When I was about five years old, I used to watch a bird in the skies of southern Alberta from the Blackfoot Blood Reserve in northern Montana where I was born.I loved this bird; I would 1 him for hours. He would 2 effortlessly in that gigantic sky, or he would come down and light on the 3 and float there beautifully.Sometimes when I watched him, he would not make a sound and liked to move 4 into the grasses.We called him meksikatsi, which in the Blackfoot language 5 "pink-colored feet"; meksikatsi and I became very good friends.

    The bird had a very particular significance to me 6  I desperately wanted to be able to fly too.I felt very much as if I was the kind of person who had been born into a world where 7  was impossible. And most of the things that I8  about would not be possible for me but would be possible only for other people.

    When I was ten years old, something unexpected 9  my life suddenly. I found myself become an 10  child in a family I was not born into; I found myself in a 11  position that many native Americans find themselves in, living in a city that they do not understand at all, not in another culture but 12 two cultures.

A teacher of the English language told me that meksikatsi was not called meksikatsi, even though that is what 13 people have called that bird for thousands of years.Meksikatsi, he said, was really "duck".I was very 14 with English.I could not understand it.First of all, the bird did not look like "duck", and when it made a 15 , it did not sound like "duck", I was even more 16 when I found out that the meaning of the verb "to duck" came from the bird.

    As I 17  to understand English better, I understand that it made a great deal of 18 , but I never forgot that meksikatsi made a different kind of meaning.I19  that languages are not just different words for the same things but totally different 20 , totally different ways of experiencing and looking at the world.

    One autumn morning, I spotted a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by 1 because I'd never seen geese there before. Thinking they would soon leave, I 2 the chance to get close to them. I wondered where they came from and why they had chosen our pond.

    The next morning, the geese were still my 3 I walked round to the mailbox, showing them I meant no harm4I couldn't resist getting a 5 look. I hid behind some trees and 6 the handsome pair quietly through the branches. I was surprised to see they were staring at me, too!

    As days passed, I started 7 to them on my trips to the mailbox. They craned （伸长） their necks and raised their heads 8 but seemed to realize I was their friend. By then, my curiosity about 9 they were staying so long at the pond changed to10. As they were feeding in the grass the other day, I discovered the reason for their 11the male had a broken left wing. He couldn't 12 and his faithful mate wouldn't leave him behind. I asked a biologist what to do. He explained that sometimes a13 wing will heal by itself and suggested letting nature take its course.

    On the first day of November, I was working in the neighborhood of the geese with my tractor. As I bent to fasten a chain from the tractor, I 14some movement from the corner of my eye. Both geese were running towards the pond. Their wings were 15 like crazy, struggling for take off. Gradually, they flew over the pond. They16 enough altitude to fly past a neighbor's house, and then circled back towards me, flying no more than 50 feet over my head as if to say goodbye. Then they were out of my17.

    The season's first snowflakes fell the very next day. The birds must have 18 that winter was coming, and it was time to go. I became fond of them during their 19 visit to our pond, and now I miss them. I'll never forget their 20 to each other.

    At the age of three, I was discovered to be totally deaf. Having consulted many specialists, my parents made a(n) 1 that would forever change my future. 2 sending me to a special education school for the deaf, they chose an ordinary one for me. All of my schoolmates and teachers there would have 3 hearing.

    I experienced great 4 throughout my primary school because, in addition to the problems of 5 with the other students, I also 6 with most of my school work. I seemed to spend every spare moment doing homework just so I could7.

    8 for me, Mrs. Jordan, my 5th grade teacher, changed all of that with a simple three-word phrase.

    One morning, she asked the class a question. I 9 her lips and immediately raised my hand. Here was an opportunity to impress the powerful teacher and even my classmates. Although a little afraid when I heard my named called, I felt unusually 10 because I was sure I had the right answer. I took a deep breath and 11 answered Mrs. Jordan's question.

    Her response12 all of us. Mrs. Jordan enthusiastically13 her right foot on the floor and turned her right hand around in a full circle 14 it pointed directly at me. With shining eyes she cried, "THAT'S RIGHT, STEPHEN!"

    For the first time in my young life, I was an instant star. My heart burst with 15. Smiling widely, I sat a little taller in my chair. My confidence 16 like never before. I decided right then and there that I would make a(n) 17 in this world. No matter how many 18 I might come across in life, I knew I could overcome them.

    The very three-word phrase entirely 19my young life. From that day on, my grades and speech improved greatly, my 20 among my classmates increased, and my viewpoint on life did a complete turnabout.

    At the age of 14, Harvey Bay teenager Mark Farrell took a dive into a swimming pool that would 1 his life forever.

    “I jumped into the pool and broke my 2,” he says. It's a very 3 story because I jumped into the deep end, not the shallow end where most spinal (脊柱的)4 occur.”

    Mark has been in a wheelchair ever since and now, at 27, is very matter of fact about any 5 life might throw at him. In fact, he finds it 6 to name any challenge at all. “I just live my life and 7 it day by day,” he says.

    For the past few years, Mark has 8 with the Spinal Education Awareness Team (SEAT), telling his 9to young people in the Harvey Bay region. He also works as a whale 10, taking photos for various publications and calendars. “If I can 11 one kid's life, it makes every single 12I do worthwhile,” he says.

    The aim of the SEAT program is to 13 students to prevent spinal injuries and help them to 14 understand the challenges and feeling of the people who 15 with a spinal injury.

    Mark discusses the importance of checking the 16 of water before diving in and being more 17 in general. He has told thousands of school students his story over the years and says that if his 18 can prevent one spinal injury in a young person, he's 19. Mark's contribution to preventing spinal injuries was 20 in 2017, when he was named Young Australian of the Year.

    One night, when I was eight, my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. "Sweetie, my company wants to 1 me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you that you've done 2 and allowing you to skip a grade, but you'll have to 3 your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?" She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was puzzled. The question kept me 4 for the rest of the night. I had said "yes" but for the first time, I realized the 5 decisions adults had to make.

    For almost four years, my mother would 6 us from Brazil every day. Every evening I'd 7 wait for the phone to ring and then tell her every detail of my day. A phone call, however, could never replace her 8 and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

    During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large 9  apartment, I became 10 how lonely my mother must have been in Brazil herself. It was then that I started to appreciate the tough choices she had to make on 11 family and work. 12  difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn't know whether you made the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with passion and a 13 attitude.

    Back home, I 14 myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she 15 to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be 16. I learnt how to take care of myself and set high but achievable17.

    My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the 18 has really taught me. Sacrifices 19 in the end. The separation between us has proved to be 20 for me.

    As a temporary teacher, my daily routine1driving to a new school2every day, so I'm usually unable to anticipate (预料) the day's events, good or bad.

    On one particular day, I was teaching in a very3class. I was managing behavior all the morning and by lunch time, I needed coffee to4the afternoon. So at my lunch5, I drove to a nearby plaza to get a cup of6. Upon returning to the car, I realized I had7my keys and my phone8. I had about 15 minutes to get back to the school which was a good 4–or–5 minute9. I thought of rushing back, but it being10, I thought a nasty fall on ice would only make the situation much11.

    So I ran into a McDonald's which was in the12plaza and asked the man at the counter who 13to be the manager to help me call a tab. I14explained my situation and he hurried to the back to use the phone15I paced in the restaurant.

    The manager returned16to tell me that the cab company had put him on hold and then the line got17. My expression began to resemble some combination of hopelessness and fear.

    Almost immediately, the manager grabbed his coat and18to drive me to the school. Without19, I followed him into his car and made back into my classroom with 2 minutes to 20before the bell!