Just before Christmas, my daughter Katie and I went over to my dad's place to decorate. While we worked on the tree, grand babies Decie and Johnny 1their great-grandfather Papa Cox. Their laughter and2arguments must have reminded Papa of the past days when my brother and I were just their 3because I saw a twinkle in his 80-year-old eyes.

    Hanging the 4decorations on Papa's tree, I couldn't help gently touching the very oldest of the glass balls. Those I made sure to5from the uppermost branches, safely out of reach of tiny hands. When the tree was beautifully dressed and glowing, we bid my dad goodbye with lots of hugs and kisses and6for home. Later that night, in the quiet darkness, I pulled my 7up close and lay down to rest and remember.

    The Christmas I turned 16, while decorating the tree with Mama, I 8dropped and broke a decoration. The old glass ball was blue and its surface began to fall9 it had been on our tree for as long as I could remember.10 I bent to pick up the broken pieces and was surprised to find a tiny sheet of paper among the pieces. Unfolding it, I recognized my father's penciled writing. Lifting my eyes, I saw my mother's 11expression.

    “Your daddy wrote that and12it in that blue ball during our first Christmas together, just before you were born,” she said with a smile. I wouldn't have believed it13the proof there in my hands. The daddy I knew always looked upon getting the tree decorated as a chore he wanted 14part in. In fact, sometimes he could be a bit of a lazy and mean man around the holidays! And yet this bit of15paper proved that long ago my daddy had done something apparently romantic at Christmas.

    Carefully laying the note aside, I cleaned up the broken pieces, wishing I could somehow16the pieces. “ It's OK , ” Mama said , encouraging me with a hug. “Just pick out another of the17ones and folded the note back inside.”

    18 as we celebrate the holidays without Mama, who we lost to cancer, my19becomes more bitter. Each year as I decorate Papa's tree, I relive the moment I shared with her that winter afternoon and tears of a sadness welled out.

    As I carefully handle those old decorations, I love knowing that one holds a 20between Papa and Mama—one that was obvious to all who knew them. The note inside one of those old glass balls on Papa's tree holds the heart of my parents' marriage in three little words: “I love you.”

    Have you ever traveled around by bike? This spring my older brother and I 1 the busy city and spent a long weekend 2  in the countryside. Our speed was only around 14 kph, but we didn't 3 . We hadn't come to break any speed records,  4 . All we wanted was some 5 air and a break from schoolwork.

    We really 6 ourselves while cycling along traffic-free country paths. There was plenty of sunshine, 7 it was quite cold,  8  in the mornings. The good news was that soon we  9 as we rode along. Our only 10 was when my brakes (刹车) started making a terrible noise. But I didn't care as it gave us an  11   to visit a café while a bike mechanic (机修工) had a look at it.

    Every few kilometers there was a  12  where we could talk with local people. One of the women was very  13  and showed us the way when we got lost. On Saturday night we were   14  at 2 a.m. by some young people. They kept singing loudly in the next room, which made us 15 all night. We felt very 16  when we got up the next morning. Soon we 17 . We were more cheerful on the way when the sun came out. 18  , things like that happened only once. Anyway I still like traveling around by bike — it's 19 and it's fun. If you're looking for a short break that's active and cheap, then cycling is a great 20 !

    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?

    Paen Long has had a dream ever since he saw a plane for the first time at the age of six. His dream was to 1 a plane. Last year, the 30-year-old man started building his plane 2. “I was afraid that people would 3 me, so sometimes I worked at night,” he said. It was a long time 4 he put his dream into practice. Paen Long tried to build his own plane, using the money he had 5 from running his own garage. He has spent three years 6 YouTube videos in order to 7 how to make a plane.

    It took him a year to build his plane, using mostly recycled materials. The plane's first 8 came at 3 pm on 8th, March. Local villagers gathered excitedly to watch the plane fly. 9, the plane only got 50 m in the air before crashing (撞击) to the 10. “When all people were looking at me, I felt very 11,” he said.

    Although the first try 12, Paen Long remains 13. His next project is to build a seaplane. Paen Long thinks the plane will cost over $10,000. “I never feel 14 for spending all my money building a plane,” he said.

    His wife, Hing Muoyheng, 15 about her husband, especially as they have two young sons. However, she has no 16. “I don't know how planes work and he doesn't have any 17 to help him. He can only search for information himself,” she said. “I tried to ask him to 18 a few times because I was afraid, but he said he wouldn't 19, so I have to support his 20.”

    I had just arrived in this Asian country for a one-year teaching position. One day, I took the subway to visit some ancient palaces and temples in the downtown. The following account of what happened to me has taught me much about culture 1.

    Since all the 2 were taken, I stood. Suddenly, I felt someone pulling on my bag.3 I probably was in someone's way, I moved over slightly. 4 in one quick motion(动作), I felt my bag removed from my back, and in a flash it was5. I turned around to see who the thief was. I looked at the people standing behind me, but didn't see my bag or any 6.My heart sank and I began to7.

    I glanced around the car only to find directly across from me was an elderly lady, and sitting on her lap was my 8. I tried to get it back from her lap. But as I began to 9 it up, she quickly grabbed it back and held onto it. I looked around at the people standing beside me, and those sitting beside her, but no one took any 10 of the situation. Trying not to cause a(n)11, I tried to communicate through gestures. I used my hands as best as I could, but she 12 my requests for my bag and pointed to my back. She picked up my bag, showing how 13 it was. I finally began to understand. She was holding my bag to 14 me.

    As the subway 15 the main downtown station and I was getting ready to get off, the woman 16 handed me back my bag. But 17 I had a chance to thank her, she had disappeared into the crowd.

    Sadly, this 18 custom was more surprising to me than pleasing. Everyone back home had heard of being robbed—that was 19 city behavior—but having a stranger hold onto someone's bag out of 20, in a city of twelve million people—that was truly unusual.