My mom died when I was two years old. She died in an accident when 1to visit her parents. I was in the backseat, and I wasn't 2.I don't remember anything about her.  The only few things I know are from the 3my dad tells me. I 4 with only my dad and myself. I love my dad, but sometimes it was 5, like being in elementary school when Mothers'day was coming, kids would decorate cards, and so on. To make it6, there was  “tea party with mom ” day for 2^nd and 3^rd grade when kids and their7would come during the school day and have8 and snacks. Except that my dad would let me9 those days, we would do something 10together like going to Disneyland. I never exactly felt 11 even though I didn't have a mom.

    My dad worked very hard. My mom died right as he 12from Harvard law, and he tried to be both a good13 and a great dad ,but also he tried to play both14 as dad and mom . I remember all the other girls in my 2^nd grade class had hair braided (辫子), and I15 that too. So my dad would braid my hair every morning before 16. It makes me smile just to17it.

    I think about not having mother occasionally, and18 it does bother me ,like the 19that on Mothers' day my dad and I visit my moms' grave , and bring her20 yellow roses .

    Maybe I don't have exactly what I want, but I have what I need .

    My previous home had a stand of woods behind it and many animals in the backyard. That first year, I1 feeding peanuts to the blue jays, then the squirrels. The squirrels had no2 coming up right to me for them. As the months went by, the rabbits saw that I was no 3and didn't escape. When I threw carrot slices(薄片)，they even came for a nibble(啃).Slowly they came to4 me, and by the end of the year they were eating out of my hand.

    That second year, the rabbits5 me, and one would even sit up for slices! While I was feeding them, I 6 that a groundhog who used to run away was now taking an7interest in this food situation. I carefully extended a long8, with a keen eye on those teeth, and 9,there were times I would have the groundhog sitting next to a rabbit, both munching(津津有味的咀嚼) on carrots. A few months later, while 10,she would even turn her back to me.11when she was facing away, I reached out and 12scratched（搔）her back with my finger, She didn't move.

    By year three, the rabbits and the groundhog were back. The groundhog 13didn't have a problem with me scratching her back, and I got an idea, I'd always14,while slicing up carrots, that the end looked like a cap.15one day, just to see what she would do ,I gently 16 one on top of the groundhog's head. Again, not a 17,The next time, I had my camera ready to record what you see here, one of several dozen such pictures,18she had a slice to eat, she never 19 the one of her head. It was a fair 20 —I got a pleasure, and she had yet another tasty treat.

    One fall in the mid-1950s, I took some time off and got a train ticket to visit relatives in Cleveland. I was 1 out of school and had begun working as an office clerk. On my return trip, I noticed a couple across the aisle (通道) — a(n) 2 and a young woman — having a conversation.

    3 I realized the two of them weren't traveling together after all, but had just met on the train. The woman finally got off at Rochester, New York, leaving the soldier 4 I couldn't help noticing his good looks out of the corner of my 5

    He asked 6 he could look at the train timetable I was holding, and then if he could 7 next to me so we could chat. He's a fast mover, I thought. I'll have to 8 for this one. I invited him to 9the too-large lunch my aunt had 10 for my trip, and we 11 all the way to my stop in Oneida, and we 12 addresses and he said he would be in 13.

    After a week, I still hadn't heard from him and had begun to think he'd forgotten about me. Then, on Saturday, the phone rang and a 14 voice asked if I would like to see a movie with him that evening. He'd come to Oneida, and we 15 seeing On the Waterfront at the Kallet Theatre.

    We had a few more 16 during his Army leave, and then he was 17 overseas. For the next few years, we 18 and he visited me on other holidays. Today we've been together more than 55 years, raising three daughters who now have daughters of their own.

    Before taking my trip to Cleveland all those years ago, I was warned never to speak to 19 on a train. I'm certainly20 I didn't listen.

    A nurse took a tired and anxious soldier to the bedside of an old man, “Your 1 is here.” She had to repeat the words several times 2 the patient's eyes opened.

    Heavily drugged with sleep because of the 3 of his heart attack, the old man could 4 see the uniformed soldier. The soldier held the old man's hand, expressing a(an) 5 of love and encouragement. All through the night the soldier sat there beside the bed, 6 him words of love and strength. Now and then the soldier said a few 7 words. Along towards dawn, the old man 8.

    Finally, the nurse offered words of sympathy（同情）, but the soldier 9 her.

    “Who was that man?” he asked.

    The nurse was 10. “He was your father,” she answered.

    “No, he wasn't,” the soldier replied. “I never saw him before.”

    “Then 11 didn't you say something as I took you to him?” asked the nurse.

    “I knew 12 there had been a mistake, but I also knew he 13 his son for his last moment, and his son just wasn't here. Knowing he was too 14 to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I15.”he answered.

    The friendship between us lasts forever. Mary Allen was my best friend— 1a sister. We did 2together, piano lessons, movies, swimming, horseback riding, and 3.

    When I was 13, my family moved. Mary and I kept in4through letters, and we saw 5on special occasions—like my wedding and 6.Soon we were busy7children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less8.One day a card that I 9came back stamped "Address Unknown". I had no 10how to find Mary.

    Over the years, I thought of Mary often. I wanted to11stories of my children and then grandchildren. I needed to share my sorrow when my brother and then my mother died. There was an 12place in my heart that only a friend like Mary 13fill.

    One day I was reading a newspaper 14I noticed a picture of a young woman 15looked a lot like Mary and whose last name was Wagman—Mary's married name. "There must be thousands of Wagmans, " I thought, but I wrote to her 16.

    She called as soon as she got my letter. "Mrs Tobin！" she said 17, "Mary Allen Wagman is my mother." Minutes later I heard a voice that I 18at once, even after 50 years. We laughed and cried and asked about each other's lives.

    Now the empty place in my heart is 19, and there's one thing that Mary and I know20 we won't lose each other again!

In San Francisco,a large group of sea lions move themselves out of the bay waters and hang out on PIER 39, which is a popular tourist destination. According to dock（码头） officials, this is the most sea lions seen in the region in 15 years.

"Over 1,000 sea lions have been counted this week," PIER 39 harbor master Sheil a Chandor told many different medias. "The increase in sea lions is usually a good sign of their strong population and healthy living environment," said Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement at the Marine Mammal（海洋哺乳动物） Center in Sausalito, California.

"California sea lions are sentinels（哨兵） of the ocean," Ratner said. Their population to some extent reflects the health of the ocean. Therefore, seeing a large number of California sea lions is clearly a good thing.

For nearly 35 years, the animals have been a star attraction for visitors. That autumn in 1989, PIER 39 had just been repaired, but the ships had not yet been moved back. At that moment, the sea lions' unexpected arrival not only attracted fans but also created enemies. According to a website, some dock residents and workers were scared away by the strong and very unpleasant smell and noise of their new neighbors, while others saw these animals as a bright spot after the destructive Loma Prieta earthquake.

The officials sought help from the Marine Mammal Center to find a way to deal with sea lions. Ratner said that the final decision is to let the sea lions stay and coexist with humans. "The fact proves that this is really a good thing," he said. "This is just a proof of how we can truly work together and think about how we can share our coasts with marine mammals and other wildlife in a way that benefits all the parties involved."