A Leap （跳跃）to Honor

    Leapirg on a narrow balance beam( 平衡木) is not easy. But Lola Water. a 13-year-old gymnast is an expert at it.

    To perfect her skills. Lola1 for four hours a day, five days a week. At the slate championships in March，she finished seventh  out of 16 girts. That's especially impressive. 2she is legaly blind, horn  with a rare  condition that causes her eyes to shift (转移)canstantly. She often sees double and can't3 how far away things  are.

    When she was little, her mom 4 even though she couldn't5, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the 6 right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

    Though  learning gymnastics has been  more7for her than for some of  her tournaments( 锦际赛). she has never quit(放弃). She doesn't let her8 stop her from doing anything that she warts to. She likes the  determination (决心）it takes to do the sport. Her biggest 9 is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even clones her eyes. "You have to10your mind that it'll take you where you want to go”, says Lola.

    To be a top-level gymmast, one must be brave The beam is probably the most 11 for anyone because it's only four inches wide At the state competition, Lob didn 't12the beam, In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10 一 her highest scone yet.

    Lola doesn't want to be 13, differently from the other girls un her team, At the competitions, the judges don't know about her vision14. She doesn't tell them, because she doesn't think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her 15altitude.

    Loda never thinks about16. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics.  Her17is to reach level 9.She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach 1018what she s learned to other kids when she grew up.

    Lola is 19of all her hard work and  success. She says it has helped her overcome problems in her life

    Outside gymnastics, too. Her 20for others is “just believe yourself ”.

    I went with some colleagues from my office for a dinner in a very popular local restaurant. It was 1 business time and the restaurant was packed. We 2 found a table in a corner for three of us.

    As soon as we sat down, we heard a crash when a cleaning boy 3 the floor with all the plates he was carrying. There was 4 and no one was saying or doing anything.

    In a flash I remembered my 5 many years ago. Once, I 6 in the airport because I had rushed there on my own on an empty stomach. I was picked up and taken care of by two 7. Now this was my chance to 8 it forward.

    I ran to the young man's side immediately, turned him on his back and screamed for someone to 9 a hot drink. Soon people started asking if I was a doctor. I said I was not, 10 I was skillful at blacking out(晕厥).

    The kid soon opened his eyes, 11 what had happened. I 12 him by saying it was OK and I had had a 13 experience. He had not eaten anything. I held the 14 drink to his mouth till he finished it and sat with him till he felt OK.By then the 15 had arrived. I asked her to give the kid something to eat. I offered to pay.

    The manager was kind enough to refuse the 16 and agreed to make sure the kid ate before he went home. By the time all this was 17 it was getting late for my colleagues. We hadn't 18 anything yet, so they decided to go home.

    I slowly walked home, not hungry any more, feeling 19 for the opportunity I pay forward the 20 I had received many years ago.

    After she left the town, Jane stopped the car at the landing near the entrance of the bay (海湾).She stepped into the 1 and rowed out silently. The tide was rushing to the entrance and 2 to the wild open sea. She had to row across the bay to reach 3 side. The waves struck against the side of the boat, 4 and uneven; it became 5 difficult to row. If she 6 for a moment, the tide would push the boat back towards the 7.

    She wasn't even halfway 8 she was already tired and her hands 9 from pulling on the rough wooden oars (船桨). "I'm never going to 10 it", she thought. She rested the oars on her knees and 11 her head helplessly, then looked up as she 12 the boat shift (晃动) against the tide.

    The east wind , which had swung (旋转) around from the south-west, 13 her help and pushed the boat towards the mountains. It was going to be 14. Her hands weren't so painful. Her chest didn't feel as if it was about to burst 15.

    The lights of the town became 16, one of the oars banged against the side of the boat and she 17 it with a start. Had she been asleep, or just 18? She looked over her shoulder.  She was almost on the beach. The girl gave one last 19 on the oars to ground the boat, and then lay back against the seat. She listened to the waves 20 and knew she had come home. Far across the moonlit bay the lights were no more than a sparkling chain.

    I never thought I would be a "runner". I was the girl who1slowest in the PE class. A few years ago, I was walking with a group of2in the Race(比赛) for the Cure, a 5km race designed to3money for the fight against breast cancer(癌), 4one lady caught my5.

    She was one of the weakest-looking women I've ever seen. She must have been close to seventy years old,6a T-shirt with the word "Survivor". She was so small that it seemed as if she could even be7by a strong wind. But, she was running. And she was8me 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, I10that in the next Race for the Cure, I'd be running along with her.

    A week later, I found myself in the11, 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. I12slow down to a walk. I thought of the13at the race. I kept it up. I was able to go a little14each time. Three and a half minutes. Four minutes. Five.

    A year later, I was15at the Race for the Cure, but this time, I16with the runners. When the race started, the other runners passed me by. I ran forward. I17if I'd be able to do it. But then, I remembered the18woman. I ran as fast as I could until I finally crossed that finish line. I had just19my first race! I looked down at my legs, amazed. They had done something I'd never thought20. I have never felt stronger than at that moment. And I knew that I wanted to do it again.

I didn't go to Santiago,Chile to look for friendship.In fact,Chile was not even on my wish list.

A mid-life crisis woman,I got a chance to study abroad.I only wanted to learn about global business,taste South American  cuisine,and  check"study  abroad"off my  wish  list.

On the fifth day,I joined a group for a neighborhood work project aided by the anti-poverty(扶贫)organization. Our tasks were to build a water tower and paint the community center.Upon arrival,I couldn't believe my eyes.It was like a scene out of a horrible film.That moment redefined poverty for me because I had never seen such terrible living conditions.As advised,I showed no signs of the emotional battle going on inside me.

Just as I was about to start work on painting,a request came through for a few volunteers to help Nadia,a local resident who volunteered to cook for us.I raised my hand to help because I wanted to spend time with the people of the neighborhood despite my shortage of Spanish speaking skills.  Nadia had a sincere smile but not overly friendly.Even without speaking each other's language,we started to learn about one another.We chatted about our children,our upbringing,shared pictures of our family,struggled to instruct each other to communicate in the other's language,and laughed many times.

After we fed everybody and the dishes were washed,my day was over.But I found myself hesitant to leave.It was as if I had known her my entire life.I had not predicted the unselfishness of heart I would encounter,and it was moving.

As we were waiting for the car to pick us up,Nadia showed me her plants that are well-maintained.I could see that despite the hard conditions she was passionate about life.She made me long to be a stronger person.She showed me that poverty was external,but happiness was internal.I was seeking to give 100 percent for a well-intentioned cause,but I left receiving 200 percent from her.

BEIJING—Chinese cities are pursuing high-quality development in  {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（vary）of ways, but new technologies are a consistent choice and have already helped some explore smarter, greener and more innovative paths.

Huangshi, an industrial city in central China's Hubei province,  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（harvest）the benefits of intelligent technologies in the past decade. Mining may conjure up（使人联系到）images of a dirty, labor-intensive and dangerous sector. But that is not the  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（real）in Huangshi, where mining relies on unmanned machines, remote {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（monitor）technologies and intelligent coordination systems.

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（dress）in a blue work suit and white shirt, Daye Iron Mine worker Yuan Jianjun sits in front of several computers in a spacious command center. His eyes are fixed on the screens, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} show live images of underground mining machines and real-time data from sensors placed inside the mine.

In the past, Yuan worked underground in a very  {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（dust）environment. "It used to be a challenging job both physically and mentally," he said. Now, machines are controlled {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（remote）from an office environment to collect minerals.

Tech support has reduced labor intensity and improved workplace safety, enabling more mining sector employees like Yuan  {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（work）in a safer and healthier environment  {#blank#}10{#/blank#} previous generations. "It has become a decent job," Yuan said.