Angela Fullmer already had enough to handle. She'd recently completed her bachelor's degree and she had given birth to her 1 baby Atreyu just three months before.

    So at 1:30 a.m. March 15, when her dog Capone was barking 2 in their home, she yelled, "Shut up! You're going to 3 the baby."

    He wouldn't 4.

    She called for Capone to come to her.

    He wouldn't come.

    The dog 5 comes, she said, ever since she and husband, Isaac, 6 the wandering animal from a busy highway 18 months ago.

    Capone just looked at her and ran back to the 7.

    Fullmer, 32 — who has a 8 about dogs — thought something wasn't 9. Tired as she was, she went to 10 what was going on in the kitchen.

    The plug for the microwave was on fire. The fire seemed 11 at first, but she knew she needed to get the 12 out fast. She scooped up her 13 baby Atreyu, and then grabbed her 20-month-old toddler Mondecai. She yelled for her oldest, Landon, 12, to help 14 the other children.

    By the time most of the children were heading out.15 shot up to the kitchen ceiling and the smoke alarm 16 went off. She called 911 and did a roll call. Her nine children were all 17 outside the house.

    Capone? He had barked and barked for two minutes before the fire alarm even 18. He had saved their lives.

    "He 19 his family," Fullmer said. "I'm glad we found him on the 20."

A Doll from Santa

    Alice's mother died when she was five years old. That year was 1925, and life was hard. Alice, who grew up to be my mother, told me that her family was too 1to even afford to give her a doll.

    One afternoon in December 1982, I was decorating the tree to prepare for the Christmas season. A young lady 2me with a sample of her handiwork: beautiful handmade 3. She was taking orders for Christmas. I decided to get one for my daughter, Katie, who was almost five years old. Then I had an idea. I asked the lady if she could make me a 4doll for my mother — one with gray hair and a pair of glasses: a grandmother doll.

    The doll maker felt that this idea was certainly 5and took it on as a creative challenge. So I placed my Christmas 6: two dolls, one blonde and one gray-haired for Christmas morning! Things really started to fall into place 7a friend had told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home to 8my Katie her presents!

    Christmas Day arrived and at the planned time, 9did Santa Claus. Katie was delighted that Santa had come to see her at her 10house, the happiest I had ever seen her in her young life. My mother was enjoying watching her granddaughter's 11to the visit from this special guest. As Santa turned to leave, he looked once more into his bag and took out one more 12. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, surprised by her name being called, 13that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift, which was accompanied by a message card that read: For Alice,

    I was cleaning out my sleigh before my 14this year and came across this package that was supposed to be delivered on December 25, 1925. The present inside has 15, but I felt that you might 16wish to have it. Many apologies for the17of the gift.

    Love, Santa Claus

    My mother's reaction was one of the greatest deeply 18scenes I have ever witnessed. She couldn't speak but only gazed at the doll she had 19fifty-seven years as tears of joy running down her cheeks. That doll, given by “Santa”, made my mother the happiest “20” alive.

    I had never known a Christmas when we could ask for a special gift and actually expect to get it. The Great Depression (大萧条) of the 1930s really1 our farming community of Belleville, Michigan. Then came 1940; I was 7 years old and my brother, David, was 8. That year my father got a(n)2 job, and David and I were asked to choose the one 3we most wanted to get that year. I 4 a teddy bear. David asked for a bicycle.

    5, Christmas morning arrived. There under the tree, with a big red bow around his neck, was my teddy bear. David's6 , however, was not there. I7 how my parents could make my wish come true but not my brother's.

    “I8something,” my father said, as he went into the other room. When he came back he was9a bicycle.

    On David's face was a look of both delight and10. The bike was secondhand, which David didn't11, but it was a girls' bike. Boys did not ride girls' bikes. Personally, I wouldn't have 12if it had come with pink bows on it – it was still a bicycle.

    David and I had been learning to ride on bicycles13from friends in the neighborhood. I was not as14a rider as he was, but I could15to get from point A to point B.

    David was very16, letting me ride his new wheels often. He even17out a way to tie our Radio Flyer wagon to the bike so he could pull me and other kids up and down our road.

    Now we could18 places that were once beyond convenient walking distance. That winter we took many long rides down the snowy back roads, with me on the handlebars or19behind in the wagon. That bicycle was the Christmas present and truly gave us an exciting new 20.

    This is a simple T-shirt, but it has taught me the significance of 1. Looking at it, I go back into the past.

    It was a warm day when I 2my elementary school. It made me quite 3. I lay in my front yard in the warm sun. As I fell into sleep, I vaguely heard my mother's steps approaching. Then, I sat up, 4 lemonade or some apples. But she was carrying 5, and her face was just as 6. There must be something wrong. "Simon is in 7," she said.

    Simon was my stepfather's nephew. 8 we were not related by blood, Simon in some way meant more to me than any blood relative. Being both 9, we always went hiking and surfing together. I really enjoyed his 10 I wished to attend middle school with him, too.

    "He has cancer," my mom added. When I heard that, my stomach got heavier. "But he will 11, right?" I asked. "Because he has a rare case, it's not clear whether he can defeat it." My mom replied.

    Day by day, Simon seemed to be getting weaker and his 12 was bad, making him lack nutrition (营养). Throughout his 13, Simon suffered allergic shock (过敏) due to the medicine's side effects. Somehow, Simon was having a (an) 14 later. The whole family were thrilled. 15, Simon's improvement turned out to be a flash in a pan (昙花一现).

    It was around then that I 16 the "Simon Says…" T-shirt, which was designed with letters, "Simon Says… Cancer is a detour (绕行), instead of a stop sign." I proudly wore Simon's present in the summer vacation and 17 wearing it when later attending middle school. That sentence taught me however that challenge fought against us, we shouldn't 18.

    At last, Simon didn't 19it. But his T-shirt would have a lasting positive impact on the world. Simon 20and inspired countless people with his spirits.

    One afternoon, I went to pick up my mother from work. 1, I looked outside the car window, there was a small park 2 I saw a little boy running freely on the grass as his mother watched from a short distance. The boy would then fall to the grass, 3 , and without hesitation or without looking back at his mother, run as fast as he could, again, still with a smile on his face, 4 nothing happened.

    When they fall down, kids don't 5 their falling down as a failure, but 6, they treat it as a learning experience, 7 just another result of outcome. They try and try again 8 they succeed. They haven't associated “falling down” with the word "9" yet, thus they don't know how to feel the state which accompanies failure. So they don't 10. Plus, they probably think to themselves that it's perfectly okay to fall down, and that it's not 11to do so. In other words, they give themselves 12 to make mistakes, subconsciously.

    While I was13by the boy's persistence, I was equally touched by the 14 in which he ran. With each attempt, he looked so confident… so natural. His only aim was to run freely and to do it as effectively as he could. He was just being a child—just being himself—being completely in the moment. He was not looking for approval or was not worrying about15 someone was watching. He wasn't 16 about being judged. He didn't seem to be bothered by 17 that maybe someone would see him fall. No, what 18 to him was to accomplish the task or activity 19 to the best of his ability.

    I learned a lot from that 20 and experience, and have successfully brought that lesson with me in my life.

After moving to the United States in 1901, 19-year-old Bob Douglas found a job as a doorman in New York. Later, a co-worker took him to visit a basketball court, and he was amazed by the athletic prowess on display. At that moment, Douglas, who had enjoyed playing sports as a child, was determined to create a basketball team and provide greater opportunities for New York City's Black athletes. 

He needed to find a place for his team to play. When asking a ballroom owner, William Roach, for permission to use one of the dance floors, Douglas was replied with "you guys will break up my place". After promising to take on all the financial risk, he finally persuaded Roach to change his mind and called the team "Rens". 

However, their ballroom had fewer seats and attracted fewer people than others, so Douglas had to pack the house to generate profits and keep his team alive. They traveled the country playing any opponent that would agree to schedule them, during which they repeatedly faced discrimination and unfair treatment and the players were often banned from hotels and restaurants. 

No matter the obstacle, the Rens just kept strict practicing. They helped change the game of basketball by focusing on quick passing, which let the players move faster, play a more fluid (流畅) game and keep winning. In 1925, the Rens shocked the world by defeating the Original Celtics, the most dominant team of their day. During the 1932-33 season, the team won 88 straight games, a professional basketball record that remains unbroken. 

Unfortunately, the Rens disbanded (解散) in 1949. But in time, they were recognized for the important role they played in advancing Black athletes in basketball, ensuring that although the Rens aren't a household name, their story will never be forgotten.