One autumn morning, I spotted a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by 1 because I'd never seen geese there before. Thinking they would soon leave, I 2 the chance to get close to them. I wondered where they came from and why they had chosen our pond.

    The next morning, the geese were still my 3 I walked round to the mailbox, showing them I meant no harm4I couldn't resist getting a 5 look. I hid behind some trees and 6 the handsome pair quietly through the branches. I was surprised to see they were staring at me, too!

    As days passed, I started 7 to them on my trips to the mailbox. They craned （伸长） their necks and raised their heads 8 but seemed to realize I was their friend. By then, my curiosity about 9 they were staying so long at the pond changed to10. As they were feeding in the grass the other day, I discovered the reason for their 11the male had a broken left wing. He couldn't 12 and his faithful mate wouldn't leave him behind. I asked a biologist what to do. He explained that sometimes a13 wing will heal by itself and suggested letting nature take its course.

    On the first day of November, I was working in the neighborhood of the geese with my tractor. As I bent to fasten a chain from the tractor, I 14some movement from the corner of my eye. Both geese were running towards the pond. Their wings were 15 like crazy, struggling for take off. Gradually, they flew over the pond. They16 enough altitude to fly past a neighbor's house, and then circled back towards me, flying no more than 50 feet over my head as if to say goodbye. Then they were out of my17.

    The season's first snowflakes fell the very next day. The birds must have 18 that winter was coming, and it was time to go. I became fond of them during their 19 visit to our pond, and now I miss them. I'll never forget their 20 to each other.

    When I first met my new parrot, Chico, his wings had been cut short and he was stuck on the earth just like us humans. When the weather turned nice, I would take Chico outside. I 1 him on a branch of a tree, hoping to make him happier. At first he seemed confused. He walked back and forth on the branch looking 2 . He didn't even flap his wings in an/a 3  to fly. Somehow he knew he was incapable.

    One day Chico got especially excited. He paced back and forth and made an 4 amount of noise. Then all of a sudden he stopped and let out an even louder scream. He started 5 flapping his wings for the first time ever—then he lifted off the 6 like a space shuttle! I was amazed and 7. Little did I know his feathers had been growing back, and Chico had been waiting until the moment was ripe for 8!

    Two days later Chico returned. First I tried to 9 him back with food, but he would not come near me. Then I took his 10 and put it away—still he would not come. Finally, I made him a firm promise that I would let him out every day if the weather was nice as long as he did come back. 11, he flew onto my shoulder.

    From that day on, whenever the weather was good I would let him 12 early and he would fly around and be back before dark. The routine lasted for two months 13 suddenly Chico became 14. The vet said that he had been infected with a disease from the pigeons in the 15. Within a few days he died.

    I was very sad. The 16 crossed my mind that if I had not set him free to fly, he would be still alive. But what 17 is there in being a bird if you can't fly?

    Chico made his first 18 for freedom on a late Monday afternoon in April. When will you make yours? You too can take a 19 when the conditions are right, knowing you too, in your own way, were built to fly. If you don't set yourself free, what will be the 20 of your life?

    I always long for romantic moments, like a little girl longing for candies.However, my husband is my complete1His inability to bring romantic moments into our life has made me get tired of our2One day, I finally told him that I wanted a divorce.

    "Why?" he asked,3.

    "I am tired; there are no4for everything in the world!" I answered.

    He kept5, seeming to be in deep thought, with a lighted cigarette in his hands. Finally he asked," What can I do to change your6?"

    Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered," Let's say, I want a flower on a mountain cliff and picking the flower will cause your7Will you do it for me?"

    He answered," I will give you my answer tomorrow."

    I8the next morning, finding a piece of paper on the dining table, which read:" My dear, I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to9."

    My feeling of disappointment only10, but I continued reading:

    "You always leave the11keys behind, so I have to save my legs to12home to open the door for you. You always like to stay indoors and I13that you will feel too lonely, so I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories. You always stare14the computer and that will do nothing15for your eyes, so I have to save my eyes so that when we grow16, I can help to clip your nails. Thus, my dear,17I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do, I could not pick that flower yet, and die."

    My tears fell on the18and I continued reading:

    "Now that you have finished reading my answer, if you are19, please open the front door for I am standing outside20your favorite bread and fresh milk."

    Love, not words, wins arguments.

    In the summer before I entered middle school, I read the book They Cage the Animals at Night. It's a story about Jennings, a boy living in various orphanages (孤儿院) with only his stuffed animal (毛绒玩具), Doggie, for companionship. It's a fascinating book, but little did I know how it would 1 my life and the lives of others.

    One day, as I looked across my room at the pile of stuffed animals, a(n) 2 came to me. I would 3 stuffed animals for children like Jennings. 4, I contacted agencies that support those children and they said the stuffed animals would certainly 5 children's spirits.

    I named my project "Cuddle Buddies". I wrote articles for the local and school newspapers, 6 donations of the "buddies"—stuffed animals. My phone 7 ringing; schools, families, and toy factories all wanted to help. Much to my 8, by the second week my living room looked like a zoo. Whenever Mom and I 9 the "buddies" to the agencies, the kids would be waiting there with their eyes down, too 10 to look but shaking with excitement.

    Six years after its launch, Cuddle Buddies continues to 11. Now over 25, 000 stuffed animals have been 12 to agencies worldwide. Simon, a seven-year-old boy in an African Children's Home, couldn't sleep at night after he lost his parents. When asked to choose his "buddies", Simon 13 a panda and soon after was sleeping through the night. I never dreamed Cuddle Buddies would 14 this way.

    Upon graduation from high school, I designed a website, www. cuddlebuddies. net, to 15 the project. The response was 16. More and more people joined me and two dozen Cuddle Buddies 17 were established across the nation.

    This has been a great experience. I've learned how to follow through on an idea and how to18 impact a life. I will go to college with these 19 in mind and continue my work with Cuddle Buddies, even when I 20 a whole new set of exciting academic and nonacademic pursuits.

    A video show has become a hot topic on the Internet around China these days. The 35-second video shows that a man driver took a woman out of her red car, threw her to the ground and 1 her several times.

    Later, the man driver told the police that was because the woman driver changed lanes (变道) 2 and scared his child in the car. That made this man driver very 3. And his anger changed into this fight. The man was blamed (责备) a lot from Internet users, who regarded him as " Crazy or Mad".

    However, public attitude (态度) soon took a u-turn when the video from the dashboard camera (行车记录仪) on the man driver's car was put on the Internet on Tuesday. The 4 video shows the woman driver suddenly crossed lanes in front of Zhang's car twice and the two said angry words to each other 5 both cars came to a stop under an overhead bridge. And there the fight happened. The latest online poll (民调) shows that 78% Internet users believe that the woman driver should be blamed for 6 she had done. However, the woman driver 7 to realize her own mistake and refused to say sorry at first. The discussion further grew when some people started a cyber hunt (人肉搜索) against the woman. Some of her personal 8 was put on the Internet, including her ID number, address, phone number and so on.

    9 the morning of May 11, the woman driver finally wrote a letter to say sorry to the public, and put it on the Internet, saying that she felt sorry for what she had done and what her family had 10 about this accident. Both of the two have paid for what they had done! So when we drive on the road, try to be calm enough to avoid such happenings again.

Karen Loewe has been teaching seventh and eighth grade students for 22 years, 1 her most recent day was apparently the most 2 day of her educational career — she tried a new activity with her students in her class.

3establishing that her classroom was a safe space for 4, she asked her students to write about some emotional problems. Since they weren't required to put their names on the paper, they could describe their issues as 5as they wanted. The youngsters were then asked to take turns 6 what their classmates wrote, and all of them were given the opportunity to identify (表明）themselves as the person 7 for the writing. "Things like being left by their parents, death and  8 pets were written down. The kids who heard the. stories would cry because what they were hearing was 9 It was a difficult day, but I believe my kids will judge a little less, 10 a little more, and forgive a little faster," Loewe said.

Since she wrote about her 11 on social media, her post has been shared more than 500,000 times. 12 from all over the world have reached out to her about using similar activities in their own classrooms and her students have learned to 13 other people. "They don't casually 14 or talk down to each other anymore," she said. "They're not rude. It has completely 15 how they treat each other. I wish I would have done this years ago."