For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He ____ every subject in eighth grade. He didn’t do ____ in sports. Although he played for the school’s golf team, he lost ____ only important match of the season.

Sparky was a loser. He and all   ____ classmates...everyone knew it. Sparky never asked a classmate ____ out in high school. He was too afraid ____ being refused.

However, one thing was important to Sparky—drawing. He was proud of his artwork but no one else praised it. In his senior year of high school, he sent some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook ____ the cartoons were not accepted for the first time, Sparky was ____ confident about his ability that he decided to become an artist.

After ____ high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send ____ works of art. Sparky spent a great deal of time ____ them. Finally the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been refused ____ time.

So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography（自传）in cartoons. He described his childhood—a little boy loser. The cartoon character would soon become ____ worldwide. For Sparky, the boy was Charles Schulz who had little success in school and whose work ____ again and again. He never thought that he ____ create the little cartoon character—Charlie Brown.

There once lived a bird and her two babies in a forest. One day, there was a big storm. A branch ____ the nest and killed the mother bird. ____, the strong wind blew the baby birds away. One of them came down near a cave where robbers (强盗) lived. The other landed outside a wise man’s ashram (静修处).

Days passed and the baby birds became big birds. One day, a king came to the forest to hunt. He ____ after a deer. Soon he lost his way.

After riding for a long time, he got ____. So he stopped to rest under a tree near a cave. Suddenly he heard a voice ____, “Quick! There’s someone under the tree. Come and take his jewels and horse!” He looked up and saw a big bird. He also heard some ____ coming from the cave. He rode away as fast as he could.

Soon, he came to an ashram. The king sat down. Suddenly he heard a ____ voice say, “Welcome, Sir! Please go inside and rest.” He looked up and saw a big bird. He was ____. “This one looks like the other bird outside the cave,” he thought.

Later the wise man came back and ____ the king inside. The king told him about the two birds and how each had behaved differently though they ____ similar. The wise man said, “One is known by the company (同伴) one keeps. That bird has always heard the talk of robbers, so he talks about robbing. This one has repeated what he has always heard, so he welcomes people to the ashram.”

I paid a worker to repair my house and he had just finished a difficult job on the first day. A broken wheel made him an hour late; his ladder (梯子) fell down when he was painting the roof and now his old truck wouldn’t start. With each problem he shouted angrily, more at himself than at his things. As I drove him home, the man didn’t say a word.

I tried talking to the man to kill time. And later I found out that he had come up from Blue Hills in Victoria with his family six months ago to find a job. This was his first job since moving here. Now I knew why his price was lower than any other worker I could find in the local newspaper. He really needed the job. His clothes told me as much.

When we got his home, to my surprise, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked through his front garden he suddenly stopped at a small tree and placed his hands on it. Then, when he opened the door he completely changed. Instead of his troubled face, there was now a warm smile, hugs for his two children and a kiss for his wife.

The following day, I asked him about the tree.

“That’s my trouble tree,” he answered. “Work troubles aren’t welcome at home with my wife and the children. So I hang them on that tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”

“And you know what else?” he said smiling, “The next morning I find that there aren’t as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, known as Tani, is a boy from Africa. On 10 March, 2019, the 8-year-old boy beat 73 other kids and became a state champion（冠军）for his age group at the New York State Chess Championship. But the boy, who was homeless at that time, just started learning to play chess in 2018.

Tani and his family arrived in New York from Nigeria in 2017. A church pastor（牧师）helped place the family of four in a homeless shelter. Soon after, Tani entered the primary school. Here the gifted boy was first introduced to chess by a part-time teacher Makofsky, owner of a chess club. Attracted by the game, the boy asked his mother to allow him to join the club. She emailed Makofsky because they didn’t have enough money to pay for the chess classes. To her surprise and joy, Makofsky agreed to waive all costs for Tani.

Though the chess club helps, it’s largely believed that Tani’s success lies in his hard work. The boy practises the game for many hours a day on the floor with his board. Every Saturday, Tani goes to a free 3-hour class to improve his game skills.

Not surprisingly, Tani’s story, first reported by the New York Times, has brought him great support from the American public. Soon after the young boy won the New York Chess Championship. Makofsky began a GoFundMe activity for Tani and his family so that he could continue his chess journey. It raised ＄200, 000 in just ten days, far more than they expected. However, the family decided not to keep all the money. They wanted to use the money to help other people. “People have come to our aid（帮助）, ” said Tani’s father. “Now we want to help people in need.”

My neighbour is a doctor. He and his wife are some of the nicest people I have ever met. A few years ago, we started this kind of “repay game”-one of us would do something kind for the other, such as cleaning up the driveway or building a shed, and next time the other would try to pay back with another.

Yesterday morning there was about 2 or 3 feet of snow on the ground and I remembered that he shoveled(铲)my driveway when I was out on a business trip last winter. So I took out my shovel and took care of both our sidewalks and driveways because it was my turn to pay back. It took me only a little time to finish doing it.

That night I got a knock on my door. I opened the door and saw my neighbour. He shook my hand at once and thanked me for shoveling his driveway and sidewalk, so that he was able to get to work earlier and saved a boy.

“As soon as I started the car early this morning, a call came through that a young boy in our community was seriously ill. In fact, my partner and I were only about 2 minutes away, but the closest ambulance(救护车) 10 minutes,” he added. “A young boy got to live his life because you helped me earlier this morning.”

It wasn’t too much trouble for me to shovel a driveway, but what I did got a young boy to see his family again, go back to school again and live his life again.

No help is too small. Even the smallest help can make the biggest difference. One help will always be followed by another.

I have three good friends. They’re Jerry, Dave and Bill. Jerry is an Asian boy. Dave is an African boy. Bill is a European boy. When I met them, they were very young.     41    OK, now please listen to their general introductions about their changes.     42    he was afraid of meeting strangers and he seldom talked with them. He told me he took up dancing to deal with his problems. Now this boy is outgoing. He dares(敢于) to dance in front of crowds.     43    

Dave used to be afraid of examinations.     44    Bill is from London, UK. So exactly, he is a British boy. He used to hate school! He was even absent from school from time to time.     45    Since his head teacher talked to him in person, he has changed. Now he doesn’t fight with other students. And he always helps others.

My three friends are very great and I take pride in them. What about your friends? Are you proud of them?