Four days ago, I was taking a taxi. On the way, I just had the 1 stop at a store to buy something. A woman2me to let her hitchhike(免费搭车).

    I 3and picked this woman up. I thought she was too fat; she 4 about 120 kg. But she was very sweet and kind-hearted, so I didn't5.

    She was talking to me6 while going back to her place about how she got everything for her7. So I thought to myself she must have a happy family. But nothing special 8 yet.

    I got to her apartment9she needed help getting all the things she got to her place. I just helped her out and while I was 10the stuff(物品) inside her house, I11 that her husband walked in from the back of the apartment. So she was talking to him in her12 voice.“Honey, I got you this ; Honey, I got you that.” But what I came to notice was that her husband was13. And then I looked close to how they were together and I knew for that moment I was seeing “ TRUE14.”

    They cared for each other so 15 and what they looked like was not 16 at all. I was just deeply 17 by the true love between them.

    Sometimes I think about going back to the apartment to tell them what I 18 in them and to thank them for sharing their 19with me. Even though it is for a few 20 I like the way the blind couple care about each other; it is a very happy and romantic thing.

    I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in the US for 17 years, I had no1about my ability to hold their attention and to2on them my admiration for the literature（文学）of my mother tongue.

    I was shocked when the monitor shouted,3!  and the entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat 4about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness（尴尬）was over, I quickly 5my calmness and began what I thought was a fact –packed lecture, sure to gain their respect – perhaps6their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a (n)7of accomplishment (成就).

    My students 8 diaries. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 9by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said. Our literature teacher didn't teach us anything today.10 her next lecture will be better. Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a 11subject. ―Didn't I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework （哲学体系） of Western thought and laid the historical12for all the works we'll study in class, I complained. How13they say I didn't teach them anything? It was a long term, and it14became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as 15of my students. I thought a teacher's job was to raise 16questions and provide enough background so that students could 17their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher's job was to provide 18information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference!

    19 I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a20American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

    October 12^th, 2008. It was a cold, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up for two hours along the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn's house. But she had 1 that I come see something at the top of the mountain.

    "I'll stay for lunch, but I'm 2 back home straight after that," I announced when I arrived.

    "But I need you to drive me to the garage to 3 my car," Carolyn said. "Could we 4 do that?"

    "How far is it?" I asked.

    "About three minutes," she said. "I'll drive—I'm5 it."

    After ten minutes on the mountain road, I looked at her 6. "I thought you said three minutes."

    She laughed. "This is a detour(绕道)."

    Turning down a narrow path, we parked the car and got out. To my 7, the views before my eyes were 8 words.

    From the 9 of the mountain, several acres(英亩) across hills and valleys, were rivers of daffodils(水仙花). Plenty of 10—from the palest ivory(象牙白) to the deepest lemon and then to the most vivid pink—shone like a carpet before us. It looked 11 the sun had tipped(翻倒) over and spilled(洒落) gold down the mountainside.

    A series of questions 12 my mind. Who 13such beauty? When? How?

    As we approached(接近) the house that 14 in the center of the land, we saw a sign that15: "Answers to the Questions; I Know You Are 16."

    The first answer was: "One Woman—Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain." The second was: "One at a Time." The third: "17 in 1958."

    The 18 of it would not let me go. "Imagine," I said, "if I'd had a 19 and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have 20?"

    Carolyn looked at me, smiling. "Start tomorrow," she said. "Better yet, start today."

    The moon had gone behind a cloud and there weren't many stars in the sky. As I took a glance(一瞥)at my neighbor's house, I saw a flame (火焰)in his 1. I thought he was having a midnight fast food so I went back to my2.

    Soon, there was a 3 smell in the air and I guessed something was wrong. 4, I jumped out of bed and went downstairs to 5. I saw fire coming out of my neighbour's kitchen. Right away, I 6"Fire! Fire!" But there was no one nearby to 7 my shouts for help.

    I 8into my house, called the Fire Department and went back to my neighbour's house. I rang the doorbell, hit on the door and 9 my neighbour's name but there was no 10. I managed to 11 the house and rescued a cat and a rabbit.

    I tried to throw water through the kitchen window 12 it was no use; the fire was too strong. 13, a fire engine arrived and soon the firemen put out the fire. They arrived just 14 as the fire was going to 15 to the other rooms in the house.

    When my neighbor came back, he was 16 because his kitchen was burnt down, but he thanked me for calling the Fire Department and for saving his 17. He wanted to give me some money in return but I did not 18 it.

    Weeks later, my neighbor repaired and restored his kitchen. He 19 me to see his new kitchen and there he gave me a medal(奖章) that he had 20 ordered from a factory. It made me feel very happy.

    I played a racquetball game against my cousin Ed last week. It was one of the most 1 and tiring games I've ever had. When Ed first phoned and 2 we play, I laughed quietly, figuring on an 3 victory. After all, Ed's idea of 4 has always been nothing more 5 than lifting a fork to his mouth. 6 I can remember, Ed's been the least physically fit member in the family, and 7 proud of himself. His big stomach has always ballooned out between his T-shirt and trousers.

    Although the family often 8 about that, Ed refused to buy a 9 T-shirt or to lose weight. So when Ed 10 for our game not only with the bottom of his shirt gathered inside his trousers but also with a stomach you could hardly 11, I was so surprised that I was 12. My cousin must have made an effort to get himself into shape. 13, at the point in our game when I' d have predicted (预计) the score to be about 9 to 1 in my favor, it was 14 7 to 9—and Ed was 15. The sudden realization was painful. We 16to play like two mad men. When the score was 16 up, I was having serious 17 about staying alive until 21 years old, let alone (更不用说) 18 that many points. When the game finally ended, both of us were lying flat on our backs, too tired to 19. In a way, I think we both won: I the game, but cousin Ed my 20.

    In 2011, a law was born. A kind of ladybug（瓢虫）became the state insect of North Dakota. When the governor 1 the bill into law, four kids stood behind him!

    Jaden, Logan, Megan and Isabel were in first grade 2 their idea for a law was born. Megan and Logan were farm kids and they had been 3 with the ladybug already. They knew that farmers had difficulty in 4 crop-eating pests called aphids and that ladybugs tended to 5 on aphids. The more ladybugs were around, the fewer 6 the farmers had to use.

    They decided that this ladybug should be their state insect. This ladybug was of great 7 to the crops on the farm and deserved a place of 8. But they had no idea how to 9 a law. So they asked help from their teacher, who happened to 10 their local state representative. When they all met, he told the kids they would have to present facts and reasons to 11 lawmakers that North Dakota was 12the ladybug as the state insect.

    The students spent much of that first-grade spring 13 ladybugs. There was no doubt that their research was hard work; 14 , they fell in love with it. "Even if we hadn't 15what we wanted," says Jaden, "even if the bill hadn't passed, I think it was really 16 a lot."

    In the fall of their second-grade year, they were invited to speak to a committee. In 17 , Megan wrote songs for the group to sing, they 18 more experts for support, and they practiced their presentation a lot! They showed up at the state building in ladybug costumes and presented their case. 19 , the bill passed!

    The students want everyone to know that kids can make a 20 . "Whether you are 20 or 80," says lsabel, "you have a voice in your community（社区）."