A Person Who Has Influenced My Life

    There is always a time in one's life when a hero comes along. Someone who has inspired you can really help you learn what life is about.

    I 1 it as if it was yesterday. I was fifteen years old that year. It was around eight o'clock one evening when my mother 2 a phone call from her brother-in-law, who told us my aunt was in hospital and that the doctor 3 them she would need an operation immediately. My family became very 4about my aunt's situation.

    While my aunt was in the hospital with special 5 , my cousin Mark, who is mentally disabled, spent time with my family. Mark was seventeen at the time, and had been born with severe mental disorders, which 6 a wide range of social and physical problems for him throughout everyday life. He never had any true friend 7 no one could relate to him. I must 8 that at the beginning I was filled with uncertainty as to how much of a 9 my cousin would bring on my family. Now looking back it saddens me to see the 10 I once showed.

    Over the two weeks when Mark lived with my family, I probably 11 more about life and its meanings. Thinking back, I took 12 in daily life for granted, believing it would always be there. I never even thought about being able to do things like walking, brushing my teeth, or going to the bathroom on my own. Now I see how 13 I am to be able to do these things independently.

    Mark was seventeen, but learned on a nine-year-old 14. Although his learning ability was slower than most, he could still learn. He explored 15 to do most of the things everyone else did. 16 he did pretty well and succeeded in almost everything he tried to do. He 17 his illness and showed an ambition to love life. To him, having a successful life means achieving goals on his own terms and at his own 18.

    Mark is my hero, for his disability has forever 19 my viewpoint on life. It seems like a well-deserved life when you're fifteen, and it is amazing how in a period of time your point of view can change so 20 .

    That morning, I got on the train as always. I was a publishing director and was reading my newspaper 1. But that day, I read it very 2. I thought I must be tired. At the office, I sat down, turned on my 3 and found I couldn't read the message on the screen.

    Finally, worried4 drove me to hospital. There, confirmation came that I suffered from aphasia(失语症), a condition that5 it's difficult or impossible to receive and produce language.

    I was back at home a week later, and my6was to get better and return to work in a couple of months. I started 7a speech therapist(治疗专家) three times a week, and was given homework to help 8my vocabulary and grammar. After a month, my own speech became 9—“Could you pass the salt?” “Shall we go for a walk?” — but I couldn't have a conversation. I couldn't read the newspaper.

    For 25 years, I was used to a(n) 10 day of meetings, and bringing three manuscripts home with me each night. I didn't feel 11 to say goodbye to my old self.

    In the darkest months, I devoted myself to12. I would spend hours writing a description of something 13 like a pencil. I couldn't 14novels or newspapers, so I tried reading poetry, and found the shorter lines easier to 15. My speech came back, and I learned how to read again,16 much more slowly. I spent more time with my family, and 17myself to slow down.

    Now, 10 years later, my relationship with my 18 is deeper than ever. We have19 to be very patient with each other. I'm no longer a high-achieving publisher or someone who2010 books a week. I'm a family man with aphasia, and if I read 10 books a year, that's good.

    Michael Greenberg is a very popular New Yorker .He is not famous in sports or the arts. But people in the streets1him, especially those who are 2.

    For those people, he is“Gloves”Greenberg. How did he get that3?He looks like any other businessman, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase(公文箱).But he's4.His briefcase always has some gloves.

    In winter , Mr. Greenberg does not5like other New Yorkers, who look at the sidewalk and6the street. He looks around at  7.He stops when he8someone with no gloves. He gives them a pair and then he9,looking for more people with cold10.

    On winter days, Mr. Greenberg11gloves .During the rest of the year, he12gloves. People who have heard about him13him gloves, and he has many in his apartment.

    Mr. Greenberg14doing this 21 years ago. Now, many poor New Yorkers know him and  15 his behavior. But people who don't know him are sometimes16 him. They don't realize that he just wants to make them17.

    It runs in the18.Michael's father always helped the poor as he believed it made everyone happier. Michael Greenberg feels the19.A pair of gloves may be a20thing, but it can make a big difference in winter.

    In 2011, a law was born. A kind of ladybug（瓢虫）became the state insect of North Dakota. When the governor 1 the bill into law, four kids stood behind him!

    Jaden, Logan, Megan and Isabel were in first grade 2 their idea for a law was born. Megan and Logan were farm kids and they had been 3 with the ladybug already. They knew that farmers had difficulty in 4 crop-eating pests called aphids and that ladybugs tended to 5 on aphids. The more ladybugs were around, the fewer 6 the farmers had to use.

    They decided that this ladybug should be their state insect. This ladybug was of great 7 to the crops on the farm and deserved a place of 8. But they had no idea how to 9 a law. So they asked help from their teacher, who happened to 10 their local state representative. When they all met, he told the kids they would have to present facts and reasons to 11 lawmakers that North Dakota was 12the ladybug as the state insect.

    The students spent much of that first-grade spring 13 ladybugs. There was no doubt that their research was hard work; 14 , they fell in love with it. "Even if we hadn't 15what we wanted," says Jaden, "even if the bill hadn't passed, I think it was really 16 a lot."

    In the fall of their second-grade year, they were invited to speak to a committee. In 17 , Megan wrote songs for the group to sing, they 18 more experts for support, and they practiced their presentation a lot! They showed up at the state building in ladybug costumes and presented their case. 19 , the bill passed!

    The students want everyone to know that kids can make a 20 . "Whether you are 20 or 80," says lsabel, "you have a voice in your community（社区）."

Insight Without Sight

    At the age of eighteen I couldn't wait to get my first job, which meant I made the first step toward adulthood.

     But it was difficult to get a work permit. One day I was dropped off by my parents at the 1, where applicants took their physical tests for work permits.  Although I had night blindness, my vision was clearer during the day, which helped me walk2by myself.  Then the doctor began the3. He looked into my eyes with a bright light. "I4your parents take you to an eye specialist," he said, "I suspect you have a retinal(视网膜) disease. If you do, you'll never5a day in your life…"

    My parents did take me to specialists. After much time and money spent seeking an6result, it was determined that I had an eye disease that slowly7a person of sight. But still, during daylight, I could walk without8. I could read, but not for hours. My eyes began to 9and words slipped off the page when I read more than a few pages. However, no matter how tired my eyes became, I never gave up reading. I knew the10of great writers as well as I knew the most popular music stars. Their words were powerful, which11me to try writing. Soon writing brought me a lot of12each time I completed a paper.

    Then an important phone call from an editor changed my life. An article I13 appeared in a local newspaper. The newspaper, to my14, continued to print my work. Next, a book series published several of my essays. I got interested in writing and15up with each acceptance. On the pages, readers never knew of my blindness16I chose to present it. For me, finding my voice through writing gave me the pride and satisfaction I17so many years ago. Now, I have numerous essays and articles in18.

    Should I be thanking that misguided doctor? By falsely predicting that I could never work a day, he fueled my19into success. He set the bar too20 and focused on what I wouldn't be able to do. Yet I proved what I could do.

In early November in 2023, a diver, swimming off the coast of Sardinia, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} （notice）pieces of metal on the ocean floor. He called the authorities and more divers were sent to look. The pieces turned out to be ancient Roman coins. The coins mostly lay {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （bury）in sand and seagrass not far from the coast. It is said that more than 30, 000 coins have been found, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} are close to 2, 000 years old. Experts call this a major historical discovery.