In March 2007,I was recovering from an operation for breast cancer and going through a terrible time. I spent my days at home1everything to myself. Then one of my colleagues suggested2“Why don't you pick a couple of days and go to Ireland and escape?” I3the tip.

    The trip was fun, but when I got on the4to go home ,I wasn't feeling well. My plan was to sleep for the5journey, but the guy next to me looked good-hearted for a conversation6he had kind eyes.

    “I had an operation,” I said7'I had breast cancer.' 'He paused for a moment and said,“ What's wrong with that? Breast cancer is just a small8of you, like going to college or getting married.”

    I could feel my eyes9up with tears.

    “Don't think too much of your problem,” he said. “Instead, think about how many people you could help.”

    I had tears coming down my face, and said, “I can't10I'm crying in front of you, I don't11know you.”

    “Look, you have a12in life,” he said. “You can either13your things deep in your pockets and take them to your grave, or you can help someone.”

    I've always been a very14person, and aside from the few people who needed to know, I'd kept my illness secret. I didn't want to be15by my weakness.

    But this man, whose name was Ken Duane, showed me that my illness gave me16-because it gave me the ability to17someone else's load. I decided at that moment that I was going to try to help others by sharing my story18,in hopes of inspiring those who were in the same or similar situation. Later that year, I talked about my illness and my19with Ken on air.

    I am forever20that I never took a nap on that flight over the Atlantic.

    I run a hotel in London. My knowledge on volcano is from my son's science textbook, which says “volcanic ash is formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when dissolved gases escape 1 into the atmosphere”. During the days with the terrible ash cloud which spread Europe from Iceland in May, 2010, I was 2 to a London radio station called LBC. People called in 3 their stories of trouble. Some had missed 4 for holidays, and some couldn't get home following the volcanic eruption.

    The story that most 5 me was a call from Peter, who had just gotten 6 the previous weekend to Maz. They had planned to 7 their honeymoon to the Dominican Republic but could not 8 the ash cloud. When James O'Brien, the radio presenter, asked if he was unhappy, Peter said: “Not at all. I've married the 9 girl in the world whom I love, so…no…

    I'm not 10 at all.” Both the presenter and I were so impressed by the beautiful 11 .

    A little later, after receiving many cancellations(取消预订), an idea 12 to me and I called LBC. I spoke to the producer of the show and asked if she could keep 13 with Peter to offer him and his wife a room for the weekend at my hotel 14. She later 15 to say Peter and Maz were delighted and would love to take up the 16 . The producer asked if I would like to 17 offer it to them on the radio show, but I said no as I didn't want it18 to the public.

    So, two days later, Peter and Maz arrived at the hotel and 19. I was so pleased to have made a bad situation better for a young couple. Nobody could ever imagine how 20 I was of myself.

Jake and Max Klein are twin brothers who have a passion for volunteering. Their family have always done community 1 .At a young age, they chose to 2 family's gifts at their birthday parties, but asked them to donate money to a charity. When they were seven, Jake and Max were interested in 3 with a family friend at the local homeless shelter to help cook. 4 ， he turned them down because they were too 5 and they had to be fourteen to cook. This led them on an endless 6 to come up with a way to help other kids who were also facing a 7 challenging: wanting to help but 8 because of their age.

So, Kids That Do Good was 9 to "show ways to kids or adults, at any age, they could join the community and make a 10 .The small 11 has grown into a large website that brings thousands of 12 visitors each year. Jake and Max say that their website brings 35,000 unique viewers, of those viewers, Kids That Do Good has 13 kids to 16,000 organizations.

Jake and Max are 14 with school and after-class activities and other community service promises. Kids That Do Good also has blog posts that advise kids on 15 their own charitable event.

My clder brother Steve, in the absence of my father who died when I was six, gave me important lessons in values that helped me grow into an adult.

For instance, Steve taught me to face the results of my behavior. Once when I returned in tears from a Saturday baseball game, it was Steve who took the time to ask me what happened. When I explained that my baseball had scared through Mrs. Holt's basement window, breaking the glass with a crash, Steve encouraged me to confess(认罪) to her. After all, I should have been playing in the park down Fifth Street and not in the path between buildings. Although my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs. Holt, I offered to pay for the window from my pocket money if she would return my ball.

I also learned from Steve that personal property is a sacred(神圣的) thing. After I found a shiny silver pen in my fifth-grade classroom, I wanted to keep it, but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else in spite of the fact that it had little value. He reminded me of how much I'd hate to lose to someone else the small dog my father carved from a piece of cheap wood. I returned the pen to my teacher, Mrs. Davids, and still remembered the smell of her perfume as she patted me on my shoulder.

Yet of all the instructions Steve gave me, his respect for life is the most vivid in my mind. When I was twelve I killed an old brown sparrow in the yard with a BB gun. Excited with my accuracy. I screamed to Steve to come from the house to take a look. I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird on the ground. Then in a dead, quiet voice, he asked, "Did it hurt you first, Mark?"I didn't know what to answer. He continued with his eyes firm," The only time you should even think of hurting a living thing is when it hurts you first. And then you think a long. long time." I really felt terrible then, but that moment stands out as the most important lesson my brother taught me.

A friend who was depressed wrote me a letter a few weeks ago.He said his life was full of 1 and that his heart was full of worries.He was 2 about his life.He ended his 3 with this question:"We can't really change our life,can we?"As a famous musician,I 4 immediately and started my letter with these words:"Yes,we certainly can!"

I can still remember the first time someone 5 my life.When I was a child, I started to like 6 but I had no talent for any instrument.When I was 8,I went to a 7 with my parents.The 8 impression(印象) it gave me was a musician playing the guitar.She 9 so well.Later, my parents led me to 10 her.She let me try playing her guitar.I did my best 11 I couldn't play well."I played so badly," I said 12 .She looked at me with her kind eyes,smiled,and 13 me,"You played so well and I'm proud of you."Those 14 words changed me.They gave me 15 .They planted a seed(种子) in my mind that continues to 16 to this day.Her encouragement made me realize that I could do as well as her.From that day on,we became friends and our 17 lasts until now.

You have something inside of you that is 18 and that could change your life for the better.You just have to 19 it,bring it out and work hard at it.And that is what I have tried to do all of the years since that 20 day.Can you change the world?Yes,you can!You can change it and make it better every single day of your life.

When I decided to leave my home country to pursue a degree in Canada, I hadn't expected that communication would be an issue.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}I took English lessons in my teens and scored well on English tests.

But soon after my arrival in Canada, I realized how wrong I was. In research discussions, surrounded by native English speakers, I had to be careful. I needed to consciously follow each conversation and translate it to my native language.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Finally, I tried to find the right English words to communicate that response. Constantly thinking about what I would say next, I had a hard time remaining focused in conversations.

But when I again failed to say exactly what I meant in a meeting a few months later, a simple idea occurred to me. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Communicating with my colleagues by e-mail, I had more time to think and comfortably express my thoughts. Over time, this practice helped improve my English significantly.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}I decided to remind them that English is not my first language. I asked them to speak more slowly to help me follow the discussions. It was a little awkward to draw attention to what might be seen as a weakness. And at first, the other members of the research team seemed slightly surprised. But the dynamics quickly improved. They seemed to become more aware of how they were speaking, and I felt more comfortable joining in the conversation.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. Plus, I learned to be open with my colleagues.

B. Why not contribute to the discussion in writing?

C. I had thought I could express myself in English easily.

D. Gradually I grew uncomfortable with oral communication.

E. Then, I had to reflect carefully on it and think of a response.

F. With efforts on both sides, we could overcome language barriers.

G. How can one deny the significance of effective communication?