Who is a great person? To answer this question, we often think of someone 1, such as the South Africa hero Nelson Mandela or the NBA basketball star Kobe Bryant. But often a great person is2next to us—but we never see the greatness unless a difficult 3 comes up.

    In May, 2008, a high school girl in Beichuan, Sichuan, 4 a hero just next to her. When the earthquake hit, her school 5on top of the students. Just next to her was her classmate Li Anqiang. Li worked to move rocks to make 6for her. Before rescuers reached them,7, aftershocks brought down 8rubble(碎石) around them. Li's earlier efforts kept his classmate9 from danger, but the new rubble that fell on his legs crushed (压碎) them beyond 10.

    Today, Li is in a wheelchair; he is missing both of his legs, but he is not missing the good 11 that made him a hero during the earthquake. He still12 the sports he played before the earthquake, table tennis and basketball—and still13his hero, Kobe Bryant.

    Kobe Bryant, however, considers Li a hero. In reply to Li's 14  letter, Kobe praised Li as “a strong boy whose attitude toward15was amazing”. He encouraged Li in his love of basketball, telling Li that he looked cool in a photo of his 16a basketball from his wheelchair.

    So 17that we have great people next to us every day—in school, at work, on the bus. There may not be a 18 to show us who they are, but we can be sure they are19 . Who knows?  20 you are one yourself.

    It was in my high school science class. I was doing a task in front of the classroom with my favorite shirt on.

    A1 came, “Nice shirt.” I smiled from ear to ear. Then another voice said, “That shirt belonged to my dad. Greg's mother works for my family. We were going to2that shirt away, but gave it to her3” I was speechless. I wanted to hide.

    I4 the shirt in the back of the closet and told my mum what had happened. She then dialed her5“I will no longer work for your family,” she told him. That night, Mom told my dad that she couldn't clean anymore; she knew her life's6was something greater.

    The next morning she7with the personnel manager at the Board of Education. He told her that without a proper education she could not teach. So Mom decided to8a university.

    After the first year in college, she went back to the personnel manager. He said, “You are9 aren't you? I think I have a10 for you as a teacher assistant. This opportunity deals with children who are mentally challenged with little or no chance of11” Mom accepted the opportunity very12

    For almost five years, as a teacher's assistant, she saw teacher after teacher give up on the children and quit, feeling13 Then one day, the personnel manager and the principal14 in her classroom. The principal said, “We have watched how you15the children and how they communicate with you and admire your hard-working16over the last five years. We are all in agreement that you17 be the teacher of this class.”

    My mom spent more than 20 years there18her career, she was voted Teacher of the Year. All of this came about because of the19comment made in the classroom that day. Mom showed me how to handle20 situations and never give up.

    Some years ago on a hot summer day, a little boy decided to go for a 1 in the lake behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the 2 water, he ran out of the back door. He flew into the water, not3 that an alligator （鳄鱼）was swimming toward the 4. His mother in the house was 5of the window and saw the alligator  6 it got closer and closer. In fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as 7 as she could.

    Hearing her voice, the little boy became 8 and made a return to swim to his mother. It was too9.Just as he reached her, the alligator 10him. From the shore, the mother grasped her little boy by the arms just as the alligator grasped his legs. The alligator was much 11 than the mother, but the mother was much too struggling to let the boy go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her 12raced from his truck, took aim and13the alligator.

    14 after weeks in the hospital, the little boy15 His legs were scarred by the animal and, on his arms, were 16scratches where his mother's fingernails scratched. A newspaper reporter, who 17 the boy, asked if he would show him his18 The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious 19 he said to the reporter, “Bot look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn't let me go. They are my mother's 20 for me.”

    Every day Jack met me at the beach of the River Yenisei. The1is 5,539 kilometers long. It is frozen almost half the year. When the water was 2enough to go in, we played with his shark toy. "Mr. Shark," he called it. Mr. Shark was very 3, but after it got filled with water, it became heavy enough to throw.

    We had long talks about our 4. Jack worked as a lawyer but was5with his job. He had to work long hours. His bosses were not always kind. He 6 of travel, or working a different job. Why don't you 7? I asked him. But quitting is not so 8 . Attending university for so many years 9him a lot of money. Working as a lawyer 10  well. But he thought about doing different work, 11would help poor countries and poor people, volunteer work perhaps. That's 12we were both doing in Siberia, volunteering our time.

    But if we were just 13 here, we'd never get the 14to know so many local people. The students did almost anything the teachers asked. They wrote and 15plays, did dances and sang songs. Siberian kids were certainly not 16. Well, the students were not all kids. The youngest was about ten years old; the 17was 40!

    Each day throughout the two weeks had a  18. One day the theme of our class was the world 19 day. As an American, it was interesting to talk to young Russians about peace because when I was growing up, the United States and Russia did not 20. Wouldn't it be great that we were now talking about peace?

    There are lots of ways to raise awareness for a cause. Usually, the 1 the idea is, the more it gets noticed. And that's precisely why one 2 Frenchman has caught our attention.

    Baptiste Dubanchet is biking across Europe, surviving 3 on discarded（丢弃）food. The three-month, 1 900-mile journey from Paris to Warsaw is Dubanchet's 4 of raising awareness of food waste in Europe and throughout the world.

    As you can 5 , the trip is no piece of cake. While restaurants 6 tons of food each year, much of it remains inaccessible because of 7 garbage containers, health regulations, or business policies. Only about one in ten places 8 him food that would otherwise be discarded.

    For legal 9 , most restaurants have a policy against 10 food waste. "Some people have even 11 their jobs by giving me food," Dubanchet said.

    What's 12 interesting is the attitude various cities have toward Dubanchet's cause. Berlin has been the 13 while the most difficult was the Czech town of Pilsen. There, he had to 14 at some 50 different stores or restaurants before finding food. The 15 is all the more serious when you consider the 16 exercise required to bike from France to Poland.

    "I have to get food 17 because after all the biking I am tired and I need the 18 ,"

    Dubanchet explained. "Is my 19 full or empty? That is the most important thing, not what I am eating."

    He aims to 20 his journey by mid-July. With any luck, he'll turn a few more heads in the process.

    I come from a small rural area, where college education is very important to make a good living. I am considering gaining a good 1and a job I absolutely love. My parents weren't so 2to have such an opportunity. My dad dropped out of school during his senior year to drive truck and move out on his own.

    As a high school student, I know I can be very smart if I 3 myself so I've studied a lot of courses. I plan to attend college, one of the 4I'm faced with. Though we aren't wealthy and college can be very 5, I intend to get a good education so my 6can have a better life. Knowing college is very hard to 7 pushes me to do my best. Luckily, Colorado State University (CSU) can offer a lot and will 8my plan.

    My 9has always been to do well in my life and give my family a better 10 of life. The life I live isn't bad but I want to try to make a11. My life is 12of ups and downs but I always keep my head high and make the best out of every 13. I first understood it when I started realizing my parents 14financially for what we really needed. Nowadays it gets 15 to support a living in this economic depression. Seeing this, I want to make a change and get a good job that I will 16for the rest of my life.

    I 17to go to CSU and major in biomedicine. I can get distracted easily, but 18this shouldn't be a problem as long as I keep my goals in sight. I have determined to do well in college and 19in life. CSU would be a(n) 20opportunity with a great environment and it would be an honor to be a student there.