I had been staring at the white walls of the video game store for about 2 hours since lunch. It was a very 1 day. I glanced at the table in front of the store, and my heart 2. It was the donation table for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda and even though I had donated what I could, I 3 felt sad whenever I saw the people on the TV suffering.I was broken out of my 4 when the doors got open. Customers, 5 !

    She was a small girl about 10 or 11. Her mother was accompanying her with a few plastic bags. I 6 her mom. When I was selling cigarettes on the street, I saw her selling clothes she7herself at the market.

    The daughter just had a 8 and her mom finally had 9 money to buy a PS3 and some games.

    The girl half-jogged, half-skipped to my counter. She 10 her backpack and pulled out a console(操纵板). Her mom handed me the bag full of games.

    “Can I 11 this?”

    “Sure sweetie, no problem.”

    I inspected the console and the games, and nothing was opened. According to our 12 , I returned the 13 to the mom. She handed it to the girl. And the girl ran off as fast as her little feet could take her. I was about to ask when the mom, seeing my 14 , explained, “She wants to sell her birthday 15 , so she can donate to the 16 .”

    She was 17to give up what was supposed to be hers and gave to those 18 . That's real generosity out there.

    19 I was watching her talking to the girl at the donations table, I was reminded that even though there are a lot of 20 people in the world, there are still those people just like that little girl.

    One night, when I was eight , my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. “Sweetie, my company wants to  1me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling that you've done 2 and allowing you to skip a grade(跳级), but you'll have to 3 your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?” She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was puzzled. The question kept me 4 for the rest of the night I had said “yes” but for the first time, I realized the5decisions adults had to make.

    For almost four years, my mother would call us from Brazil every day. Every evening I'd 6 wait for the phone to ring and then tell her every detail of my day. A phone call, however, could never replace her 7and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

    During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large 8 apartment, I became 9 how lonely my mother must have been in Brazil herself. It was then10 I started to appreciate the tough choices she had to make on 11 family and work. 12difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn't know whether you make the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with passion and a 13attitude.

    Back home , I 14 myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she 15  to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be 16 . I learn how to take care of myself and set high but achievable17.

    My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the 18 has really taught me. Sacrifices 19 in the end. The separation between us has proved to be 20 for me.

    On a hot summer day in America, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He dived into the cool water, Not 1that as he swam towards the middle of the lake, a crocodile (鳄鱼) was swimming toward him.

    His mother2was looking out of the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer. In great3she ran toward the water,4 to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became 5 and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.6 it was too late. Just as he reached her, the 7reached him. From the shore, the mother 8 her little boy by the arms just as the crocodile snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war (拔河) between the 9The crocodile was much 10 than the mother, but the mother wouldn't11A farmer 12to drive by, heard their screams, raced from his truck, took aim and13 the crocodile.

    14 after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His 15were extremely scarred (留下疤痕) by the attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches (抓痕) where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

    The newspaper reporter, who 16the boy, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his legs. And then, with obvious 17 he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them 18my Mom wouldn't let go.”

    Never judge another person's19, because you don't know 20 they were made.

    “The way we choose to respond to others can cause them to feel ashamed 1can allow them to remember our kindness and2our stories with the future generations.” when I read this3 I thought of Doris, a very 4person. All around her room were dolls she had made: they were the most interesting dolls I'd ever seen.

    One day 5I was in her room, she took one of her dolls out of the case to6me, saying it was the7doll she had ever made. The doll was very unusual with fine artistic work. I was amazed that anyone could crate something so 8.

    Doris held the dolls very carefully. Then she slowly9the doll in such a way that I could see a10crack(裂缝)on the skirt. Doris said that on the way to class she bumped(撞击)the side of the skirt. She expressed how she was 11.When it was her turn to show the doll to the teacher, she pointed out the crack. Doris felt12that the doll would be13. Much to her surprise, the teacher told her she was just going to ignore the crack and 14the doll on the other good 15it had. Doris said this remark and16changed her life. She knew17the teacher hadn't overlooked the crack, she18had made the rest of the dolls.

    The teacher could have made Doris feel ashamed about the crack. But because of her19to ignore the crack, Doris was sharing her20to the next generation.

    Hearing my name called, I turned and found it was Carina. After three months, I was 1 with my group leader. She was a twenty-two-year-old native New Yorker who had 2me on a five-week trip to Spain.

    3 our trip was my first experience of traveling and seeing the world, it was an eye-opening one that has left me thirsty for more 4. Much of the change that the trip brought to me came from Carina because she encouraged me to 5 myself while in Spain. She urged me to speak more Spanish and 6 more about Spain. We traveled around and 7 much about Spanish history and present situation, which helped me learn more about the rich Spanish 8.

    Now that we met again in New York, our conversation picked up again, 9 this time it was about our futures. 10, this meeting was less of a reunion but more of a goodbye. She would 11 San Francisco the next day, packing her life into two suitcases and moving to the other side of the country. “I'm not staying here just because it's 12 to live here. Make sure that you will 13 your heart and be brave in your college study,” she urged me.

    Carina's 14made me realize that the world is full of things to explore. I've lived in a small New England town my whole life without any adventure, so it's time to 15 and go somewhere I can do something  16. I see college as a 17 to take a risk and discover new things. I want a place to test new 18. Whether it's helping people as a doctor, or performing research for a field study, I want to be more like Carina and have no fear of trying new things. She introduced me to the world of 19, and now that I've gotten a taste, I'm going to 20 for more.

    When I was a junior school student, I was a slightly bored male student who believed that doing any more than 1 was wasted effort. One day, this idea threw me into 2.

    In Mrs. Totten's math class, she3 assigned daily homework, and on the following day, our 4 were based on our oral answers to homework questions.

    Mrs. Totten usually walked up and down the rows of desks 5 answers from student after student in the 6the questions had appeared on our homework sheets. She would 7either at the front or the back of the classroom and work toward the other end.

    Since I was  8 near the middle of about 35 students, it was easy to9which questions I might have to answer. This particular time, I had completed my usual two or three problems according to my 10.

    What I11 to expect was that several students were 12, which threw off my estimate.13 Mrs. Totten made her way from the beginning of the class，I 14 tried to determine which math problem I would get. I tried to work it out before she got to me, but I had 15freeze and it couldn't even16.

    When Mrs. Totten 17 my desk，she asked what answer I'd got for problem No. 14. "I…I didn't get anything," I answered，and my face felt warm.

    "Correct," she said.

    It 18that the correct answer was zero.

    What did I learn that day? First,19 do all your homework. Second, in real life it isn't what you say but how you say it that 20.