When my daughter, Sophie, was admitted to a college we were very happy, but a little worried about becoming empty nesters(空巢老人). I knew I had to do something, starting with the summer before she was away from home.

    Sophie had a pack of colourful blouses. I knew she wouldn't wear them anymore, so I decided to make a quilt(被子) out of them. I tried to work on the quilt when Sophie 1 – which turned out to be often. She was very busy with her friends. Even when she was at home, her door was shut more than usual. This made me feel a bit hurt.2 we didn't have much time together before she went to college.

When we arrived at the college, a wave of emotion flooded me. Sophie saw it in my face. She took a beautiful 3 from her bag. "I made this for you, Mom," she said. Then I knew why she had been staying behind a 4door that summer. It was an album of photographs recording the life of our family over the last 17 years.

    I broke into tears. Some of it was sadness at having to let her go, but some of it was 5I knew that our connection was more 6 than ever as we would always be connected by the strongest link, the love that went into every stitch(针脚) of her quilt and every photo in my album.

In Sophie's dormitory room I unfolded the quilt on her bed. For a moment she was speechless. Then she threw her arms around me. "Mom, I love you," she said. One of her new friends was calling her outside. Sophie turned, and I let her go.

    US President Barack Obama came to Shanghai on the night of November 15, 2009 and began his four-day visit to China. This was his first visit to China 1 he became US president. In the following days he was very busy, 2 he still spent some time visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. It took him nearly one hour to 3the Forbidden City on Tuesday. 4 Wednesday afternoon, he took a quick 5of the Great Wall at Badaling. There, he enjoyed a moment of peace. His visit to Chinese places of interest showed his respect (尊重) to 6 culture. And it was a good time for him to relax during a 7 trip as well. He said, “The Forbidden City is magnificent (华丽的) place to visit and I will 8 with my girls and my wife.” When he stood on the Great Wall, Obama said, “It's magical (不可思议的).It reminds (使想起) you of the sweep (进程) of 9.”

    In fact, Obama has always dreamed of visiting the Great Wall. Now he is really a 10 man. Just as the Chinese saying, “He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man.”

    Let me tell you something about my brother. He is a 1 fan(迷). He likes playing 2 kind of games. He likes basketball, football, tennis, badminton3 swimming. And he is 4 at football. Beckham(贝克汉姆) is his favourite5player. He is a 6 of the Football Club. When he goes shopping, he always 7 newspapers about sports and he 8 watches sports news. His school is very big and beautiful. There 9 a football field, a tennis court and a swimming pool in his school. He usually 10 football with his friends after school. He wants to be a football player when he grows up. He often goes to the stadium to watch the football matches at the weekend.

    There was something wrong1 Mrs Black's skin(皮肤), so she went to her doctor. But he could not find anything wrong. So he sent her to the hospital for tests. The hospital, of course, sent the results2the tests to Mrs Black's doctor, and3he called her to give her a list of the things. The doctor told Mrs Black4the food on the list. Because any of them may5the cause(病因)of her skin trouble.

    Mrs Black wrote all the things down on a piece of paper, 6she put it near the telephone. After that, she went to a meeting.

    When she got back home two hours later, her husband was waiting for her. He had a big basket full of the things, and7he saw her, he said, "Hello, dear, I bought all of the things8you.''

    "But9did you know what I needed?" she asked.

    "Well. When I got home. I saw your shopping list near the telephone." answered her husband. "so I went to the shops and bought everything you needed. ''

    "Oh, no, those things can make me feel10."

    A group of frogs(青蛙) went jumping through the forest one day. Suddenly, two of them fell into a deep 1 All of the other frogs came together to look 2at their two fallen friends. They all began to shake their heads 3 "It's too deep!" said one frog. Another added that there was no way they would ever be able to get out 4.

    The two frogs began to jump and tried to get out. But the frogs that were 5 kept shouting at them that they had better 6 because they were just wasting their 7. One of the two frogs finally 8, listened to their advice and died.

    The other frog just kept on jumping harder than ever9 all the shouts. They kept shouting at him to stop being so 10and save himself from all the pain(疼痛) when he jumped and fell back down to the hard bottom again and again.

    Finally, to the 11of all the other frogs, he jumped right high enough and got out. The other frogs asked him, "Why did you keep jumping 12we shouted at you to stop?" The frog explained, "I was so worried at that time that I could hardly, 13anything. I thought all of you were saying words of 14all the time and cheering me on to try harder."

    Yes! Cheering words can sometimes make such a (n) 15. A little encouragement can go a long way.

    It is hard to imagine how a person is to spend the whole life when only the head and hands are able to move.

    Xu Ruiyang, an 18-year-old student from Kunming, has suffered (遭受) from spina muscular atrophy (脊柱肌肉萎缩)1she was 2 years old. At that time, the doctor said that most children with spinal muscular atrophy will only live a few years.

    The family did not give up, or even just2. To help Xu Ruiyang live with dignity (尊严), her parents 3her living and learning skills strictly. Opening a book or raising hands, some very easy actions for common people,4, are big challenges for Xu. She had to use her head or5to work together with hands to finish these actions.

    When she started learning to write, she couldn't even6a pen. But she never gave up. Once she lost the pen, she picked it up and7writing. Xu finally could write 500 Chinese characters before becoming a primary school student, after8 thousands of times.

    Over the past few years, Xu has overcome (克服) many problems, including the 9 caused by the disease. Her parents worried about her health and 10her to drop out of school, but Xu's answer was no. "11I read a book and do my homework, the pain is gone," said Xu.

    When asked by reporters on how to deal with difficulties, Xu calmly said, “Patience. When you can't change anything, crying is useless, so just be12."

    In Xu's opinion, her sunny and self-confident13comes from the love of her parents.

    "If we are not able to make her live longer, we can make her life wider," said Xu's father. They travelled across China and more than 20 14 over the world, including Italy, Thailand and Singapore. During these trips, she developed an interest in learning a 15language. "I think it's cool to learn about other countries' culture and express your feelings to others," said Xu.

    Last June, she finished China's Gaokao and received an offer from Sichuan International Study University.