Jay Ruckelshaus won a full scholarship to Duke University. Then, just weeks before he was 1 to arrive on campus, he broke his neck in an accident.

    At the Shepherd Center, Jay had eight hours of exercise a day,2 his muscles and working on his 3. “Before, was 4 setting goals and achieving them. But this was not what you could achieve.”

    5the breakthrough came: He was able to 6 on his own, eat, and use an iPad. “The iPad was great, ”he said, “That gave me 7 to the world.” To stretch his mind further, he 8 for courses online.

    Most people, he said,9 he would change his plans to study after his accident. But throughout his 10 his place at Duke University was what kept him going. For Jay, there was never any 11 he would go to Duke. “There was also no doubt from the university, which was wonderful, and wouldn't have been the 12 at some other schools.

    Finally getting into Duke a year later than planned,13being in a wheelchair, he was 14 to have a fun college life. He needed 15, but soon made great friends. In 16 studying for a degree and sitting co-editing a journal, he was able to hang out with friends.

    Also, he thought of other wheelchair users and decided to help them. “I 17I was having an amazing time and meeting amazing people,” he said. The feeling was almost 18. Therefore, he started a charity called Ramp Less Traveled to spread the 19 that college is 20 for students with spinal cord (脊髓) injuries.

    I used to live selfishly, I should admit. But one moment changed me. I was on my lunch break and had 1 the office to get something to eat. On the way, I 2 a Busker (街头艺人), with a hat in front of him. I had some 3 in my pocket, but I would not give them to him, thinking to myself he would 4 use the money to feed his addiction (上瘾)to drugs or alcohol. He 5 like that type …young and ragged. 6 what was I going to spend the money on? Only to feed my addiction to Coca-Cola or chocolate! I then 7 I had no right to place myself above 8 just because he was busking.

I 9 and dropped all the coins into his 10, and he smiled at me, I watched for a while. As 11 as it sounds, I expected something more to come from that moment—a feeling of12 or satisfaction, for example. But nothing happened. 13, I walked off. "It proved to be a waste of 14," I thought.

    On my way home at the end of the 15, I saw the busker again and he was 16. I watched him pick up the hat and walk 17 a cafe counter. There he  poured the 18 money into a tin collecting 19 an earthquake fund-raising (募捐) event. He was busking for charity (慈善)!

    Now I donate any 20 I have to charity tins and enjoy the feeling of giving.

    The accident happened on a Sepember night in 2013. A vehicle struck my car from behind 1 I was driving home. At the hospital. the doctors 2 I was a quadriplegic(四肢瘫痪者) and told me I wasn't going to be able to move anything from my neck 3. I had lost the 4 of almost every muscle and was very weak.

    I realized that my life was 5.My head 6 like a heavy ball and I couldn't hold it up. I was unable to use a phone, and unable to 7 or wash myself. I couldn't grasp anything: a fork or spoon was too 8 to pick up.

    However, I saw a glimpse 9 and was inspired by other patients with 10 like mine in the recovery center. The first year was slow and I didn't see much 11. But I had to learn to be 12 with myself and to enjoy every 13 going forward. I was determined to walk again, so giving up was no longer a(n) 14. I struggled hard on my recovery(康复) and still do to this day. I'm now moving my 15 and arms on my own, doing things like swimming and yoga. All of this is 16 my doctor's wrong, and is turning the page from the impossible to the possible.

    My family, friends and team encourage me to 17 to work harder. I believe that this difficulty is an opportunity to 18 and become stronger. I'm sure my story will inspire others not to 19. If I learned one 20 from my car accident, it's this: Never give up on hope.

    One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor 1the question papers, with the text facing down as usual.2he handed them all out, he asked his students to 3 the page and begin. To everyone's surprise, there were no 4, just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone's face, told them the following:

    “I want you to write what you 5 there.”

    The students,6,got started on the inexplicable(费解的) task.

    At the end of the class, the professor 7 all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, with no 8, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. After all had been 9, the classroom silent, the professor began to explain:

    “I'm not going to grade (打分)this. I 10 wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the 11 part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot, and the same happens in our 12.We have a white paper to observe and 13,but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a 14 given to us with love and care, and we always have 15 to celebrate: nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that16our livelihood and the miracles we see every day.17, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots: the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the18 relationship with colleagues, the 19 with a friend, and etc.

    The dark spots are very 20compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds.”

    During my P.E. class I met with a girl, who was in a grade lower than me. She was always 1 on the playground and I wondered why she had 2 to talk to. I was sort of quiet girl myself, too, but I still had a few 3 Over the whole year I would say "Hi" to her 4 sometimes she came to me and we 5 whatever sports we liked most.

    Whenever she came over I made it my 6 to make her laugh. I paid most of my 7 to her and not to my other friends because I saw them playing together 8 over there. Then, the 9 day of school year came around, I walked with her on the playground by ourselves. I asked her why she was so quiet. She told me her father left her 10 and her. Her mother was always crying at home. 11 this, I said nothing for a while. Then what I could do was 12 her to forget unhappiness and believe tomorrow is 13. That day I told her I was leaving for high school. Hearing this, she asked me not to 14 her. She told me that she had no other friends and I was her only one. Then, she told me that she would 15 me if l was in the high school. I 16 that I would go back to see her twice a week. Hearing my promise, her face 17 with smiles.

    People lose friends all the time but wise people know how to 18 the friendship. So don't ruin the 19 as time passes by. Remember that you are 20 to have a good friend.

I didn't go to Santiago,Chile to look for friendship.In fact,Chile was not even on my wish list.

A mid-life crisis woman,I got a chance to study abroad.I only wanted to learn about global business,taste South American  cuisine,and  check"study  abroad"off my  wish  list.

On the fifth day,I joined a group for a neighborhood work project aided by the anti-poverty(扶贫)organization. Our tasks were to build a water tower and paint the community center.Upon arrival,I couldn't believe my eyes.It was like a scene out of a horrible film.That moment redefined poverty for me because I had never seen such terrible living conditions.As advised,I showed no signs of the emotional battle going on inside me.

Just as I was about to start work on painting,a request came through for a few volunteers to help Nadia,a local resident who volunteered to cook for us.I raised my hand to help because I wanted to spend time with the people of the neighborhood despite my shortage of Spanish speaking skills.  Nadia had a sincere smile but not overly friendly.Even without speaking each other's language,we started to learn about one another.We chatted about our children,our upbringing,shared pictures of our family,struggled to instruct each other to communicate in the other's language,and laughed many times.

After we fed everybody and the dishes were washed,my day was over.But I found myself hesitant to leave.It was as if I had known her my entire life.I had not predicted the unselfishness of heart I would encounter,and it was moving.

As we were waiting for the car to pick us up,Nadia showed me her plants that are well-maintained.I could see that despite the hard conditions she was passionate about life.She made me long to be a stronger person.She showed me that poverty was external,but happiness was internal.I was seeking to give 100 percent for a well-intentioned cause,but I left receiving 200 percent from her.