Once upon a time, there lived two parent parrots. Every morning they flew out to 1 food for their two young birds. One day, a hunter 2 the young birds. The young birds 3 to free themselves from the hands of the hunter. One 4 from the hunter, while the other was taken in a cage by the hunter to his house. He gave it to his 5.

    The other parrot flew away and came to a place where some holy men lived. They did not 6 the young parrot, so it stayed there. It 7 their talk and learned to say a few words.

    Several years later, a traveler was walking near the hunter's hut(小屋). He sat near the hut, extremely 8. He heard the parrot that lived there say, “9, why have you come here? I will cut your throat.” The traveler 10 got up and left the place in a hurry. Then he happened to reach the place where the other parrot lived. The parrot was sitting on a tree. Seeing the traveler, it said, “Welcome, traveler. Welcome to this hermitage(偏僻的寺院). We have a lot of good 11 in this forest, which looks sweet and delicious. Eat whatever you like. The holy men will 12 you well.”

    The traveler was 13. He couldn't understand why this parrot was so polite 14 the other one was so rude. They were both parrots, after all. 15 it wasn't strange. The parrot he met first lived with the hunter's children who often spoke 16 words, while the parrot he met later had learned the 17 of holy people.

    Our growing environment is of great 18. It is the company that shapes our words and deeds. Good company helps us learn good things while bad company 19 the contrary. Therefore, choose the 20 people to grow up with.

    On his 67th birthday, Dad had a heart attack. He was1he survived. But something 2him had died. His passion for life was gone. He refused the doctor's3 and his bitter attitude made every visitor 4 Dad was left alone.

    I asked Dad to come and live on our small farm5the fresh air would do him good. A week later, I 6the invitation. He criticized everything here. Frustrated, I decided something had to be done.

    One day I read an article saying several depressed patients' attitudes had 7dramatically (显著地)when given dogs. That afternoon I drove to the animal shelter, where a pointer's eyes caught my attention. They watched me8.

    A staff member said: “He's been here for two weeks with nothing heard. His time is 9tomorrow.”

    I turned to the man in horror. “You mean to 10him?”

    “Madam, he said coldly. “We don't have 11for every unclaimed dog. The pointer's calm brown eyes12my decision. “I'll take him, ”I said.

    On arriving home, I took the dog to Dad's room. “Look what I got you! ”I said 13

    Dad frowned and murmured. “I don't want it”. Then, suddenly, the pointer 14from my grasp. He sat down in front of Dad.

    Dad's anger 15and soon he was hugging the animal.

    It was the beginning of a16Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together they spent long hours walking down country roads and relaxing on the banks of streams.

    Dad's 17faded, and he and Cheyenne befriended each other. Then, one night two years later, Cheyenne rushed into my bedroom as if telling something. Running into Dad's room, I found he had18.

    Two days later, my grief 19when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. While burying him near their favorite stream, I silently 20the dog for restoring Dad's peace of mind.

    One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to 1my strange problem—inability to 2. In the library, I found my way into the “Children's Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the 3 at random. The cover of a book 4 my eye. It 5 a picture of a beagle(小猎兔狗). I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, 6 to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

    There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked 7 to my dog. I ran my fingers 8 the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. 9, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

    Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. 10 pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been 11 from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final 12 of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together. My mother's call returned me to the 13 world. Something 14 me: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly 15 and I was going to read them. I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般的) 16 that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable 17 in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was 18 that her son had read thousands of books, was 19 a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the 20 has held.

    I come from one of those families where you have to yell at the dinner table to get in a word. Everyone has a strong 1, and talks at the same time, and no one has a 2 leading to heated arguments. We often talk or even debate with each other on different topics. 3 a family like mine has made me more 4 about the world around me, making me tend to question anything anyone tells me. But it has also made me realize that I'm not a good listener. And when I say "listening", I'm not 5 to the nodding-your-head-and-6-answering-Uh-huh-or-Ooh-I-see variety. I mean the kind of listening where you find yourself deeply 7 with the person you're speaking with, when his story becomes so 8 that your world becomes less about you and more about him. No, I was never very good at that.

    I spent summer in South Africa two years ago. I worked for a good non-profit 9 called Noah, which works 10 on behalf of children affected by AIDS. But 11 you asked me what I really did in South Africa, I'd tell you one thing: I listened, and I listened. Sometimes I 12, but mostly listened.

    And had I not spent two months 13, I might have missed the 14 moment when a quiet little girl at one of Noah's community centers, orphaned（孤儿）at the age of three, whispered after a long 15, "I love you."

    16 that summer, I knew how to hear. I could sit down with anyone and hear their 17 and nod and respond at the 18 time­but most of the time I was 19 about the next words out of my own mouth. Ever since my summer in South Africa, I have noticed that it's in those moments when my mouth is closed and my 20 is wide open that I've learned the most about other people, and perhaps about myself.

    For years, one teacher from a(n)1 village in Kenya(肯尼亚) has completely devoted his life to his job as a teacher and has made huge sacrifices (牺牲) for his 2. For the past 12 years, Tabichi has worked as a teacher in the hope that his lessons will give students a(n) 3 to improve their situations. 4 , working at the Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School hasn't been 5 .

    According to Tabichi, the school has no library or laboratory. What's worse, the teachers that work at the school have to 6 in crowded classrooms. Instead of 35-40 children per classroom, teachers are 7 to teach a group of 70-80 kids at one time. Therefore, the students aren't able to get the attention and guidance that they need. More 8, the school facilities (设施) are not the students' only 9. Most of the students in this school come from very poor families, so even 10 breakfast is hard for their parents. One of the other major 11 that Tabichi faces is keeping kids in school as long as possible. Many of the students in that area have difficulty completing their education because of poverty, 12 when Tabichi gets the feeling that a student is at risk of dropping out, he will work to 13 their families to put more value on education.

    14 his tireless work, his students have made lots of 15 in their studies. In recent years, his students have 16 many national and international science competitions. Tabichi is 17 that his students can be so excellent. In March of 2019, Tabichi was 18 by the Varkey Foundation and won a $1 million prize. He was 19 as "the best teacher in the world". The founder of the prize, Sunny Varkey, says he hopes that Tabichi's story will 20 more people to enter the teaching profession.

    Eddie has lots of hobbies, but he loves baseball best. So it is his1sport. Eddie plays baseball on a team every year in the spring. He loves to go to baseball2.

    Every day when it is3, Eddies father throws a baseball to Eddie in the backyard. This is the time of day that Eddie4best. He enjoys spending time with his father and he loves practicing baseball.

    Eddie5baseball cards throughout the year. He and his father visit the6and buy cards for Eddie's collection. Eddie spends hours with his baseball cards. He arranges them in different7and trades them with other baseball8.

    One day, Eddie s father came home with two tickets to9the Atlanta Braves play the next Saturday. Eddie was so10. He counted down the days on the calendar.

    Finally it was the day of the game. Eddie and his father11to Atlanta early in the morning. Before they watched the match, they12the Braves' museum at the stadium and saw a short movie on the history of the Atlanta Braves. Eddie enjoyed seeing the13

    They ate14at the stadium when it was at noon, and soon it was time for the game.

    The game was exciting. Eddie tried to15every move the players made.16he watched carefully and practiced a lot, he might just be on one of those baseball cards some day!

    17the game, Eddie and his father drove home. They talked about the game. They talked about which18were the best, and which19were the most exciting. Eddie went to sleep that night still20of baseball. His dreams were filled with images from his very special day.