I remember the first time I got on a horse. I was two years old and we were watching a friend of the family ride. My mom agreed to let me take a short ride around the ground with the friend and that was it' I became crazy about having a horse. From then on, I drove my parents mad beg­ging for a horse. Whenever I saw a horse, I would beg even harder.

    When I was four years old, problems appeared in my life. I had Selective Mutism (选择性缄默症). This is an unusual childhood disorder (失调) in which children stop speaking in certain social situations, many times at around the age of four. I spoke to my parents as usual, my brother and certain other people, but was silent at school and in social situations. I went days, weeks, months without a sound at school. At most, I might very quietly speak to a friend.

    My parents looked for a cure. One psychologist (心理医生) had an idea. Having discussed his plan with my parents in advance, one day I was asked by the psychologist what I wanted more than anything in the world. He explained that I was going to be given a chance to work for what I wanted. I couldn't believe my good luck, but I could not answer. I just stood there. Finally, I was allowed to whisper (低声说) the answer in my mother's ear. "A horse," was all I could say.

    I was to get a little horse, but before we could even start looking, I had to try to talk. I had a chart of weekly tasks I had to finish. I had to answer the phone five times every week, something I had never done before. I did everything that was asked of me and the day came when my parents found the perfect horse. His name was Sequoia, a strong little chestnut (栗子马). He was perfect, of course, and I fell in love immediately. It truly was a dream come true. When I was with Sequoia, I forgot all about my problems and felt strong and life.

    By connecting with them, I have learned to hug what I was once not able to do and I found my voice back.

I always tried to do something for the children in some poor villages. On a hot July day, I{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (参加)a group of volunteers and came to a small village in the west of China to  build a library at a primary school.

After a three-hour ride, we{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(到达) the village  at last. The school was poor and we had to choose a{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (明亮的) small room as the library. Our job was to{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (改变……的位置) the books into the room, place them on the{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (架子) and set up small tables and chairs.

I soon found the work wasn't as fun as I had{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (期盼). Later that afternoon, students began to borrow books from the library. One student thanked us again and again because they couldn't{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (买得起) so many books. My{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(心) was filled with Joy. Then we worked on and in the end, we {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (创造) a library.

It only took us one day to build the library, but it will make a{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (差别) to the children's lives.

It was about two o'clock in the early morning {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 21 September, 1999. Tommy was sleeping when the earthquake started. He felt a slight shake, then he {#blank#}2{#/blank#} a loud noise like thunder. Soon the real noise came, like bombs under the ground. The earth started to {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . People screamed in fear. Some ran out of the building. He tried his {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to run out too, but he couldn't.

Outside, people were running in all directions while pieces of glass and bricks were falling down. Then the {#blank#}5{#/blank#} began to come down too!

Finally, the noise and shaking ended. It was dark and silent around him. He could not see anything at all, and he did not know if anyone else was near him. He felt {#blank#}6{#/blank#} and his heart was beating fast. A moment of fear went through his mind, but he told {#blank#}7{#/blank#} to calm down since he was still alive. He shouted for {#blank#}8{#/blank#} , but no one came. He started to move slowly in the darkness. Luckily, there was just enough space for him to move.

Hours later, Tommy heard {#blank#}9{#/blank#} noise above him. He screamed, "Help! Please help! I'm here!" Then he heard shouts from excited people. They {#blank#}10{#/blank#} moved away the bricks. At last, Tommy was safe.

Lisa is serious about the chores in her house. She gives her children things that they 1 . do according to their age. She started by asking John, the2 of her two sons, to help with the dishes. It is now an easy cho re3 . the 15-year-old. His13-year-old brother, Dave, now4 John, too. They take turns (轮流) washing the5 each week. The boys also clean their study tables, make their beds and6 food from the market on Sunday mornings. Besides(除了) these, the boys also know how to cook easy meals 7 their parents are not at home.

The family of 8 live in a big house but they do all the housework themselves.

Lisa says," When I was young, my father wanted us to do things on our own(独立地)and learn how to9 ourselves. Now I'm doing it to my kids." John says," Doing chores is10 . You learn important life skills and responsibility(责任)."

A walk in the forest

I'm Grace. I live on a farm with my parents and take Benji, my pet dog, for a walk most days after school.

Wednesday

As I was going through the forest it started raining hard. Suddenly, I slipped and fell on the ground. Ouch! That hurt. Then a voice said, "Are you all right? That was a bad fall." I looked up and saw a boy about my age. He helped me up. "I haven't seen you at school. Do you live near here?" I asked. "No, I'm from Manchester," he said. "Listen! I have to go. Are you OK to walk home? Do you need help?" "No, I'm fine. Thanks!" I said, then the boy walked away.

Back home, Mum was watching the news.

"Hi, Grace. Have you heard about this boy, Mark?" she asked. "No, what boy?" I said. "A boy from Manchester. He's run away from home. Look! This is his dad."

There was a man on TV sitting next to a policeman. He was crying and looked as if he hadn't slept for days. Then they showed a photo of the missing boy. I knew him. It was the boy in the forest. He was Mark. "Should I say something? No, I mustn't say anything. Maybe he has a good reason. I have to talk to him first." I said to myself.

Thursday

I found Mark in the forest. I said, "Your dad was on TV last night. The police are looking for you." He looked shocked and asked, "Did you say anything? Have you told them?" "No," I said. "I wanted to talk to you first. Why have you run away?" He looked at the ground and said, "I had a big argument with my dad. My mum died four years ago. It was very hard for me and for Dad. But then he met someone new. Mel's her name. She wants my dad for herself and isn't interested in me. My dad keeps telling me to make an effort with her, but I can't. The night I ran away, he told me that we would all move to London because Mel's from London. But my grandpa and my friends are in Manchester. I don't want to move to London. We both got angry. So I took my tent and left in the middle of the night."

I felt sorry for Mark, but I thought of his dad crying on TV and felt sorry for him too. "What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I don't know. I need time to think," he replied. 

"    ▲        ."

In 1944, a young man carrying a bag filled with books knocked on the doors of Mr. Wu Dayou's house in Kunming. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} young man was there to ask Wu to let him study in the then National Southwest Associated University (NSAU/Xinan Lianda) , where Wu was a professor. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (surprising) , just 13 years later, the seemingly common young man won the Nobel Prize in Physics. This man is none other than Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee.

During his years spent in NSAU, Lee quickly grew intellectually. He often {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (find) himself asking Wu after lessons for more work and would often search for {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (know) outside of the courses. 

Lee entered the University of Chicago's Graduate School {#blank#}5{#/blank#} just 23 years old and began researching physics. In 1956, he became {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (young) full professor at Columbia University. One year later, he, along with Chen Ning Yang, won the Nobel Prize in Physics. 

When Lee returned to China in the spring of 1979, he {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (invite) to teach two classes at the University of Science and Technology of China. He badly wanted more Chinese researchers {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (understand) the progress the world has made in the past decades. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} he established the CUSPEA program in 1979, which supported 915 Chinese students to study in the U. S. 

Although he was living abroad. Lee remained connected to China. His legacy serves as an inspiration (激励) for future generations to pursue {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (they) dreams and make a positive difference to the world.