The journey my daughter Cathy has had with her swimming is as long as it is beautiful.

    Cathy suffered some terrible 1her early childhood. After years of regular treatment, she 2 became healthy.

    Two years ago, while Cathy was watching the Olympics, a dream came into her sweet little head—to be a swimmer. Last summer,she wanted to3 out local swim team. She practiced hard and finally 4 it. The team practice, 5 was a rough start. She coughed and choked and could hardly 6 her first few weeks. Hearing her coughing bitterly one night, I decided to7 her from it all. But Cathy woke me up early next morning, wearing her swim suit 8 to go! I told her she shouldn't swim after a whole night's coughing, but she refused to 9 and insisted she go.

From that day on, Cathy kept swimming and didn't 10 a single practice. She had a 11 intention within herself to be the best she could be. My ten-year-old was growing and changing right before my eyes, into this 12 human being with a passion and a mission. There were moments of 13 of course: often she would be the last swimmer in the race. It was difficult for Cathy to accept that she wasn't a 14—ever. But that didn't stop her from trying.

      Then came the final awards ceremony at the end of the year. Cathy didn't expect any award but was still there to  15 her friends and praise their accomplishments. As the ceremony was nearing the end, I suddenly heard the head coach 16, “The highest honor goes to Cathy!” Looking around, he continued, “Cathy has inspired us with her  17 and enthusiasm.  18 skills and talents bring great success, the most valuable asset(财富)one can hold is the heart.”

     It was the greatest  19 of my daughter's life. With all she had been 20 in her ten years, this was the hour of true triumph(成功).

    There is a story about a princess who had a small eye problem that she felt was really bad. Being the king's daughter, she didn't like to listen and kept 1 all the time. When the doctors wanted to help her, she always refused any 2treatment and kept touching her eye and it became worse and worse.3 the king announced a big4 for whoever could cure his daughter. After some time, a man arrived. He 5 that he could cure the princess but6 he was not a doctor.

    After he had 7 her, the man said, “There is nothing much wrong with your eye, hut there is something else that is really 8 .” The princess was worried and asked what it was. He 9and said, “It is really bad. I shouldn't tell you about it.” No matter how much she10, he refused to tell her, saying that he could not speak without the king's11 .

    When the king arrived, the man was still 12to tell his findings. After the king ordered him to tell them, the man said, “Well, there is no problem with the 13 . The big problem is that the princess will start14 a long tail very soon. If she15it when it appears, I can prevent it from growing.” Everyone was deeply concerned at this 16. And the princess stayed in bed, day and night, directing all her17 to feeling when the tail might appear. Thus, after a few days, her eye got well.

    This is how we 18 react: we always focus on our  19 problem and it becomes the center of everything. So far, we have done this20, generation after generation.

    On July 24, 1916, a natural gas explosion trapped 32 men working in a tunnel 250 feet below Lake Erie. The first rescuers who entered the tunnel were 1 by gas, and for hours no one else dared to enter the suffocating (窒息的)2 deathtrap.

    Then, late that night, someone had an idea3 Garrett Morgan and his new invention. Garrett Morgan was a successful 4 owner in Cleveland. The son of freed slaves and the seventh of 11 children, mechanically minded Morgan had opened his own sewing machine shop, which he soon 5 to a tailoring factory with 32 employees.

    In the early 1900s, factory buildings were crowded and untidy. They were often6 of wood, with no fire escapes. Fire could cause serious7 Concerned about his employees, Morgan 8 with a “safety hood” (头罩) that would allow the wearer to9 despite a fire's poisonous smoke.

    Morgan knew smoke rises during a fire10 he created a heat-resistant hood with a long tube reaching to the floor. Wearing Morgan's hood, a firefighter could breathe the 11 air near the 12 Morgan lined the breathing tube with a sponge-like material that was wetted before use to13 the air. A second tube was designed to14 exhaled (呼出的) air.

    Called to the scene on the night of the tunnel explosion, Garrett arrived with samples of his safety hood. Still in their nightwear, he and his brother Frank put on the hoods and 15 entered the tunnel. It was a dangerous 16 of the invention, but they saved two lives and 17four bodies before officials closed the18Morgan knew that more lives might have been saved if he had been called sooner.

    The daring19 made Morgan famous and brought requests for safety hoods from fire departments around the country. But his greatest20 was knowing that his invention would now save more people.

    When a mom attended school to help her disabled son, her son and the school thanked her in the sweetest way possible. It wasn't until after his college years that Marty became disabled after1down stairs. When her son   2to get his MBA Judy O' Connor attended every class with him to help him write and3. Every day, Judy would sit by Marty in class, taking notes to make sure to set down4requests, raising her hand so he could answer questions, and silently filling in his5on test days. “After a little while, we found that working together we could6a great deal,” Marty says.

    On graduation day at Chapman University, Judy was dressed in black to mix in with the other7. Little did she know she'd soon be the center of8. When Marty's name was called, his mom helped9him to the front of the stage,10for a picture with Marty as he received his diploma. Over the loudspeaker, a voice11with happy tears made an12: The university was giving Judy an honorary MBA. “A lump came to my throat, I was proud of my son and13to be honored,” says Judy.

    The mother and son had joked that Judy was putting in enough work to earn her own14. To Marty, there was no question his mom, a retired elementary school teacher with a business degree, had15earned her honorary MBA.

    Perhaps just as important, Judy gave Marty16. Life as Marty knew it before the17may have changed, but he encourages anyone in a 18situation to keep up hope. “Just keep an open mind,19you can make your diversity your advantage and take challenges as a(n)20for growth in your life,” he says.

    Lana sat next to Grandma. She enjoyed looking at the old photo album. "Who is this?" she asked, 1 at a picture. It was of a small girl with a wild 2. She had a big gap (豁口) between her front teeth.

    "That is your mother when she was about your 3. We thought her front teeth would never come," said Grandma.

    Lana laughed. "She 4 funny with those teeth 5."

    "Yes, she did," smiled Grandma.

    "Did the tooth fairy take her teeth too?" asked Lana.

    "We liked to pretend she did," said Grandma. "She put the 6 under her pillow and went to sleep. The next morning there would be a coin in that place."

    "What really 7to the teeth?" asked Lana.

    "Well," said Grandma. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but I kept 8."

    "You did?" asked Lana. "Why?"

    "They helped remind 9 of your mother and her sisters10they were growing up," said Grandma.

    "Do you 11 have them?" asked Lana.

    "I have not 12 of them for a long time," said Grandma. "I would have to 13."

    Lana jumped 14 from her chair. "Can we look now?"

    Grandma 15 and led her to the kitchen. She 16 one of the upper cabinets and began to 17. She pulled out a box of bandages and many bottles of medicine. There was even a jar of seeds.

    "I do not think they are here," she began to say. "No, wait. Here they are!" Grandma 18the bottle in the air and the teeth clinked inside.

    They 19 at the kitchen table. Grandma poured out the 20 onto a plate.

    Jadav Payeng, an Indian, has been planting a tree every day since he was just 16 years old. Now, almost 40 years later, he has created a1of 1,360 acres on what was once a2land.

    Growing up on Majuli, the world's largest river island, he once3hundreds of animals dying from drought among the4greenery on the island, so he was5to plant one tree every day.

    After almost four6of growth, his forest is now home to hundreds of elephants, tigers, deer and birds. Payeng says he has lost7of how many trees he has planted—but he8there are now thousands of trees providing9to the wildlife.

     "It's not as if I did it10," Payeng said. "You plant one or two trees, and they have to seed. And once they seed, the wind knows how to plant them, the birds here know how to11them, cows know, elephants12, and even the river knows. The entire13knows."

    Island locals used to call Payeng "crazy" for his14, but since he was accidentally15by a wandering wildlife journalist in 2007, the "Forest Man of India" has been16as a role model for protecting the environment.

    Payeng doesn't plan on17any time soon—he wants to continue planting trees "until his last18". He hopes to one day19the entire island with 5,000 acres of trees. "Nature is everything. It20me. It gives me power…As long as it survives, I survive."