For a long time Gabriel didn't want to be involved in music at all. In his first years of high school,Gabriel would look pityingly at music students,1across the campus with their heavy instrument cases.2at school for practice hours3anyone else had to be there.He swore to himself to4music,as he hated getting to school extra early.

    5 ， one day，in the music class that was 6of his school's standard curriculurn，he was playing idly （随意地）on the piano and found it 7to pick out tunes.With a sinking feeling,he realized that he actually 8doing it.He tried to hide his 9pleasure from the music teather, who had 10over to listen. He might not have done this particularly well,11the teacher told Gabriel that he had a good12and suggested that Gabriel go into the musin store-room to see if any of the instruments there13him. There he decided to give the cello（大提琴）a 14. When he began practicing, he took it very 15. But he quickly found that he loved playing this instrurnent, and was 16to practicing it so that within a couple of months he was playing reasonably well.

    This 17, of course, that he arrived at school early in the morning,18his heavy instrument case across the campus to the 19looks of the non-musicians he had left20.

    I lost my elderly mother a few weeks ago. Actually, my mother had fallen over during the night and had not been able to 1 again. She had woken up the neighbors by banging on the wall. The 2 called an ambulance, which took her 3 to the hospital.

    My mother has 4thought that hospitals are a real horror. She believes that doctors and hospitals give you 5 diseases. My father went to hospital a year ago, and after a few weeks, he 6. The fact that he was also in the final 7 of lung cancer was certainly related, but by my mother's logic, my father's death was 8 with the hospital.

    When a neighbor 9 me up and told me that my mother had been taken off in an ambulance, the first thing I did was similar, which was to ring Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The paramedics(护理人员) had told my neighbor that my mother would 10 be taken there, 11 I was told that no one by that name had been 12, so they gave me the numbers of two other West Midland hospitals. Both of them also 13 that they were holding my mother . I rang the 14 and asked them to find her, but the nice officer said he could only do that if she had been reported as a(n) 15 person.

    It took six calls to 16 my mother. She had been in Queen Elizabeth Hospital all along, but because their computer system hadn't been updated overnight, there was no record of her 17. My mother had spent more than a 18 in the hospital when it turned out there was nothing 19 with her. I managed to get her out within 10 days, but only by agreeing that in the future, she would live downstairs. In return, the hospital said they would 20 for a social worker to visit the house three or four rimes a day.

    Luckily, my mother is safe. Thank all the people who have given their help to us.

    I have always lived in India, and was recently traveling from Mumbai to Jaipur for work. Arriving at the airport 1, I was asked to hang out in the waiting area 2, without much else to do, I decided to check out the gift shop. As I walked around the store, I saw two American 3 having a nap on a recliner(躺椅) outside. It looked as if they had been at the airport for hours, and I felt I had to do something to help ease their 4.

    I looked around the store for a few moments, and 5purchasing a medium-sized stuffed by toy which looked like the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants (though it was orange instead of the normal yellow). I asked the owner of the shop for a 6 and a pen and wrote, “When you get up 7this makes you smile, it would 8 the world to me. Have a good trip and an awesome experience. ”

    I walked 9 towards the two women and placed the toy and the note next to them. Not wanting to shock on 10 them, I tried to be as slow as possible, but in my 11 to flee the scene, one of them woke up and 12me in the act. At first when she looked at me, I 13: maybe she thinks I'm a thief? 14when she looked at the soft toy and the note, she brightened up, as if this was the 15thing anyone had ever done for her. “Is this for me?” she asked. I gave her a huge 16 and nodded.

    She was so excited! For a minute, it didn't feel like we were 17 anymore. I shook hands with her, and her smile 18my day. I walked away with nothing but 19 for her, and came to feel that, even though we were from 20 places, she was just like me.

    There is a fine line between a parent who is active and open-minded and one that doesn't know when to let go. As my daughter, Nicole, prepares to leave home for college, I'm discovering how hard it is to stay on the 1 side of this line. One day, it was time to prepare for dinner. When I held 2 the apron strings (围裙带) connecting us, Nicole, eager to 3 independence, tried to loosen my grasp (掌控). What resulted was a (an) 4 mother-daughter, push-me, pull-you kind of tango.

    For the past two years, it's gone like this:

    Mother's question: “Have you thought of taking an advanced class (大学预备课程) so that you can earn college credit (学分)?”

    Daughter's 5: “No, I'm not interested in that.”

…

    Two months ago, she was 6 into a great university. However, I was still the mother having a 7 time letting go. The night before the introductory meeting of the university, I had read the course catalog (目录) carefully and 8 the courses which I thought looked good. We met on the campus the next afternoon, and Nicole's face 9with excitement. “I have had all my timetables of courses ready,” she said. “Already?” I was astonished, 10 she should have discussed it with me. I examined what he chose. Nicole hadn't taken a (an) 11 one of the courses I had suggested. Every course she had chosen 12 suited her interests. Just then I saw a mature, strong young woman with a 13 mind and the ability to shape her future. She no longer needed her mother 14 every decision she made. I felt proud, though still a bit 15.

    I 16 the lessons carefully. Nicole has struggled to learn over the past 18 years the following things: 17, sympathy, and hard work. There have been a few holes along the way. 18, she is well-equipped and eager to 19 the future. The next step, I recognized, was mine to take: giving my daughter and myself the 20 we both needed.

    Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new1in high school.

    2, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts(选拔赛) for cheerleaders(拉拉队队员). She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be3for her to be selected. Two hours later, the4read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart5as the list ended without her name. Feeling6, she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

    Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was7. She moved on to English and history, and was8to find that she didn't have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to9math for the time being.

    The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school10Mrs. Biden wasn't as11as Jenna. “I'm sorry, but we have enough12for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we'll talk then.” Jenna smiled13and left. “Why is high school so14?” she sighed.

    Later in15class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much16. By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she'd continue to try to17at her new school. She wasn't sure if she'd succeed, but she knew she had to18High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond19a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the20fish you can be.”

    One Saturday morning I decided to walk into Liverpool city center and buy myself something. I didn't1 anything, and I was just going to spend some2! I stopped into a general3 to buy myself some sweets. While I was making up my mind, the door4 and in walked a girl, four years old at the most. She was wearing a summer dress and sandals(凉鞋)5 it was a bitterly cold day. She was not too6, obviously from a poor family. She walked up to the counter(柜台), 7 up and placed a fifty pence coin on the glass. Then, she proudly announced she had8 this up for her little9 a teddy bear as a birthday gift and she10 that one there. The woman behind the11 told the little girl the teddy bear cost12 50 pence. The little girl tried another one, and another one, and another one.

    I knew that13 of the bears on display could be bought for 50 pence. I also knew that I could 14 buy the best bear there 15 the money I was going to waste that day－16 did I want to encourage a little girl to take money from 17？

    The little girl changed her mind when I 18 to buy a teddy bear for her. "Oh, well," she 19 to the world. "I'll just give him mine then."

    "I'll just give him mine." Didn't sound like she was going to give him ONE of her teddies. She was going to give her little brother HER teddy, probably the 20 teddy she had!