Mickey was a nice, cheerful, optimistic boy. No one could remember ever having seen him 1; it seemed he didn't 2whatever people said to him. Even his teachers admired his good 3. It was so unusual that a story was going around that Mickey's 4 must be due to some special secret. They asked Mickey so much that he 5 his favorite teacher, Mr. Anthony, to tea one afternoon. When they had finished, Mickey 6 Mr. Anthony around the house. When Mickey opened his bedroom door, the teacher 7. The huge wall was a unique collage (拼贴画) of thousands of colors and shapes! It was the loveliest decoration Mr. Anthony had ever 8.

"Some people at school think that I 9 think badly of anyone," Mickey started to explain, "and that 10 at all bothers me, but that's not true at all. I'm just like anyone else. I used to get angrier than all the other kids. 11 years ago, with the help of my parents, I started a small collage. With every little piece I stuck on I added some bad thought or act."

It was 12. The teacher looked closely at the wall. In each one of the small 13 he could read "fool", "silly", "idiot", "pain" , and a thousand other 14 things.

"This is how I started 15 all my bad times into an opportunity to 16 to my collage. Now I like the collage so much that, each time someone makes me angry, I couldn't be17. They've given me a new piece for my work of 18."

    That day, the teacher was impressed by Mickey's 19 to have an optimistic character. Without telling anyone, Mr. Anthony 20 his own collage and he would often recommend it to his students.

    As the saying goes, rose given, fragrance in hand. I am always in the 1 of giving money to every beggar or homeless person I pass by. My friends say it is not good to 2. We may come across beggars or homeless people begging every day and all beggars have their ability to survive. It 3 them that I never listen.

    On a 4 day, my friend and I were walking to the 5 when I passed a beggar lady. I had seen her several times before and had always given her a few 6. That day, I gave her 2 Euros. I was waiting for the bus and reading a book when I7 to see that lady standing in front of me. She 8 me a piece of paper covered in a plastic bag to prevent it from getting 9. She stood there, looking at me 10. Putting away my book, I took the paper, which 11 she and her family had to 12 their country because of floods, and she was 13 to support them. She had got a bit of money, but she needed 5 14 Euros to get home. I 15 in my pockets and found 20 cents. My friend 16 a 5 Euro note. I asked her to give it to the lady, and said that I would 17 the next day. When she got the money, the lady hugged us and said thanks again and again, and went on her way. Later on the bus, I wondered where her home was and 18 she had gotten to this country. In her story, I felt that my friend and I would always remain part of it as the 19, who helped her get home on a rainy day. But for me, helping a stranger did bring me happiness, giving me a pleasant 20.

Inspiration

    “Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be one of those!” I said this after seeing the Capital Dancing Company perform when I was three. It was the first time that my1 took on a vivid form and acted as something important to start my training. As I grew older and was 2to more, my interests in the world of dance 3 varied but that little girl's dream of someday becoming a 4 in the company never left me. In the summer of 2005 when I was 18, I received the phone call which made that dream a 5I became a member of the company6 back to 1925.

    As I look back on that day now, it surely 7 any sense of reality. I believe I stayed in a state of pleasant disbelief8 I was halfway through rehearsals (排练) on my first day. I never actually9 to get the job. After being offered the position, I was completely10I remember shaking with excitement.

    Though I was absolutely thrilled with the change, it did not come without its fair share of 11. Through the strict rehearsal period of dancing six days a week, I found it vital to 12 up the material fast with every last bit of concentration. It is that extreme 13 to detail (细节) and stress on practice that set us 14.To then follow those high-energy rehearsals 15 a busy show schedule of up to five performances a day, I discovered a new 16 of the words “hard work.” What I thought was my physical 17 were pushed much further than I thought 18I learned to make each performance better than the last.

    Today, when I look at the unbelievable company that I have the great19 of being a part of, not only as a member, but as a dance captain, I see a 20 that has inspired not only generations of little girls but a splendid company that continues to develop and grow and inspires people every day to follow their dreams.

    There are many kinds of friends. Some are always 1 you, but don't understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only 2 friends leave footprints.

    I shall always recall the autumn and the girl with the 3. She will always bring back the friendship between us, I know she will always be my best friend.

    It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves 4on the cool 5. In such a season, I liked walking alone in the leaves, 6to the sound of them.

    Autumn is a 7season and life is uninteresting. The free days always get me8. But one day, the sound of a violin 9 into my ears like a stream （小溪） flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was 10 in playing her violin.

    I had 11seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn't know that I had been 12there for so long but my existence did not seem to disturb her.

    Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building 13 I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became 14. 15we didn't know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believe she also loved me.

    Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly16. To my astonishment, the girl came over to me.

    “You must like violin. ” she said.

    “Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

    Suddenly, a 17expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.

    “I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening every day that 18me. ” she said.

    “In fact, it was your playing 19gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let's be friends.”

    The girl smiled, and so did I.

    I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure of the girl. She is like a 20 — so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.

I went to a group activity, "Sensitivity Sunday", which was to make us more1the problems faced by disabled people. We were asked to "2 a disability" for several hours one Sunday. Some members, 3, chose to use wheelchairs. Others wore sound­blocking earplugs (耳塞) or blindfolds (眼罩).

Just sitting in the wheelchair was a4experience. I had never considered before how5it would be to use one. As soon as I sat down, my6 made the chair begin to roll. Its wheels were not7. Then I wondered where to put my   8. It took me quite a while to get the metal footrest into9. I took my first uneasy look at what was to be my only means of 10for several hours. For disabled people, "adopting a wheelchair" is not a temporary (临时的)    11.

I tried to find a12position and thought it might be restful, 13 kind of nice, to be14 around for a while. Looking around, I15 I would have to handle the thing myself! My hands started to ache as I16the heavy metal wheels. I came to know that controlling the17 of the wheelchair was not going to be a (n)18task.

My wheelchair experiment was soon 19. It made a deep impression on me. A few hours of "disability" gave me only a taste of the20, both physical and mental, that disabled people must overcome.

A Rare Spotless Giraffe

A female giraffe was born at Brights Zoo in Tennessee recently—but unlike her mother she was born without any spots an unusual one.

Standing 14 to 19 feet tall, giraffes are the tallest land animals in the world. When mothers give birth, the young giraffes are already 6 feet tall, and other than in especially rare cases, they're born covered in brown spots. Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, announced that it welcomed the birth of a reticulated giraffe (网纹长颈鹿) without any spots on July 31st.

"Giraffe experts believe she is the only solid-colored reticulated giraffe living anywhere on the planet," the zoo said. The zoo's director, David Bright, said zoo staff had been reaching out to zoo professionals across the country inquiring about how unusual the giraffe could be. Zoo officials said the only record of a reticulated giraffe being born without spots was in Japan in the 1970s.

Mr. Bright said that the new giraffe might not have survived if she had been born in the wild. "Being solid-colored, she may not be able to hide quite well," said Bright. He also thought it was likely that the giraffe would be a "key target for illegal hunters" because she's so unusual.

Pictures of the young giraffe can be seen on the Brights Zoo Facebook page. In a picture, she, without her spots, stood next to her mother, a normal giraffe, in stark contrast. The zoo is asking the public to help name the newborn. People can choose one of four names available on the zoo's Facebook page. The names and their meanings are: Kipekee, meaning unique; Firyali, which means unusual or surprising; Shakiri, meaning she is most beautiful; Jamella, which means optimistic.

Bright said that the zoo looked at thousands of names and their meanings before settling on the four available. "Those four are the four the family really loves," Bright said. "So if she's named one of those four, we're very happy."

According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, there are only about 16, 000reticulated giraffes left in the wild — a more than 50% drop from approximately 36,000giraffes 35 years ago. There are about 117, 000giraffes across nine subspecies(亚种).Many of them are endangered or critically endangered.