural Pittstown, New Jersey, seven years ago. 1by farms, he quickly became interested in growing and rented a 30-by-30-foot land. One weekend, he 2tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant—enough to feed his family for the summer.

He ended up with so much 3that he couldn't give it away. Thus he founded a local food 4, and by the time he delivered his last5, he had 6120 pounds of fresh vegetables.

    The following year, with a handful of 7from his church and a memorable name “America's Grow-a-Row”, Paillex planted,8,and harvested 2,500 pounds of vegetables, all of which he donated to food banks. Later he had more volunteers, rented more land and donated more vegetables.

    Paillex also 9 local school kids. On a 10Friday morning in May, 40 third and fifth graders trooped onto a freshly plowed field, each 11with a spade. Squatting or kneeling in teams of two, they loosened the dirt, then carefully12the plants .Several rows later, they eagerly lined up to seed corn under a hot mid-morning sun. Nobody 13.

    “The 14makes kids know there are people 15, says Paillex, “and it plants the seed for giving back. When they become tomorrow's 16, it will be much more possible for them to 17 their coworkers and employees to get 18 in something like this.

    “Paillex makes people want to 19,” says Colleen Duerr, a mother of two who has signed on as an 20“Grow-a-Row” member. “And families love this. Pallex has given us a way to raise our kids with a giving heart.”

    Teaching second grade is always a difficult job. Each student arrives at school with his own needs and difficulties. One year, a student called Billy 1 me with his behavior as well as his academic requirements. He struggled daily with his2 emotions and often became angry or violent. I knew that, to make 3 progress, his emotions needed controlling.

    One 4I tried to help Billy was to have him come directly into the classroom when he arrived at school. Billy's mom would5 me to alert(提醒,告知)me to a particularly emotional morning at home. Then, I would focus on6his anger and calming him down before the other students arrived.

    One week our class was studying7 I thought that one way to bring learning into the classroom was to bring my dog Rocky to school for the day.

    That day began as normal. I was preparing activities focused on dog themes 8I was told on the phone that Billy had a9 morning at home and I might need to get him 10. As I was talking to his mom, Billy 11into the classroom. To Billy's 12 , Rocky immediately ran up to his new 13, wagging his tail and licking(舔)Billy's face with doggy affection(喜爱). Billy couldn't 14 Rocky's charm and began laughing as his anger melted away.

    Throughout the day, Billy never left Rocky's side, feeding him, being gentle with him and even 15 the other students while Rocky was sleeping.

    Billy was known for doing anything he could to avoid 16, but on this day he found a good dog story, Clifford's Puppy Days, and read it to Rocky. How 17 I was at the sight of Billy reading happily！My little dog was able to18Billy's day from one of anger and frustration to one of laughter, gentleness and 19 .

    That day Rocky20helped me with my teaching; he helped to change the life of a child！After that Billy's behavior definitely improved.

    From the time each of my children started school, I packed their lunches. And in each lunch, I1a note. Often written on a napkin (餐巾), it might be a thank-you for2moment, a reminder of something we were happily expecting, or a bit of3for the coming test or sporting event.

    In early grade school they4their notes. But as children grow older they become self-conscious (有自我意识) and5he reached high school, my older son, Marc, informed me he no longer6my daily notes. Telling him that he no longer needed to7them but I still needed to write them. I8until the day he graduated.

    Six years after high school graduation, Marc called and asked if he could move9for a couple of months. He had spent those years well, graduating from college,10two interships (实习) in Washington, D.C., and11, becoming a technical assistant in Sacramento.12short vacation visits, however, he had lived away from home. With his younger sister leaving for college, I was13happy to have Marc back. Since I was14making lunch for his younger brother, I15one for Marc, too. Imagine my16when I got a call from my 24-year-old son,17his lunch.

    "Did I do something18? Don't you love me19, Mom?" were just a few of the questions he threw at me as I20asked him what was wrong.

    "My note, mom," he answered. "Where's my note?"