Mary and I, together with our husbands, helped look after our neighbors' children this weekend. Our1have two children aged 3 and 6 and my husband and I chose the six-year-old child. What a pleasure! We 2last night with Mary who invited us to have dinner. They were looking after the 3-year-old boy for 3at their dining table.

    The 3-year-old child was 4his parents who were overseas for the weekend. When he saw his sister he5with tears flowing on his face. I had “Plan B” in the back of my head. When I saw that the child was6and my friends who were looking after him were also7 I offered to take both of them with us.

    I thought another 8for the night wasn't the best idea, so we 9made a decision to go back to our own house. Then I10the child's overnight bed11and we came back home together. I had a 12night as the boy was awake 5 times through the night, crying for his mommy, and it took a while to13him down.

    Mary and her 14came over this morning with their own children who are under 2 years old15I could have a short 16 At noon, they left, I had just got to get through the 17baths and dinner, and18their parents would be back.

    At night, both my husband and I were tired but we thought it was good to have “Plan B”, and how happy we were with such 19friends that invited us for dinner, and were thoughtful enough to20me a break this morning.

    Shayla Mitchell, 16, was diagnosed with the terminal stage of cancer. As a father, Mitchell always stayed home to care for her. He said the 1 1eft them financially worse off. Then a group called Growing Hope 2 in with $1,800 to help with his living costs.

    3, he wanted to pay them back. In his 4, he had once been a 5. So at age 40, Mitchell took up the 6 again, participating in two fights in Fairfax. Mitchell was 7 out in the first and second rounds, but he still 8 to raise $ 20,000 that he gave to Growing Hope. During this time, he 9 his daughter. “I fell into a dark bottom,” Mitchell said, and for six months, he did little but 10.

    One day, Mitchell 11 upon a Mark Twain quote- The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you 12 why. “After I read that quote, I was going to spend the rest of my life helping kids with 13 and their families,” he said.

    Mitchell thought of creating a foundation, though boxing did not seem 14any more for fund-raising, due to his age. Then he found that 15 could be a source to raise money. In the Corps Marathon, he cut a striking figure on the course. 16 by this success, he set his sights higher. He 17 each of the miles of the race to a different child with cancer, and he carried their 18 with him. Years after his daughter's death, Mitchell now 19 up in the morning knowing his 20.

    During the war, my husband was stationed at an army camp in a desert in California. I went to live there in order to be 1 him. I hated the place. I had never 2 been so unhappy. My husband was ordered out on a long-term duty, and I was left in a tiny shack(棚屋) alone. The heat was 3 — almost 125°F even in the shade of a cactus(仙人掌). 4 a soul to talk to. The wind blew non-stop, and all the food I ate, and the very air I breathed, were 5 with sand, sand, sand!

    I was so sorry for myself that I wrote to my parents. I told them I was 6 and coming back home. I said I couldn't stand it one minute longer. I 7 be in prison! My father answered my 8 with just two lines — two lines that will always sing in my 9— two lines that completely changed my life:

Two men looked out from prison bars,

One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.

    I read those two lines 10. I was ashamed of myself. I made up my mind I would find out what was good in my present 11； I would look for the stars.

    I made friends with the natives, and their 12 amazed me. They gave me presents of their favorite artworks which they had 13 to sell to tourists. I studied the delightful forms of the cactus. I watched for the desert sunsets, and 14 for seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when the sands of the desert had been an ocean 15.

    What brought about this 16 change in me? The desert hadn't changed, 17 I had. I had changed my 18. And by doing so, I changed an unhappy experience into the most amazing 19 of my life. I was excited by this new world that I had discovered.  I had looked out of my self-created prison and 20 the stars.

    George Springer helped his team Houston Astros win the World Series in 2017. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player, 1 his struggle is mostly hidden. His 2 is not in trying to hit a fastball, but in 3 it. He stutters(口吃).

    Growing up in Connecticut, Springer was the kid who would 4 raise his hand in school, the kid 5 every time he opened his mouth.

    "I was the guy who didn't talk," he said. "I would 6 speaking at all costs."

    He was often 7. Sometimes he was bullied(欺侮). The phone was suffering to him. 8were worse. If he wanted a dish that he knew would be tough to say, he would 9. If he was with his family, his sister Nicole would 10 for him.

    He remembers a couple of attempts at speech therapy(语言治疗), but he said he was 11 with encouraging parents, an ability to 12 himself in sports, and a small group of friends who 13.

    "If therapy works for you, 14. But for me, I also developed my own 15 to handle it," he said. "Besides, when I was around all my friends, it didn't really seem to 16 them. If I did it, they would 17 until I was done, then finish the conversation."

    To help other kids 18 the same issue, Springer frequently appeared in interviews and even agreed to wear a microphone 19 during the 2017 All-Star Game. He then added "I can't let anything in life I can't 20 slow me down or stop me from being who I want to be." These 22 words proved it.

    The summer before the ninth grade, procrastination(拖延 )affected my life in a deep way. With only a few days until the start of school, I had1just one of three homework tasks we were2Instead of enjoying my last few moments of 3, I spent that time doing homework, which was an4way to end the vacation.

    Putting in 100 percent5, I always started with strong6at the beginning of each school year.7I struggled to maintain that energy as the weeks passed.

    One night, my father and I were having a8about college. He told me, "It doesn't 9much whether you get into an Ivy League university or just a(n)10college-what matters is how you get there and what you do to11it". This really spoke to me, because it made me focus more on the12of my work rather than the quantity.

    Thanks to that conversation, I13the way I went through life. I started to 14 that trying my15best is a thousand times better than simply doing something to get it done.

    My effort began to16in my first year of high school. I had never17that my grades in some harder classes could be better than those in the easier ones I took last year.

    Now I would rather work hard for something and enjoy the18of success, than not try at all or give up halfway. Motivation can 19become a habit if you repeat a(n)20that helps you avoid procrastination.

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

    Ann and her mother had lived in a small cottage. Christmas was so close，and so was her birthday.

    Ann wished she could get a new1with lace as a wonderful Christmas gift. All her friends would be getting new dresses.2Ann did not want to ask her Mom for that.  She knew how hard her mom worked to make both ends meet. Maybe she could make a3maybe Santa Claus would come，even though she knew that Santa Claus is just an imaginary character.

    It was not just gift that4Ann. It was her mother. Nowadays she was working overtime and looked pale and worn out.

    The days passed and soon it was Christmas Eve. In everyone's house, except Ann's ,a Christmas tree adorned(装饰)the living room. In the5there hung the baked cakes and turkey. But6lovely was being cooked in Ann's house. Every child went to bed eagerly waiting for the lovely gifts that he or she would7the next day. Ann went to bed with a8heart. She knew that there would be no gifts for her.

    Ann wished with her whole heart that at least this time she would get a gift from Santa Claus. Ann slowly drifted off to sleep. She dreamt of Santa riding in the snow on his reindeers.

    Ring.…Ring.…Ann jumped, hearing alarm.

    She suddenly remembered that it was Christmas morning. Without much hope she looked9there were any gifts for her. Wonder of wonders! There lay a beautiful packet tied with a red ribbon.

    Ann excitedly opened the package. It was a pretty white dress with attractive lace. She10the gift carefully to find out who gave it to her. Suddenly a small piece of paper fell out from it. Ann11started to read the note.

    "Dear Ann ，

    This dress is given to you as a12for being a good girl. Hope you continue to do good things and help your mother.

    Your Loving friend ，

    Santa Claus"

    Ann felt that there was something familiar about this note. She looked into the note carefully. Then it13her. It was her mother who had worked overtime to save money to buy this expensive gift. Ann was happy14words. She knew that she was the15girl to have such a wonderful mother as a wonderful Christmas gift.