I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in the US for 17 years, I had no1about my ability to hold their attention and to2on them my admiration for the literature（文学）of my mother tongue.

    I was shocked when the monitor shouted,3!  and the entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat 4about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness（尴尬）was over, I quickly 5my calmness and began what I thought was a fact –packed lecture, sure to gain their respect – perhaps6their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a (n)7of accomplishment (成就).

    My students 8 diaries. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 9by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said. Our literature teacher didn't teach us anything today.10 her next lecture will be better. Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a 11subject. ―Didn't I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework （哲学体系） of Western thought and laid the historical12for all the works we'll study in class, I complained. How13they say I didn't teach them anything? It was a long term, and it14became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as 15of my students. I thought a teacher's job was to raise 16questions and provide enough background so that students could 17their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher's job was to provide 18information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference!

    19 I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a20American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

    When I saw Yosemite National Park for the first time at the age of 13, I was crazy about it. My parents took us there for camping. On the way out, I asked them to wait while I ran up to El Capitan, a 1 rock of 3,300 feet straight up. I touched that giant rock and knew 2 I wanted to climb it. That has been my life's passion (钟爱) ever since —— 3 the rocks and mountains of Yosemite. I've long made Yosemite my 4.

    About 15 years ago I started seeing a lot of 5, like toilet paper, beer cans, and empty boxes, around the area. It's 6 me why visitors started respecting the place 7 and treated such a beautiful home-like place this way.

    I tried 8 trash myself, but the job was too big. I would 9 an hour or two on the job, only to find the area trashed all over again weeks later. Finally, I got so 10 it that I decided something had to change.

    As a rock-climbing guide, I knew 11 about organizing any big event. But in 2004, together with some climbers, I set a date for a 12. On that day, more than 300 people 13. Over three days we collected about 6,000 pounds of trash. It was amazing how much we were able to 14. I couldn't believe the 15 we made —— the park looked clean!

    Each year volunteers come for the cleanup from everywhere. In 2007 alone, 2,945 people picked up 42,330 pounds of trash and 16 132 miles of roadway.

    I often hear people 17 about their surroundings. If you are one of them, I would say the only way to change things is by 18 rather than complaining. We need to teach by 19. You can't blame others 20 you start with yourself.

    I was holding her hand when the man in the white coat came in. 1 both sets of X-rays, he said seriously: Her lungs were filling up with fluid(液体). This meant that 2 I would need to consult with specialists, and stop whatever was 3 into my mother's lungs.

    4, this doctor seemed to have another plan. He began speaking to me about “the quality of life.” He gave me a list of my mother's 5 and then concluded that they added up to the 6 of her life. I had heard the phrase “We can make her 7” too many times. Now I was more 8 than hurt when doctors wanted to kill my mother.

    My mother couldn't walk, talk or swallow after her stroke, but nursing her was not 9. Whenever I asked her if her diseases were too hard on her, she just 10 her head. She was conveying to me her love and understanding beyond 11. And not just to me.

    A young nurse stopped me just before the doctor appeared: “You know, I 12 my new job to your mother: She 13 me to learn to drive, so I would be not 14 buses and I could get to the hospital to work.”

    So, I couldn't help questioning the doctor's 15 of quality of life. How did he arrive at the 16 that my mother should die? Was he making a(n) 17 calculation, that to keep a bedridden(卧床不起的) person alive was costly? He certainly did not “calculate” her endless love, the way it 18 everyone who came in contact with her. If human life is 19 to cost-benefit analyses, all forms of caring for any reason other than self-interest will be 20. Can we do better?

    Trees play a special role in my life. They accompanied my growth, and my personal experiences and memories often 1with them. There was a row of poplars（杨树）in my first childhood home; I never2the house without the trees.

    Out on the farm, my grandparents always cut a Christmas tree from the fields. They were always short. Those trees were a family 3; I can still 4 their smell all these years later.

    The pines in our backyard were only 1.5 meters tall when we moved in. They grew right alongside our kids, and in the same 5: silently and quickly. Those pines once stretched a hammock（吊床）6 the two of them. They watched over our rounds of hide-and-seek, snowfalls, and 7 family gatherings.

    A huge willow tree once 8 in the backyard as well. The kids had a tree-house in it for a long time. Other kids in the 9 enjoyed it too.

    There is a sadness to a 10 tree; to the ground it makes when it hits the ground.

    My husband and I were working as newspaper photographers 11 the active volcano Mount St. Helens exploded. Many nearby forests were 12 destroyed by the effects of the explosion. The loss of all the trees can somehow be as 13 as the loss of lives and homes.

    Trees tend to be 14 of strength and beauty.

    The trees returned to Mount St. Helens -- and they returned 15 than the experts predicted. To all who had witnessed the disaster, the 16 was encouraging. Those small trees 17 us of the beauty of new beginnings.

    We've filled in the empty holes 18 the pines stood and dug a new hole that will soon be home to a new tree.

    One of the grandchildren asked how tall the new tree is.

    “Not much taller than I am,” I said.

    “Can we decorate it for Christmas?” she asked, eyes 19.

    The old trees may be gone, but the new one will soon become part of my grandchildren's 20 for many years to come.

    I'm currently at a unique university, an inclusive one where 46 speech and hearing 1 students graduate each year. I have been working with these students to help them get clear on their career goals.

    Today, an 2 thing happened. One girl came at around 11: 30 am and sat down. I started with what we usually do. She can speak but cannot 3 or lip-read. So she started speaking in Tamil. When I managed to tell her that I couldn't speak Tamil, she spoke English.

    I 4 asking one question, and she went on for 10 minutes 5, and in Tamil. I understood a 6 of words here and there, so I knew she was not saying something 7 to what I asked. I was just looking straight in her eyes and smiling. I kept on 8 her without saying a word. This went on for an hour and a half!

    Then after a long 9, I told her to get back on 10 with another question. And then she shared for another half an hour straight! The 11 time I was just looking in her 12 but never 13 down.

    I had absolutely no 14 what she spoke for these hours, but what I knew was that I was listening to 15 she was sharing and also started understanding a bit in 16. Several times, I would 17 with a simple question: Are you happy? And she would 18 on.

    I was 19 happy because I saw her smiling in the end. And then, I just 20 and hugged her and she was smiling even wider.

    Owura Kwadwo Hottish teaches computers in the school he works in. I think it is a 1 school except for the fact that the school didn't have 2.

    Owura became famous after he posted photos of him on the Internet. In the picture, people could see he was teaching his students by 3 an entire computer on the blackboard. The photos showed the 4 level of education for children in Ghana. People were 5 that Owura made sure each button (按钮)was drawn correctly.

    Owura wanted the students to 6 what life with a computer could be like someday. He would come to school half an hour ahead of the 7 every day. He drew the computer on the blackboard, but at the end of his class, it was 8 off to start the next class, so he had to 9 it the next day!

    Owura's efforts were 10 when Microsoft (微软公司)took 11 of his act. They first took him to an international educators' meeting in Singapore. He made a 12 about his teaching methods at the meeting. He 13 a standing ovation (致敬)after the speech.

    14 , Owura got the thing he always wanted for his students—some companies 15 computers to the school. Not a single child in the 16 had seen a real computer in their lives. Thanks to their teacher's 17, the world took notice and responded with 18 to them.

    "Your work has really made us feel 19 about the world. At Microsoft, we believe that educators are heroes. They 20 influence the lifelong skills of their students." said Anthony Salcito, Vice president at Microsoft.