When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant 1 Miller King, who was the best 2 at our school.

    Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for 3.

    Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from 4.He looked very 5,but he didn't cry.

    That season, I 6 all of Miller's records while he 7 the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,8 I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller's 9.

    One afternoon ,I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller 10 going over a fence-which wasn't 11 to climb if you had both arms. I'm sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept 12 from. But even that challenge he accepted. I 13 him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally 14 on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn't tell you this during the season, but you did 15.Thank you for filling in for 16.”

    His words freed me from my bad 17.I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was 18 ahead of me. I was right to have 19 him. From that day on, I grew 20 and a little more real.

    Mother's Day, 2017 was the last time that all my three kids would be kids at home. I was 1 a Mother's Day to remember.

    That morning, I got up early and left for2 since I was the math teacher in the same school with my boys. The boys and I were going3as usual, so I expected the time I'd have with the three of them surrounding me during break. I entered the office after my class4the crowd for their faces. I didn't find the boys, but wasn't too worried5their classes often ran late. I found a row with plenty of room for all four of us6seats for my handsome young men.

    The longer I sat there, the more7and angry I got. How could they 8their mother on this of all days? I couldn't9my work, only on how I'd been wronged10the time the last morning class ended, I could hardly wait to get home and give them a piece of my mind.

    Arriving home, I noticed a pile of roses on the ground. I looked closer and saw the roses were the11of a track made from fresh flowers, which led to our room. As I 12the flowers, the door got opened and three 13faces greeted me. They let me see what they'd been working on all14.

The words were 15the entire floor, “Happy Mother's Day, We Love You. ”They were placed with16.The space was 17with sweet of roses and other flowers. They'd asked for a(an)18and worked all morning, gathering fresh flowers and arranging them into surprise message.

    I immediately realized I'd been much too hurried in my19of the situation. While I had been feeling unloved, they'd spent their time writing a 20to show how much they really cared.

    Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy – they're given after all. Choice can be 1.”

    I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact 2 the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew 3 fast, and the idea of building an online 4 with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I 5 for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to 6 my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most start-ups don't, and I wasn't sure 7 to expect. MacKenzie told me I 8go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd always wanted to be a(an) 9, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

    I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very 10 people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books 11. He took me on a long walk in Central Park,12 carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, 13 it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job.” That logic 14 to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours 15 making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a(an) difficult 16, but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted （纠缠）by a decision to not17at all.

    After much consideration, I took the less 18 path to follow my 19, and I'm proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our 20.

    Last year, I received an e-mail from my dad, under a subject line: "Mystery creature?" There was no body text, but1was a ten-second video, shot in the dead of night. It2a furry creature charging away from the camera and down a driveway. Midway through the video, the animal3abruptly, turns slightly and stares back. Then it runs into the4. Watching it again, I noticed that the driveway looked5. It was my childhood home. There soon came more e-mails with more videos. And the mystery creature6to be a raccoon(浣熊) without its tail.

    For many years, my parents had been7about setting up some camera traps, just to see what sorts of animals were quietly moving around the8. But my dad had always thought the camera were a little too9and complicated. About a year ago, my dad finally10two cameras at reasonable prices that were easy to use. He first11them toward a place where he had noticed a particular pile of scat (动物粪便), which always appeared in the same12. After leaving the cameras on for only one night, he13. To his amazement, right in front of a bench where he'd 14 one camera, a fox arrived. It 15 to the center of the sight line and squatted (蹲下), briefly, in the exact spot. "Can you 16 it?" he said, playing the video for me again.

    I could not, 17 there it was, clear to see. For me, the pleasure in watching these videos was that they would never be 18 believable and that the 19 would always be beyond my imagination. Rather than making the world more knowable, they seem to make it more 20. They've turned a backyard into a place full of mystery.

    Clara Daly was seated on an Alaska Airlines flight when a flight attendant asked a(n) 1question over the loudspeaker, "Does anyone on board know American Sign Language?"

    Clara, 15 at the time 2 the call button. The flight attendant came by and 3 the situation. "We have a passenger on the plane who's 4 and deaf." she said. The passenger seemed to want something, but he couldn't 5 his message.

    Clara 6 to have been studying ASL for the past year and knew she'd be able to finger spell into the man's palm. So she 7 her seat belt and walked toward the seat of Tim Cook, then 64.

    8 taking his hand  she 9, "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 10, she stopped and stayed a while.

    "He didn't need anything. He was lonely and wanted to 11." Clara says.

    So for the next hour, that's what they did. She talked about her plans for the future. Cook told Clara12 he had gradually become blind over time and 13 stories of his days as a traveling salesman. Even though he couldn't see her, she "looked 14 at his face with such kindness," a passenger reported, "We can see she smiled with happiness, 15 she made a difference in someone's life."

    "Clara was amazing." a flight attendant told Alaska Airlines in a blog interview. "You could tell Tim was very 16 to have someone he could speak to, and she was such a(n) 17."

    Cook's 18, "Best trip I've ever had."

    Learned a lot. The best thing for 19 is to learn something. Learning is the only thing that never 20.

Iˈve always loved the ocean. In the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (seven) grade, I started volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. I was upset to learn that many sea animals eat plastic garbage, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (think)it is food. 

I decided to do something {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (educate) people about this problem. I held presentations at schools to teach kids about plastic waste. I wanted to reach businesses too. I decided that if I learned of a company{#blank#}4{#/blank#} used a lot of plastic, Iˈd send it an email urging it to cut back. 

One day, I saw a commercial for a health-care company. People in the ad were using plastic straws （吸管）. I found the contact information of the company{#blank#}5{#/blank#} emailed its president. I told him how {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (harm) plastic could be to the environment and asked him to consider using more eco-friendly options. I was so{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (excite) when he wrote back to me. He said he would make sure that the company cut its use of plastic straws in half. 

I kept going. Whenever I heard of businesses using plastic, Iˈd send an email. One of the biggest companies I wrote to {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (be) Alaska Airlines Paris. A company{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (represent) wrote back and told me the airline was switching over{#blank#}10{#/blank#}plastic to paper cups on all of its 1, 200 daily flights.