At my heaviest , I weighed 370 pounds. I had a very poor relationship with food: I used it to  1 bad feelings, to make myself feel better, and to celebrate. Worried about my health, I tried many different kinds of 2 but nothing worked. I came to believe that I could do nothing about my 3.

    When I was 50, my weight problem began to affect me 4 . I didn't want to live the rest of my life with this 5 weight any more.

    That year, I 6a seminar (研讨会)where we were asked to create a project that would touch the world. A seminar leader shared her7 story—she had not only lost 125 pounds, but also raised $25,000 for homeless children.

    8 by her story, I created the As We Heal(痊愈), the World Heals 9.My goal was to lose 150 pounds in one year and raise $50,00010a movement founded 30 years ago to end hunger. This combination of healing myself and healing the world 11 a perfect solution.

    12 I began my own personal weight program at the beginning, I was filled with the fear that I would 13 the same difficulties that beat me before. Although the14 hung over my head, there were also clear signs that I was walking toward the right 15 . I sent letters to everyone I knew, telling them about my project. It worked perfectly. Donations (捐赠)began16 in from hundreds of people. Of course, I also took some practical steps to lose weight. I got suggestions from a physician, I hired a health coach, and I began to eat small and 17meals. My project also gave me new motivation to exercise18 .

    A year later, I 19 my goal: I lost 150 pounds and raised $50,000! I feel that I've been given a second life to devote to something that is 20and enormous.

    Around twenty years ago I was living in Seattle and going through hard times. I could not find 1work although I had a lot of experience and a Master's degree.

    To my 2, I had to drive a school bus to 3my family. At the same time, I had some 4with different companies but they all5to say I did not get the job. I went to the bus barn（车库）, feeling6.

    Later that afternoon, 7doing my rounds through the town I had an inner wave rise from deep 8 me and I thought “Why has my9become so hard?”

    Immediately after this internal（内心的）scream, I 10the bus over to drop off a little girl. As she11, she handed me an earring saying I should keep it12somebody looked for it. The13was stamped with words “BE HAPPY”. Then it struck me. I had been putting all of my14into what was wrong with my life rather than what was15!

    One night there was a phone call for me from the16at a large hospital. She asked me whether I17do a one-day training for 200 hospital workers. I said 18and got the job.

    My day with the hospital workers19very well. I got a great20and many more days of work. To this day I know that it was because I changed my attitude to life.

    The other day, I had abruptly run out of printer ink just when I needed it. So I made a long  1  to the only store around here that sells it. It was the 2 time to shop. The store was 3 with people and the wait at the checkout counter was long. I could see the 4 and impatience on the faces of the people around me. It was no better in the parking lot and I found myself in the middle of a 5 line of cars waiting to pull out on the highway.

    As my car was moving forward 6. She was a young, thin woman with black skin and a 7 coat. She was holding up a cardboard sign that 8: "Homeless. Please Help!" I watched as car after car drove past and the drivers turned a 9 eye to her. As I came 10 a voice of the angel in my heart whispered in my ear and I quickly took up my wallet and pulled out the little 11 I had left. I stopped next to her, rolled down my window, and 12 put it in her hand. She looked at me with a small, sad smile and 13 "Thank You" before the honking（鸣笛）of the car behind me 14 me to drive on.

    I drove away praying for her and 15 that the little money would help her even a little. Did my small act of kindness make a 16 for her? I don't know. Did it change the 17 of the driver behind me? Probably not. Was it 18 in the eyes of the angel in my heart? Definitely So! In this life we all want to make 19 changes, but sometimes a small act of 20 is all it needs.

    "Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be one of those!" I said this after seeing the Capital Dancing Company perform when I was three. It was the first time that my 1 took on a vivid form and acted as something important to start my training. As I grew older and was 2 to more, my interests in the world of dance 3 varied but that little girl's dream of someday becoming a 4 in the company never left me. In the summer of 2005 when I was 18, I received the phone call which made that dream a 5; I became a member of the company 6 back to 1925.

    As I look back on that day now, it surely 7 any sense of reality. I believe I stayed in a state of pleasant disbelief 8 I was halfway through rehearsals (排练) on my first day. I never actually 9 to get the job. After being offered the position, I was completely 10. I remember shaking with excitement.

    Though I was absolutely thrilled with the change, it did not come without its fair share of 11. Through the strict rehearsal period of dancing six days a week, I found it vital to 12 up the material fast with every last bit of concentration. It is that extreme 13 to detail (细节) and stress on practice that set us 14. To then follow those high-energy rehearsals 15 a busy show schedule of up to five performances a day, I discovered a new 16 of the words "hard work." What I thought were my physical 17 were pushed much further than I thought 18. I learned to make each performance better than the last.

    Today, when I look at the unbelievable company that I have the great 19 of being a part of, not only as a member, but as a dance captain, I see a 20 that has inspired not only generations of little girls but a splendid company that continues to develop and grow-and inspires people every day to follow their dreams.

Max Mathews has been called the father of computer music.He created electronic tools so that people could use computers as musical instruments.He had a great influence on the development of electronic music and how it is written,recorded and played.

In 1957,Mathews wrote the first computer program that enabled a computer to create sound.At that time,he was working as an engineer at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey.His computer program enabled a large IBM computer to play a 17 seconds piece of music that he had written.The computer was so slow that it would have taken an hour to play the piece of music in 17 seconds.For that reason,Mathews moved the work to a tape player,which could be sped up to play the music at a normal speed.He later said that the sound quality of the musical notes was not great,but the technical importance of the music was huge.

Mathews continued creating other versions of the music program.He became interested in how computers could help musicians outside recording studios.The Groove program he developed was the first computer program made for live performances.

He also developed an electronic device he called the Radio Baton.The device looks like two drum sticks.It enables the user to control the speed and sound levels of orchestral music playing on a computer.The user does this by moving the two sticks on a special electronic surface.

Mathews believed modern musicians are not making full use of the power of computer music.He said a violin always sounds like a violin.But with a computer,the way a violin sounds is unlimited.He said he didn't want computer sounds to replace live music.But he said he hoped laptop computers would one day be considered serious instruments.

I was heading back home after giving my colleague a lift. I took a  1  as the snowstorm was approaching.

Then the snow started and was coming down  2 . Within minutes I was in a whiteout. The windows were 3 and getting covered with snow, so I slowed down and rolled down my driver's side window, thinking I could better 4 the road edge and keep to a straight line. But really, I had no  5  where I was. I stopped and kept the car running to stay 6  . I called 911. The operator told me to wait things out for the night.

The call left me in  7 . "Breathe," I told myself. An idea occurred to me. I 8  my location online and explained what I was  9 , wishing for anyone to come to my rescue. Soon enough, people started chiming in on my post. I got a 10 from someone who was going to put me in touch with people nearby. I had never been more  11 .

Then I saw a big 12  in the dark. He had walked about 500 meters to get me, 13  the wind and snow each step of the way. "You'll be OK. Follow me." He turned around and started to trudge through the snow, sure of the 14 . I drove slowly behind him. When we reached his house, I burst into tears of 15 .