Heaviest snow in half a century hit the south of the country. It snowed continuously for half a month, 1the railways, highways, and runways in the airfields. Ice wrapped and paralyzed（使瘫痪）the power and communication system. Many people were2in railway stations, bus stations and airports, and3in cars, buses and trains. Governments and people did everything they could to fight the snow4, resulting in the good news that no one was killed from5and hunger. Gradually, trapped people all went back home6. While fighting the snow, people forgot their7until a moving story of a swallow couple was widely8on the Internet.

    Being hungry and cold, the swallow couple tried to fly9people's home to warm themselves, but every house was closed10. They jumped and flapped their wings to11the attention of the people inside the house, but failed. The wife's body was12, she could not move any longer. The husband came near and wrapped his wife with his wings. He lost his13soon because of his opened wings. The couple died in the end.

    The next morning, the housemaster went to the balcony to14his flowers because of concern and saw a15swallow outside the window pane. Touching it, he found that they were two16together. Moved to tears, he took them in, giving them some17, but in vain. He found a small cardboard box, laid them in and18them in the back garden.

    In my hometown, in the countryside, a swallow family lives in the19of my house. I wonder if they will come back this spring20they did.

    Merril Bingham passed away in February 2016. He was a(n)1to me in many ways. He retired(退休)four years ago. Before his retirement we remained close an talked 2. Among the many things that3me that him was his devotion to family and model of fatherhood.

    Merril was quite an athlete and he developed a love for4which lasted his entire life. As I attended Merril's funeral(葬礼), I was more impressed than ever at the5he played as a father to 8 children, who spoke at the funeral and6stories about their dad. I must 7 that, as I sat there, I wondered8my children would have as many great memories of their dad as Merril's 9_did of him.

    One daughter remembered that the morning she was to 10, her dad was up early in the kitchen. When she came into the kitchen, he said, “Hey, you're getting married today! Take it easy! What do you want for breakfasts?” He then made a 11breakfast and they enjoyed it together, making her 12.

    A son talked about fishing trips and 13as they worked in the yard together. He 14the importance of having the open, communicative relationship that15him to have confidence in his dad. This son also developed a love for golf and talked about loving the time when he could 169 or 18 holes with his dad together.

    The memories of the children were about time17together, not about money, or things that18less. I need to share my faith with my children in a(n)19way. Being overbearing(霸道的)doesn't work, 20being a loving example of a father does.

    When Dave was eighteen, he bought a secondhand car for 200 so that he could travel to and from work more 1 than by bus.It worked quite well for a few years, but then it got so old, and it was costing him 2much in repairs that he decided that he had better 3 it.

    He asked among his friends to see if anyone was particularly  4 to buy a cheap car, but they all knew that it was falling to pieces, so 5 of them had any desire to buy it.Dave's friend Sam saw that he was6when they met one evening, and said, “What's  7, Dave?”

    Dave told him, and Sam answered, “Well, what about advertising it in the paper? You may  8 more for it that way than the cost of the advertisement!” Thinking that Sam's9was sensible（合理的）,he put an advertisement in an evening paper, which read “For sale: small car, 10 very little petrol, only two owners.Bargain（要价）at 50.”For two days after the advertisement first appeared, there was no 11.But then on Saturday evening he had an enquiry（询问）.A man rang up and said he would like to12 him about the car.“All right,” Dave said, feeling happy.He asked the man whether ten o'clock the next morning would be13or not.“Fine,” the man said, “and I'll 14my wife.We intend to go for a ride in it to 15it.”

    The next morning, at a quarter to ten, Dave parked the car in the square outside his front door, 16 to wait there for the people who had17 his advertisement.Even Dave had to18that the car really looked like a  wreck（残骸）.Then, soon after he had got the car as clean19 it could be, a police car stopped just behind him and a policeman got out.He looked at Dave's car and then said, “Have you reported this20 to us yet, sir?”

    From an early age, Parker always said that he would be an astronaut when he grew up. But no matter how much he studied and took tests, he was never 1 to fly in space. 2 , he grew over the maximum age for taking the selection tests. In other words, he would never be able to fulfill his 3 .

    Thinking about all the time and 4 Parker had put into trying to be an astronaut, people felt 5 for him. Despite what he was told about having to 6 his ambition, Parker continued training and studying, 7  he was going to have the tests next month.

    He 8  as he got older, and when he was a very old man he heard that they were doing some very important 9 experiments. For those experiments they needed a very 10 astronaut. Parker, who now walked with a 11 was the only old man in the whole world who was 12 to fly in a rocket. Therefore, Parker found himself flying in 13 , all with the help of science. It was clear that the 14 gained during those missions helped to cure one of the worst sicknesses for old people, and Parker was 15 as a hero.

    Photos of the astronaut with a walking stick and no teeth 16 all over the world, and became a 17 of how you can never train or learn too much. It showed that 18 effort always brings 19 even though it may not be in the form we had first 20.

    Jason, our son, was born with cerebral palsy（脑瘫）. My wife and I often comforted him as he faced many 1 in his early years.

    It was 2 to see him regularly chosen last for baseball, but his most 3 time came when he began high school. One afternoon, Jason returned home in 4 and shouted: "I'm never going to school again!" He was 5 with food that other kids had 6 him on the school bus on the way home. Jason later told us what had 7. A few days earlier, Jason had 8 up for the school running team. That day, a few older students made 9 of his performance on the track. I called the headmaster about the 10, and it never happened again.

    One day, as the other kids exercised in the gym, they 11 one lonely runner-Jason jogging around the snow-covered track. A few weeks later, Jason said to me, "Dad, I was ready for the 12. He added that each month, each student 13 an "athlete of the month" and voted for the 14. Jason's name had never been 15. But that day, one student said: "Sir, I would like to propose Jason for athlete of the month. "The coach looked 16. "He works harder than any of us, Sir," the student continued. Tears 17 in Jason's eyes as everyone in the class put their hands up. We, also in tears, looked on as he 18 displayed his certificate.

    Whenever I despair, I think of this story. I 19 myself that challenges are not overcome by 20, but by patience, determination, and faith.

Here is a story about social media bringing people together.56-year-old Lucy Shepherd was 1 as an infant (婴儿) in the early 1960s. When she turned 18, Lucy 2 to look for her birth parents. She managed to find her mother ten years later. However, finding her father proved to be more 3 .

About her father, Lucy knew few 4 and was only told by a social worker that he was an electrician named Jonah Larson. She tried to find him out but with little information she 5 — until decades later when she saw the 6 appear on the "Suggested Friends" list of the social media site Facebook. After looking through his online profile (简介), she realized she might be indeed 7 her father. 

The pair then 8 for several weeks before meeting for the first time last week — and they both said it was like they "have 9 each other their whole lives". 

"It's 10 . I live in Kentucky and she lives 350 miles (about 563 km) away in Cornwall. And we had been 11 for nearly 56 years. The chances of actually 12 were so slim." said Jonah. The 13 took place in Dorset, roughly halfway between Cornwall and Kentucky. When they first spotted (看见) each other, the father opened his 14 and gave Lucy a big hug. "I love you!" said Jonah, looking straight into her eyes, and they hugged 15 .

"Now there is someone else like me, loving me for me. I'm incredibly blessed to find him." said Lucy excitedly.