Life is full of miracles. They surround us every day. One of these miracles happened to me recently. I was filling my car's tank at a local gas station. It was only 10 A.M. but I already felt tired. It was a cloudy, gloomy and rainy day and I hadn't slept well the night before. After I paid for the gas I turned my car towards the main road. I looked right and left then my brain sent the signal for my foot to push on the gas pedal but nothing happened. Shocked, I shook my head to clear it and gazed down at my foot.

      Just as I did, though, a truck rushed past my car doing 60 mph. My weary eyes hadn't seen it when I had looked just 2 seconds earlier. If I had been pulling out when I should have been, my little green car would have been smashed and I would have most likely been killed. I sat there for a long time quietly thanking God for sparing my life before pulling out on the road and heading home. This time both my brain and foot worked perfectly.

      As I looked back on that moment later I still couldn't understand it. Did God prevent my brain's signal from reaching my foot? Did an angel hold my toes to keep them from pressing on the gas? One question kept coming back into my mind as well: why? Why did I get this miracle? Why did God spare my life this day? Finally, I felt the answer forming deep within my heart and mind. I heard the words coming from my soul saying: “You still have more to do. Your work is not done yet!”

      Richard Bach wrote: “Here is the test to find if your mission on Earth is finished: if you are alive it isn't.” Wake up each day then knowing that your mission isn't done yet. You have more love to share, more people to help, more kindness to give. You have one more day to be the miracle God meant for you to be.

One night, when I was eight, my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. “Cindy, my company wants to promote (升职) me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you that you've done well and allowing you to skip (跳) a grade, but you'll have to leave your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?” She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was lost in thought. The question kept me wondering for the rest of the night. I had said “yes” but for the first time, I realized the difficult decisions adults had to make.

     For almost four years, my mother would call us from Brazil every day. Every evening I'd eagerly wait for the phone to ring and then tell her everything happened during the day. A phone call, however, could never take her place and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large empty apartment,   ▲  It was then I started to understand the difficult choices she had to make. She needed to think about both family and work. Faced with difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn't know whether you make the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with a positive attitude.

     Back home, I reminded myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she managed to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be independent. I learn how to take care of myself and set high but achievable goals.

My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the experience has really taught me. I've learned a lot because of this separation. There are lots of difficult decisions that we have to face in our life. We need to have a positive attitude no matter what happens.

    A jobless man wanted very much to have the position of "office boy" at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test. "You have passed the test," he said. "Give me your e-mail address and I'll send you the form to fill in and the date when you may start." The man answered, "But I don't have a computer, neither an e-mail." "I'm sorry," said the HR manager. "If you don't have an e-mail, that means you are not living. And anyone who isn't living cannot have the job."

    The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do, with only 10 dollars in his pocket. He thought and thought. Then he went to the supermarket and bought 10 kilos of tomatoes. He sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he had 20 dollars. He repeated the operation three times, and returned home with 60 dollars. The man came to know that he could make money in this way, and started to go early every day, and returned home late. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles (运货车队). Five years later, the man was one of the biggest food retailers (零售商) in the US.

    One day, one of his friends asked him for his e-mail. He said, "I haven't got one." His friend couldn't believe his ears. "Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?" The man thought for a while and answered, "Yes, I'd be an office boy at Microsoft!"

Ole is a student from Norway at East China Normal School. He first visited China in 2016, and since then, he {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (develop) a deep interest in traditional Chinese culture. Recently, he and his team won the Shanghai International Students Dragon Boat Race. It was the team's{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (six) win in a row and his second time winning the first prize. "I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (introduce) to the dragon boat racing in the spring of 2023. My teacher noticed my strong arms and encouraged me {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (try) it," said Ole. When he was asked the secret of his success, he replied, "There is no ‘I', {#blank#}5{#/blank#} only ‘we'. My teammates are international students coming {#blank#}6{#/blank#} different countries. Before we became the champions, we practiced rowing three times a week, trying to match the strokes with drumbeat. 

At first, we weren't very good. We did not know {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the problem lay. However, with continuous effort, we learned that teamwork is the key. Although we are culturally different, we are one team in the race. Before each race, the team would stand in {#blank#}8{#/blank#} circle and cheer loudly. "Taking part in this sport, we realized the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (important) of cooperation. We trained hard, each stroke bringing us a closer to understanding the tradition of Dragon Boat Festival," said Ole {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (proud).

Aleck was a seven-year-old boy. He lived next door to Tim and Tom. The twin brothers' birthday was coming, so he went to the shopping center to buy some presents for them. He was very happy when he got the presents. He ran through the shopping centre happily. He was so busy thinking about his friends that he did not look where he was going. He ran straight into a young woman who was pushing a baby in the pushchair. Aleck and the woman fell over onto the floor.

The woman was so angry that she could not speak. Aleck hurt his little finger and his hands were dirty. The baby in the pushchair started crying."You silly boy! Why don't you look where you are going? Help me pick up my bags," shouted the woman.

"I'm sorry," cried Aleck."Let me help you."

Aleck and the woman picked up her bags and put them under the pushchair. The baby stopped crying, and as the woman got into the lift, she said,"Be more careful next time."

Every day，a bus driver called Cheng Lin picks up students in a far﹣away village in Chongqing. The bus driver stops1 he notices a schoolbag hanging on the door of an old house. After a moment，a boy2 outside and gets on the bus. 

The boy's parents work far from home and leave3 in the village. Though the boy is far from his parents，he is trying hard4 his study. He goes to school in the city every week. He and5 driver，Mr Cheng Lin，have a special habit. Every time the6 schoolbag is hanging outside the house，the driver knows that the boy needs a ride. 

7 Mondays，Mr Cheng pays more attention while driving，because these children usually go to school on that day. 8 warm man he is!

People call him"9 driver in Chongqing" on the Internet. One man said， "Some people10 not know that the mountain road is so difficult. A 15﹣minute bus drive would take an hour of walking. The schoolbag is their secret with love inside. "