For a long time Gabriel didn't want to be involved in music at all. In his first years of high school,Gabriel would look pityingly at music students,1across the campus with their heavy instrument cases.2at school for practice hours3anyone else had to be there.He swore to himself to4music,as he hated getting to school extra early.

    5 ， one day，in the music class that was 6of his school's standard curriculurn，he was playing idly （随意地）on the piano and found it 7to pick out tunes.With a sinking feeling,he realized that he actually 8doing it.He tried to hide his 9pleasure from the music teather, who had 10over to listen. He might not have done this particularly well,11the teacher told Gabriel that he had a good12and suggested that Gabriel go into the musin store-room to see if any of the instruments there13him. There he decided to give the cello（大提琴）a 14. When he began practicing, he took it very 15. But he quickly found that he loved playing this instrurnent, and was 16to practicing it so that within a couple of months he was playing reasonably well.

    This 17, of course, that he arrived at school early in the morning,18his heavy instrument case across the campus to the 19looks of the non-musicians he had left20.

    I became a gardener when I was twelve. My early 1 of gardening may not have originated from my love for nature. It was to 2 my parents.

    At that time, we had a big yard in which a beautiful maple tree stood. But my mother often looked with3at this work of natural art. Those golden leaves seemed like tons of rubbish to her, “something else to 4!” Seeing the neighbors busy with gardening, my father even thought it a waste of time.

    At that age, I always did something 5to whatever my parents did! If gardening were something they found 6.1 would plant a garden!

    I planted some lily(百合花）in the yard. But they failed to7. I continued to plant sunflower seeds and roses. Wild 8joy, I found the first rose bloom. One by one, the flowers bloomed their heads off.9, I was touched by this land of wonder.

    10, my parents showed no interest in my garden. My father even11at me because he found it was 12 to move around my garden to the driveway. To my mother's13 , I put in her vase my real roses which, in her eyes, were simply weeds14flowers.

    Regardless of their 15, I kept on planting my garden and16 to enjoy the pleasure of gardening. Plants make such good companions: they breathe, they bloom, they17to care and love.

    It has been many years since I made my first garden out of my desire to 18my parents. Today I become known as Mrs. Greenthumbs, teaching gardening and hosting a gardening show, which makes my parents feel very 19. And now I could say it is my affection for20 that makes me a real gardener.

    Hearing my name called, I turned and found it was Carina. After three months, I was 1 with my group leader. She was a twenty-two-year-old native New Yorker who had 2me on a five-week trip to Spain.

    3 our trip was my first experience of traveling and seeing the world, it was an eye-opening one that has left me thirsty for more 4. Much of the change that the trip brought to me came from Carina because she encouraged me to 5 myself while in Spain. She urged me to speak more Spanish and 6 more about Spain. We traveled around and 7 much about Spanish history and present situation, which helped me learn more about the rich Spanish 8.

    Now that we met again in New York, our conversation picked up again, 9 this time it was about our futures. 10, this meeting was less of a reunion but more of a goodbye. She would 11 San Francisco the next day, packing her life into two suitcases and moving to the other side of the country. “I'm not staying here just because it's 12 to live here. Make sure that you will 13 your heart and be brave in your college study,” she urged me.

    Carina's 14made me realize that the world is full of things to explore. I've lived in a small New England town my whole life without any adventure, so it's time to 15 and go somewhere I can do something  16. I see college as a 17 to take a risk and discover new things. I want a place to test new 18. Whether it's helping people as a doctor, or performing research for a field study, I want to be more like Carina and have no fear of trying new things. She introduced me to the world of 19, and now that I've gotten a taste, I'm going to 20 for more.

    Recently I understood the true meaning of love. The 1 was Kane, my neighbor Joline's two-year-old son.

    Kane was born with a physical problem on his 2. And I witnessed（目睹）the3 that Kane's physical shortcomings had on his family. I also witnessed much more than that. I saw a 4 family that embraced（拥抱）this special child. A family that wouldn't allow Kane to know he was5. Joline had constructed a small cart手推车just a few inches off the floor for his son to 6 . Kane used his hands to move about, and the cart7 him to "go to" any place just as everyone else was able to do. Kane was not just a member of the family, but the8 of the family.

    With a wide smile, it was easy to see that even at the age of two, Kane liked to 9 with people very much. With wisdom of an individual, this boy even 10 the most complex of human emotions. Later I came to 11 that this child was sent to help some of us who weren't just getting what love was all about.

    Kane demanded attention, 12 not because of his mobility（移动能力）challenges or other apparent shortcomings. In his mind, he had no13 or shortcomings. The14 was that he received attention because he was alive and real and had so much to offer.

    Kane 15 me in a deep way. His ability to refuse to be different has 16 me. Kane was and is 17 lots of warm and powerful energy to me. From him and his family I learnt the 18: love surpasses（超越）all things. I can only imagine that as the parent of a child like Kane one might be filled with19. But I believe that having a child like Kane is actually a(n) 20. The parents of such special babies are angels too, just as the babies are.

    For most people, graduation day is exciting. My graduation day, 1 was not.

    I remember that weekend two years ago. My family and my friends had come to watch our class walk across that 2. But like everyone in my graduating class, I had watched the economy 3from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had 4 but very limited prospects(前景). Numerous applications were 5 and I knew that the next day, when my lease(租约)ended，I would no longer have a place to 6"home".

    The weeks 7 were not easy. I drove to California to find work. But what I thought would 8me a week dragged into two, and then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself 9I was before.

    Days 10 like weeks, weeks like months and those many months seemed 11. The most 12 part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't seem to make any 13.

    Then I began to write. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer – a little brighter. Something about writing gave me 14.

    I put my frustration into a children's 15, one story of which was about a(n) 16, a little fish, who, fighting in a "river", 17 to give up his dream. I kept on writing. And then one day, 18 any sort of writing degree or contracts in the writing world – just a lot of hard work and perseverance – I was offered a publishing contract for my first book! After that, things began to be in 19 soon. I was offered a second book deal. Then a few months later, I got an interview with the Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.

    The lesson of the story: Work hard, give it time and don't give up. Often our dreams lie in wait just a little further upstream. All we need is the20 to push beyond the "river".

    People from every corner flooded into the streets that Christmas Eve. "Frosty the Snowman," and "Jingle Bells" 1 in stores; on the pavements, the street singers performed happily. Everyone, was 2 by someone else, delighted and cheerful. I was alone.

    As one of 8 kids of a Brazilian family, brought up in America's crowded apartment, I'd spent several years searching for aloneness. Now, 3, at 27, a college student after the 4 with my girlfriend, every cell inside me wanted to be alone, 5 not at Christmas. My family had 6 to Brazil and my friends were 7 with their own lives. Dusk was approaching, and the fact that I had to return to my 8 home made me sad. Lights from windows blinked, and I hoped someone would 9 from one of those homes to invite me inside with a Christmas tree decorated with shiny fake snow and 10presents.

    At a market, I felt more 11 when people were buying lots of goods, which 12 the gifts we received as children in my mind. I missed my family and wanted to cry for wanting to be alone and for having achieved it.

    Outside the church , a manger (小耶稣) had been set 13. I stood with others watching the scene, some of them 14 themselves, praying. As I walked home, I realized that leaving Brazil was still a 15experience as I struggled with whatI had become in 15 years in America. I'd mourned the 16, but for the first time, I recognized what I'd gained. I was independent, 17 and healthy. My life was still ahead, full of18.

    Sometimes the best gift is the one that you give yourself. That Christmas, I gave myself 19 for what I'd obtained up to now and promise to go forward. It is the best gift I've ever got, the one that I most 20.