A couple of weeks back, my friend had a yard sale(庭院拍卖会). She1to sell some of our stuff for us. I thought it would be a good chance to2my 7-year-old son's room and sell some toys that he no longer3 We agreed that whatever we sold in toys would be his4.

    The night before the sale, we loaded up the5with toys and a little bike that he was now6tall for. He had taken the bike for a final spin(高速旋转)7we left home but8put it on the truck for the sale. This little bike had had at least two9 owners that we knew of. It was not in the best10and it certainly was not shiny new but it was still a bike, and the tires were still good.

    We put a piece of $ 10 on it but it didn't11.So, after the sale was12, my friend put it on the sidewalk with a sign that13" FREE BIKE". Within five minutes her doorbell rang. A little boy was standing there. His English was not very good but he asked if the bike was really14.She said yes and told him that he could have it for nothing. He smiled, jumped on the bike and15away.

Later that evening when I told my son how much money he had16at the yard sale, he was very excited. The next day we were going to take the money to the bank. He asked about a few of his things,17if they had been sold. When he asked about the bike, I told him about the little boy and that he made a big18because he got the bike for free. The smiles on my son's face were truly19, much more than when I told him how much he had made. He was so excited to hear that someone else would get good20out of that little bike.

    Several weeks ago, our headmaster, Mr. Gaudi, told us that our school had been chosen to compete on Smart Aleck—a game show which my best friend Carla and I both love. Carla has a good imagination, 1 I know a lot of history. So we thought we'd be good 2 for the team.

    A few days later, Mr. Gaudi held a meeting with everyone interested in the 3 . He told us that Smart Aleck uses a five member team. He also said that three more people would be needed as backup (替补). 4, four times that many students were at the meeting. So Mr. Gaudi said we would have a 5 among all the students present and the top 6 scorers would become the team and the backup. Everybody agreed that this was a 7 way to decide.

    Yesterday, all of the hopefuls went to the dining hall after school. We would have to 8 the starting line-up（阵容）. Mr. Gaudi acted as the 9. After a couple of hours, all the 10on the team were set except one. Carla and I 11 for that last position. We had to hold a one-on-one competition 12 the two of us. The winner would be on the team and the loser would be the 13.

    Midway through our two-person competition, I was starting to pull ahead. 14 I saw the look on Carla's face. I waited for a second and knew what I had to do. As much as I wanted to be on Smart Aleck, Carla wanted 15 even more. So, starting with my next question, I held back and let Carla 16, just by a little bit. Her expression as she 17 she would be on the show made up for my not being on the team. And since I will go as backup, I'll still have the 18 of seeing the show up close.

    Was I 19 by not trying as hard as I could? I don't think so. No one noticed, and Carla and I didn't 20 it. It won't hurt the team because Carla will be a very good competitor on the real show. I think that making my best friend happy was the right thing to do.

    I grew up with two elder sisters. If I wasn't courteous(礼貌)to them, they'd fix me. So courtesy wasn't really 1 in my childhood home.

    My sisters 2 every chance to train me how to be a courteous3. They made me open doors for them or help them into their 4 at dinner.

    Years later I went away to college. The first time I walked into the library, I noticed a woman walking behind me and I 5 the door open for her.

    6 , she glared at me, asking loudly, “Do you think that because I'm a woman I'm not 7 enough to open a door for myself?” She slammed(摔)the door shut, leaving me astonished and 8. My face burned with 9. I decided 10 that there would be no more courtesy!

    As I stood there, another lady 11 the door, her arms 12 with textbooks. Instinctively(本能地)I  13  to open the door for her. 14 I realized what I had done. I prepared myself for shouts. However, I received a warm smile and a look of  15 .

    “Thanks!” she said brightly. “It's nice to see we still have a few gentlemen around here!”

    Of course, if I were REALLY a gentleman, I would have 16 to help with her books. Despite this, I appreciated the good 17 I got from performing all act of simple courtesy. To do otherwise would be to 18 my lifetime of training.

    Courtesy brings pleasant, refreshing light to our lives whether we are the giver, the 19 or just an interested observer. Courtesy doesn't 20 change our lives, but it can certainly transform the way we feel about life.

    Now you're a fool for helping. "I don't want to get involved" seems to have become a national motto. One summer I was driving from my hometown of Tahoe City, California to New Orleans, Louisiana. In the middle of the desert, I passed a young man standing by the roadside. He had his 1 out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him. There was a time 2 you'd be called a jerk for passing by somebody 3.

    Several days later I was still 4 about the hitchhiker（搭便车的人）, about how I didn't even lift my foot 5 the accelerator(油门)for him. "Does anyone stop any more?" I wondered. I recalled Blanche DuBois's famous line— "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Was that 6 these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey 7 the US without any money, just 8 on the good will of others. What would happen? Would he find food, shelter and support?

    The idea intrigued(激起兴趣)me.

    The week I9 37, I realized that I had never done something truly crazy. 10 I decided to really do it: travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny. I would only accept 11 of rides, food and places to sleep. For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4,223 miles across 14 states. I was treated kindly 12 I went. I was 13 by people's readiness to help a stranger.

    In Oregon, a house painter named Mike 14 the cold weather and asked if I had a coat. I didn't, so he gave me a big green army-style jacket. A lumber-mill worker in Michigan named Tim invited me to a 15dinner with his family in their shabby house. Then he offered me a tent. I refused, but Tim insisted, packing it into my bag himself. I found people were generally compassionate. Hearing I had no money and would take none, people bought me food or 16 with them whatever they happened to have. Those who had the 17 to give often gave the most.

    I'm 18 to all the people I met for their rides, their food, their shelter and their gifts. My faith in ordinary folks was 19. I was proud to live in a country where people were still willing to help. In spite of everything, you can still depend on the 20 of strangers.

At a snow park in Zhangiakou, Hebei, Chinese teenage snowboarder Su Yiming won a silver in the men's snowboarding competition on February 7, 2022. It was the first time that a Chinese snow boarder had ever competed in this event at any Olympics. 

Su was introduced to snowboarding at the age of 4 by his parents who were both snowboarding fans. Su fell in love with the sport the first time they took him to a ski center. Later he kept on practicing after class. To save up more time for snowboarding, he would get up at 5 a. m. and finish his homework early. Su just saw snowboarding as a hobby in the beginning. However, on July 31, 2015, when he knew that 2022 Winter Olympics would be held in Beijing, his mind tuned to professional (职业性的) competition. He dreamed of joining in the Winter Olympics. And he decided to go professional. 

In 2018. Su became a member of China's national snowboarding team. In 2020 and 2021, he took home gold medals (奖牌) in all national competitions. In January 2021, he became the first Chinese male snowboarder to finish the Cab 1800-one of the most difficult snowboarding skills. 

Behind his success is Su's hard work. He has made full use of every chance to train more. Usually he arrived at the training center earlier than his teammates. In that way, he could practice more. He even broke several snowboards in one week because of heavy training.

Careers in science are often considered as difficult for students lacking talent or intelligence, yet the experience of Scott Kelly, commander of the International Space Station, stands as an example to prove it's 1 .

As a child, he displayed little interest in science or any other 2 . He spent most of his school days daydreaming because he was unable to 3 the lessons. As a result, his grades were terrible and he barely graduated from high school, doubting whether he would ever 4 his dreams.

That all 5 when he picked up and read The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe's book of the pioneering Americans who first explored space. 6 at last, he was determined to be an astronaut, which meant doing well in science classes. Therefore, he 7 his mind to perform well in his science classes. 

After years of daydreaming, it was not a(n)8 task. But he approached it like a game. The more he 9 his study skills, the more he gained knowledge and improved. 10 , it became a personal 11 to see how capable he could become. No one was more surprised than him when this 12 daydreamer began to get straight A's in his science exams, which is significant for him to become an astronaut. 

We'd better stop 13 the statement that science is just too hard. If you are a student who has been told "you're not a science person" or "your mind doesn't function that way", just 14 such comments! Anyone who desires to learn can master these subjects —they just need to be 15 to do the work.