Velma, a US high school student, is busy with her studies every day. But after school, she puts down her books and goes off to 1. She takes care of cats, helps teachers at school and cleans up the beach. Why? Because students in US public schools are 2 to do at least 20 hours of community service in order to graduate.

    "This project is to give students a 3 of the real world, create a habit of volunteering and perhaps 4a career." said Bob Parks, an official at school.

    5 volunteering takes time, Velma enjoys it. "I learn so much from it." she said She plans to keep volunteering even after she has finished her required hours of work. Velma is now on her way towards 250 hours to get a silver medal at graduation. She hopes the medal will help her6 her dream university.

    But some have 7 about the project. Phil, a single parent of four, has to drive his children from one activity to another every weekend. "I have no time to work and rest," he said, "But I know some kids finish their 20—hour volunteering by just sleeping in their father's office !"

    Mike Roland, a volunteering manager, has heard those complaints. He said," We keep telling people,' Volunteer hours are 8than for graduation; they are life lessons."

    Unlike Phil, some parents agree with the project and want their children to 9 more time volunteering. Michael, a junior, spends Saturdays at JFK Medical Centre guiding patients and bringing them newspapers and meals. He's at 258 hours. Michael's father said, "Twenty hours isn't 10. Children should have more contact with the world."

    We should not use more water than we actually need. If we do, we will not have enough water in the future.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It is not a difficult question to answer. If we remove more fresh water than nature replaces, we have taken too much.

    Many cities run campaigns (运动) to get people to stop wasting water. They show them ways they can cut back on water use.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}What's more, they carry out programs that offer money to reduce water use. For example, they give people shower heads and toilets that use less water.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Another threat (威胁) to our water supply is pollution. When our sources of fresh water get polluted, we can no longer use this water. This also endangers (危及) the animals that depend on the water.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}We can save lots of water by not letting taps (水龙头) run while we brush our teeth or by turning off taps right after washing hands. By collecting cold water when we're taking warm showers, we can also save water.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}In this way, we can make full use of water.

My only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant beating out Miller King, who was the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(good) player in our school. On my {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (thirteen) birthday this year, I promised I would make it come true.

Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (carry) my football everywhere for practice. Just before September, Miller was struck {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from hospital. He looked very pale, but he didn't cry.

That season, I broke all of Miller's {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (record) while he watched the home games from the bench. We went 10:11 {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I was named "Most Valuable Player", but I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame (责备) for Miller's accident.

One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (see) Miller in trouble climbing over a fence which wasn't difficult to climb if you had both arms. I'm sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept help from. But even that challenge he accepted. I helped him move slowly over the fence. When we were {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (final) safe on the other side, he said to me, "You know. I didn't tell you this during the season, but you did {#blank#}9{#/blank#} fine job. Thank you for doing the job for me."

His words freed (解脱) me from {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (I) bad dreams. I thought to myself how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was still ahead of me. I was right to have respected him. From that day on, I grew bigger and a little more real.

 When Mancina was young, he would skateboard during the winter seasons. At the beginning, he knew nothing {#blank#}1{#/blank#} skateboarding and couldn't play it so well. It wasn't until he moved to a different neighbourhood and met a group of {#blank#}2{#/blank#} ( skate) that Mancina began to truly love skating. 

 However, at just thirteen years old, doctors told Mancina that he had an eye problem. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} just a year and a half, he lost vision in his left eye. Mancina stopped skateboarding. After a few years, he picked up the board again and {#blank#}4{#/blank#} ( film) a video of himself skateboarding with the help of a cane(杖). The video {#blank#}5{#/blank#} ( share) online. It made Mancina decide to return to the sport although he is now {#blank#}6{#/blank#} ( complete) blind. 

"Being a blind skater, I have to take my time to feel obstacles(障碍物) and have a good understanding of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} ( it) before I start skating, " said Mancina. "I depend on my white cane the most. I use it to know my environment and to find obstacles while skating. "

Mancina hopes to perform at the Paralympics in 2028. His future plans include breaking his own record and building a skate park. Once it's built, he {#blank#}8{#/blank#} ( introduce) blind kids to the world of skating.