It is hard to imagine how a person is to spend the whole life when only the head and hands are able to move.

    Xu Ruiyang, an 18-year-old student from Kunming, has suffered (遭受) from spina muscular atrophy (脊柱肌肉萎缩)1she was 2 years old. At that time, the doctor said that most children with spinal muscular atrophy will only live a few years.

    The family did not give up, or even just2. To help Xu Ruiyang live with dignity (尊严), her parents 3her living and learning skills strictly. Opening a book or raising hands, some very easy actions for common people,4, are big challenges for Xu. She had to use her head or5to work together with hands to finish these actions.

    When she started learning to write, she couldn't even6a pen. But she never gave up. Once she lost the pen, she picked it up and7writing. Xu finally could write 500 Chinese characters before becoming a primary school student, after8 thousands of times.

    Over the past few years, Xu has overcome (克服) many problems, including the 9 caused by the disease. Her parents worried about her health and 10her to drop out of school, but Xu's answer was no. "11I read a book and do my homework, the pain is gone," said Xu.

    When asked by reporters on how to deal with difficulties, Xu calmly said, “Patience. When you can't change anything, crying is useless, so just be12."

    In Xu's opinion, her sunny and self-confident13comes from the love of her parents.

    "If we are not able to make her live longer, we can make her life wider," said Xu's father. They travelled across China and more than 20 14 over the world, including Italy, Thailand and Singapore. During these trips, she developed an interest in learning a 15language. "I think it's cool to learn about other countries' culture and express your feelings to others," said Xu.

    Last June, she finished China's Gaokao and received an offer from Sichuan International Study University.

    I have always had a love for traveling abroad. Last year, I took a trip to London alone. Those nights，I stayed in a youth hostel（青年旅社）. For me，hostels are places where I can meet and talk to different people. It is great fun for me. During the stay in the hostel, I met two girls, one from Brazil and the other from Slovakia. We three had very happy talks together. We shared our personal travel stories and the interesting people we met with one another. The girl from Brazil was actually a lawyer（律师）. 她帮助人们解决他们的家庭问题。 She was taking a trip to Europe all by herself. The girl from Slovakia had much interest in photography（摄影）. Because I was also a photography fan, we ended up talking all night and sharing experience in using a camera.

    The best part is that they both became close friends of mine. Even now, sometimes we still talk with each other online. Last month, I got some photos from the Brazilian girl. To my surprise, she had a baby daughter and they were laughing happily in the photos. I was so happy for her. And it's such a great thing to know that there are people remembering you from far away. Though you may just meet each other for a few hours, you have someone caring about you in the other side of the world. And I think that is the most amazing part of traveling. So if you have free time, maybe you can try to travel abroad to relax yourself as I do.

    There once was a wise man who was very respected for his wisdom. This great man was called the Wise Circle Maker. His people believed that he had special powers to make it rain.

    But the Wise Circle Maker did not know everything about life often, when he saw things that he did not understand, he would ask questions, hoping to find the answers.

    One day, he noticed a man panting a fruit tree. He asked the man, "When will this tree bear fruit? How long will it take?"

    The man said that it would take 70 years for fruit to come to the tree.

"And how old are you now?" asked the Wise Circle Maker.

    "I am almost 50 years old" replied the man.

"And do you think you will live to taste the fruit from this tree?" asked the Wise Circle Maker.

    "I am already old and will never taste the fruit from this tree I plant. But when I was born, I saw many fruit trees like this planted by my father, and his father. And I ate the fruit from those trees." replied the man.

    "This tree is for my children, my grandchildren and for their children too. They will taste the fruit of this tree. That is why I am planting it not for me, but for them."

The Wise Circle Maker was impressed. He could easily see the meaning He walked away happily, knowing that he still had much to learn about life.

The Ling family did not think they were going home with a pet that day. Annie wanted to visit the animal shelter(避难所). She wanted to see the cats and dogs. She had wanted a pet for years. Her parents were waiting for the girls to be old enough. Annie was seven. Her sister Lily was only three. Lily was still learning how to act around animals. She had a lot of energy!

Annie and Lily were excited to see the animals. A shelter volunteer gave the Ling family a tour. The volunteer talked about why animals came to the shelter. Some were found by the road. Others were dropped off by families who could not care for them.

Finally, the Ling family got to see the animals: There was a cat section and a dog section. They were all so cute! Some of the animals looked scared. This made Annie sad. The volunteer explained that animals need time to get used to a new place. She assured(向......保证) Annie that all the people caring for these animals were kind.

The Ling family walked through the dog section. They started talking. A dog just felt like the right choice. Annie's mom could not take her eyes of fan older black dog with kind eyes. Annie's dad was interested in a large, energetic dog. Annie had found her own favorite. He was a young puppy. He was brown with spots. He had been found near the railway with six other puppies(小狗). Annie could not take her eyes off this dog. She thought he had the cutest face in the world.

Annie pleaded(恳求) with her parents. They did not want to make a quick decision. But they could see in Annie's eyes that she had found her companion(伴侣). The volunteer talked about what a good breed the dog was and that he would be kind with children. That was what the family needed to hear. They decided to take the little puppy home.

Steve, a twelve-year-old boy, lives in a small town. He has a round face. He isn't tall or short. He is kind of thin. 

When Steve was one month old, his mom found he couldn't see anything. She took him to many hospitals, but it didn't help Steve much. After that, Steve's mom always told him what things around him were like. With his mom's help, Steve knew everything around him slowly.

It's not far from his home to school. It only takes him about ten minutes to walk to school. He likes all the subjects and studies hard. His teachers and classmates always help him. He doesn't go home for lunch. His mother always cooks his favorite food and takes it to school.

Steve likes playing the piano and he started to learn it two years ago. Now he is in a music club and he can play many songs. Every day, Steve plays the piano for his mom after school. He wants to be a great musician and play the piano for more people. "I know it is difficult for me to be a musician, but I will work hard for it. It will come true some day," said Steve.