The first week is always a bit hard in my writing classes. I'm unfamiliar 1 the students, most of them trying to 2 themselves to their new environment. When Jennifer 3 me with a question on the second day, I was 4 for the chance to connect at least one name with a face.

    Her writing wasn't perfect, 5 her effort was. She worked hard and pushed herself to achieve. She was excited to 6, which made me enjoy teaching her. I didn't 7 then how much she would also teach me. One Friday afternoon, Jennifer stopped by after class. She wasn't asking a question 8a paper I'd returned. 9, she said quietly: “I didn't attend classes yesterday. I was at the health center the whole day.” I gave her a sideways look, 10. “It was just a virus (病毒). I'm fine now,” she 11 me. Then she was gone.

    Two nights later, her father called to tell me that Jennifer would be 12a few classes. She had been in hospital with meningitis (脑膜炎). I heard from him again a few days later, and again after that. Her condition grew 13. We made trips to the hospital room. I was 14 frightened when I saw the pale, thin and weak girl who, only ten days earlier, had displayed life and warmth in my classroom.

    A week later, Jennifer herself called me to tell me she was on the road to 15. “I'll be back to school one day,” she said. “I have no 16 that you'll be with us.” I told her, 17 tears. I remembered what her father had said in his first phone call: “school 18 everything to Jenny.”

    Then five weeks later, I walked into my classroom to find Jenny in her seat,   19.   She 20 all of her missed homework, completed with thought and excellence. The strength of her will to overcome shone out of her pale, weak, eighteen-year-old face.

    Having said good-bye to his parents, Alvin, with his wife and one-year-old son, set off back home. Still1Alvin and Clare talked and laughed happily. And even little Alax2from time to time. The family were3their trip.

    But three hours later things began to 4. It was starting to snow. Alvin sped up the car,5to arrive home before dark. But it was too dangerous to drive fast now because it was snowing more and more heavily. So Alvin had to 6down. The snow on the 7was getting deeper and deeper until it was hard to 8on it. Their car slipped(滑落)off the highway and got caught in the deep snow and the engine refused to start again.

    “The snow doesn't seem to9. Shall we stay in the car waiting to be frozen(冻)to death or walk ahead 10the snow?”Alvin asked. Clare said she 11to walk. So they got out of the car with their Alex and began walking. But something 12was to come. Soon they lost their 13 and had to walk aimlessly(无目标的)on and on.

    Night came. They were not 14of the dark. But they feared that poor Alax would die of cold. However, their faith(坚信)to keep Alax 15filled them with courage, warmth and strength. They slept and rested in turn and then continued their 16. They had fallen down many times but each time true love encouraged them to rise to their 17again.

    One, two, three, …seven days passed. On the eighth day, 18 at last came from Alvin's parents, the police and local people. But the young 19had to have their feet cut off because of the bad frost-bites (冻伤). Fortunately, there was 20 seriously wrong with little Alax.

    French singer seeks Chinese musical dream

    “The first time I heard the Chinese song Girl in the Flower Room by Chinese rock star Cui Jian, I got the idea of covering it in French, and it 1 pretty good," French singer and songwriter Joyce Jonathan said. Known as the "Pop Queen of Chanson" in France, the 28-year-old singer 2 her first Chinese album Ca Ira on May 16 and toured China from May 19 to June 5 in cities 3Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

    Born on Nov 3, 1989 in Levallois-Perret, France, Joyce Jonathan has always loved to record life through music. At the age of seven, she learned to play the piano and began 4 her first series of songs. "Music is about love and stories. People of different countries may have language barriers5they can all understand what I am trying to say in my songs, and it is the power of music," Jonathan said. In 2005, she posted her musical tracks on the site MySpace, a social networking website, and was able to 6fame on the internet.

    7 that fame, Jonathan began recording her first album Sur mes Gardes in May 2010. It was certified platinum ( 130,000 album sales ) in under a year. On Jan 23, 2011, she 8 the NRJ Music Award for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year,9 an important step in her musical career. "When I win more and more fans, I truly feel very happy. And I like to communicate with my fans and listen to their ideas 10 I can," she says.

    Although a French native, Jonathan grew up in a "Chinese-speaking" family. Her parents worked in China and could speak a little Chinese and one of her sisters has lived in Beijing so far. "When I was a little girl, I visited Beijing, a very 11memory in my childhood.12 and friendly, Chinese people led me into many interesting places," she 13 "The food dumpling and the old places like hutong are really14to me." Because of her interest in China, the singer began to learn Chinese, and in 2011, she15 four of her songs in Chinese for the first time. "The Chinese language is very beautiful with dynamic rhythms. But Chinese is not easy to learn and I will keep practicing."

    16several years of work, the Ca Ira album was made, which included 10 Chinese songs. Some of the songs were 17 from French versions, while others are completely new for Chinese fans.

    In the album, Joyce Jonathan cooperated with Chinese singer Cui Jian, known as the "Father of Rock" in China.

    In April 1989, Cui released the song Girl in the Flower Room in his album Rock and Roll on the New Long March and the song was widely sung by Chinese people in the 1990s. "The song was amazing, both in meaning and melody, and I decided to 18 it in French."

    The French 19 Tes Deserts, which mean "The Love Desert" in English, was produced in May this year and was a sensation(轰动) among many French people. "I could not believe such a romantic song could come from China," French Facebook user, Zombie Baby, said online. According to Jonathan, the song proves music is20and has no boundaries.

    Many years ago at Christmas time I parked my car in the town centre on my way to the post office to post my Christmas cards. It was the last posting day for Christmas cards if they were to be1before Christmas.2I came out of the car park I saw a boy who was3and holding his right hand side. I 4some bigger boys had perhaps bullied him and he was in5. I had to go to his aid and see if I could6.

    He told me that his sister who was a7had bought him a Christmas present. It was a mobile phone. He only had it days when he8it and cracked the screen! That's9he was holding his right hand side of his body—his mobile phone was in the upper right hand pocket of his coat. The little guy was extremely 10, tears rolling down his face as he told all this to me. My heart11for him. It was clear he12his present and knew that this was a lot of money for his 13to spend on him, for nurses didn't make much money. He'd been to a phone shop and they'd told him it would be ￡80 to get a new14.

    I had to help, though I was15to make ends meet myself. I searched my purse and gave the boy the only ￡20 I could find and made some16as to why I could only give him so little. I didn't want him to know it was all I had until pay day. I could not17pay for his phone to be repaired but I hope the18he received from a stranger was19that stayed with him when he became a man.

    The Christmas cards not getting posted somehow didn't seem20; greater issues had been addressed with a kindness stamp.

    I started volunteering at a soup kitchen several years ago. The original reason I was going was to 1 community service hours for school. My plan was to 2 go there a few times and get my service hours, but it taught me a lot. The typical volunteer there served 3 to people.

    Basically, I was 4 serving bread and juice to whoever wanted it, which was a simple task. Some of the people were homeless, and some of them were 5 families. All of them were people in need of a hot meal and a place to 6 for an hour or several minutes. 7 some of them looked like they weren't behaving well, we always took care of them.

    The first time I went there was right before Christmas. For the people coming to the soup kitchen, it was not exactly a 8 time. It made me think about my happy Christmas and made me feel how 9 I was. Unlike them, I have a home and I don't 10 cold or hunger. At that point, I decided that I 11 wanted to go back there. I couldn't offer them much, but I could always offer my time and 12. The experience also gives me a feeling of 13. Whenever I go there, people are 14 that I showed up again. They know my name and they know that I am more than happy to 15 them. It truly feels good to know that you can 16 someone's day. I've realized that the feeling of doing good for people can be a better 17 than any amount of money. You can't buy that feeling.

    I have never 18 a single second of my volunteering. It 19 me that dozens of cities have made it illegal to set up a soup kitchen. But I will continue my volunteer work and find more ways to show my 20 to people in need.

Earlier this year Rodney Smith Jr. made headlines when he drove eight hours from his home in Huntsville. Alabama, to cut the lawn for an elderly soldier in North Carolina who couldn't find anyone to help him with his yard work.

That wasn't the first time the twenty-nine-year-old Bermuda native had gained such attention. To do his good deeds, Rodney often finds leads for those in need through social media.

Back to one August afternoon in 2015, Rodney Smith Jr. was driving home. That's when Rodney saw an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn. He would take a couple of shaky steps, using the handle to stabilize himself, pause, then slowly push the mower again. Rodney decided to help. Mr. Brown thanked him greatly, and Rodney went home feeling satisfied.

Sitting at his computer to do his homework, Rodney couldn't get Mr. Brown out of his mind. There must be many Mr. Browns out there. He went online and posted that he would mow lawns for free for senior citizens. Messages flooded in.

One day a cancer-battling woman said she wasn't having a good day. Rodney decided to do more than mowing lawns. After he finished mowing, he knocked on her door. "You're going to win this fight, Madam", he said. Then he asked folks to pray for her on social media.

Word of Rodney's mission spread. A grandmother in Ohio said he'd encouraged her 12-year-old grandson to mow lawns. He got a letter from a seven-year-old boy in Kansas. "Mr. Rodney, I would like to be a part of your program, and I'll make you proud," he wrote.

That gave Rodney an idea. In 2017, he decided to establish a programme Raising Men Lawn Care Service to make a national movement for young people. The kids learn the joy of giving back.

Yard work seems like a small, simple thing, but taking care of the lawn means a lot to the people they do it for. "When we mow their yards for free, they can use the money for healthcare and food etc. It means more than you would think," Rodney said.