Last year I broke the record for the oldest person in the world to ride a rollercoaster. I'm 105, but the doctor agrees I'm in good 1

    The rollercoaster I rode 2 you round quite fast. It was, however, a bit too 3for me. I'd have preferred a really fast one that went upside down. But I was told I couldn't ride it, because my blood pressure could drop and I might have 4

    I wasn't nervous. I was securely 5 in, so I knew I wouldn't fall out. The rollercoaster ride went on for three or four minutes, and I 6 every second. Later, someone came to 7 me with the Guinness World Records Certificate.

    My 8 ways really began a couple of years ago, with the ice-bucket challenge. My great-granddaughter recommended me to have a bucket of 9 water poured on my head. I was 102 then. It 10 that I was the oldest person in the world to do it, and the video clip of me was very 11 After that, I started to think about what else I could do for different 12My family say I'm crazy, but they always go along with me. I do get people 13I take it easy, but I'm not taking any14.

    If someone now broke my world record, I'd say, “Good luck to you.” But the real15 is not what I've done; it's how hard I've always worked. I'm taking it easy now, so I have found a new challenge. I was suspended on a rope from a crane about 25 feet high and 16myself down. It was fun.

    I've got a few ideas for the next charity challenge on my 106th birthday, but nothing has been 17yet. All I can say is that it will be 18 good, if not better than the rollercoaster.

    I'm not sure if anyone is19 of all the fun I'm having. They just say I'm silly and that's about it. On 20I've had many good days. I've had a really good life.

    When Pat Jones finished college, she decided to travel around the world and see as many foreign places as she could1she was young. Pat wanted to visit Latin America2, so she got a job3an English teacher in a school in Bolivia. Pat spoke a little Spanish4she was able to communicate with her students even when they didn't5much English.

    A sentence she had read somewhere stuck in her mind: if you dream6a foreign language, you have really mastered it. Pat repeated this sentence to her students and7that some day she would dream in Spanish and they would dream in8.

    One day, one of her9students came up and explained in Spanish that he had not done his homework. He had10early, but had slept 11 .

    "What does this have to do with your 12?" Pat asked.

    "I dreamed all night, Miss Jones, and my dream was in English."

    "In English?" Pat was very13, since he was such a bad student. She was14 secretly jealous (嫉妒的). Her15was still not in Spanish. But she encouraged her young student. "Well, 16me about your dream."

    "All the people in my dream17 English." the student said. "And all the signs were in English. All the newspapers and magazines and all the TV programs were in English. "

    "Great. That's18, " said Pat. "What did all the people say to you?"

    "I'm sorry, Miss Jones. That's19I slept so terribly. I didn't20a word they said. It was a nightmare (噩梦 )!"

    Before I came to China, I had been somewhat unlucky in love. Days before my 1for Shanghai in 2016, my cousin made a 2without the slightest bit of irony（讽刺）,“You'll fall in love in China.”

    I met my husband at a Chinese 3. It was an embarrassing place to meet him approaching me 4I attempted to lift free weights. He spoke English poorly, trying to correct my form. I more or less 5him, figuring such a relationship was 6as we had little means to communicate. But I was very much 7. He ran after me for the next couple weeks and his persistence（坚持不懈）8won me over, and I was head over heels in love with him.

    The challenges we faced were 9—deciding where to live, 10over visas, dealing with my parents' doubts. In time, these problems got settled without too much work on our part. When others would 11on how tough it must be to marry someone from a foreign country, I quickly made my 12, trying to convince my questioner that marrying cross-culturally is really no different from 13within one's own circle.

    Our son was born in the spring of 2018. He was a very easy baby to care for—he cried little and slept well at night. My struggles in caring for a newborn were unimportant 14the other pressures I faced. By Chinese tradition, I was 15from taking the baby outside until he was 100 days old, for reasons I still don't fully understand.

    Since giving birth, I've learned that compromise（妥协）is more 16than it seems. If you give up too much of yourself, you may 17resentful（怨恨的）. If you compromise too little, you may be 18in a frequent battle. In a relationship, our values or beliefs often 19with our partner's, but with patience, most difficulties can be overcome. For that reason, I keep on working to better understand his background and beliefs while 20forgetting my own.

    Tara and Lara were twins. Even their parents found it too hard to find the 1between them so the girls were2in different schools.

    Although they look the same, both the girls differ in3else. They don't have any common favorites. Lara is a night﹣bird and study all the night until she finishes.4, Tara is a morning bird; she used to5early in the morning. In addition, Lara wears light darker colors and modem outfits, while Tara likes light colors and6dresses.

    This wasn't the7with these twin girls. However, they8each other that the opposite one was wrong.

    While both sides have the advantages and disadvantages, the9continues. They fight mainly about10things all﹣day and during the study time. Their parents decided to11to their arguments.

    Lara and Tara blindfolded their12with a black ribbon. Their13brought them to the dining room. In the dining room, a big14was placed in the middle. Lara stood on one side of the board and Tara stood on the other side of the board. Both the ribbons were15. The girls were surprised to see a huge board in between them.

    Now, their father asked Lara, what is the color of the board？ She replied, "It is black!" Their mother asked Tara the same question. She replied, "It is white!"

    They began to argue. While Lara16strongly it was black, Tara was17it was white.

    Now, they were asked to18their places. They both were surprised and shocked. The board with Lara's side was painted black and Tara's was white, which was 19by them. They20that they were right on their own perspective only.

    A beggar, carrying a shabby(破旧的) old wallet, was begging alone from house to house. As he complained about his 1 , he kept wondering that people who lived in 2 houses should always be unsatisfied, 3 rich they might be, and they should go so far as to 4 all they have.

    "Here, for example," he said, the former master of this house succeeded in trading, and made himself very rich. By then, instead of stopping, and handing over his 5 to another, and spending the rest of his years 6 peace, he took to(从事) equipping ships. He expected to get mountains of gold; but the ships were 7 , and his treasures were lost. Now they all lie at the bottom of the sea, and he has found his 8 disappeared like those in dreams. In short, examples of this are 9.

    At this moment Fortune suddenly appeared to the beggar and said, "Listen! I have long wished to 10 you. Here are a lot of gold coins I have found. Hold out your wallet, and I will fill it with them; but only on this condition: All shall be gold that falls into the wallet, but if 11 of them falls out of the wallet to the ground, it 12 become dust. Consider this well. I have warned you I shall 13 keep my word. Your wallet is old, don't fill it 14 its power." The beggar was almost too overjoyed to breathe. He 15 felt the ground below his feet. A stream of coins were poured 16 it. The wallet soon became rather heavy.

    "Is that 17 ?" "Not yet," "Isn't it 18 ?" "Never fear." "Consider, you are a millionaire." "Just a little more, just 19 a handful," But at that moment the wallet broke, the gold coins 20 dust and Fortune disappeared. The beggar had nothing but his empty wallet and remained as poor as before.

Achenyo soon arrived at the water's edge with her pot, and she found a huge surprise. The river was 1 ! In its place was a blanket of dark green leaves and lavender-colored (淡紫色的) flowers.

"Oh no!" Achenyo heard the adults crying, "They've 2 again!" It seemed Mama wouldn't have water to mix the dyes (染料) for her weaving.

Last year, the rainy season had brought a(n) 3 of water hyacinths (水葫芦). The plants had covered the river and left no 4 to dip a pot. Every day, people had to walk into the water and clear enough plants to get water.

What a shame to 5 such pretty flowers, Achenyo thought as she 6 the plants with others and threw them on the riverbank. Then, she had an idea. Carrying the plants under her arm, she got Mama's water and ran home 7 .

"Mama, will you teach me to weave?" asked Achenyo. Mama laughed. It was her wish to pass on the 8 to her daughter. But looking at the thick stalks, she was 9 . Achenyo showed her how difficult it was to break and begged 10 Mama said yes. Then they wove together every day after school. It was 11 weaving the stalks into different shapes, but she was 12 .

One afternoon, Achenyo held up her finished work to Mama. It was neatly woven and well decorated. "What a nice mat!" They showed it to their neighbours, who were 13 and began to use the stalks to make things. By the end of the rainy season, the 14 no longer thought of the plant as an invader, but a 15 .