A Leap（跳跃）to Honor

    Leaping on a narrow balance beam（平衡木） is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast, is an expert at it. To perfect her skills, Lola 1 for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished seventh out of 16 girls.

    That's especially impressive. 2 she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift constantly. She often sees double and can't 3how far away things are.

    When she was little, her mom 4 that even though she couldn't see 5, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the 6 right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

    Though learning gymnastics has been more 7 for her than for some of her tournaments, she has never quit. She doesn't let her 8 stop her from doing anything that she wants to.

    She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest 9 is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. 'You have to 10 your mind that it'll take you where you want to go.' says Lola.

    To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most 11 for anyone because it's four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn't fall 12 the beam. In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10 — her highest score yet.

    Lola doesn't want to be 13 differently from the other girls on her team. At the competitions, the judges don't know about her vision 14. She doesn't tell them, because she doesn't think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her 15 attitude.

    Lola never thinks about 16. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her 17 is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach to pass down what she's learned to other kids 18 she grew up.

    Lola is 19 of all her hard work and success. She says it's helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics, too. Her 20 for others is 'just believe yourself'.

    Last month, I visited one of my old neighborhoods in New York. I had not been there for twenty years and as I walked along the street, my mind was 1 by memories of the past. I saw the old 2 building where I had lived and the playground where I had played. As I viewed these once 3surroundings, images of myself as a child there4 However, what I saw and what I remembered were not the same. I 5realized that the best memories were those kept6

    My old apartment building, as I remember, was bright and alive. It was more than just a place to live. It was a movie house, a space station, or whatever my young mind could 7 I would steal away with my friends and play in the 8This was always exciting because it was so cool and dark, and there were so many things there to 9among. There was a small river in the back of the building. We would go there to lie in the shade of trees and enjoy ourselves.

    However, what I saw was 10different. The apartment building was now in bad11What was once more than a place to live in looked hardly worth 12in. The windows were all 13The once clean walls were covered with dirty 14The river was hardly recognizable. The water was polluted and the trees and flowers were all 15The once sweet-smelling river now smelled16It was really heartbreaking to17all this.

    I do not18having seen my old neighborhood. However, I do not think my 19 childhood memories can ever be the same. I suppose it is20when they say, “You can never go home again.”

    Lord Nithsdale was put into prison in 1716 because he was against King George I. As a (n)1 he was sentenced to death . His wife Winifred couldn't imagine life 2 her husband , so she was 3to do anything to save him .

    She was determined to 4the King and beg him for her husband's life, but the King didn't agree. Winifred refused to 5In desperation, she came up with a more 6 plan.  She visited her husband alongside her maid, her friends Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Morgan. Only two visitors at a time were allowed to enter the room. They took advantage of this 7, going into and out of the room many times to 8 the guards. She also gave the guards money and drink.

    9 inside the prison Winifred pulled out some10clothes and dressed her husband up as one of the11 Mrs. Mills. Mrs. Mills was then brought in, emotional and with her 12 buried in her handkerchief.  Lord Nithsdale then was led out by his wife, also holding the handkerchief to his eyes. This was very 13 or the guards would notice that one of the women had a long 14 ! Fortunately everyone managed to get outside at last.

    Winifred then returned to the room and 15 to be in an emotional conversation with her husband. After a suitable period of time had passed for her husband to leave ,she left the room and got some 16for herself by telling the guards that her husband was praying (祈祷) and should not be 17 This was a clever action as it allowed the 18 to go unnoticed for longer.

    To complete the clever escape and appear 19 they gave a tearful goodbye. Lord Nithsdale and his wife20and managed to leave the country together.

    My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse (松鸡). It's 1for a grouse to have any contact (接触)with people. In fact, they're hard to spot, 2they usually fly off when they hear humans approaching

    This grouse came into our lives in 3Tom was working out in the field when he 4her walking around at the edge of the field. She was 5unafraid and seemed to be6about what he was doing,

    Tom saw the 7bird several times, and site got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew8of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

    One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom 9he didn't see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

    Apparently, she didn't like to be 10 She'd run up and peck (啄) at Tom's hands, then 11off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the 12and left.

    As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to 13_more and more often. 14Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom's leg and stay long enough for me to get a 15of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt16no just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

    When hunting season opened, we put a17at the end of our driveway asking18not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road,19warned people not to shoot her.20 hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

    “And this is me kissing the Blarney Stone”, says Carrie, my seventeen-year-old daughter. She turns the pages of her new photo album, recounting her recent ten-day1 abroad, and my mind wanders back…way back to when she was only five.

    “Someday I'm going to Ireland”, she said, holding her Childcraft book in her lap. Her blue eyes 2 as she looked at the beautiful pictures. “Well, maybe you can!” I said. However, it was3 for our family to pay for the luxury of traveling. I was working as a secretary. My husband Charlie had to close his 4 last year due to his poor health…

    Ten years later, Carrie came home from school one day, hardly able to contain her5“Mama, you'll never 6where the class is going. To Ireland!” she smiled 7“You're kidding!” I said. “Ireland! Where you've always wanted to go!”

    “The trip is 8 for year after next, and the $2,100 can be paid in installments (分期付款).” Then she added, “But that's too much… isn't it?” Her voice was9 yet doubting. “Well,” I said slowly, “Daddy and I can't help much10 you have two years to earn the money.” “You think so?” Carrie's face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Well,” I11 “maybe you could use your father's bakery and sell baked goods.” Sell baked goods? We12 at each other. Carrie was an excellent 13! This would work!

    So the plan was14 Carrie began working, making a variety of baked goods. She used dried apples, cooked, seasoned and spiced to perfection. Soon, however, fried apple-pies became the customer favorite. All ingredients were 15—real shortening (起酥油), real butter—and the crust (皮) was handmade and hand-rolled. Finally the pies were fried to a beautiful, golden brown! The finished product was an extremely pleasant treat, winning16from even the little old ladies in these hills who have been making dried-apple pies for decades17 began rolling in, and the Ireland fund grew, and well 18 the given time the trip abroad was paid in full…

    Now I'm looking at her album as she proudly points out the19 she visited: castles of Ireland, historic bridges and churches, cobblestone (鹅卵石) streets of Dublin… so much like those in her Childcraft book. My daughter will forever remember this dream come true, a dream that began in the heart of a five-year-old girl and was completely made 20 by the delicious apple pie!

    There was a woman in Detroit, who has two sons. She was 1 about them, especially the younger one, Ben, 2 he was not doing well in school. Boys in his class 3 him because he seemed so 4.

    The mother 5 that she would, herself, have to get her sons to do better in school.

    She6 them to go to the Detroit Public Library to read a 7 a week and do a report about it for her.

    One day, in Ben's 8, the teacher held up a rock and asked if anyone knew it. Ben 9up his hand and the teacher let him 10. "Why did Ben raise his hand?" they wondered. He 11 said anything; what could he possibly want to say？

    Well, Ben not only 12 the rock; he said a lot about it. He named other rocks in its group and even knew 13 the teacher had found it. The teacher and the students were 14. Ben had learned all this from doing one of his book 15.

    Ben later went on to the 16 of his class. When he finished high school, he went to Yale University 17 at last became one of the best doctors in the United States.

    After Ben had grown up, he 18 something about his mother that he did not know as a19. She, herself, had never learned how to 20.