I was wandering around the Albuquerque airport. My flight had been 1 , and I heard a(n)2: “If anyone near Gate A-4 3 Arabic，please come to the gate immediately." Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

    An older woman was 4, sitting on the floor. In her 5 Arabic dress, she reminded me of my grandmother.

    “6 to her,” the flight agent urged. “We told her the flight was going to be late, and she did this."

    I spoke to the woman 7in Arabic while putting my arm around her. She 8crying. It turned out that she thought the 9 had been canceled. She planned to be in New York for some medical treatment the next day. I comforted her and suggested 10her family.

    We telephoned her son. In English, I told him that I would 11 with his mother until we got on the plane. Then his son was12. Next we called my dad. They spoke for a while in Arabic and 13 that they had ten shared friends. After that, I called some Arabic friends I14 and let them talk to her.

    She was in a 15mood by then and took some homemade 16— little cakes stuffed with nuts and topped with sugar 一 from her bag and 17 them to the people near the gate. To my amazement, no one 18. It was like a party. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo — we were all smiling, enjoying the same 19.

    I looked around and thought, this is the world I want to live in. One with no 20. Everyone can be happy anywhere.

    My wife and I moved to the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee in November, from New York to a very rural area. While moving we had the1of our adult daughter.

    During the 2days of moving into our new home, we3in the local community a lot. One evening we decided to have a meal at a buffet style restaurant. It had been a long day of 4boxes and furniture, and the next day would see us on the long drive back to our former home for another 5, a thousand mile long trip. We were all 6. But the buffet was great, and we7our meal feeling rested and relaxed.

    When I went to pay our bill,8in hand, the waitress cashier told me that they didn't 9credit cards. Being from the big city, it was10to use a credit card. Oops!

    I had no11in my pocket, but about 10 miles back down the road I'd seen a bank with an ATM. I told the lady that I would 12my family there and return in a few minutes to pay for our meals. “ Oh, you 13do that,” she told me. “ You just come back 14time and pay us then.” WHAT? I looked at her in 15. These people had16seen me before, did not know if I would ever return, yet they 17me to return to pay for three adult meals? This is not something that I had ever experienced in the big 18, that's for sure.

    We have lived there for almost six years, and every single week I see other acts of trust like this happening. It may be a “country” thing, or just19Southern hospitality. Whatever it is, I certainly like it, and I pass on this 20every chance I get.

    I think I will never forget the special day in November. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1 my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come 2 me. I saw worry and 3 on my father's face. Then the race began!

    For the first two and a half miles, I felt 4. I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled 5 and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the 6required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races，I didn't 7 out in the front. I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

    Then without warning，my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I 8 see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into 9 when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them 10 weight.

    I watched as runners rushed by me. 11 I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the 12 left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled (爬), inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both 13 and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep 14 until the very end.

    The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to 15 to. I whispered, “I' m so sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry I 16 you.” He looked at me, saying, “You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just 17. All that matters is that you did your best.”

    “But we worked so 18. What about our dream?” He reached over for my hand and said, “Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true?”

    It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a 19 path for my journey. I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a 20. What I realized, though, was that to him, I was the greatest prize he had ever won.

    Have you ever traveled around by bike? This spring my older brother and I 1the busy city and spent a long weekend 2in 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 cafe 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!

More Than I Had Dreamed Of

    From the time I was seven, I had a dream of becoming a member of the Students' Union. I always 1 my school leaders for taking responsibility for all of us. So I dreamed of being a leader. Years flew by, and soon I was able to participate in the elections, 2 I would win. But the reality struck that I hadn't had a chance. I wasn't pretty. Girls across the school hardly knew me. I just did not have what it 3 to win a school election. I was 4. As I cried in my room that evening, I 5 took a deep breath and decided I wouldn't stop dreaming. I decided that I would 6 elections again in my final year at school — and I would win.

    I recognized that my 7 had a lot of things in their favor. What were the 8 that would work in my favor? I had good grades, and I was friendly and helpful. And my biggest 9 was the faith I had. I would not allow my 10 appearance to hold me back from putting my best foot forward. That evening, I 11 my election plans a whole year in advance.

    I realized that girls would have to get to know me and recognize that I had the ability to 12 them. I loved making friends and I liked being helpful, 13 I decided that perhaps I could use these qualities to work to my advantage. In order to learn how to present a great election 14, I also attended a course on effective public speaking.

    The day after the election, when the principal announced I won the second highest number of votes, the students 15. That joy on the faces of all my friends showed me that my victory was 16 theirs.

    Suddenly, I realized that I had 17 much more than I had dreamed of. I had made many new friends and had helped people 18 the way. I had won the 19 and love of my school-mates and they knew me as somebody who would stand by them. I was able to put a smile on their faces and 20 their day.

It is getting hot. It's time to put on 1 clothes and open up the windows.

Yesterday brought a(n) 2 visit to the kitchen during the brief time we were out. Two daring sparrows had 3 into a dangerous territory—our kitchen.

When you come across such sudden callers, you are 4 to sense it as an action of intruding (入侵) into your comfort zone, or you might 5 it as a lovely shining moment of life. We 6 —the second option, with no hesitation. After all, we've never stopped feeling urgent to strengthen the relationship with our sparrows more and more each day.

We can't stop 7 and celebrating their dance from our window. We fed them with the 8 on our tablecloth after every meal. And we have 9 them with every kind of bases and stands on our terrace (露台).

10 , they feel at ease in our backyard. And that has led them to 11 courage to slip into our house. Perhaps because they have the feeling that we don't consider them 12 , but friendly neighbors, who only leave some wastes from time to time.

The presence of our dear sparrow holds magical consistency with real life. And we've been having lovely sparrows coming over lately, whose presence 13 us out of our dull daily routines and shows us the hidden beauty and charm.

Like different human beings, these sparrows often take different forms. We've met sparrows like those, of all shapes and colors. And they're everywhere. Perhaps all of them are willing to call our 14 making us know they are there. They only ask from us not to be afraid of them or feel uneasy to their 15 .