It was a cold windy winter day and I was walking home from work. My head pointed down against the wind when I noticed ________ old lady. She was walking on the sidewalk. As I passed her, I thought that she was ________ at her eighties. And she was holding some letters ________ her hands. I walked on to the traffic light. When the light turned green, I pretended (假装) to check ________ phone and hoped her to catch up with (跟上) me. In this neighborhood, ever crossing the green light was dangerous.________ drivers often drove carelessly through red lights and stop signs.

When she reached me, I touched her on the arm. She smiled and took my hand in hers and held it. Hand-in-hand, we ________ waiting for the light. When the light turned green, we ________ together slowly across the street. And she dropped the ________ in the mailbox (邮箱). Then I took her back across the street.

As I walked the rest of the way home, I ________ still feel the warmth of her hand. People say the first language of all humans is touch. A caring touch helps to make things better. And even now, I can still ________ the power of touch.

For Sparky, he never passed physics exams in high school. After receiving a zero in the course, he thought himself as the ________ physics student in the school. Sparky didn’t do well in sports either. Although he joined the school’s golf team, he quickly ________ a match (比赛) of the season. What’s more, Sparky was ________. He seldom talked to others and would feel surprised if a classmate said hello to him.

However, one thing was important to Sparky —________ . He was good at drawing. In high school, he sent some cartoons to editors. They were rejected. However, Sparky didn’t ________ after that. After graduating from high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was encouraged and advised to send his artworks (作品). Sparky felt so excited that he drew some ________ and sent them. He was full of hope. Finally, the reply came from the studios. But he was ________ once again.

Then Sparky decided to write his own cartoon. In the cartoon, he described himself as a loser (失败者) who ________ succeeded in kicking a ball.

For Sparky, the cartoon boy was himself. He always failed at school and his ________ were rejected again and again.

Surprisingly, the cartoon ________ soon became famous worldwide. And he was known to the world for the popular comic strip Peanuts.

Body language helps people know what is really going on inside someone’s head. A small movement of the mouth or nose can show much about persons’ feelings. Here are some basic movements and their meanings.

First, shrug shoulders (耸肩). This means “I don’t know” or “I don’t mind it”. If your friends shrug their shoulders when being invited to a party, it shows they are not very interested in it.

Second, keep fingers crossed (交叉的). It shows wishes for good luck. Before people take exams, they often cross their fingers in the hope of good grades. Football fans do the same thing when they wish their favorite player will score a goal.

Third, rub chin (摸下巴) . If someone rubs their chins, it often means they don’t believe what someone is saying! So if your friends make this gesture, it secretly tells you how they feel.

Fourth, scratch head (挠头). If your foreign English teacher scratches his head when you ask a question, then he might not understand what you said. Either that, or he can’t remember your name!

Jack lives in Washington. He inherited (继承) lots of money when he was 23. But he decided to live a simple life like everyone else. He gave $10,000 of his money to a charity to help poor children live a better life. Today he is 36. He still wears cheap shoes and clothes and drives a small car only, but he is very happy.

Up to now, Jack has helped some children from poor countries all over the world by sending them each $200 a month. The money is used for the children’s study, food, medicine and clothing. Jack receives a report each year on the children’s progress. They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English.

When Jack first heard about these children, he wanted to help them. “It was nothing special,” he said. “Until I went to these countries and met the children I was helping, I didn’t know anything about their life.” Once Jack went to meet a little girl in Africa, he said that the meeting was exciting. “When I met her, I felt very happy,” he said. “And I saw that the money was used for a good cause. It brought me happiness. I want to do everything I can to go on helping these children.”

For the Spring Festival holiday, Wu Shaoyu managed to sell 230,000 yuan of handmade sugar on-line.

Wu grew up in Xuelan, a small village in Hainan Province. Most villagers there made a living by growing sugarcanes (甘蔗). “Every family knew how to make sugar by hand. They left some sugar at home for their children.     31    ,” Wu said, as she remembered the old sweet days.

    32     . Her father always said to her, “I’m getting old, and the traditional sugar-making skills are dying. I will probably never be able to eat the homemade sugar again. I’m sad.”

Hearing her father’s words, she decided to help pass on (传承) the old skills. “If we lose our tradition, we will lose our ground,” she said.

In 2013, Wu gave up her job in Shanghai and returned to Xuelan. She wanted to help protect and pass on the craft (手艺).

To make more people know about her sugar, Wu decided to use short videos.     33    . With in two years, she uploaded about 50 videos showing the beauty of her village.

As Wu’s business becomes successful,     34    .

“This is a dream that has come true,” she said. “    35    .”

Do you know Garfield? He is a character of a comic strip. He first     41     in the comic strip on June 19, 1978. Garfield is famous for a cartoon. Lots of Garfield books have been turned into 26 languages. Garfield products are     42     in many countries.

Jim Davis is Garfield’s creator. Jim     43     born in 1945 in Indiana. He grew up on a farm. Jim and his brother Dave often     44     with the farm work. They had 25 cats.     45     room was always full of food for the cats.

As a boy, Jim was in poor health. When he had to spend time resting, he drew pictures. He added words to his pictures to     46     them funny.

In 1969, he got a job to help a cartoonist. Jim found that there were many comic     47     about dogs but few about cats. He couldn’t     48     it because there were so many cat lovers.

He remembered the 25 farm cats. They provided him with lots of ideas for a cat comic strip. In the comic strip, Garfield became the central character in everyday experiences with Jon. He is the laziest but the     49    .

Jim Davis has received many awards for his work. He was     50     the Best Humor Strip Cartoonist of the Year Award twice. He has won four Emmys (艾美奖) and other honors.

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