For most people, graduation day is exciting. My graduation day, 1 was not.

    I remember that weekend two years ago. My family and my friends had come to watch our class walk across that 2. But like everyone in my graduating class, I had watched the economy 3from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had 4 but very limited prospects(前景). Numerous applications were 5 and I knew that the next day, when my lease(租约)ended，I would no longer have a place to 6"home".

    The weeks 7 were not easy. I drove to California to find work. But what I thought would 8me a week dragged into two, and then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself 9I was before.

    Days 10 like weeks, weeks like months and those many months seemed 11. The most 12 part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't seem to make any 13.

    Then I began to write. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer – a little brighter. Something about writing gave me 14.

    I put my frustration into a children's 15, one story of which was about a(n) 16, a little fish, who, fighting in a "river", 17 to give up his dream. I kept on writing. And then one day, 18 any sort of writing degree or contracts in the writing world – just a lot of hard work and perseverance – I was offered a publishing contract for my first book! After that, things began to be in 19 soon. I was offered a second book deal. Then a few months later, I got an interview with the Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.

    The lesson of the story: Work hard, give it time and don't give up. Often our dreams lie in wait just a little further upstream. All we need is the20 to push beyond the "river".

    The day that I will always remember is when I ran my first 10km.While putting my toe on the starting 1, I felt my heart drop to my stomach. However, I would 2 my heart, because in running, when you run out of your 3, you just run with your heart.

    That day the 4 was cool and fresh, and my courage had 5. The race was about to start. Bang! The 6 of the starting gun ran into the air. I took off running, 7 like the wind. I knew it would be a really great 8 for me. In the first four miles, I felt like a cheetah (猎豹). I felt 9 and forceful in my pace.

    Then came the fifth mile. My legs 10 like jelly(果冻), and I could feel fire burning in my lungs, “keep 11!” the thought ran through my head. Now was the time I had to run with my 12. I had to win although I didn't know whether I would 13 it. My body really wanted to 14, but my heart told me not to. I think it's the 15 thing about running. The real run starts when you want to 16.

I saw the finishing line and I felt like an Olympic 17 who was about to win the race. I had 18 been happier, and felt proud too when I had my 19 put around my neck. As the saying goes, “Running is the greatest metaphor (比喻) for life, 20 you get out of it what you put into it.”

    Many years ago at Christmas time I parked my car in the town centre on my way to the post office to post my Christmas cards. It was the last posting day for Christmas cards if they were to be 1 before Christmas.2 I came out of the car park I saw a boy who was 3 and holding his fight hand side. I 4 some bigger boys had perhaps bullied him and he was in 5 .I had to go to his aid and see if I could 6.

    He told me that his sister who was a 7 had bought him a Christmas present. It was a mobile phone. He only had it days when he 8 it and cracked the screen! That's 9 he was holding his right hand side of his body—his mobile phone was in the upper right hand pocket of his coat. The little guy was extremely 10 , tears rolling down his face as he told all this to me. My heart 11 for him. It was clear he 12 his present and knew that this was a lot of money for his 13 to spend on him, for nurses didn't make much money. He'd been to a phone shop and they'd told him it would be￡80 to get a new 14 .

    I had to help, though I was 15 to make ends meet myself. I searched my purse and gave the boy the only￡20 I could find and made some 16 as to why I could only give him so little. I didn't want him to know it was all I had until pay day. I could not 17 pay for his phone to be repaired but I hope the 18 he received from a stranger was 19 that stayed with him when he became a man.

    The Christmas cards not getting posted somehow didn't seem 20 ; greater issues had been addressed with a kindness stamp.

    I stopped to watch my little girl busy playing in her room. In one hand was a plastic phone; in the other a toy broom. I listened as she was speaking to her make-believe(假想的) little friend and I'll never forget the words she said, even though it was1.

    She said, “Jane's in the corner because she's not been very 2. She didn't listen to a word I said or do the things she should.” In the corner I saw her baby doll all dressed in lace and pink. It was clear she'd been put to sit 3and think.

    My daughter continued her “4”, as I sat down on the floor. She said, “I'm all5up. I just don't know what to do with her any more. She cries whenever I have to work and wants to play 6, too. She never lets me do the things that I just have to do. She tries to help me with the dishes, but her arms just cannot7. And she doesn't know how to fold towels. I don't have the8to teach. I have a lot of work to do and a big house to keep clean. I don't have the time to sit and play — Do you see what I 9?”

    And that day I thought a lot about making some 10in my life, as I listened to her words that cut me like a knife. I hadn't been paying enough 11to what I hold most dear. I'd been caught up in responsibilities that increased over the years.

But now my 12has changed, because, in my heart, I realize that I've seen the world in a different light13my little darling's eyes. So, let the cobwebs(蜘蛛网) 14the corners and the dust rabbit rule the floor. I'm not going to worry about keeping up with them any more.

    I'm going to fill the house with15of a child and her mother, for we are granted only one childhood, and we will never get another.

    Every time I passed boys who were playing basketball, I stopped to silently watch them. I really 1them. But as a girl, I once thought that I could never play basketball.

    I like playing basketball though I'm not good at it. I've had a basketball2 I was a child. At first, I could play freely because no one3when I was just a kid. But as I grew up, it seemed harder and harder for me to enjoy basketball.

    At school, it was always the boys who played basketball during PE classes. The girls were 4allowed to play volleyball or badminton.

    My parents did not 5 me play basketball at home. "Basketball is not fit for girls," they said. 6 when I went to play basketball with my friends, boys 7 at me on the court as if I were an alien.

    I was feeling8  and had lost hope of playing basketball. 9 , something changed the first day of high school. I made some friends who also enjoyed playing basketball. They 10me to get back on the court.

    One of them told me with a smile, "Go your own11, let others talk." This girl would always play basketball with me. Even the boy who sat next to me in class talked about12with me almost every day. I was inspired by them. Confidence and passion 13to my heart. I am ready to stand up and play. I will play as well as I can, 14 for me, even the sky is boundless (无垠的).

    Basketball has become an important part of my 15. I am interested in it. I watch matches and enjoy playing almost every day. Through basketball, not only do I feel happy and confident, but also16 a lot.

    I've heard the NBA star Tracy McGrady say, "Nothing is impossible." It is from an advertisement on TV. I have 17to realize that life is just like playing basketball. You should have an18. After that, just be confident and 19 going. Never give up and you'll make it sooner or later. I love the motto of the NBA. It can 20 my strong feelings for basketball, "I love this game!"

I just returned from India. While driving home from the airport, I was amazed by how everything in American streets 1 those in Delhi, a city in northern India. "You can eat off the street here!" I said. My family looked at me 2 I had gotten off a spaceship rather than a plane.

During the two years I was away, my friends and family 3 sending texts to each other by phone. After I came back, my phone was no longer 4 as before, just lighting up with the "ding" sound of a text, and I felt very 5 . I chose to talk to my friends instead of texting them. I asked my friends for their 6 as I made an effort to7 with them and rebuild our friendships.

While I was on my 8 trips, most of my friends had moved on with their 9 . We felt disconnected from each other's experiences. Just as 10 would always be part of my life, I understood that raising a family would always be part of theirs. I told them sometimes I felt 11 because I had been away and wasn't there for their 12 events.

Expats（侨民）in Laos say that sometimes, if you stay abroad too long, you become a permanent 13 . never quite making it as a local, and never feeling 14 in your home country. I 15 . If you always travel with a heart beating for your beloved ones, no matter how long you have been abroad, you will find satisfaction at home.