The Fitting-in of Suzy Khan

    The first time I saw Suzy Khan, I knew I had to help her. She was really small for her age of 12. The boy in my class often 1 about her and laughed their heads off. She would open a book, pretending to read, with tears dropping on the open page.

    All I knew was that she was an orphan (孤儿) from Africa. She had just been adopted by a family in town who 2 that the best way for her to learn American ways of life was to be with American kids. I looked down at this 3 girl and promised myself that somehow I would help her.

    But how could I help her 4 in with us? There had to be a 5 .

    One day, when I went into the classroom, I saw that Suzy had 6 her geography book to a picture of a train, and in her notebook, she had made a(n) 7copy.

    I was surprised and thought that she could do something in the coming 8 show. So, I took her to see the art teacher, Miss Parker, and showed her what Suzy had 9. “Why, it's wonderful,” said Miss Parker, who then showed us a poster she had painted 10 the talent show. “I need more of these, but I just don't have enough  11. Could you help me, Suzy?”

On the day of the talent show, Suzy's 12 were everywhere —- all over the hall and all over the school, each one different.

     “And finally,” said Mr Brown, the schoolmaster, at the end of the show, “we have a (n) award. I'm sure you've all noticed the wonderful posters.” Everyone nodded. “One of our own students 13 them.”

    I could hear everyone whispering. “Who in our school could draw 14 well?”

    Mr. Brown waited a while before saying, “ 15 this student worked so hard on the posters, she deserves a 16 ,too. Our mystery(神秘) artist is our new student 17 Suzy Khan!”

    Mr. Brown thanked her for all the wonderful posters and gave her a professional artist's set. “Thank you,” she cried.

    I 18 , at that time when I was looking at her excited face, she'd probably never 19 anything in her whole life.

    Everyone started to 20 their hands. Suzy Khan gave them a shy smile and the applause was defining. I knew then Suzy was going to be all right.

He Had a Go

    It was a cool spring evening in Melbourne, Australia. I drove to my boxing gym for a Friday night training session. After1up, I started training. Then I noticed a tall and slim young man walking through the doors. There was something about him that caught my2.

    Before long, I realized that he might have a mental illness. Having volunteered for mental illness support groups, I really3his problems when I looked at him.

    He paid for the session, put on a pair of gloves and then started hitting the punching bags. I watched him from a4 and wanted to help him to punch straighter and better. Then I felt it was best to leave that up to the trainer who was 5watching him.

    After a few seconds of punching the bag, he stopped and started staring at the   6.The trainer went up to him and 7to help him. It was almost like he woke up from a dream. He8 eye contact with the ceiling at once.

    Then the bell rang and it was the end of the round.9 rounds we are required to do five push-ups(俯卧撑),10all the boys that were training that night did five push-ups. He11to complete his five push-ups. The bell sounded again and the next round began. He punched the bags for a few seconds and then he12. This time he was taring at the walls which were decorated with boxing posters.

    It was clear to me that he could not 13for long.

    When I finished training, I decided to go to him and offer him my help. I held the bag for him and asked him to punch. He14 the bag a few times and then stopped again.

    I smiled at him and asked, "Do you like boxing?"

    He replied with a very shy 15on his face, "Yes, boxing is alright."

    What else could I do than16 this man and his willingness to give it a go? Most people put self-imposed(自我强加的)17on their lives and stop themselves from having a go. I kept thinking about this man while admiring him for even turning up to a boxing gym, let alone training at what appeared to be his18

    There are many lessons to learn from this man. What I19admired about this man was that he had a go! That is what20ordinariness from greatness.

So what will you have a go at?

    A pioneering dancer is proving that you can chase your dreams-even in a wheelchair. Since the age of three, Chelsie Hill had1of becoming a dancer. "The only thing that I2was dance," she told CBS News.

    That ambition nearly3one night in 2010. Hill,4a 17-year-old high school senior in Pacific Grove, California, was in a car accident that put her in the5for 51 days and left her paralyzed (瘫痪) from the6down.

    For most people, that would have7any hope of a dancing career. For Hill, it was the8. Far from being an obstacle (障碍), her wheelchair9her. "I wanted to prove to my community—and to myself-that I was still ‘10,'" she told Teen Vogue. "Whatever normal meant."

    Normal for her meant11so Hill did it in her wheelchair right12her nondisabled high school dance team. "Half of my13was taken away from me, and I have to move it with my,14," Hill told Today. "It definitely15a lot of learning and patience."

    After16, Hill wanted to expand her dance network to include17like her. She met people online who had suffered various physical injuries but shared her determination, and she invited them to dance with her. "It was such a(n)18experience." Hoping to reach more people in a larger city, Hill19to Los Angeles in 2014 and formed a team of dancers with disabilities she calls the Rollettes.

    "I want to20the stereotype (模式化观念) of wheelchair users and show that dance is dance, whether you're walking or you're rolling," she told CBS News.

Growing roots

When I was growing up. I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd 1 known. When Dr. Gibbs wasn't 2 lives, he was planting trees.

The good doctor had some 3 theories on planting trees. He believed in "No pains, no gains". He never 4 his new trees, which was 5 many people. He thought that watering plants spoiled (宠坏) them, and that if you want strong trees, you have to make things 6 for them. He, talked about how watering trees 7 shallow roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in 8 of water. I came to understand that he meant deep roots were to be 9. The lack of water seemed to 10 the trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

I used to 11 for my sons that their lives will be easy. But 12 I've been thinking that it's time to13 my prayer. I know my children are going to meet14and I'm praying they will be strong. The prayer for comfort is seldom met. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the winds blow, they won't be 15 away.

Culture and tradition are the soul of a country. When a country 1 them, it is difficult for it to make 2 . Chinese culture can be seen everywhere in China. 3 , I did not really understand it in the beginning. Then I realized I had to 4 something in order to understand it.

Last winter I decided to stay at our university to 5 all the activities organized for foreign students to celebrate the Spring Festival.

The 6 began a month ago with the decorating of our rooms with Spring Festival couplets (对联) and New Year paintings. On February 10, we 7 an activity to write Spring Festival couplets. When I saw the brush, I became 8 . Why is there such a pen? How do we use it?

After understanding the tools, we started our creative 9 . I tried to hold the brush and start writing 10 , but the tip of the pen was too 11 and I couldn't grasp it at all. I was 12 , but I didn't give up. After several 13 , I wrote a line of words. At this time, I found that my sleeves were dirtied with ink as I was too 14 practicing. Even so, I was very happy, because I felt that I had learned the essence (精髓) of writing calligraphy.

Through this activity, I came to 15 the amazing Chinese culture more.

Dave McNee met Claudia Mandekic 14 years ago. When she told McNee how hard it could be to get students excited about math, her favourite discipline, he made a surprising suggestion: "Why not throw in something they enjoy, like sports?" The idea of mixing basketball and mathematics got its first shot in 2011, when the now colleagues — who had launched a tutoring non-profit — were invited to run a summer-school program for kids who'd failed Grade 9 math at Georges Secondary School.

When the students showed up for their first day, they weren't exactly excited. Over the next few hours, Mandekic and McNee gave the kids techniques to improve their shooting while also helping them calculate their field-goal percentage — which, in turn, taught them about fractions and decimal (分数和小数) points. At the end of the game, the winning team was determined based on which group had the highest total percentage and had done the most efficient math. "When the bell rang, they were so fixated on collecting their data and figuring out which team won that they didn't leave," says Mandekic. "I realized we might be onto something."

The classes, later named BallMatics, soon spread to other schools. "I was terrible at math," says Douglas, who enrolled in a fast-track summer program. "But once I started BallMatics and realized the sport I loved was directly tied to math, it made me a lot better at it. Every time I played basketball, I was thinking about math."

Almost any math problem, McNee and Mandekic realized, can be taught on the court. Kids can learn how to navigate an X-Y grid to find their next shooting spot or absorb the basic principles of trigonometry based on the angle at which they release the ball. In 2019, McNec and Mandekic established a private high school called Uchenna Academy. At the school, kids with top basketball skills can study all subjects, train at their sport and work part-time helping out with the BallMatics afterschool programs.

Douglas, now 20 and earning a degree in education believes the school's commitment to academics is the key reason it's been a winner. "If we didn't do our work, we weren't playing at the game," he says, adding that coaches would bench kids who didn't keep up in class. "At Uchenna, we were student athletes, not athlete students."