The day when I would go off to college was around the corner. Mom stood me in her usual spot behind the ironing board (烫衣板)and said, “Pay attention: I'm going to teach you to iron.”

    Mom clearly explained her 1 for this lesson. I was going to be2 and needed to learn this 3skill. Also, I would be meeting new people, and properly ironed clothes would help me make a good 4“Learn to iron a shirt,” Mom said, “and you can iron5”

    But ironing shirts was not 6 work. It didn't make use 7long muscles we used to throw a baseball, and it wasn't a 8 operation like ice-skating. Ironing was like driving a car on a street that has a stop 9 every 10 feet. Moreover, an iron produced steam and it carried an element of 10.If you touched the wrong part of it, you'd get 11. If you forgot to turn it off when you 12 you might burn down the house.

    As for technique, Mom 13 me to begin with the flat spaces outward, always pushing the iron forward into wrinkled (有褶皱的）parts.14had to be done right. Mom said they were close to your face, where everyone would15 them.

    Over the years, I've learned to iron shirts skillfully, which gives me a sense of 16. 17failures I suffer in my life, an ironed shirt tells me I am good at something. 18,through ironing I've learned the 19 of solving even the most troublesome problems. “20 wrinkles one at a time,” as Mom might have said, “and before long everything will get ironed out.”

Hope in my arms

    Last year, I was invited to participate in a carnival（嘉年华） for Tuesday' s Child, an organization that helps children with AIDS.

    All the children that had 1 at one special room could paint a square on a piece of cloth. Later the squares would be sewn(缝) together to2 a quilt. The quilt would be presented to a man who had devoted his life to the   3 and would soon be retiring.

    The kids were given paints in bright colors and asked to paint something that would make the quilt beautiful. As I looked around at all the squares, I saw pink hearts, blue clouds, orange sunrises and red flowers. The pictures were all bright and 4. All except one.

    One boy was painting a heart, but it was dark and lifeless. It lacked the bright colors that his fellow artists had used. I asked why. He told me that he was very5 and so was his mom. He said that his sickness was not ever going to get better and 6 was his mom's. He looked7into my eyes and said, "There is no hope in my life."

    I told him I was sorry and I could understand why he had made his heart a dark color. I told him that8 we couldn't make him better, we can give 9, which can really help when you are feeling sad. I told him that if he would like, I would be happy to give him one so he could see what I meant. 10, he crawled(爬上) into my lap（大腿）. I thought my own heart would burst for this sweet little boy. He sat there for a long time. Finally he slipped 11to finish his coloring.

    As I was getting ready to12 home, I felt a tug (猛拽) on my jacket. Standing there was the little boy,13. He said, "My heart is changing14. It is getting brighter. I think those hugs really do 15." On my way home I felt my own heart. It too had changed to a brighter color.

    The Youth Commission meeting only just started; I didn't even want to think about the piles of homework sitting on my desk at home. I didn't wanted to 1 the youth involvement in the annual holiday parade in the meeting, much less 2 the speech of Ray D.

    Ray D. came to every meeting of the Youth Commission. The local papers 3 him as "a thorn in public official's side-open, honest and overactive." He gave himself the 4 of "Citizen Ray" and even wore a baseball cap with this name printed on the front. He came to the meetings and 5 unsafe bike lanes and noise complaints, 6 they had nothing to do with our 7 and we could do nothing about them. He always went over the two-minute limit for guest speakers, and would not stop 8 until one of us told him his 9 was up.

    After countless nights of staying up to finish my 10 because of meetings that ran 11, largely due to distractions provided by Citizen Ray, I began to hate his 12. Why did he waste his time with the Youth Commission, when we couldn't 13 him with all of his issues? 14, we planned youth forums and relayed information about the town government to our peers; we didn't fix problems or give out building permits that he seemed to 15.

    It took me several months to 16 understand the motivations of Citizen Ray. Most people in their late seventies are 17 to leave the workplace and live in the relaxation provided by 18. Ray D., however, considered participating in the public good as his duty as a(n) 19. His efforts should be admired, not hated. After all, Ray is motivated, dedicated and ambitious. His persistence and 20would prove valuable in any field of study or work, and I realized I should value his presence.

    The sun is shining brightly out of my window. But there is no 1 in my heart. I still feel really cold.

    After the first remedy(治疗), I never feel any better. Everyone 2 me not to move anywhere. Even a little cut may 3 my life.

    “Honey,” Mommy said to me with manful 4 in her eyes. “Please go on. You're 5 enough to live on!”

    “Don't worry,” I smiled, “I'm OK, Mommy. I'll never give up.” Mommy smiled as 6 after hearing my words.

    But how can I go on? It's I who have spent each penny in my family which was 7 by my parents for their whole lives. It's my blood cancer that made 8 become old overnight, but they still have to smile and 9 me though they're being killed by the much more sorrow than I am.

    In fact, we have had no money to pay for the 10 remedy. I don't know 11 I have to be paid for so much to keep the little time in my life. It's really12.

    I don't want to be the criminal. I don't want to leave the world with an empty family and my 13 parents. I don't want to be the heavy 14 of my family in my last days.

    Suddenly all is black. I passed out 15. I don't know how many times I passed out and 16. I wish this is the last time.

A familiar song comes to my mind:

    “Mama, you gave life to me, 17 a baby into a lady; Mama, all I have to offer was a guarantee of you loving me…”

    I don't know if I'm still 18. But I'm sure I can see the drops of tears 19 from Mommy's eyes and she is smiling. She said to me, “Baby, I know you're leaving. I know I can't 20 you from leaving me. Take care of yourself whether you're in the human world or not. I will always love you!”

    It was a busy morning, about 8:30,when an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital .I heard him saying to the nurse that he was in a hurry for all appointment(约会)at 9:30 The nurse had him take a 1 in the waiting area, 2 him it would be at least 40 Minutes 3 someone would be able to see him I saw him4his watch and decided, since I was5busy—my patient didn't6 at the appointed hour, I would examine his wound .While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment .The gentleman said no and told me that he 7to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his8. He told me that she had been 9for a while and that she had a special disease I asked if she would be10if he was a bit late. He replied that she 11 knew who he was，that she had not been able to 12 him for five years now. I was13, and asked him, "And you14go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled and said. "She doesn't know me but I know who she is" I had to hold back 15 as he left.

    Now I 16 that in marriages，true love is17of all that is .The happiest people don't 18have the best of everything; they just 19the best of everything they have.20 isn't about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

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."