One year, a college in the United States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold(金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in the nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.

    One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It was an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it, but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root (根）in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year; the field was covered by pure white marigold.

     Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.

The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her eight children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics(遗传学) couldn't complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.

     Still, the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest(最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose ...Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman's husband died, her children flew far, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.

     Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.

     A problem even experts couldn't deal with was solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Was it a miracle (奇迹）?

     To take root in the heart, even the most common seed, can grow into a miracle!

    On Christmas Eve (平安夜), Simon usually has a party with his family in his house. They buy a Christmas tree and decorate(装饰)it with flowers, toys, lights and cards. After they finish, it looks very beautiful. Then they have a big Christmas dinner. There is turkey, hot drinks and much other Christmas food on the table. After dinner, they sit under the Christmas tree and sing songs happily. They all have a lot of fun.

When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks each summer in the countryside with our uncle. He was a geologist and loved to go on long {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(步行) to find stones to add to his collection at the university.

One {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(星期六) morning, our uncle gave us two backpacks. "You can help me carry the samples(样本)," he explained. The whole day, we walked around the countryside, and every now and then, our uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(惊讶的) that sometimes he also took some stones out from our bags, but thought he had just found better samples.

We {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(到达) the house in the late afternoon. The backpacks were so heavy that we were really tired out when we put them on the ground. Yet our uncle's backpack was nearly {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(空).

"Why did you give us so many stones?" we asked.

"I didn't. You did," he said, waiting for a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(一会儿) before continuing. "You did not know it, but I made you go through a little attitude(态度) test today."

"What do you mean an ‘attitude test'?" we were {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(想知道).

"You see, I listened to every word you said. And if you complained(抱怨) about anyone or {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(任何事情), I added a stone to your bags. But whenever you talked about something in an attitude of positive(积极乐观的) thinking, I took out a stone. And now look at your backpacks."

We did. Surely, {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(我们的) were full.

"I hope you will {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(记住) this little attitude test and live your life wisely. The more negative thoughts you have, the heavier your mind is.

The day came．Grandma was moving out of her big house．I was sad．I had a lot of memories in that house．

I asked where Grandma was moving to．My dad said, "Somewhere near us．Don't worry．"

But I was worried．I spent a lot of time with Grandma．In fact, I wanted to see her more．I thought no one wanted to tell me, because they knew I would be sad．"It must be far away，" I said to myself．

We put all of Grandma's things in the truck．I sat beside her in the car．On the way, we talked a lot．

After a while, we arrived．I saw her new house．

It was our house! Grandma was coming to live with us．

Bonnie shook with cold. It was almost 1 . Bonnie needed a warm and safe place to spend the following months. 

Finding a new place to sleep was 2 than he thought. No place was right. Finally, Bonnie found a cave in a hill. It was 3 except for one thing. The opening was small because it was covered with a lot of soil and roots. "I'll dig out some soil and make the entrance bigger," he thought. Bonnie dug and dug. It took a lot of hard work and effort. 

The roots were too strong to be cleared away.4 he heard a loud sound, "rack". Bonnie turned quickly and saw a small squirrel. He smiled at Bonnie, "It seems that you need help." Bonnie sighed, "I have been trying to 5 this cave, but it's difficult." 

"I'm Jack, and I can help," said the squirrel. "But you are too small," said Bonnie. Bonnie sat down as Jack ran away. A few minutes later, he came back. 

"What you need is a book," said Jack. "Reading can help you. Books are full of knowledge. He handed Bonnie a thick book." 

Bonnie paid careful attention to the story about a lion and a mouse. 

The lion thought the mouse was too 6 to help him. One day the lion got caught in a 7 . The mouse chewed( 咬 ) the net's ropes and helped the lion run away. "The lion learned an important lesson," said Bonnie. "I think I did, too." The mouse had sharp teeth and so did Jack. Jack could help. The new friends made a fine team. Jack chewed through the thick roots and Bonnie dug out the soil. Finally, Bonnie could 8 the opening easily. 

"Are you 9 with your new home?" asked Jack. "Sure, I am!" said Bonnie, "I won't be homeless on such a cold day any more! And I have 10 something, too. Never look down upon others who appear to be weaker than you." 

The English Language Assistants program（英语语言助理课程）is very famous in the UK. Every year，it sends many language teachers to support the teaching of English in other places around the world. I took part in the program last year and spent six months in a small town called Privas（普里瓦）in France. 

The small town lies in the southeast of France. It is a beautiful place. And it's famous for its chestnuts（栗子）. Lots of chestnuts are produced there every year. There is even a festival about chestnuts. People from Privas have a strong sense of belonging. On weekends，young people who live a busy life in nearby cities often come back to Privas to get together with their family. 

The quiet environment and comfortable lifestyle（生活方式）made me fall in love with Privas. The school where I taught was a great place to learn about French culture. I learned some special French customs there. 

People greet each other by kissing on the cheek（脸颊）. The number of kisses depends on where you are in France. On my first night in Privas，I stayed with a host family. They told me that in most places in France，people give two. In the north of France，they give four kisses. And in Privas，the custom is to give three. This made me sometimes wonder which cheek to kiss first. Since I had long hair，when a person was kissing me，some of my hair would end up in his or her mouth. That was really funny and awkward（令人尴尬的）. But people there were pleased that I was getting used to the local culture. 

Six months of staying there made me feel like part of the town. It was an unforgettable experience and I can't wait to return there some day.