I fell in love with reading when I was a child. Through reading, I developed a good 1 with my parents.

    2 as a second-generation South Korean in America, I was raised in an environment in which my parents 3 to settle in American culture. My parents were awkward, strange and different. Their limitations as immigrants(移民) 4 me; as a child, I was alone and quiet. I grew up in a family where I was 5 to speak English. I wanted to 6 the depth of the books I read but the words 7 me, like my parents. I wasn't able to change the situation 8 I was placed in, but I worked very hard. Every 9, I went to the library to check out new books. I would have 10 reading all the books by Friday afternoons. I became a better 11. Pretty soon, I was the 12 reader in the class. People would look at me in 13 as they saw me read 500-page books in only a few days. But I believe the greatest 14 was reading every night to my parents. Every evening, we 15 together in our living room, and I read to them. Slowly but surely, our 16 grew. My parents can communicate with others 17; for me, grammar quizzes became a piece of cake.

    Today I'm 18 to have Asian-American parents who were 19 enough to learn English from a young boy and wise enough to 20 their son to read at a young age.

    It's a sad and familiar voice that we often hear in big cities: "Can you spare some change?"

    Usually, when faced with that particular 1, I have feelings of guilt if I pass by 2 giving a coin or two.

    I had that feeling 3 in Venice while on a tour of Italy's famous sites in 2006. I had taken refuge from the 4 in a quiet café. Outside, there was an old woman kneeling on the hard, ancient paving stones, 5.

    Steady 6 of tourists were walking past her. A young backpacker stood away from the crowd, 7 drinking in the scenery, but I noticed the young traveler was also 8 the old woman.

    A tourist group walked along the street, 9 the woman and walked on. 10 group of tourists arrived and walked past the old lady. The backpacker watched 11 everybody else went on their way, focused on the 12 around them. Then, I was preparing to leave when I caught sight of the backpacker stepping forward and 13 some money in the woman's cup. He did this somewhat14 just before the arrival of another tourist group. As I 15, the leader of the group stopped and put some money in the cup. Having been shown the way, other tourists followed suit and 16 some more coins to the cup.

    His work done, the young man walked over to the old beggar-woman, patted her on the shoulder and said, "I hope that 17 a little."

    I don't know if the woman understood his English or 18 what had just happened, but I did.

    I placed some money in the woman's cup and continued my travels, 19 after witnessing such an 20 act of kindness.

    Draper, the owner of a secondhand bookstore, was sorting through a pile of old books when an envelope fell from one. Inside was an undated 1 and a faded photo of a woman holding a little girl on her lap. The letter said if Bethany was 2 it, it meant the author had died.

    Tears were welling up in Draper's eyes. These were a 3 woman's last words to her child. He had to 4 Bethany. “Whoever it is will 5 this,” he thought. “You wouldn't 6 a letter like that.”

    He supposed if the 7 ended up in his shop then Bethany was likely from around Bishop Auckland. And he thought he 8 recognized the little girl's face. Even if she'd since left the area, there might be someone in town who would recognize the 9.

    He started with the local newspaper. The Northern Echo ran the story of the 10 letter.

    11, Bethany Gash, now 21 and a(n) 12 herself, was on Facebook about 10 miles away when a close friend messaged her to check out the 13. As she read her mother's 14, words she thought had been lost forever, she said she thought she must be 15.

    Gash was only 4 when her mother 16. Five years later, her family moved to a new home and the letter, put away in the pages of a book for safe keeping, was unintentionally 17.

    She remembers unpacking and looking for the letter, and then 18 searching through everything in hopes that it was there. “That's when I realized it was 19 gone by now and I'd never see it again,” she said.

    Draper 20 the letter in person. He also brought her a children's book for her son. Gash was greatly moved to have the letter back, and also touched by the stranger's kindness.

    When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a person that has not only changed physically, but mentally as well. In the three years of high school， my second year was the most1one because I had to do what most teenagers would never want to do.

    It all2 in the middle of my second year in high school. One day， my dad asked me if I had ever3going to Holy Family Catholic High School which was good at preparing students for4. After many nights of careful thinking, I5to go to Holy Family. Transferring schools in the6of high school was the hardest thing for me to do,7 , it was the best decision I could have ever made.

    I was one of the8 people at my school who had had to 9transferring to a new high school as a junior. On my 10day of school at Holy Family, I didn't know what to expect. My 11kept thinking about finding all my classes, making new friends, and wondering if people could like me. To be honest, I hated uncomfortable situations, and12I would just sit there and be quiet. But this time was13for me. I thought that now that I was in a place where no one14 me， I could be whoever I wanted to be. I decided to15the schools' soccer and track teams to try to meet more people.

    The experience of transferring schools has 16affected my life in a dramatic way. It has shaped me into a more outgoing person and a harder worker,17me to achieve more than I could have imagined. The18I have gained by attending Holy Family will 19 me throughout my life. I will have to use these skills in the next couple of years while I try to further my20by going to college.

    When I was a boy we had several gardens around our old house. The largest one of all was used just for 1 potatoes. I can still remember those potato 2 days. The whole 3 helped.

    4 my Dad had tilled(耕地)the soil，my Mom，brothers，and I went to work. It was my job to 5 the little seed potatoes in the rows while my Mom dropped 6 of fertilizer (肥料)beside them. My brothers then covered them all 7 the freshly turned earth.

    For months afterward I would 8 over at the garden while I played outside and wonder what was going on underneath the ground. When the harvest time came I was 9 at the huge size of the potatoes my Dad pulled out of the soil.

    Those little seedlings had grown into sweet food. They would be 10 meal after meal of baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, and my 11 favorite: potatoes cooked in spaghetti sauce.

They would 12 the entire family well fed throughout the whole year. It 13 was a miracle to be held.

    Thinking back to those special times makes me wonder how many other 14 I have planted in tills life that have grown 15 in the hearts and minds of others.

    How many times has God used some little thing that I said 16 did to grow something beautiful? How many 17 has Heaven used these little seedlings to 18 another's soul with sweet food?

    I hope then you always 19 the garden around you with care. I hope that you plant only goodness, peace, and20 in the lives of everyone you help. I hope that everyday you help miracles to grow.

Last September an American started a trip through Southwest China on a standard bike she had bought at a local shop. In three months, Jennifer Holstein cycled 2,500 kilometers through three provinces with just two small bags.

Living in Beijing, her life was already great. But Holstein felt the urge to travel the world and look for adventure. It was mid-August of 2021 that the idea came to her to travel China by bicycle. At that time, Holstein had never cycled for more than 20 kilometers around her local city of Beijing.

Holstein shared an experience from the beginning of her trip when she found herself stuck in a tunnel (隧道) with a flat tire (轮胎). It was dark and hot, and she was so scared because she had never changed a tire before. Suddenly, a group of cyclists old enough to be her grandparents came and rescued her.

In addition to receiving the kindness of people across China, Holstein also experienced several unique cultural experiences by attending three local weddings. She spoke about one wedding in detail, "I was in the middle of a small village in Sichuan province, and I was taken into a local Tibetan family's home and they invited me to take part in a wedding. They gave me a dress and even did my makeup. I never thought I would ever have the chance to take part in a Tibetan wedding."

According to Holstein, "Many people want to travel the world and take huge risks, but never do. Don't just live your life hoping your wildest dreams will become a reality someday. Try first and the rest will work itself out." In addition to biking for her own passion and curiosity, Holstein also linked her ride to raise 22,000 yuan for the United Foundation for China's Health.