Suddenly my mobile phone rang. “Where are you?” the urgent voice demanded on my phone.

    The woman on the other end of the phone had1news—news that would  change  my  life forever.  Apparently  my 2was on his way home at lunchtime3he suffered an unexpected heart attack.4a neighbor's sharp eyes had spotted him. By now it was after 1pm and Ueli was on his way to the nearest hospital. It turned out that,5a huge effort by a large team of medical staff, nine hours after the6, Ueli, the father of two of my sons, died.

    But Ueli's story didn't7there. Ever since I met him, he had8that, should he die before me, I must ensure that if it were possible his9would be donated. So on that awful night I10the medical staff  to  help  make  his  wishes 11.   Once the 12were made, I thought that I had honored Ueli's final act of selflessness and would hear no more of it.

    Some time later,13, I received a letter telling me that the corneas(角膜) had been successfully transplanted into the eyes of two young women who would benefit greatly from improved vision. What a14it was to know that this generous man's15 would have such a positive impact on these women. But the best news was16to come. More than a year after Ueli died, a lovely card arrived in the mail from the organ donor organization,17me that a young man who may not have lived much longer had successfully18Ueli's heart valve(心瓣膜).

    What happiness I have! I know Ueli would have been extremely19to have had a part in20this young man's life and ensuring that he would now pursue his own dreams with much improved health. Now I can forever say, “Rest in peace, Ueli; you'll be remembered—even by strangers.”

Honest Thanks

    I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the notecard into the 1, sealed it and stuck the stamps on it, but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox I 2.

    The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via（通过）Facebook 3. She had inspired me to live a(n)4 life—for example, by5 more.

    Her volunteer efforts weren't 6—she wasn't building well in Uganda, but7she was doing small, local good deeds, such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do, too. She made me 8 I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her 9 positively influenced my life. I could have easily sent her an e-mail,10 that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank-you. That's why I ended up 11 the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox, unable to place the envelope inside. What was 12 me? Why was this so13 to do? I guess I felt strange because it wasn't like she was my best friend, I just knew her. “people don't 14 do this,” I thought to myself. However,15 thinking it over, I still felt a(n)16 to let her know how grateful I was. Finally, I put the envelope in the mailbox.

    Weeks later I received her reply, she was 17 a tough time and my letter meant the 18 to her. She didn't know she had such a(n)19 on others. Not only did this letter make her happy, but her response to it increased my20 of happiness. I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating（培养） gratitude is a great skill to practise. Life is too short not to do it.

    My father sold everything we owned, took all the money and disappeared from our lives. My mother suddenly found herself 1 to care for five boys. I worried about the situation, but my mother stayed2 ， and assured us that she would keep us together as a 3and safe from harm. Although small in size, she could 4heavy horse ­ drawn plows. Besides, she 5found time to help us with homework.

    As Christmas approaching, my mother didn't seem to smile as much. I 6she had no money to buy us presents. Considering myself practically grown, I hid my7.

    One day, my mother took a saw (锯) into the forest and 8with some tree branches. She left them in the barn (畜棚) and didn't tell her 9children what they were for. She worked on her project10I was in school, but I looked 11into the barn when I had a chance. Several days later, I still couldn't 12her purpose. When later I saw she used nails and paint, I 13that she must be making presents.

    By Christmas week, my mother was her 14happy self again. Her project was apparently 15 ， and she obviously kept it secret because I'd looked everywhere without16.

    On Christmas Eve, I lay awake for a long time,17 Christmas morning.

    The next morning, my mother handed out the handmade presents happily in front of her delighted kids. Many difficult years would follow that particular Christmas, but I never again doubted my mother's 18to care for us. We were never hungry, and she made sure we got a(n)19 in school. She taught us to have faith in our own abilities. That faith still 20me.

    Last year, I received an e-mail from my dad, under a subject line: "Mystery creature?" There was no body text, but1was a ten-second video, shot in the dead of night. It2a furry creature charging away from the camera and down a driveway. Midway through the video, the animal3abruptly, turns slightly and stares back. Then it runs into the4. Watching it again, I noticed that the driveway looked5. It was my childhood home. There soon came more e-mails with more videos. And the mystery creature6to be a raccoon(浣熊) without its tail.

    For many years, my parents had been7about setting up some camera traps, just to see what sorts of animals were quietly moving around the8. But my dad had always thought the camera were a little too9and complicated. About a year ago, my dad finally10two cameras at reasonable prices that were easy to use. He first11them toward a place where he had noticed a particular pile of scat (动物粪便), which always appeared in the same12. After leaving the cameras on for only one night, he13. To his amazement, right in front of a bench where he'd 14 one camera, a fox arrived. It 15 to the center of the sight line and squatted (蹲下), briefly, in the exact spot. "Can you 16 it?" he said, playing the video for me again.

    I could not, 17 there it was, clear to see. For me, the pleasure in watching these videos was that they would never be 18 believable and that the 19 would always be beyond my imagination. Rather than making the world more knowable, they seem to make it more 20. They've turned a backyard into a place full of mystery.

    Teaching second grade is always a difficult job. Each student arrives at school with his own needs and difficulties. One year, a student called Billy 1 me with his behavior as well as his academic requirements. He struggled daily with his2 emotions and often became angry or violent. I knew that, to make 3 progress, his emotions needed controlling.

    One 4I tried to help Billy was to have him come directly into the classroom when he arrived at school. Billy's mom would5 me to alert(提醒,告知)me to a particularly emotional morning at home. Then, I would focus on6his anger and calming him down before the other students arrived.

    One week our class was studying7 I thought that one way to bring learning into the classroom was to bring my dog Rocky to school for the day.

    That day began as normal. I was preparing activities focused on dog themes 8I was told on the phone that Billy had a9 morning at home and I might need to get him 10. As I was talking to his mom, Billy 11into the classroom. To Billy's 12 , Rocky immediately ran up to his new 13, wagging his tail and licking(舔)Billy's face with doggy affection(喜爱). Billy couldn't 14 Rocky's charm and began laughing as his anger melted away.

    Throughout the day, Billy never left Rocky's side, feeding him, being gentle with him and even 15 the other students while Rocky was sleeping.

    Billy was known for doing anything he could to avoid 16, but on this day he found a good dog story, Clifford's Puppy Days, and read it to Rocky. How 17 I was at the sight of Billy reading happily！My little dog was able to18Billy's day from one of anger and frustration to one of laughter, gentleness and 19 .

    That day Rocky20helped me with my teaching; he helped to change the life of a child！After that Billy's behavior definitely improved.

It is a special cross-country race. The competitors' vehicles are made{#blank#}1{#/blank#}fruits and vegetables like carrots eggplants, grapefruits, pumpkins and oranges. They are the creations of pupils from the Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School.

According to Chen You, the science class teacher,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(base) knowledge had been taught within 6 classes to students before they drew sketches and{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(choose) vegetables to make a food car.

Although students were encouraged{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(design) their cars together with parents, all the cars should be made in the class. After{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(bring) piles of ingredients as well as tools the children began their innovation. Some cut the carrot slices to make them round, and some others assembled (组装) their car components together.

In addition to the{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(compete), students are required to reflect on the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(difficulty) they encountered making their vehicles,{#blank#}8{#/blank#}things they have learned from the activity and the improvements they think the course can make.

{#blank#}9{#/blank#}touched the teachers most was the unity and friendship among the children. For example, although the contest was fierce (激烈的), students felt {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(excite) for the champion car as if they themselves had stood out, and when a girl's car fell apart their friends comforted her and helped reassemble the car.