It was a sunny winter day. I had gone down the tower when a blind man came toward me. He kept close to the wall, touching it lightly with his arm. I stood still and looked at him walking toward the tower.

    "What does a blind man want to climb up the tower for?" I wondered (疑惑). "Not the view(景色) certainly, perhaps he wants to jump. "Thinking of some terrible reasons, I thought I should 1 him.

    He went up slowly and 2 from time to time. I followed him a few steps behind. When he got to the first corner of the bell tower, I came close to him. "Excuse me, "I said as politely as I could, "but I wonder 3 you came up."

    He smiled, "Perhaps climbing up the tower. You have noticed — and yet, not being blind, perhaps you won't — how the sun shines into the tower 4 the windows here and there, so that one can 5the cool steps suddenly become quite warm, even in winter. But behind the wall there is shade(阴影). There is no place so good as this for feeling the difference between light and darkness. Though I'm blind, I also want to feel the 6 brought by the sunlight. In fact, it isn't my first time to be here." He said and seemed as    7 as a child.

    I had never thought that even a blind man could have his way to 8 the beautiful life. But we often paid no attention to its value because we never 9 it.

    We went down the 10 together and I left him. From then on, I began to treasure what life has given me.

    The USA is the fourth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China. The population(人口) of the USA is the third largest in the world.

   The Mississippi River is the longest river in America. It's over 6,000 kilometers long. The Mississippi River has been called the "Father of Waters" or "Old Man River". The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. All of them are between Canada and the United States except(除了) Lake Michigan.

   Let us talk about American education(教育). There are two kinds of schools in the United States: public schools and private schools. Most children go to public schools. Their parents do not have to pay for their education. If a child goes to a private school, his parents have to pay for their schooling. Children start school when they are five years old. Most students are eighteen years old when they leave secondary(中级) schools.

    One day, I saw a boy shop alone at the shop I worked. He chose some school things he wanted and went to the checkout (付款台).

    The young shop assistant (店员) told him he needed to pay $37.60. The boy became very sad and said he only had $20. He took out one thing at a time, and at last he got down to his $20. With eyes full of tears, he asked if he could call his mom to pick him up. When he got through, it seemed that his morn was too busy to pick him up in a minute.

    He tried to stop the tears and walked outside to wait on the chair in front of the shop. This was too much for the young assistant. She kept looking outside to see if the boy was all right. Then she said, "I wish I could pay for the rest (剩余部分) of his  things." One of the other girls said she had a few  dollars. Then two others said they could help, too.

    These four young girls pooled their money and found they had more than enough to pay for the boy s things. Then they chose more school things, and gave them all to the boy. The boy laughed happily. His morn arrived much later, but he didn't just run to the car; he ran back into the shop and called out, "Thank you!"

    I was so proud (骄傲的) of my team that day. They did something wonderful for that boy and also found the pleasure (快乐) of giving.

    Long ago, a wolf called Howler lived in a valley where lots of fruit trees grew. He often tried to climb up the trees to eat the fruit, but couldn't reach.

    In the valley, an old man named Martin also had a few fruit trees that he looked after very well. But as he was getting older, he noticed that he didn't have the strength to pick the fruit.

    Martin had the most beautiful fruit trees in the valley, which was why Howler had his eye on them. One day he decided to steal the fruit and started jumping up and down the tree.

    Martin looked out of the window and realized that the wolf was trying to steal fruit from his beautiful trees. Howler jumped and jumped, but he couldn't reach even the lowest branches of such a big tree.

    Seeing this, Martin had a great idea: he offered Howler a ladder to climb up, but in return the wolf would have to give him half of the fruit. Howler accepted the deal and began to collect the fruit. For the whole morning, he went up and down the ladder filling his basket with the fruit.

    Howler soon realized that he could eat all the fruit if he didn't give Martin some. He thought up a new and secret plan. Martin, on the other hand, trusted Howler and even began to think they would be friends forever.

But the wolf stole the ladder and went off to other trees in the area for more fruit.

    Realizing that the ladder was missing, Martin went looking for it. Martin felt very disappointed at the trick and no longer trusted Howler. Though he wasn't angry with the wolf and they became friends again, he never made any more deals with him.

    At last, Howler learned that he shouldn't trick people and he should keep promises. He also learned that if he had been honest and not greedy, he would still have been able to enjoy more delicious fruit.

    Any introduction to Peking Opera would not be complete without telling of Mei Lanfang. During his stage life, he combined(融合) the traditions of the past with his own creations, creating a style of his own and giving birth to "The Mei Lanfang School". He was also the first artist to introduce Peking Opera to foreigners, winning international fame（名声）in the globe. For half a century, Mei Lanfang was a household name in China.

    Mei Lanfang began his stage life at the age of 8. His teacher said he showed little hope because of his boring eyes. To improve this, he exercised them day after day. He would fly kites and look at them moving slowly in a blue sky. He also kept pigeons in order to look at them flying higher and higher until they disappeared into the clouds. Thanks to his efforts, he managed to change his dull eyes into a pair of bright and expressive eyes and win national fame before the age of 20.

    In over 50 years on the stage, Mei Lanfang played no less than 100 different characters in the traditional Peking Opera performance（表演）. He completely changed both stage make-up and costumes, and made characters' performance. He also wrote many new plays, designing the dances himself. They are part of the great legacy(遗赠) that he left to Peking Opera.

    In 1930, Mei Lanfang started on a successful US tour. There his great performances fascinated the audience, making them realize that Peking Opera was a most valuable form of art.

    Devon Gallagher, a college graduate from Philadelphia, wants the world to know exactly where she's been during her worldwide vacation in a special way.

    The traveler, who was born with a congenital bone disease (先天性骨病),lost her right leg at the age of four. Although she had a hard time at first, she now thinks that nothing can stop her living her best life.

    To spread that message, Gallagher shares photos of her travels around the world online, and writes her location across her artificial leg (假肢)before taking a picture. Now she has been taking pictures across Europe, all with the well—known locations written on her artificial leg.

    "I get a new leg every two years and I can choose the design (设计)on it. One day I had a sudden idea to get a chalkboard," Gallagher said, "My mum and grandmother didn't like the idea, but my friends liked it and told me to go for it, so I did."

    Gallagher said people often stared when she was writing on her leg, but once she shared the photos, she received only positive feedback (正面的反馈). "My leg hasn't stopped me doing anything I've wanted to do, and I've been able to keep up with my peers (同龄人)and lead a pretty great life."

    Gallagher shows us that you should never let anything stand in the way of your dreams. And if you run into difficulties, get creative with it because if life gives you an artificial leg, make art.