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 for3.

Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from 4He looked very5, but he didn't cry.

    That season, I6 all of Miller's records while he7the 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 10going over a fence-which wasn't11 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. I13him 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 for16 .”

    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.

    Life is colorful. Sometimes it's just like potato salad; when it's shared, it became a picnic.

    With three young children to bring up, my husband John and I were very 1. "Can we go on a picnic, Mom?" my six-year-old daughter, Becky 2. "Please." I had said no so many times in 3 months, and I decided the usual Saturday morning chores could 4. To her 5, I agreed.

    I prepared a few sandwiches and 6 a cooler with ice and drinks and called John 7.

    My eleven-year-old twin sons loaded the cooler and the picnic basket in the trunk and off we went to spend some 8 time together as a family.

    About the time I got the lunch 9 out on the table, John arrived on the 10. That was one of the happiest meals we ever shared together. The meal was full of 11. We felt a closeness that had been hidden by work and school responsibilities for so many months. John and the boys 12 rocks into the lake, Becky fed the ducks and I sat quietly at the picnic table, 13 God for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

    That night as our children went to bed, I kissed their cheeks. It 14 me what a wonderful life I had. As I walked out of the room it dawned on me that even the busiest 15 could become a picnic when it's shared with the ones you 16. Even though kids have now grown up and 17 from home, I can still remember how I felt that day while sitting at the picnic table.

    Maybe today would be a good time to 18 potato salad, call all of my 19 kids, feed some hungry ducks and skipped a few rocks into the lake. Since life is like potato salad, let's make it a 20.

    Here's one touching story about two heroic teachers. When a1filled with schoolchildren went madly out of control, their teachers stayed cool to deal with the emergency. It was the quick reaction of the teachers that saved scores of lives.

    It was 6 a.m. They were 2the May day field trip. As the kids waved goodbye to their parents and boarded the bus, their teachers Tina and Kelly settled into front seats. The teachers were whispering quietly3they felt the bus switched its direction suddenly across the highway and4into the guardrail(护拦). The driver was stuck in by his seat belt and his head was just kind of hanging there.

    The children seemed frightened and screamed in5.

Both the teachers comforted their students and kept telling them to6down.

    Meanwhile, the bus ran 7down the highway at 70 miles an hour.

    In a second, Tina made her decision.8over the driver, she put her hands on the wheel and tried9to pull it back to the right.

    However, the bus didn't react as10. Instead, it was beyond Tina's11and turned over into a deep grassy valley, sending Tina through the front window of the bus. She was severely12. The bus slipped through the grass on its roof for several yards13 it finally stopped and the 14began struggling their way out through the broken window.

    Luckily,15of the children were killed. Not only had Tina droved the bus toward a safer place,16her gentle right turn also slowed down the bus speed, when it17into the valley. Obviously, she reacted properly and did an impressive job.

    Tina was rushed to the hospital for a(an)18by air. After she recovered from the operation, she returned to school, receiving cheers and praise,19she seemed embarrassed by all the attention. "I'm not a hero, I just did the best I could." she said, adding, "All those kids will be20to me, for we escaped from the jaw of death together."

This year, the Music Educator Award, presented by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum, went to Annie Ray, the performing arts department chair and orchestra director at Annandale High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. She attended the awards ceremony in Los Angeles and brought home both a $10,000 prize and matching grant （资助） for her school's music program.

Ray created the Crescendo Orchestra for students with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as a parent orchestra that teaches nearly 200 caregivers a year to play the same instrument as their children. She got the idea mostly from the Annandale community, which she says represents over 60 countries, including many refugees and immigrants. "There're many cultures that might typically clash, but they come together in this very beautiful harmony," Ray explained. "And that's really uniquely expressed in the orchestra classroom, where we're just all music-ing together."

Ray says the Crescendo Orchestra is focused on teaching students how to play an instrument, through one-on-one instruction tailored to their needs. The orchestra is about much more than just making music, however. "I really push my students to be brave and go outside of their comfort zone. We have to learn how to work together with others," she says.

Ray, who comes from a family of musicians and has played the harp （竖琴） since the age of five, knows firsthand the impact that a great teacher can make on their students. "Why I am where I am is because a teacher changed my life and made me want to be a music educator," she says.

Ray says her warm reception on the awards ceremony is especially meaningful because not many people understand what exactly music educators do in the classroom or how much their work matters. She says that lack of understanding is one of the biggest challenges facing the profession in general. Moreover, she says her school desperately needs new instruments, and adds that she'll use some of her grant money to buy more.

I just returned from India. While driving home from the airport, I was amazed by how everything in American streets 1 those in Delhi, a city in northern India. "You can eat off the street here!" I said. My family looked at me 2 I had gotten off a spaceship rather than a plane.

During the two years I was away, my friends and family 3 sending texts to each other by phone. After I came back, my phone was no longer 4 as before, just lighting up with the "ding" sound of a text, and I felt very 5 . I chose to talk to my friends instead of texting them. I asked my friends for their 6 as I made an effort to7 with them and rebuild our friendships.

While I was on my 8 trips, most of my friends had moved on with their 9 . We felt disconnected from each other's experiences. Just as 10 would always be part of my life, I understood that raising a family would always be part of theirs. I told them sometimes I felt 11 because I had been away and wasn't there for their 12 events.

Expats（侨民）in Laos say that sometimes, if you stay abroad too long, you become a permanent 13 . never quite making it as a local, and never feeling 14 in your home country. I 15 . If you always travel with a heart beating for your beloved ones, no matter how long you have been abroad, you will find satisfaction at home.

It is a special cross-country race. The competitors' vehicles are made{#blank#}1{#/blank#}fruits and vegetables like carrots eggplants, grapefruits, pumpkins and oranges. They are the creations of pupils from the Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School.

According to Chen You, the science class teacher,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(base) knowledge had been taught within 6 classes to students before they drew sketches and{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(choose) vegetables to make a food car.

Although students were encouraged{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(design) their cars together with parents, all the cars should be made in the class. After{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(bring) piles of ingredients as well as tools the children began their innovation. Some cut the carrot slices to make them round, and some others assembled (组装) their car components together.

In addition to the{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(compete), students are required to reflect on the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(difficulty) they encountered making their vehicles,{#blank#}8{#/blank#}things they have learned from the activity and the improvements they think the course can make.

{#blank#}9{#/blank#}touched the teachers most was the unity and friendship among the children. For example, although the contest was fierce (激烈的), students felt {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(excite) for the champion car as if they themselves had stood out, and when a girl's car fell apart their friends comforted her and helped reassemble the car.