The boys had been shopping all morning and still weren't done. I1standing in the store.

    Just nine days before 2 Caitlin's house had burned to the ground. But Caitlin and her family all3 escaped.

    All the family 4 was what they were wearing and each other. The school was replacing their books and uniforms and now, two days after the 5all the girls in Caitlin's class were taking her shopping for clothes and shoes. The boys were shopping for6 like scarves, socks and hair ties, all the things they don't even 7

    After another hour, I had finished my8 and had helped the boys 9everything they wanted to get for Caitlin.

    When we got home, my brother brought everything he had10 for Caitlin to my room to make sure I thought she'd 11 everything before he12 them.

"I think she'll love everything," I said, and he smiled his big smile. I hugged him13 he tried to push me away. I was so14of him at that moment. He loves giving and making others 15 He's an honest kid who sees only the good in the world. I used to wonder how he could 16 see the good when there was so much bad, but now I 17why there is so much good18 him.

    He selflessly gave up all his 19for Caitlin. He had, through this act of a pure heart, got the true20 of Christmas.

    Clara Daly was seated on an Alaska Airlines flight on the way from Boston to Los Angeles. A flight attendant asked a (n) 1 question over the loudspeaker: "Does anyone on 2 Know American Sign language?"

    Clara, 15 at the time, 3 the call button. The flight attendant came by and explained the 4. "We have a passenger on the plane who's blind and deaf," she said. The passenger 5 to want something, but he was traveling alone and the flight attendants couldn't 6 out what he needed, according to people.com.

    Clara had been studying ASL for the past year to help with her 7 in reading and knew she'd be able to finger spell into the man's 8. So she 9 her seat belt, walked toward the front of the plane, and 10 by the aisle seat of Tim Cook, then 64. Gently taking his hand, she 11, "How are you? Are you OK?" Cook asked for some water. When it arrived, Clara returned to her seat. She came by again a bit later because he wanted to know the time. On her third 12, she stopped and stayed a while.

    "He didn't need 13. He was lonely and wanted to talk" Clara says.

    So for the next hour, that's what they did. She 14 about her family and her plans for the future (she wants to be a politician). Cook told Clara how he had 15 become blind over time and shared stories of his days as a traveling salesman. 16 he couldn't see her, she "looked attentively at his face with such 17," a passenger reported.

    "Clara was 18," a flight attendant told Alaska Airlines in a blog interview. "You could 19 Tim was very excited to have someone he could speak to, and she was such a(n) 20."

    Cook's reaction: "Best trip I've ever had."

    Do birds have a favorite color? It's probably not a question you've ever 1 but a project designed to answer that question led to two British schoolboys 2 the Young Scientist Award of the year after presenting their 3 to a group of judges.

    The boys' 4 to find out whether birds have a(n) 5 for a particular color came purely from scientific curiosity. Both of them are very 6 about nature and the power of colors in things, 7 they worked as a perfect combination and 8 a citizen science project that didn't require fancy equipment.

    The boys 9 bird feeders in their back gardens. Each garden had five feeders, colored blue, green, red, yellow and transparent. They made sure to change the position of the feeders regularly, 10 it affected the results and then placed a 11 for an hour each morning, afternoon and evening across all four seasons to 12 birds visiting each feeder. They collected 13 covering a total period of 400 hours.

    When the experiment finished, they had recorded the birds' 14 to the gardens added up to 3,205, with over a third being to the 15 feeders. It was a conclusive win for blue. The pair believe that blue is 16 to birds because of its familiarity, while red and yellow are often 17 of poison in nature.

    Later, the boys considered 18 for their findings, such as using the less popular colors of red and yellow to 19 bird strikes on planes. There seems to be quite a strong connection between the 20 of planes and the number of bird strikes.

    I met my art teacher Ms. J in the seventh grade and she changed me.

In her first class, she encouraged us to1what art meant. During discussion on facial structure and paintings, she2the “golden ratio (黄金比例)”, a beauty standard and explained how Davinci applied it to his works to ensure they were visually3.

    I couldn't help but think if my4had been measured against the "golden ratio," my score would have been5

    I was born with a facial disfigurement( 缺陷)and my face looked6. After regular appointments with7, my face was changed many times with little improvement. I8seeing myself in the mirror.

    People's strange tones, curious expressions kept telling me that I was9. Worse still, my photo appeared in a magazine with big letter "Face similar to work of Picasso" right below. I felt10

    I told Ms. J about my11and how my face was compared to Picasso's painting.

    "Art isn't about what you see but about what you12." She comforted me and told me that our13appearances were our signatures that we left in the world, which set us14and made us beautiful. And then she showed me a picture of an old man with long white hair. "You see, Davinci doesn't look too pretty, but his works15beauty on us." she added.

    I was struck by her words, and I wondered16I had never thought this way.

     "Being compared to Picasso may seem like a shame, but it's a(n)17.You are unique and you are a masterpiece."

    Today, when I look18the mirror, I will remember the words of my teacher, "beauty is subjective" and I get to know my appearance is my19.

    It takes me years to20that beauty is more than a cold calculation.

Spanish class scared me in the freshman year.I knew little Spanish before starting the class，and I thought it would be1 for me.However，Mary，our honored Spanish teacher，who was full of creativity，made her class fun from the beginning.I knew what to expect with a schedule for each week，but there was always some slight 2 . 

Before the exam，Mary often asked us to 3 our lessons by ourselves.But I could remember one day she said， "This time，let's play a game before going over what you've learned." The game was so interesting that we all 4 ourselves.After the exam，Mary gave us opportunities to make up for our 5 .After each error correction，she would check again.She took things so 6 that she wouldn't overlook any detail.No wonder she was 7 by us. 

Mary was 8 and willing to help，within reason，on everything.We could ask her questions at any time.She encouraged everyone to speak Spanish in class.Because of that，I was 9 enough，and then I could communicate with Spanish speakers outside of class.When she knew our problems，she would give advice.When someone was struggling，she would 10 . 

Mary's 11 teaching eventually transformed my 12 into fascination.She infused （灌输） foreign culture into lessons，using music and dance to 13 our language skills.Her personalized attention to each student's needs fostered a（n）14 environment.At the end of the term，my Spanish improved，and my confidence soared.Mary left a lasting impact on my 15 for new challenges.

"A decade-long moratorium (中止) on fishing was imposed on the country's longest river in 2021 {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the aim of restoring its ecological health. After three years, the fish population in the river has recovered obviously, but the moratorium still faces constant threats from illegal fishing,"Tang Renjian, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said at a news conference.

In {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (respond) to that, Tang said, "Authorities will step up nighttime surveillance (监视) as well as patrols near river sections close to provincial borders. Relying on automatic and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (intelligence) monitoring methods, we are strengthening round-the-clock monitoring and supervision of critical water areas."

Ma Youxiang, a vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, told the news conference, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} it has increased by a quarter since 2021, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} total fish population in the Yangtze is only {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (slight) more than a third of the preindustrial (工业化前的) level. To restore fish populations is a long task. Tang described the ban as a long-term, complex and hard historical task closely {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (link) to the Chinese nation's sustainable development.

"{#blank#}8{#/blank#} you may see, the current state of the Yangtze can {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (regard) as being in the early stages of recovery from a serious illness after decades of overfishing and pollution," Tang said.

Ministry of Public Security data show it has solved more than 20,000 cases {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (involve) violations of the ban since 2021. Over that period, illegal fishing in the main waterways of the Yangtze has decreased by almost a third, and less than 10 percent involves more destructive organized crimes.