I was coming back from home late at night in a 'Sharing' mini van(厢式货车). In Hydera- bad, India, it is a cheap and quick form of 1. The van driver picked up as many as 13 people at times in a vehicle which is 2  for the transport of 8. So our van was very3.

        Making her way to the 4 of the van, a school girl with a bag 5  the driver to stop. While getting down, she slipped and fell. None of us  6  it, as it was dark outside. The driver was 7  for her to pay. It was then that we saw that the girl was on her 8  by the side of the road. Another passenger and l got down9and held her up.

        Even in  10, she held up a note and asked us to pay the driver. The other 11       passenger took the note and paid the driver. My 12 was a few hundred meters away. As a girl, I knew I'd get off and stay with her in the 13. So I paid up the driver for 14 and he drove away with the other passengers.

        I neither  15  her nor did I know what to do. But I was there, giving some 16 words to another girl in pain. I asked her to stand  17 for a few while. I then looked for a place for her to sit. Then I 18 her friend and waited there. She was rushed to a nearby clinic later. Before leaving, she thanked me for 19  and we hugged goodbye.

        The night breezes were blowing  20  upon my cheek as I walked home，with a feeling of relief.

    Sarah lived on a farm with her family. She was 1 to learn to track, to identify each person and where they were going by the marks they left on the ground. And if her father couldn't teach her, she'd teach herself.

    To the2of her family, she borrowed all their 3 and taught herself to recognize everyone's footprints in the sand. More than once her father came outside shouting, “Sarah, bring me 4 my boots. ”

    Sarah developed the habit of walking around with her eyes fixed on the ground, 5 the comings and goings of every 6in the place.

    She also developed the annoying habit of 7 everyone. What were you doing down at the dam, Jack? You're not 8to play there. ” “Did you find what you were 9 in the garage, Auntie?” and “Who was the stranger visiting today wearing size ten boots, Mum?”

    After she'd 10 every pair of shoes that everyone 11, she turned to the farm's animals. By this time 12 her victims had to admit, 13, that she was good.

    Her best 14came one evening when she said the horse's front foot was 15. Her father said that the horse was 16 fine. Sarah 17 that its hoof (蹄）had a split. Sarah's father 18 the horse's hoof.

    “You're 19. The hoof is split. How did you know?”

    “You can see it in its 20. " Sarah moved the horse away. “Look, it's plain in the sand. "

    “If you can tell it has a split hoof from that sand, you're pretty good,” said her father.

A Leap （跳跃）to Honor

    Leapirg on a narrow balance beam( 平衡木) is not easy. But Lola Water. a 13-year-old gymnast is an expert at it.

    To perfect her skills. Lola1 for four hours a day, five days a week. At the slate championships in March，she finished seventh  out of 16 girts. That's especially impressive. 2she is legaly blind, horn  with a rare  condition that causes her eyes to shift (转移)canstantly. She often sees double and can't3 how far away things  are.

    When she was little, her mom 4 even though she couldn't5, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the 6 right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

    Though  learning gymnastics has been  more7for her than for some of  her tournaments( 锦际赛). she has never quit(放弃). She doesn't let her8 stop her from doing anything that she warts to. She likes the  determination (决心）it takes to do the sport. Her biggest 9 is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even clones her eyes. "You have to10your mind that it'll take you where you want to go”, says Lola.

    To be a top-level gymmast, one must be brave The beam is probably the most 11 for anyone because it's only four inches wide At the state competition, Lob didn 't12the beam, In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10 一 her highest scone yet.

    Lola doesn't want to be 13, differently from the other girls un her team, At the competitions, the judges don't know about her vision14. She doesn't tell them, because she doesn't think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her 15altitude.

    Loda never thinks about16. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics.  Her17is to reach level 9.She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach 1018what she s learned to other kids when she grew up.

    Lola is 19of all her hard work and  success. She says it has helped her overcome problems in her life

    Outside gymnastics, too. Her 20for others is “just believe yourself ”.

    I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn't like attention drawn to myself.And1otherwise assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher,I always2to sit at the back of the classroom.

    All this3after I joined a sports team.It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team.At first I thought it was a crazy4because I didn't have a good sense of balance,nor did I have the5to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me.But for the teacher who kept insisting on my "6for it",I wouldn't have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts（选拔）was only the7of it!When I first started8the practice sessions,I didn't even know the rules of the game,much9what I was doing.Sometimes I'd get10and take a shot at the wrong direction which made me feel really stupid.11,I wasn't the only one "new" at the game,so I decided to12on learning the game,do my best at each practice session,and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn't 13"just yet".

    I practiced and practiced.Soon I knew the14and the "moves".Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive15in me was winning over my lack of confidence.With time,I learned how to play and made friends in the16—friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player.I never had so much fun!

    With my17self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates.I have gone from "18" in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself,19raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn't and not 100 percent20I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

    On a recent sunny, dry fall morning, I found the last outdoor table at my favorite café. Reading 1 I nibbled my breakfast, I was enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze and the warm sun when a table next to me 2. A woman who had been standing nearby, 3 waiting for a seat, stepped toward the table. But from the other 4, straight from the parking lot, came a man who got to the table first.

    The woman, with a 5 on her face, explained that she'd been 6 that table for several minutes and had been on her way over. The man, also smiling but 7, told her she was out of 8; he had happened upon the table first. "You snooze, you lose!" he said cheerfully.

    She stood off to the side, clearly disappointed, and 9 her friend with the frustrating news. I sat at my table, 10 the scene, when suddenly it occurred to me—I had a(n) 11 here to be kind.

    I stood up and 12 her over to my table. Quietly, I told her I had seen what had happened, and I was happy to give her my table. I was only going to be there a few more minutes 13, so I was happy for her and her friend to have the 14.

    "But where will you sit?" she asked. I was almost done eating, I said, and I would find a seat at the counter 15. She thanked me and beamed as she 16 for her friend to sit down.

    Thinking about it as I finished up, I realized that whether or not the woman had fair 17 to the table was unimportant. The emotion of the situation—the look of hurt on her face—had 18 me, and I had the ability to do something about it.

    That isn't always the case with every feeling, situation, or injustice we 19 unexpectedly in our days. But as the early 20th century writer Orison Swett Marden once said, "Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. 20 common occasions and make them great."

    I just hope that woman's morning at the café was great. I know mine was.

    When I was 13, my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant1 Miller King, who was the best 2 at our school.

    Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for 3.

    Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he come back from 4. He looked very 5, but he didn^'t cry.

    That season, I6all of Miller's records while he 7 the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player, 8I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller's 9.

    One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller 10going over a fence—which wasn't 11to climb if you had both arms. I'm sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept 12from. But even that challenge he accepted. I helped him move13over the fence. When we were finally 14 on the other side, he said to me, "You know, I didn't tell you this during the 15, but you did well. Thank you for 16 in for me."

    His words freed me from my bad 17.I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was 18ahead of me. I was right to have

    19him. From that day on, I grew 20 and a little more real.