I was 18 years old when Tim and I began to date.1 and quiet. I'd met his parents once before but hadn't ventured to say more than “Hello”. This particular evening we were taking them out to dinner for their anniversary and I wanted to make a good 2on them.

    Tim and his parents had arrived to pick me up. I 3 out of my home as soon as possible. My good impression began with “on time ”. I sat in the backseat 4 watching his father's eyes glancing into the rearview mirror to 5 me.

    They had already decided on their favorite 6 and that was fine with me, the 7 lighting would hide the rising flush(红晕) in my cheeks, and if anyone noticed, I could 8 it on the peppers. With9 table manners I managed to survive halfway through dinner.10 in the midst of conversation I 11 for my iced tea, raised the glass to my 12and very quickly discovered I had picked up the13glass.

    I quickly 14 the glass and set it back but it was too15 I had burnt my eyebrows, and curl over my forehead! I looked up slowly,16no one had seen me, but each face stared at me in 17 silence. Excusing myself, I ran to the restroom. Soon afterwards, Tim's mother arrived. “Everything will be just fine,” she said 18.

    Tim and I eventually got 19. We had a small ceremony afterwards held at the restaurant where this 20 occurred. This time, however, I didn't drink any candles.

    A boy from a farmer's family stopped from school due to poverty, and went back farming to1the family. When he grew up to 19 years old, his father died. After that, all the family2 him including his mother and grandma in sickness.

    At first, he 3a pool and wanted to feed fish. But others told him it couldn't be used to feed fish, but only to grow crops. What he could do was to cover the pool and thereafter he became a  4.

    Then he heard raising chickens was a way of making money.  He borrowed some money from relatives and  5  chickens.  6  a flood attacked the town, and after that all the chickens got sick and        almost  7. His mother could hardly 8  it and died in the gloom.

    He 9the businesses of making wine, fishing or even digging embrasures (炮眼) on the cliff for others.

    When he was 35, he had no wife, no money, but only lived in a house made from earth which would 10in any storm. But he still wanted to 11 . He borrowed some money to buy a truck. But when he   drove it on the road after a short while, he had an  12  and broke his leg. He became crippled. Everyone said he was  13 .

    But later he became a boss, who owned a capital of 200 million. Now lots of people know his past and his business experiences. A journalist made a(n) 14with him.

    “Why do you  15after so many failures?”

    He was sitting in front of a broad table and just had finished a cup of water. Then he held the16cup in hand and asked, “If I loose my hand, what will happen to this cup?”

    “Broken!” answered the journalist.

    He 17his hand and the cup fell to the floor, with a bang sound, but not 18.

    “Even if ten people were there they would believe it was broken. But, it isn't a(n)  19cup. It is made of  20.”

    It's amazing how one dollar can change the culture of a school.

    We have a small school. There are 1 about 30 middle school students. It can get really 2 and stressful as most of the kids get good grades and 3 to be the best they can be. It's good except that a lot of us middle school kids felt pressured.

    My friend and I, 4, set out to find a way to change the 5 . We believed doing things for others was the only way to get ourselves over our 6 about school .

    On the first day of school we 7 put a dollar folded into a heart into one of the senior's lockers with a note saying, “ Buy yourself a snack, and share 8.” We hoped to do that every day. Little did we know the 9 it would make.

    People went 10 over it and everyone was talking about 11 it might be doing the acts of love and 12 that maybe they should do something too. Nobody knew it was us but it is so much fun to see the 13 on everyone's face now ! Lots of other people have started to 14now too: chocolate bars, cookies, people 15 their lunches with other kids.

    My friend and I also put 16 quotes in all the lockers to encourage others. And now I actually 17 school and the chance to cheer people up. I hope it will 18 to the other campuses in the region. 19 anybody is struggling with being depressed about school or work, I totally 20 doing a kind act.

    With his leg lame and his teeth uneven, the boy thought of himself as the most unfortunate child in the world. He 1played with his classmates, and when asked to answer questions, he always 2his head without a word.

    One spring, his father brought home some saplings (树苗).3of his children would plant a sapling and he promised, "Whoever 4 his sapling best shall get a gift." The boy certainly wanted to get the gift.5seeing his brothers and sisters watering the trees, he6 an idea: he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So watering it once or twice, he never7 it.

    Several days later, he was 8 to find it not only didn't die, but also grew so many fresh 9. Compared with those of his brothers and sisters, his appeared greener. His father kept his 10, bought the boy a gift and said he would become an outstanding11 after growing up.

    From then on, the boy slowly became12 and confident. One evening, he suddenly13 his biology teacher once said that plants 14 grow at night. Why not go to see the tree?

    When he came to the courtyard, he found his father working near the tree! Immediately he15: Father had been secretly 16 his tree! He returned to his room, tears in his eyes.

    Decades passed. The boy didn't become a botanist. 17, he became the U.S.18. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.

    19 is the best nourishment (滋养品) of life. 20 it is just a bucket of water, it can make the tree of life grow well!

    I grew up with a fat dad ­ 450 pounds at his heaviest. Every week he would try a new diet, and my family 1 eating whatever strange food he was trying at that moment. By the time I was nine, I was a(n) 2 on losing weight. I spent four weeks 3 only small bowls of white rice at home. What I remember most about those years is that I 4 felt hungry ­ hungry for food, hungry for someone to care for me and I 5 to be cared for.

    But on Friday nights, I was 6 hungry. My grandfather would take me to his home for the 7. There was always a pot of something cooking on the 8. It was at my grandmother's house that I learned what true 9 was.

    After my third-grade year, my family had to move away from hometown, and leave my grandmother and her delicious food 10. There would be no more special weekends at my grandmother's house. It was total 11 for survival. In this new city, I felt extremely lonely and lost, and I missed my grandmother 12.

    My grandmother knew just how I felt and she knew the 13. Every week, she would send me a card with a $20 bill, a recipe and a list of what to buy at the market. It kept us 14, and her recipes filled my body and soul.

    Over the years, I have 15 to better understand my father's 16 with weight and 17 growing up in such an unhealthy eating environment, I found a 18 for a career as a nutrition (营养) consultant.

    Today, food is no longer a 19 that keeps my father and me apart, but a bridge that keeps us connected. And now I am the one 20 sending recipe cards to my father's house, just as my grandmother did for me.

    Over the last summer I volunteered at a summer camp for children ages 5 through 12. Every day for six weeks I 1 pedal power to conquer the hill known only as Depot. 2 I arrived at Abbot School at 7:30, I began my seven-hour day of cleaning, entertaining and others. By helping these kids and working with other counselors, I was able to develop a better 3 of responsibility not just myself, but for 4 around me.

    In the beginning I helped with a 5 of twelve-year-olds. I had a lot of fun because they were the most mature 6, and I could relate to them. They didn't need as 7 help as the younger kids so the director of the camp switched me down to six-year-olds.

    For the 8 few years I had gone to an adventure camp in the woods of Maine. There I participated in rafting, rock-climbing, and sea-kayaking. But nothing could have 9 me for working non-stop with 15 six-year-olds. From fights over batting order 10 who got to sip from the water fountain 11, we were in a constant 12of noise. I could now understand why parents always seemed to 13 a sigh of relief as they dropped off their little bundles of energy every morning.

    For the first summer I was doing something that 14 someone else, and I found more 15 in that than any wasted breezy day of summers past.

    During this unique opportunity of giving a 16 part of my summer, I was able to get back so much more. I learned how much my time is really 17 and how to take responsibility for myself and 18 others. I learned how different each individual is and how needs 19. I gained more confidence when I realized I could  20 in the real world.