From my second grade on, there was one event I feared every year: the piano recital(独奏演唱会). A recital 1I had to practice a boring piece of music and perform before strangers. Each year I 2ask my father if I could skip the recital “just this once”. And each year he would shake his head, muttering(嘀咕)3about build self-confidence and working toward a 4.

    So it was with really great5that I stood in church one recent Sunday, video camera in hand, and 6my 68-year-old father sweating in his shirt 7rising to play the piano in his very first recital.

    My father had longed to play music since childhood, but his family was poor and couldn't 8lessons. He could have gone on regretting it,9too many of us do. But though he was rooted in his past, he wasn't 10there. When he retired three years ago, he 11 his church music director to take him as a student.

    For a moment after my father sat down at the keyboard, he 12stared down at his fingers. Has he forgotten the 13? I worried, remembering those split seconds14ago when my mind would go blank and my fingers would 15. But then came the beautiful melody(旋律)，from the 16fingers that once baited(装饵于) my fishing lines. And I17he had been doing what music teachers always stress:18the music and pretend the others aren't there.

     “I'm 19of him for starting something new at his age,” I said to my son Jeff.

    “Yeah, and doing it so20,” Jeff added.

    With his first recital, my father taught me more about courage and determination than all the words he used those 30-plus years ago.

    A little boy almost considered himself as the most unfortunate child in the world because a terrible illness made his leg lame（癖的）. He 1 played with his classmates; and when the teacher asked him to answer questions, he always 2 his head without a word.

    One spring, the boy's father got some saplings （树苗）3 the neighbor and told his 4 to plant one each person. The father also 5 to buy a favorite gift for whoever grew best. The boy also wanted to get his father's 6. But seeing his brothers and sisters carry water actively, he lost 7. So after watering it once or twice, he never8 it.

    A few days later, when the little boy went to see his tree again, he was 9 to find that it appeared greener and 10 than his sisters' and brothers'. His father 11 his promise, and said that he would surely become an outstanding botanist（植物学家）when he 12 up.

    From then on, the little boy slowly became 13. One night, looking at the bright moonlight outside, he suddenly recalled what the 14 teacher once said: plants generally grow at night. Then he came to the courtyard and unexpectedly found his father 15 under his tree with a big spoon. 16, he understood: his father had been secretly watering his small tree! He 17 to his room, tears running down out of control.

    Decades passed. The little boy didn't become a botanist, 18 he was elected President of the United States. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.

    19 is the best nutrition （营养）of life; even if it is just one spoonful of clear 20, it can make the tree of life lively.

    My most rewarding experience throughout the past two years was volunteering at the swimming competition for Special Olympics where a disabled friend of my community took part. This had special 1 for me because experiencing it helped improve my leadership skills, develop my character, and support my community.

    Firstly, my 2 skills developed when I independently directed each swimmer where to 3 at the platform and 4 each competitor when they needed to swim. I had to make sure that the swimmers were 5 and ready to perform. This kept me on my feet at all times and 6 of each event's time and location. I learned each swimmer's name, 7 many of them swam in more than one event.

    Secondly, my 8 was greatly influenced. When I saw the swimmers get their awards for winning each swimming event, I was deeply moved. I was 9 that most swimmers could swim better than I. Their 10 attitudes astonished me, whether they won or lost. This also enlarged my view, offering me the opportunity to 11 people I would normally not run into. I went out of my 12 zone and did whatever was needed to be done, even if it was sometimes difficult to me. It was especially 13 when I saw the glowing faces of the competitors.

    Lastly, I was of 14 to my community by lending a hand to this organization. To be a part of it gave me a chance to improve my community and become 15 with the people living in this area.

    As Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we do, but we make a(n)16 by what we give.” The importance of 17 should be stressed throughout your life. 18, through the many opportunities my community has offered I was privileged to be 19 in this exciting and important event in these competitors' lives. I hope to be a(n) 20 again at this event in years to come.

Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.

It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went

An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

His house was dirty, and a stench(恶臭) came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.

The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.

But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.

Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing.

I grew up hiking and climbing mountain s a lot. It was my dad who accompanied me and taught me how to hike and climb mountains. On our first hike, our group ran ahead without us. Dad and I ended up 1 the path toward the top. This was the 2 part of the climb, where we had to climb rocks. I was scared not to have the path to tell us where to go. Mainly, I was afraid that Dad would fall off the mountain when he went 3 to seek for the best way for me to climb up. I was grateful for his 4 . He always made me feel like I was safe with him — even when he insisted that we should not 5 .

When we were close to the top, we 6 some hikers. One of them crouched (蹲) down on a rock, grasping at branches of a bush. His face was 7 and looked frozen, like a statue. Dad asked what was going on. The man 8 told him that he was frightened of 9 . In my 7-year-old mind, I thought, "But, you're climbing a mountain!" Dad always helped people in trouble. He told the man to 10 him while he led him to a spot below that was 11 by trees, with no view of the valley below. Dad told him to wait there for his group of hikers to come back and 12 him up. Dad taught me sympathy and to help others in need whenever I can.

When we finally reached the top and 13 our group, we sat on the highest point, looking at the breathtaking scenery. I was so 14 we hadn't stopped halfway. Dad taught me, "Don't give up, especially when you're almost there." This has been a valuable 15 that has got me through some big challenges in my life.

Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity (对称) is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics aroused comparisons to Marie Curie.

Chien-Shiung Wu was born in a town of Jiangsu province, China, in 1912. Wu and her father were extremely close, and he encouraged her interests passionately, creating an environment where she was surrounded by books, magazines, and newspapers. Wu received her elementary school education at Mingde Women's Vocational School founded by her father.

Wu left her hometown in 1923 to go to the Suzhou Women's Normal School No 2, which was fifty miles from her home. In an era when "getting married" was considered the best destiny for women, she carved out a new path for herself through her diligent and earnest approach to learning and her thirst for knowledge.

In 1936, Chien-Shiung Wu went to the United States to pursue further studies in atomic physics. It was during this period of her education that she came to know Oppenheimer, who was teaching in the Physics Department. Under the guidance of renowned physicists such as Oppenheimer, Lawrence, and Segre, Chien-Shiung, Wu successfully completed her studies and her doctoral research. Due to the highly sensitive nature of her work, the details of her research were not revealed until the end of World War II.

In 1984, Chien-Shiung Wu returned to China from the United States. At the age of 72, she made a substantial donation of $250,000 to her hometown to support its development. Later, she also became an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1997, Chien-Shiung Wu passed away. Before her death, she requested to be buried in her hometown of Suzhou. Today, her tombstone in Taicang, Suzhou, bears the inscription: "She was an outstanding global citizen and a forever Chinese."