My father sold everything we owned, took all the money and disappeared from our lives. My mother suddenly found herself 1 to care for five boys. I worried about the situation, but my mother stayed 2, and assured us that she would keep us tog ether as a  3 and safe from harm. Although small in size, she could 4 heavy horse-drawn plows（犁）. Besides, she 5 found time to help us with homework.

    As Christmas approached, my mother didn't seem to smile as much. I 6 She had no money to buy us presents. Considering myself practically grown, I hid my 7.

    One day, my mother took a saw(锯) into the forest and 8 with some tree branches. She left them in the barn(畜棚) and didn't tell her 9 children what they were for. She worked on her project 10 I was in school, but I looked 11 into the barn when I had a chance. Several days later, I still couldn't 12 her purpose. When later I saw she used nail and paint, I 13 that she must be making presents.

    By Christmas week, my mother was her 14 happy self again. Her project was apparently 15, and she obviously kept it secret because I'd looked everywhere without 16.

    On Christmas Eve, I lay awake for a long time, 17 Christmas morning.

    The next morning, my mother handed out the handmade presents happily in front of her delighted kids. Many difficult years would follow that particular Christmas, but I never again doubted my mother's 18 to care for us. We were never hungry, and she make sure we got a(n) 19 in school. She taught us to have faith in our own abilities. That faith 20 me still.

    Years ago, I was on a long flight, during which a voice from the speaker said, “ We won't 1 drinks or the meal because we are facing a storm ahead. Please make your safe belts fastened.” Many passengers became 2 , talking about it with each other. At once it became 3 in the plane.

    Soon, lighting 4 the darkening skies, and within moments the 5 was like a boat on waves in the storm. One moment it was 6 up by the storm; the next, it was thrown as if it were to 7 onto the ground. All the passengers were 8 . Some cried. Some prayed (祈祷). The 9 seemed hopeless. I wondered if we could 10 it through the storm.

    Then I noticed the little girl next to me. Surprisingly, the storm seemed to mean 11 to her. She was 12 , looking through a picture book. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would 13 again, but she never showed a (n)14  of worry or fear. The little girl wasn't afraid at all 15 all the adults were scared to death. Finding me watching her, the girl smiled at me and said, “ Don't worry. My father is the pilot. He is taking me home. Take it easy. He will take us home safely.”

    When the plane was out of 16 , I smiled at the girl and she gave me a big smile in 17 . “I said my father would take us home safely.”

        Many kinds of storms may 18 us: diseases, difficulties… They can easily darken our skies and 19 our planes into hard times. Let us 20 : Love is the pilot. It will help us out of trouble. So take it easy.

    Who is a great person? To answer this question, we often think of someone 1, such as the South Africa hero Nelson Mandela or the NBA basketball star Kobe Bryant. But often a great person is2next to us—but we never see the greatness unless a difficult 3 comes up.

    In May, 2008, a high school girl in Beichuan, Sichuan, 4 a hero just next to her. When the earthquake hit, her school 5on top of the students. Just next to her was her classmate Li Anqiang. Li worked to move rocks to make 6for her. Before rescuers reached them,7, aftershocks brought down 8rubble(碎石) around them. Li's earlier efforts kept his classmate9 from danger, but the new rubble that fell on his legs crushed (压碎) them beyond 10.

    Today, Li is in a wheelchair; he is missing both of his legs, but he is not missing the good 11 that made him a hero during the earthquake. He still12 the sports he played before the earthquake, table tennis and basketball—and still13his hero, Kobe Bryant.

    Kobe Bryant, however, considers Li a hero. In reply to Li's 14  letter, Kobe praised Li as “a strong boy whose attitude toward15was amazing”. He encouraged Li in his love of basketball, telling Li that he looked cool in a photo of his 16a basketball from his wheelchair.

    So 17that we have great people next to us every day—in school, at work, on the bus. There may not be a 18 to show us who they are, but we can be sure they are19 . Who knows?  20 you are one yourself.

    A Florids woman walked into a Publix supermarket last week. She asked a(n)1  ques­tion at the bakery counter, “Are there any first-birthday cakes scheduled for 2 over the weekend?

    Nick DeClemente, who works at the store, was initially 3 by the request. He then asked if the woman had any 4 person in mind. To his surprise, she didn't.

    The woman said, "No, I want to pay for one anonymously (匿名),"

    Minutes later, she started to burst into 5. She then explained to him that her baby was born 6 one year ago and she wanted to 7 his memory by paying for another 1-year-old's birthday cake.

    "I was a little lost for words just because of the deep 8 I developed for her," DeClemente recalled. He 9a pile of cake orders and picked out an order for a birthday cake for a 1-year-old boy named David. The buttercream topped sheet cake, which 10 at least 20 people, cost $32.99. The woman 11 agreed to pay.

    “She told me, “Thank you, and 12 that I let her do this," DeClemente said” "I hope that this lady finds 13 through this gift and that the customer receiving this gift will pay it 14, "“I told her how much it made my 15 especially because I have a little boy on the way and wished her many 16." DeClemente said, explaining he was standing by the stores front door as she was 17.

    The dad-to-be said he never got her name nor did he get a 18 to explain to the customer whose cake was paid for the story behind the 19 gesture — but he hopes their paths 20 again.

的最佳选项。

    In Germany, it's normal to wear your own clothes at school, since there are no rules about uniform. So why did a few schoolmates and I spend two days 1around the school in uniform? In fact, during these two days, a rather 2event took place: our MUN （Model United Nations） Conference.

    It is a conference 3for students from all German schools who want to see how the United Nations really works. They get an opportunity to 4a country, maybe one they don't know much about, and 5debate with other students from different 6on real problems the world is facing now. The aim is to write a 7at the end, which will help deal with them.

    The 8of our conference was "Transcend Borders: Discover Peace", which 9that the students would be looking at what caused 10among countries and how to overcome it. "Transcend" is just a longer for 11"cross".

    However, the students 12breaking down not only physical national boundaries, but also those 13different nationalities. Of course, this included how to help others who are forced to flee their homeland, for the people 14all students.

    Not only was the conference a 15of thinking about difficult global problems, but also everyone had to speak in English while using correct debating language too.16job! But of course this was a brilliant 17for everyone there, and after a while, you couldn't even 18the students weren't speaking in their first language!

    I'd really 19joining in a conference if you get the chance, and sharing your 20. It's the best way to meet new people and to think about how to make the world a better place.

    The Adams family home has been taken over by origami (折纸)in all sizes and shapes. No one seems to1hough. Those paper creations are2clean water projects around the world and saving lives. A messy home is a small price to pay3

    In 2011, Isabelle Adams and her sister Katherine learned that every five seconds a child died from4of clean water and that girls of their age couldn't go to school5they were fetching water all day for their families. They6to do something.

    "So we took something that we loved doing - folding origami, with the7goal to help fund a well in Ethiopia," explains Katherine.8, they ended up selling out and raising far more than that to fully9the cost of the well.

    Katherine, now 13, adds, "It just snowballed,10the founding of the project Paper for Water." In eight years, this project has11more than 2 million for over 200 water projects in 20 different countries.

    Now, the rest of the Adams family are also12. But at the heart of it, beneath countless paper decorations sit two bold sisters hoping to13other girls and boys. "Kids have an incredible ability to make a real14to the world if they're just given the chance," Isabelle says, "and if people15them in their efforts."