I began to grow up that winter night. My mother said we might soon 1America. We were on the bus then and I was crying. I remember I could not bear the 2of never hearing again the radio program for school3 to which I listened every morning.

    I don't remember myself crying 4 this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying5to my friends and relatives. I just thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and6places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was7in my head then.

    The four years that followed 8me the importance of optimism, but the 9did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really 10 —having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. Mother remarried, and things became even more11for me. Some time 12before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, seeing no end to “the13times.”

    My 14in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters,15out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and16there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.

    From my experiences I have learned one important 17: almost all common troubles eventually 18away! Something good is certain to happen 19when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, 20 it will not be that easy.

    When our second child was born, the doctor pointed out that her feet were turned inward. “Left uncorrected, it would be a 1,” he told us.

    We2 to do anything we could do help our baby.3she was growing I had to take her back to the doctor every two weeks to have each foot recast. 4the casting was finished and it was time for corrective5.Jim and I watched with hope and concern as she6to walk. Those first, awkward steps made us so7. By the time she entered preschool, her steps appeared quite8 . Encouraged by her progress, we looked for something else to help strengthen her9body.

    As it turned out, she loved the10 ! When she tuned six, we helped her join in skating lessons and soon she was skating11a swan. She kept working hard at every new 12, and her efforts13. At fifteen, she competed in both pairs-skating and the ladies' singles at the 1988 World Junior Championships in Australia, wining both14!

I thought back to the early years of15for Kristi—the years of fear for us as her parents, and the same years of frustration for her as a child two 16wanted to walk. During those years, we didn't expect gold medals and a good professional career17her. We admired Kristi herself, 18 her strength and efforts, and how far she had come on two tiny feet that had19been bound in heavy casts. In our eyes, Kristi had always walked with the20of a true champion.

    Eight years ago, when Kyle Amber was five years old, he came face-to-face with a huge problem: His brother, Ian, ten, was diagnosed with leukemia(白血病). Their parents, Laurie and Henry, were spending much of their1with him in hospital. Kyle often felt alone and 2

    What could a kindergartner do? Not much, it seemed.3, Kyle was determined. He looked around and saw lots of kids being4for cancer and decided he could help them by helping the hospital, which was trying to5money for bone-marrow(骨髓)transplant.

    But how? Since Kyle's grandfather was in the printing business, he6bring decorative cards for Kyle, who7with the idea of selling them8. He made a large sum of momey-$80-for the hospital. His next9was a candy sale at this school, Palmetto Elementary, and it has turned into an annual10.

    And then people in Miami read about his efforts and were inspired to11to donate more money and toys, and things just snowballed.

    Within a year Kyle's idea turned into an official fund-raising organization called Kids That Care Cancer Fund. Today it is one of the12organizations in the country run by kids and13kids. It's hard to estimate just14the group has collected, says Laurie, but it is more than $100,000. As the Mayor of Miami wrote to Kyle, “ Your efforts have made a remarkable15in the lives of many suffering from this disease.”

    Never once has Kyle thought of16, because the smiles of the kids are too important. “ Basically, the entire feeling that you get is very17,” he explains. Helping other kids has taught him to be less18. And there's another thing he learns for sure: “ There is19going to be a time when you're going to have a very hard barrier,” he says. “20you overcome that, you can do anything.”

    I learned to do wood work when I was very young.

    I remember I made my first project—a small table when I was 9 years old. I was so 1 of it that I looked upon it as if I had created a(an) 2. It was absolutely beautiful and it had taken me six weeks to3 it. I could hardly wait to give it to Mother Winters as a(an)4. She was the head mistress of our orphanage（孤儿院）, who was always kind but 5 with us.

    As the tables were not dry from the clear coating(清漆), our woodworking teacher told us to wait a few days before taking them to our dormitories. But I was just so 6and happy that I couldn't wait I dashed out like a 7, carrying my table, smiling from ear to ear.

    When I reached the dormitory I placed the little table beside my bed. I was 8 it when Mother Winters entered. She walked over to the table. Running her hand 9 it, she noticed that it was still wet.

    “Were you 10 to bring this home?” she asked.

    “No, ma'am,” I 11 with my head down.

    She ordered me to throw the table out and so I did. After she left, I immediately opened the door to get it back. There was 12 stuck all over. I brushed and cried, but the dirt would not come off.

    I hid the table in my closet and never 13 it. However, a year later during a cleaning-up, it was discovered. Painfully, I had to give the table to Mother Henderson, my houseparent, thinking that she would 14 it away.

    Thirty years later at a reunion, I 15 that Mother Henderson was living nearby, so I drove up to see her. We talked cheerfully for long. As I was about to leave, she asked me to come down to her 16 to get something important. I followed her 17 into a dark corner. She picked something up. 18 she turned around, I could see that she was holding a little table.

    Mother Henderson kept the little table that I had given up for lost so long ago.

    Today, I look at that table with bittersweet memories but full of 19 to Mother Henderson, who kept the table for a young orphan who 20 it so much.

    All of us in Monte Vista Christian School know we'll one day have graduation photos for the yearbook taken. As the time 1, the girls start to have a 2 about what they'll wear and where to take the photos, while the boys 3 hardly talk about it. As for me, I 4 for my photos to be taken by the sea.

    When I arrived there, I met my photographer, Annie. She asked me to make some poses and I 5 her advice. After that, I asked if she could make me look 6 by taking photos in a different way, 7 I'm less than 1.6 meters tall. To my 8 she responded, "I will make no 9 to make you look like someone you're not. You look good in your own way." She 10 that she wouldn't try to edit the photos either.

    I was shocked by what she said. Girls always 11 to look perfect by using different visual angles. When you go to a photo studio, photographers always try to hide your 12 by telling you to stand in a certain way. And picture editors can easily 13 your look by making you appear any you want to. 14, that's not the case here. Seeing I was 15, Annie explained: "Everyone has his uniqueness. You need to 16 your own beauty. You cannot live in a world of 17 photos."

    It was the first time that I had met a photographer who doesn't 18 photos at all. After the shoot, I saw the photos — they are 19 special and natural. But what's even more special are Annie's 20, which will always stay in my heart.