My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse (松鸡). It's1for a grouse to have any contact (接触) with people. In fact, they're hard to spot,2they usually fly off when they hear humans approaching.

    This grouse came into our lives in3Tom was working out in the field when he4her walking around at the edge of the field. She was5unafraid and seemed to be6about what he was doing.

    Tom saw the7bird several times, and she got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew8of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

    One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom9he didn't see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

    Apparently, she didn't like to be10. She'd run up and peck (啄) at Tom's hands, then11off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the12and left.

    As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to13more and more often.14Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom's leg and stay long enough for me to get a15of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt16not just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

    When hunting season opened, we put a17at the end of our driveway asking18not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road,19warned people not to shoot her.20. hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

    It was 1959. Life became hard after my husband got killed in a traffic accident. With five children aged from two to seven to take care of, I1thought of finding a job. But 2 was running out and Christmas was drawing near. Every child was talking about the present that Santa Claus would bring them. It occurred to me that I had to find a 3

    I went to almost all the places where I had 4 to get a job. But when the interviewers learned about my case, they 5 me politely. I felt sad and 6 saying to myself that I would try the last place.

    I went into a 24-hour chain restaurant with five children 7 patiently in the car. The manager was an elegant woman of about 40. As I explained my 8to her, she kept looking out of the window to see all those kids.

    Finally she told me she really needed someone but the time was from 11 at night until 7 in the morning and that the pay was one dollar an hour. I accepted the job without hesitation and 9to do it well. The problem was that I had to find a person to look after my children during my work time. At last I found a teenage girl. I would pay her one dollar for looking after my five children. She seemed 10with the work because there would be 11 that she needed to do as all my children would be sleeping during the time she “worked”.

    The other employees were very friendly and helpful. They knew my12situation and often brought some “old” toys from home to give me, of which some were new. It was obvious that they actually bought them for my kids but said they were old in order not to13me.

    Christmas was only three days away. Everyone was preparing presents 14their families. But I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. So, I found some red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the15 so there would be something for Santa Claus to16on Christmas morning.

    On the morning of Christmas, I 17to the car, hoping to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree before they 18 up. But when I opened the car door, I found my car was filled with boxes of presents for children aged from two to seven. Beside the presents was a 19saying ”Merry Christmas!”20and appreciation filled my heart.

    It was pouring outside. We all stood there1, some patiently; others annoyed2 nature messed up their hurried day. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens3 away the dirt and dust of the world.

    "Mom, let's run through the rain," a girl's voice4 me.

    "No, honey. We'll wait until it5 down a bit," Mom replied.

    The young girl waited about another minute and6: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

    "We'll get wet if we do," Mom said.

    "No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she7her Mom's arm.

    "This morning? 8 did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

    "Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through9.'"

    The entire crowd turned10. Mom paused and thought for a moment about11she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. 12 then, we heard, "Honey, you are13. Let's run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need washing," Mom said. Then 14 they ran.

    We all stood15, smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars. Yes, they got wet. But they were16 by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the17to their cars. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, and they can even take away your18. But no one can take away your precious 19. So, don't forget to make time and take the 20 to make memories every day! I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.

    We all love our parents and turn to them when we're in need, but would you like them to hear the 1 you have with your friends in the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites, such as micro-blog, blog and the Facebook, have actually become 2 of the school hallways(走廊), so would you add your parents as “friends” and allow them to 3 your online 4 and conversations with friends?

    In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were 5 with latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day-to-day lives as they always had because they had no 6 to be good at new technology. 7, more and more parents are beginning to 8 just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the 9 to educate themselves about social networking sites.

    These days many people are 10 to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there's also a certain amount of control over 11 that we don't get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is 12 when we must accept a “friend” request from a parent or family member.

    It's a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our 13 lives. On the one hand we don't want to “refuse” their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to 14. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a(n) 15 of being watched and no longer feel 16 to comment or communicate the way you did before.

    A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn't take it personally if their child ignores their request: “When a teen ignores a parent's friend request, it doesn't 17 mean that they are hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of their life where they want to be truly 18.” Perhaps talking with parents and giving explanations would help soften the 19 if you do choose not to 20 them to your friends list.

Two years ago I was a typical girl with a rather plain life. When1to a local voluntary organization called "Peer-to-Peer" by a poster, I had no idea what this group was about.2, to learn more about it, I decided to attend a3, which changed my life.

    Just like the4 suggests, everyone is considered a peer, including regular members and our leaders. This means we can5our leaders by their first names. We can also ask our leaders for help in6life situations, which we know they will never7 ! When it comes to conversations about awkward topics like love, we are8not to be ashamed of ourselves.

This organization's meetings9in our local library. We usually gather and communicate about10topics concerning our society: education, equality and safety... This kind of communication helps us to make the right choice and110ur mind. Sometimes we've gone outside in order to participate in12events. One event we had,13, was "Give a cigarette -Take a candy" intending to14smoking.

    At this organization we are friends with each other and are a15community. I've also gained a lot of16experience by communicating with people and working in the team.

    With time going by, I have found an abundance of other17organizations such as "Give Good" and "Youth Initiative Center". All of them have18me a great chance to develop my own personality and make my life19. I'm sure I'll have a lot of wonderful20about my youth with me getting older

Strategies to Overcome Self-Doubt Once and For All

Being self-confident is not easy and not everyone can do it, but it doesn't need to be that difficult. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Going through life can be very challenging at times. When we were young, no one told us how hard it will be in the future but here we are {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And it is unpleasing and can kill your confidence levels if not controlled from the beginning.

We will all experience some self-doubt, which is natural. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It happens to us during normal days or whenever we are going to start a new job, a new task, or a new relationship, anything new in life will make you self-doubt. This sort of feeling puts you into dark days when nothing seems to go right and you might feel like giving up, and that is the time to be strong.

 {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Self-doubt is when you are unsure about one or more aspects of yourself. For example, when starting a new job, you might feel inexperienced or might think that you are not fit enough for the job, and this is a prime example of self-doubt.

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Low-level of self-criticism is actually good for you. It motivates you and pushes you to be better in life, to become greater than yesterday. This type of feeling will push you to work harder and faster than before and will also increase your productivity, but it should be a low level of self-criticism. You don't want to punish yourself over things that are beyond your control.

A. We needn't take it seriously.

B. It's impossible for us to deal with it.

C. One of the big problems of adult life is having self-doubt,

D. Self-doubt isn't all that bad, let us tell you why.

E. Let's explore to find ways to remove self-doubt forever.

F. It will take long for us to solve this problem.

G. There are some people mistaking self-doubt for something else.