Standing in the driveway, I watched my grown children drive off into the distance. I looked down the road until I could no longer see their 1.

    “They live too far away from me,” I said to myself. “When did they 2 and become parents of small children? 3 that be me?”

    I slipped back inside the house and just walked through the rooms for no reason 4. I was just missing them already and looking for 5 of their having been here. There were pillows on the floor and few stuffed (填充) animals 6 around where the children had been playing.

    I walked into the 7 and there on the back of the sink was a bottle brush that had been left behind. “Ah, even Tessa left something behind,” I 8. Well, I suppose she had help 9 she was just four months old.

    As I walked around the house, I picked up a few more 10 on the floor—Tegan's tooth, a pie pan, and the inside of a turkey fryer.

    Hmmm, things left behind ... I thought to myself. It seems there is one thing left behind on very 11. Memories are always left behind, I reasoned, and what a(n) 12 thing good memories are to us. I thought how each item left behind 13 me of the person it belonged to and the story 14 it.

    Memories happen even if we aren't 15 of it. The stressful and difficult moments often become memories that we 16 later with laughter and joy. The memories of past hurts, bitterness, and anger, 17, should be left behind 18. These are the things that we should never 19 until the next time they come, mail back, or bring with us on 20 next visit.

    As Elizabeth Stone said, “To have a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

    I never thought I would be a “runner”. I was the girl who 1 slowest in the PE class. A few years ago, I was walking with a group of 2  in the Race for the Cure, a 5km race designed to 3 money for the fight against breast cancer(癌), 4  one lady caught my 5 .

    She was one of the weakest-looking women I've ever seen. She must have been close to seventy years old, 6  a T-shirt with the word “Survivor”. She was so small that it seemed as if she could even be 7  by a strong wind. But, she was running. And she was 8  me and my group of friends. She ran slowly, but 9  —as if each step pushed her cancer further into her past. Right at that moment, I10  that in the next Race for the Cure, I'd be running along with her.

    A week later, I found myself in the 11 , running on the treadmill(跑步机). Three minutes after I started, my face was bright red. I felt like my lungs were going to burst. I 12  slow down to a walk. I thought of the 13  at the race. I kept it up. I was able to go a little 14  each time. Three and a half minutes. Four minutes. Five.

    A year later, I was 15  at the Race for the Cure, but this time, I 16  with the runners. When the race started, the other runners passed me by. I ran forward. I wondered if I'd be 17  to do it. But then, I remembered the brave woman. I ran as fast as I could until I finally crossed that finish line. I had just 18  my first race! I 19  down at my legs, amazed. They had done something I'd never thought 20 . I have never felt stronger than at that moment. And, I knew that I wanted to do it again.

    My father's only child, I was an obvious candidate to be his fishing companion.

    My most vivid1 of our fishing outings are those at Lily Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. By the age of 6, I'd 2 my first lesson in fish behavior: fish like an 3 breakfast, which means crawling from our sleeping bags 4We climbed the winding road to the lake,5 the wooden footbridge, built above a dam. A path led us to the6tied up at the water edge.

    My father rowed us through the dark green channels. We spoke7 and the only other sounds were the liquid dipping of the oars（橹）and an occasional bird cry.8a promising-looking spot, we baited our hooks,9 our lines, and waited. For those few hours, the lake was ours.

My father and I had an uneasy 10His behavior had too often embarrassed me. But on those fishing mornings, he could11 me the lessons of fishing—not only how to fish, but also other lessons:

    We wouldn't always get what we 12

    With patience, though, we might.

    The wait could be as13 as the reward.

    Much could be heard in the quiet of the dawn.

    14between two people don't need to be filled.

    I don't remember how old I was the last time I went fishing with my father at Lily Lake. But those times 15fishing were the closest moment I 16with my father as a child.

    My father is gone now, but I 17 recently to Lily Lake. I crossed the wooden footbridge and stood on the shore. A silver flash18 the water's surface, spreading littering rings. I was there again with my father,19 through islands of lily pads, and I whispered a thank-you for 20 he taught me.

    There are lots of ways to raise awareness for a cause. Usually, the 1 the idea is, the more it gets noticed. And that's precisely why one 2 Frenchman has caught our attention.

    Baptiste Dubanchet is biking across Europe, surviving 3 on discarded（丢弃）food. The three-month, 1 900-mile journey from Paris to Warsaw is Dubanchet's 4 of raising awareness of food waste in Europe and throughout the world.

    As you can 5 , the trip is no piece of cake. While restaurants 6 tons of food each year, much of it remains inaccessible because of 7 garbage containers, health regulations, or business policies. Only about one in ten places 8 him food that would otherwise be discarded.

    For legal 9 , most restaurants have a policy against 10 food waste. "Some people have even 11 their jobs by giving me food," Dubanchet said.

    What's 12 interesting is the attitude various cities have toward Dubanchet's cause. Berlin has been the 13 while the most difficult was the Czech town of Pilsen. There, he had to 14 at some 50 different stores or restaurants before finding food. The 15 is all the more serious when you consider the 16 exercise required to bike from France to Poland.

    "I have to get food 17 because after all the biking I am tired and I need the 18 ,"

    Dubanchet explained. "Is my 19 full or empty? That is the most important thing, not what I am eating."

    He aims to 20 his journey by mid-July. With any luck, he'll turn a few more heads in the process.

    There were two hours before the flight landed in Florida. I was going to meet my 1. It was my first time in the United States. Mother had said I was 2 to learn English in Florida, but the main 3 for coming to Florida was to visit my sister, not to learn English.

    The plane 4! I started running when I 5 my sister! "Oh, you little girl!" she said. She changed her style 6 living there for two years. She looked different since she was 7 a sweater and colored jeans. We went back to her apartment. I was very 8, so I fell asleep quickly. Tomorrow would be an exciting day!

    My sister didn't go to work the next day because she had taken the day 9. We went to Disney's Epcot to 10 all the different buildings. Being hungry, we decided to 11. The food was different from what I was used to and there was a lot to 12 from. She showed me her favorite store and we went to buy all the 13 I wanted. I was having the best 14 of my life. It was late when we came home that night; I went 15 to bed.

    Three days flew by. When my sister took me to the 16, she said, "I'm going to miss you." I was so touched 17 she had never told me 18 like that before. On the plane I was looking forward to seeing all my friends, telling them about this 19 vacation and showing them all my new clothes! I was very 20 about this trip!

    My mother recently read me a speech she had made at a local high school. She read it to me in the 1 that she'd satisfy my endless search for answers-answers to everything. Ever since I was very young, I have2 to my parents, friends and teachers for guidance.3 to make a mistake, I've asked countless times, "What should I do?" Maybe I feared to take my first baby step on my own, I don't remember.

    Sometime during my high school years, I4 . I stopped asking the question continuously. Maybe it was when I decided to try for the5 in Beauty and the Beast. Never mind that I would have to 6 lines and movements, and I would take a risk of 7. The day of audition (试镜)I was still telling myself, "If you don't think you can do it the 8way, just don't go." My heart was pounding (剧烈跳动).My hands were shaking so 9when I got up to sing, that I wasn't 10the people holding the audition would hear me.

    But something happened. When I opened my mouth to sing, the 11 was loud, powerful and sweet. I performed well and even 12the high notes that sometimes were extremely difficult for me. That audition wasn't the13 of the trap that kept me from trying but it was definitely an important part of the 14 of growing.

    I realize that if I want to live my life to the fullest, I have to 15 myself to try things bravely. Now, I do take these chances,16 ones with baby steps, every day, like 17my opinions in class discussions or debates.

    I have come to realize that 18 my parents and grandparents, friends and teachers don't 19have the answer to "what should I do?", they will be there to 20 me when I try. I now know that the choices I make for my life will become easier with every chance I take.