I have a blind friend who lives in New York City.1we have never met face to face, we still 2each other frequently. She is a 3lady and has become like a sister to me. Her 4and enthusiastic letters always 5my spirits and the inspiring poems she shares with the world always bring a 6to my face. She is all the more 7due to the fact that she lost her 8halfway through her life. She had to 9her career and relearn to do everything that most of us take for granted. Many would have given up after such a 10but not her.11, she started a glorious new life full of award winning volunteer work. Her12are full of teaching English to new immigrants, giving comfort to 13hearts, writing, serving her religious community, and helping others in 14way she can.

    The light of my friend's example is a beacon (灯塔) that I try to15as well. Whenever I feel too16in my own life I look at the challenges that she has 17in hers. She may have lost her sight but she 18lost her soul. She knows that the eyes that really see are the eyes of the heart, and she does her best every day to follow the 19vision that they give to her. I am sure too that their eyes of the angels watching over her are always filled with tears of20and that their faces are always full of shining smile.

    On a hot summer day in America, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He dived into the cool water, Not 1that as he swam towards the middle of the lake, a crocodile (鳄鱼) was swimming toward him.

    His mother2was looking out of the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer. In great3she ran toward the water,4 to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became 5 and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.6 it was too late. Just as he reached her, the 7reached him. From the shore, the mother 8 her little boy by the arms just as the crocodile snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war (拔河) between the 9The crocodile was much 10 than the mother, but the mother wouldn't11A farmer 12to drive by, heard their screams, raced from his truck, took aim and13 the crocodile.

    14 after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His 15were extremely scarred (留下疤痕) by the attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches (抓痕) where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

    The newspaper reporter, who 16the boy, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his legs. And then, with obvious 17 he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them 18my Mom wouldn't let go.”

    Never judge another person's19, because you don't know 20 they were made.

    I do not know why I came to the decision to become a loser, but I know I made the choice at a young age. Sometime in the middle of fourth grade, I stopped 1. By the time I was in seventh grade, I was your2degenerate (颓废): lazy, rebellious, and disrespectful. I had lost all social 3 I terminally (不可救药的) followed, what was fashionable.

    Not long after that, I dropped out of school and 4 my downward spiral. Hard physical labor was the5for the choices I made as an adolescent. At the age of twenty-one, I was6 lost and using drugs as a way to deal with the fact that I was uneducated and7 in a dead-end job carrying roof materials up a ladder all day.

    But now I believe in do-overs, in the8 to do it all again. And I believe that do-overs can be made at any point in your life, if you have the right 9 Mine came from a10source.

    It was September 21, 2002, when my son Blake was born. It's funny that after a life of 11responsibility, now I was in charge of something so 12Over the years, as I grew into the title of Dad, I began to learn something about myself13 Blake and I were both learning to walk, talk, work, and play for the first time. I began my do-over.

    It took me almost three years to learn 14to read. I started with my son's books. Over and over, I practiced reading books to him15 I remembered all the words in every one of them. I began to wonder if it was possible for me to go back to school. I knew I wanted to be a good role model,16 after a year-and-a-half and a lot of hard work, I passed my GED test on my son's fourth birthday. This may not sound like 17and I am not trying to get praise for doing something that should have been done in the first place, but all things considered it was one of the18days in my life. Today, I am a full-time college student, studying to become a sociologist.

    Growing up, I19 heard these great turn-around stories of triumph over shortcomings. But I never thought they applied to me. Now I believe it is a (an)20anyone can make: To do it all over again.

    Madison Williams, aged 13, was studying in her bedroom in Dublin, Ohio. Suddenly, her mother, Leigh Williams, rushed in saying1 “A little boy fell into a septic tank（化粪池）, and no one can 2 him.”

    They ran to the neighbor's yard, where they found the boy's desperate mother and other people 3a septic tank opening that was slightly wider than a4. The boy, only 2, had slipped in.

    Madison quickly 5 the situation. She was the only one who could 6 through the small hole. Without 7she got on her stomach next to the opening, placed her8 out in front of her9 told the adults, “Lower me in.”

    Leigh and the others 10her waist and legs. She moved her arms and shoulders from side to side until she got through the 11 Inside, the tank was dark, and the air was sick. She used her hands to 12 the boy in the dirty water, and jammed her left wrist 13a hidden pole, injuring the muscles in her wrist and arm. Ignoring her14 Madison continued. Minutes ticked by before she15grasped his foot.

    Then, ten minutes after Madison had16 the tank, she and the boy were17. But the boy wasn't out of 18.He had been kept from oxygen long enough that he wasn't19. An adult gave him several hard hits on the back. It was only when Madison heard him cry that she knew he was 20 Madison's action made her a hero.

    Despite being married for over 17 years, Jeff and Angela Hartung are still going through the getting-to-know-each-other stage of their relationship. That's because, close to five years ago, Angela was 1 by a car while crossing a New York City intersection.

    "I do not 2 anything at all. I asked for my two 3 .I thought they were like 2 and 8 years old. They were 17 and 23 years old," said Angela.

    After the accident, Angela was 4 to recall about fifteen years of her life. When she woke up from her coma ( 昏迷), Angela thought she was still 5 to her first husband, who had passed away years ago, and she had zero memory of her present 6 , Jeff. Even after seeing their wedding album, Angela had no 7 who Jeff was. This left Jeff with a difficult  8—how could he 9 his wife's love for the second time?

    First, Jeff covered their house with photos, and reminders of 10 times before Angela's accident. He then 11  courting ( 求婚) her all over again .Most importantly, Jeff refused to leave Angela's 12 , even when she couldn't remember who he was.13, Jeff's efforts paid off and Angela 14 for him all over again. This called for some kind of 15 .

    In order to restart their 16 love story, Jeff and Angela retold their vows in New York City's Central Park. They 17 invited all of their closest friends and family members.

    Jeff truly feels 18 that he was able to earn his wife's love all over again. "I 19 believe that this happened for a reason," he said:"How many times have we said, 'I wish I could go 20 and do something over again?' I've gotten to do that."

When I was young, my mom only had one eye. I hated her. She was such an 1.She ran a small shop at a flea(跳蚤) market and 2 old clothes and some other things to sell for the money we needed. Once during elementary school, it was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed and 3 how could she do this to me？I threw her a 4 look and ran out. The next day at school, my schoolmates asked me, "Your mom only has one eye?!" and 5 me.

I was so angry with my mom and wished that she would just 6 from this world. So I said to my mom, "Why don't you have the other eye?! If you're only going to make me a laughingstock(笑柄)!" My mom did not respond, I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, I felt so 7 to have had said what I wanted to say. Maybe it was 8 my mom hadn't punished me, I didn't think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

    For the words I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my one-eyed mom and our 9 poverty. I told myself that I would become 10 in the near future, 11 I studied very hard. Later I got accepted by the Seoul University, I left my mother and came to Seoul to study. Then I got 12 there.

    I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I am living 13 as a successful man. I enjoy the 14 in Seoul because it's a place that doesn't 15 me of my mom and my past. This kind of happiness was getting bigger and bigger, 16 one day someone knocked at my door. It was my mom! And still with her one eye! It felt 17 the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl 18, scared of my mom's eye.

I screamed at her, "Who are you? I don't know you! How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter!" To this, my mom quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the

19 address," and she disappeared out of sight. I was quite relieved.

    One day, I went back to participate in a reunion. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack(窝棚), which I used to call a house, just out of 20. Unexpectedly, there I found my mom fallen on the cold ground. Then a piece of paper in her hand came into my eyes. It was a letter to me.

    My son,

    I think my life has been long enough now, and I won't visit Seoul anymore. I miss you so much. I'm so sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you.

    You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident and lost your eye. As a mom, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son to see a whole new world for me with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. During the couple of times that you were angry with me, I thought to myself, it's because he loves me.

    My son…oh, my son…

    Don't cry for me because of my death. I love you so much.