The wagon train (马车队) had been traveling for weeks now. Emily was getting tired — tired of not having a comfortable bed to sleep in or a 1home. She was also2because there was never anything fun for a girl her age to do. Mama promised it wouldn't be too much longer,3 the trip seemed to take forever.

    Then, one day, a rabbit caught Emily's eye. Maybe she could4it, and then she'd have a pet! Emily ran after the rabbit into the woods behind the wagons, but it5. Emily looked for it, and at last she6. She turned to go back, but 7looked familiar (熟悉的). She started in one direction, but it was the wrong8 Emily tried another direction, but soon found that that was9, too.

    Emily was 10 What if she couldn't 11 the wagons? What if they didn't realize she was 12 and just kept moving farther and farther away from her? What if some dangerous animal attacked her?

    Emily sat on the ground and started to cry ... but wait ... did she hear 13? She stood up and ran toward them. As she got 14 she recognized Mama's voice and the voices of some of the men from the15. Then she could see them. Emily ran as 16 as she could, right into Mama's 17 arms.

    Mama carried Emily back to their wagon and put her to bed. Emily was 18 that she was home.19 was wherever Mama was. She'd never 20 about being bored again.

    Alia Baker is a librarian in Iraq. Her library used to be a 1 place for all who loved books and liked to share knowledge. They 2 various matters all over the world. When the war was near, Alia was3that the fires of war would destroy the books, which are more 4 to her than mountain of gold. The books are in every language — new books, ancient books, 5 a book on the history of Iraq that is seven hundred years old.

    She had asked the government for to 6move the books to a 7place, but they refused. So Alia took matters into her own hands. 8, she brought books home every night,9her car late after work. Her friends came to 10her when the war broke out. Anis who owned a restaurant 11 to hide some books. All through the12, Alia, Anis, his brothers and neighbours took the books from the library, 13them over the seven-foot wall and 14them in the restaurant. The books stayed hidden as the war15. Then nine days laters, a fire burned the16to the ground.

    One day, the bombing stopped and the17 left. But the war was not over yet. Alia knew that if the books were to be safe, they must be 18 again while the city was 19. So she hired a truck to bring all the books to the houses of friends in the suburbs(郊区). Now Alia waited for the war to end and 20 peace and a new library.

    That day the college entrance exam 1were out at 11: 00 a. m., but I didn't know that. A friend of mine said my 2 remained the same as those I got last year. So I went into deep depression. My hard work 3 and I cried a lot in the bathroom. 4I motivated myself and came to the classroom at 5: 30 p. m. without 5the afternoon activities.

    Just then the headmaster came to our 6 and asked who Snehal Tanwar was. Hearing this I 7slowly and said" It's me". He said that I'd gotten the high score of 665. For a while my mind got struck and I asked him to 8 ; so I told him my hall ticket(准考证) number and waited for the result 9. He checked it in front of me and congratulated me. No words to 10 my excitement and I hugged my friends who were sitting beside me. My11were rolling out and I could not be able to speak a 12word and couldn't control myself. 13 in the class stood up, shouted my name and 14me. I was feeling on top of the world.

    15I was not the person who got the highest score in our high school. It was my best friend who attained the top. He was sitting beside me and at the moment he cried and hugged me tightly16I got my tears out again. I 17very happy and couldn't express the feeling of that moment Just 18the situation, the moment when both tears and happiness 19. Success is achieved by us. It was the best time in my life and of course, the 20moment. I was so happy not only for myself but also for my best friend.

    Pamela Malhotra and her husband Anil K. Malhotra have spent the last 25 years buying abandoned agricultural land and reforesting it. They want to 1 the land to a bio-diverse rainforest for elephants, birds and other 2

    Now the couple 3 300 acres of land in Brahmagiri, India. They've spotted more than 300 kinds of birds as well as many 4 and threatened(受到威胁的)animal species. But, this was not the 5 in 1991 when Anil and Pamela came to this part of the country. "When I came here, it was a 6. The owner wanted to sell because he couldn't grow coffee 7 anything else here," says Anil who worked in the real estate(房地产)and restaurant business in the US before moving to India. "For me and Pamela, this was what we were 8 all our life."

    The couple had a love for 9 from their childhood. When the Malhotras came to India, the pollution 10 them. "That was when we decided to 11 something to reclaim (开垦) the forests in India," says Anil. "We were not looking for money. Early on, we 12 that shortage of fresh water will be a 13 for India and the rest of the world. Acquisition, protection and reclamation of forested lands and wildlife habitat, where vital water sources have their origin, is the only way to 14 ourselves," explains Anil.

    They sold property (财产) they owned in America, bought the first 55 acres and began to grow a 15. Soon, they bought the land nearby as well. "Many of the 16 considered their holdings 'wasteland' as very little grew on it and were 17 to get money," says Anil.

    Stopping poaching (偷猎) was a 18 and often the locals did not understand what this couple was doing, so it required a lot of talking to create 19. They worked with the forest department to set up camera traps and keep poachers away. "There are times I have 20 with poachers. I was even in great danger once, "says Pamela. "I hope what we are doing now will make a difference to animals."

    Once there was a farmer in Africa named Hafiz who was happy and content.

    One day a(n)1 man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the 2 that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own3." With that said, he went away. That night the farmer couldn't 4. He was unhappy and he was 5.

    The next morning he sold off his farm, took care of his family and went 6diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally,7and financially broke. He got so8that he threw himself into Barcelona River and committed suicide.

    Back home, the person who had9his farm was watering the camels at a10that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it11like a rainbow. He picked up the stone and12it in the living room.

    That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz13?" The new owner said, " No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one14I see one." The man said, "No, that's just a stone I15from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for16. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed17with diamonds.

    When our18is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of diamonds. Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we need to do is19it. When people don't know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of20 when it knocks. The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it is never the same one.

    It happened when our grandchild, Anne, was three years old. My husband, Paul, asked her if there was anything she wanted to plant in our garden. She had an answer—Fritos (油炸玉米饼).

    "Anne, Fritos might not 1 in this soil," he said. But Anne looked at her grandfather and said that if the other 2 could grow, so would Fritos. Paul 3 this in the simplest way possible. He sent Anne running to the house for Fritos.

    That evening, I asked Paul, "Are you 4?"

    "She will forget it," he 5. The next day, Anne asked again. To gain time, Paul said it would 6 two weeks for Fritos to come out. That should be plenty of time for her to forget, he thought.

    For the next two weeks, she arrived every evening to 7 her "Frito land". Anne grew more 8. But with each passing day, Paul became more and more 9. By the 13th day, he had 10 a plan, and the next morning we began to work.

    We planted two plants where the Fritos were 11. Then we began the difficult task of tying Fritos around the leaves of the plants. At last, that was quite a 12 off our mind. Anne ran straight to the garden as 13. We were shocked when she shouted, "Grandpa! They're up! The Fritos came up!"

    The story was repeated several times. When Anne was in second grade, it was finally 14 until the day her teacher talked about the topic of 15. As part of the lesson, the teacher asked each child to 16 something that grows in a garden. You can 17 what Anne said!

    Anne's parents 18 it was time to tell the truth. Their daughter sat very still while they talked, and when they finished, she remained 19. Suddenly, Anne burst out 20 and said, "That's the best joke Grandpa ever played on me."