NO matter what happens,I'll always be there for you!

    In 1989, an8.2earthquake almost destroyed America, killing over 30,000 people in less thanfour minutes. In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left hiswife safely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be,only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.

    After the unforgettablyscare, he remembered the promise he had made to his son: "No matter what,I'll always be there for you!" And tears began to fill his eyes. As helooked at the badly damaged building that once was the school, it lookedhopeless, but he kept remembering his promise to his son

    He began to direct hisattention to where he walked his son to class at school each morning.Remembering his son's classroom would be in the back right comer of thebuilding, he rushed there and started digging through the ruins, As he wasdigging, other helpless parents tried to pull him off what was left of theschool, saying," It's too late! They're all dead! You can't help! Co home!Come on! Face reality. Here's nothing you can do!

    To each parent hereplied with one line, "Are you going to help me now?" And then hecontinued to dig for his son, stone by stone. The firefighter leader showed upand tried to pull him off the school's ruins saying, "Fires are breakingout. Explosions are happening everywhere. You are in danger. We'll take care ofit. Go home." To which this loving, caring American father asked,"Are you going to help me now?" The police came and said, "You'reangry, worried and it's over. You're making others in danger. Go home. We'llhandle it!" To which he replied, "Are you going to help me now?"No one replied.

    He went on alone becausehe needed to know for himself "is my boy alive or is he dead?" He dugfor eight hours … 12 hours ... 24 hours … 36 hours … then, in the 38th hour, hepulled back a large stone and heard his son's voice. He screamed his son'sname, "Armand!" He heard back, "Dad? It's me, Dad! I told theother kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you would save meand when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised, no matter what happens,you'll always be there for me. You did it, Dad!" "What's going on inthere? How is it?" the father asked, "There are 14 of us left out of33, Dad. We're scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you're here. When thebuilding fell down, it made a triangle, and it saved us."

    "Come out,boy!" "No, Dad! Let the other kids out first because I know you'llget me! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me!"

Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One time in the middle of the night, an old lady in her 80s1 my taxi. She gave me an address, and then asked: "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't2 ," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice (临终关怀医院).

I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long."

I  3  shut off the meter (里程表).

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She  4  me the building where she had worked, the neighborhood where she and her husband had once lived, the place where she danced as

a girl. As the sun was rising, we got to the hospice.

"How much should I pay you?" she asked, reaching into her purse (钱包).

"5 ," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other6 ."

"You gave an old woman a little moment of7 ," she said. "Thank you."

I drove into the fine morning light. 8  me, a door shut. It was the sound of the9  of a life. I drove aimlessly (漫无目的地), lost in thought. For the rest of the day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had got a(n) 10  driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift (换班)? What if I had refused to take the run?

Sam, a foreign student, often shares his experiences of Chinese culture on his vlog.

In one video, for example, Sam shared how he had learned the Chinese word "dongxi", he translated each part separately into "east west". And he introduced how "dongxi" came to mean "things". He told people that all marketplaces in ancient Chinese cities were set up along a single road that ran from east to west. So when you would say "qu mai dongxi", you'd be saying, "I'm going to buy things."

He posted some other videos of reading Chinese poems and performing Kungfu in Chinese traditional custom. They were quite welcomed by more than 40,000 followers.

"Many of my followers are learning Chinese", Sam said. "But sadly, they know little about Chinese culture and the country." Like many foreigners, Sam once believed that all Chinese could perform Kungfu, flying onto roofs and walking over walls. He thought the country was not developed. But after he got a scholarship to study in China in 2019, his view about China changed. "China has entered a new period, but many people's impressions of China are still stuck in the 1970s," Sam said. "That's why I started to shoot vlogs to share Chinese culture in 2019."

Until now, Sam has posted more than 40 Chinese culture vlogs online. Though shooting these vlogs is not easy and takes lots of time, the young man feels proud. Sam said that he wanted to continue bridging the differences between two cultures. "This goal may not be achieved easily, but I will spare no efforts to do my part."

Nowadays too many people have to work at weekends. Some people don't {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Others think it's terrible. 

One woman thinks that working at the weekends can be dangerous. She is Kelly Smith. Mrs. Smith works in an office in Brighton, England. One Saturday, May 24, she went to the office to do some work. After she got into the lift, it stopped between the {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Mrs. Smith couldn't get out of the lift. She began to shout, but no one heard him. Then Mrs. Smith {#blank#}3{#/blank#} that it was holiday in England. No one was going to work until Tuesday. With nothing to eat or drink, Mrs. Smith was very hungry and had to sleep most of the time. Early on Tuesday morning, her workmates came to work and found the lift {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. When the lift was opened, Mrs. Smith came out cold, weak and tried. She had been in the lift for more than 60 hours.

Now Mrs. Smith says, "I only use lifts if they have telephones in them!"

What makes a true friend? I think a true friend {#blank#}1{#/blank#} always be ready to help others. I didn't believe it until (直到……才) one thing happened to me when I was eight years old.

My friend Wang Zhenhui always listened to his mother, and he never {#blank#}2{#/blank#} his mother's rules. But I was different. I didn't think it was {#blank#}3{#/blank#} for my mother to teach me everything. Wang Zhenhui knew all about that, but he said {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to me.

One day, Wang Zhenhui invited me to watch a movie. I liked it very much, so I went to the cinema with him happily. The movie was about the love {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a mother and a son. It really touched my{#blank#}6{#/blank#}. After watching it, I started to knowhow great the love of the mother was. I fel sorry for no listening to my mother before decided to think more about my mother {#blank#}7{#/blank#} about myself. After I told him my plan, Wang Zhenhui smiled and said, "This movie is really great. That's a good choice for {#blank#}8{#/blank#} you and me."

Suddenly, I knew{#blank#}9{#/blank#} we were at the cinema. I realized (意识到) a true friend is helpful. It's {#blank#}10{#/blank#} good to have a friend like Wang Zhenhui.