Two excited kids begged their father for his permission to see a film. Having read some 1about the movie on the Internet, he firmly 2 their request with the reason that the movie presents immorality as being 3. “But dad, those scenes are only a few minutes of the 4film, in which good 5 evil eventually. In addition, there are other inspirational 6 like courage and determination making up for its 7!”

    But the father didn't 8, and the two teenagers were discouraged. They had just thrown themselves down on the couch when they heard the sounds of their father preparing something in the9. One of the teenagers said, “Dad must be feeling 10, and now he's trying to 11 us with some tasty food.” Soon their father appeared with a plate of warm cakes and said, “Before you eat, I want to tell you something: I love you both so much.”

    The teenagers smiled and 12 with each other knowing 13. Dad was softening. Looking at the mouth-watering cake, the two boys were getting impatient about the father's long speech. “But I want to be 14 with you. I added one ingredient(配料) that is not 15 found in cakes.”

    “To make it more delicious? Oh, come on, Dad! Please just tell us what it is.”

    “OK, if you 16. That 17 ingredient is dog waste.”

    Both teens 18 stopped chewing the cake, spit it out and dropped the 19 cake back on the plate.

    “DAD! Why did you do that?”

    “That is the same reason why I won't allow you to watch that movie. You won't 20 a little dog waste in your cake, so why should you put up with a little immorality in your movies?”

    It's hard being an astronaut's son. I mean, everybody expects you to be special or 1. But I'm just a common student, and I' m common in all kinds of ball games, too.

    I often wonder 2 my father ever had a son like me. He' s so special and so good at 3. So I used to dream about doing something special to make him 4 me.

    In one class, my teacher 5 a Father's Day essay contest to us. He also told us the winners' essays would 6 in front of all the parents and students. After school I walked home, 7 my father, who I would write about in my essay.

    I still remember he stayed by my side in the 8 when I was a little kid and had an awful dream. He surprised me 9 a new puppy dog at my eighth birthday party. He sat and tried to explain the meaning of life to me when Grandpa Bob died. To me, he wasn't a world-famous astronaut, just my dad.

    I wrote about all these 10 in my essay. One of our classmates said, "I believe you'll win the contest, David. You're the only one in our school who 11 write about being the son of an astronaut. "I shrugged(耸肩). I hadn' t shown anyone the essay, but now I 12hoped I wouldn't win. I didn't want to win just because my father was an astronaut.

    I won the second prize. 13 I finished reading my essay, the whole school applauded(鼓掌). I saw my father blowing his nose. I went back to my seat. Dad nodded to 14, cleared his throat, and put his hand on my shoulder. "Son, this is the most 15 moment of my life," he said. It was the proudest moment of my life, too. Maybe I'll never be a great hero or win a Nobel Prize, but just then, it was enough just to be my father' s son.

    Susan, a classical dancer from India, had to have her right leg cut after a car accident. She was also 1on her career（事业）road.

    Though the accident brought her bright career to a 2 , she didn't give up. In the  3 months that followed, Susan met a doctor who developed an artificial (人造的)4made from rubber filled with sponge (海绵). So5she wanted to go back to 6after she had been fitted with an artificial leg. Susan knew that she believed in  7and could realize her dream, 8she began her courageous journey back to the world of dancing — 9to balance, bend, stretch, walk, turn, twist and twirl.

    After every public performance (表演), she 10ask her dad about her performance. “You 11have a long way to go” was the answer she used to get12. In January 1984, Susan made an important13by giving a public performance in Bombay. She performed so greatly that it14everyone to tears and this15pushed her to the number one position again. That evening when she asked her dad the16question, he didn't say anything. He just touched her feet as a praise.

    Susan's comeback was 17moving that a film producer18to make the story into a hit film. When someone asked Susan how she had19to dance again, she said quite simply, “YOU DON'T NEED FEET TO DANCE.” 20is impossible in this world. If you have the will to win, you can achieve(实现) anything.

    When I was younger I developed an interest in stories of magic. I 1books where wizards(巫师)and fighters 2the powers of darkness in strange worlds. I was very happy when they 3to bring peace and happiness to their lands in the end. Like most of the readers of these stories I secretly4for magical powers for myself. I wanted to be able to magically make my pain disappear, to make my problems 5, and to have power over this world that so6has power over us.

    As I got older, however, I  7that there was no such thing as magic and how 8the reality of life was. I had daily pain from a back injury that never healed(治愈)right. I went through a 9period of poverty for many years. I felt 10 when both of my sons were diagnosed with Autism(自闭症). I still sometimes daydreamed of magic 11 even that faded away.

    Then one day it struck me that there was a 12 kind of magic, which grew13in my heart, soul, and mind day by day and year by year. This magic was called LOVE. It 14me to my own highest self and to all of the other 15in this world. It didn't get rid of my 16but it made every day of my life feel richer. It didn't cure my sons' Autism, but it helped me see them as the beautiful, loving, and joyful souls that they17are. It didn't make me a wizard or a fighter. 18, it helped me to drive the darkness of this world with my own 19 .

    May you choose it, share it, and live in it every single day of your life may you use it to 20others, and to heal this world.

    My 9-year-old daughter and I were flying from our home in Carolina to spend a week with my husband in Florida. We were 1 about the trip because we hadn't seen him for five months, and my daughter 2 her Dad terribly.

    As usual on the Charlotte-to-Miami flight, the plane was totally 3. Because we did not get our boarding passes until we 4 at the gate, Kallie and I could not get seats together and were 5 by the aisle (过道). I asked two passengers in my row if they would switch places with Kallie and me, 6 we could be together. They 7, saying they thought they should stay in their assigned seats. Meanwhile, a mother and her three children were in a 8 several rows ahead of us. There had been a mistake in their boarding passes, and 9 the whole family had been split up. The passengers in her row10 refused to move elsewhere. She was very 11 about the younger boy sitting with strangers. She was in tears, yet nobody 12 to help her. There were a troop of Boy Scouts(童子军) on 13. Suddenly the Scout leader stood up and said, “Ma'am, I think we can help you.” He then14 five minutes rearranging his group so that enough space was  15 for the family. The boys followed his directions cheerfully and without 16, and the mother's relief was obvious.

    Kallie, however, was beginning to panic at the 17of not being next to me. I told her that there wasn't anything I could do. 18, the man sitting next to the Scoutmaster, 19to me and asked, “Would you and your daughter like our seats?” 20 to himself and the Scoutmaster. We traded seats and continued our trip, very much relieved to be together and watch the scenery from Kallie's window sea.

    My brother Gene was four years older than me. By the time I turned four, I was upset that he could read but I couldn't. I burned with 1 to read a book like my brother. I begged: "Teach me to read, Mom! Please, please!" Finally, Mom set aside time after lunch 2 reading lessons, and soon after my fifth birthday, I was reading.

    I longed for my father, who was a great storyteller, to read me the books that I couldn't yet read on my own. But my father worked three jobs to feed the family. He didn't have the time or 3 in the evening to read to me. 4, every Sunday morning, my brother and I lay next to him in bed, waiting for him to tell stories about his 5. I can still hear my father's voice 6 the cold winters on the family farm in Poland. His family didn't have enough money to burn wood in the fireplace all night. He told us that he always volunteered to help with 7. I can smell the soup made by my grandma and 8 my father cutting onions, carrots and tomatoes for salad, and when no one was looking, putting a piece into his mouth. "I was always 9," he explained. Hearing my father's stories 10 me closer to the books and the stories they held.

    One Saturday afternoon when I was seven, we walked two blocks to the small 11 in our neighborhood, and my dad filled out forms for a card. That Saturday 12 my life: I met Mrs. Schwartz, the librarian, and my dad said, "You're 13 enough to walk to the library yourself." And so I did—almost every afternoon.

    In my mind, Mrs. Schwartz was "the keeper of books and the guardian of stories." Some days she read aloud to a small group of us 14. Most of time, Mrs. Schwartz let me 15 myself with books I pulled from the shelves and look through them to see which ones I'd 16 out. I remember that sometimes she'd 17 a book and tell me a part of the story. But she always let me choose. Books became my 18 who were my comfort when I felt lonely.

    Yes, reading changed me. It gave me the 19 to study hard so I could become a teacher, and share my 20 of reading with my students. And inside my head, I can still hear the voices of my mother, father, and Mrs. Schwartz, which are with me every time I open the first page of a new book.