3 . The journey my daughter Cathy has had with her swimming is as long as it is beautiful.

Cathy suffered some terrible illness in her early childhood. After years of regular treatment, she finally became healthy.

Two years ago, while Cathy was watching the Olympics, a dream came into her sweet little head—to be a swimmer. Last summer, she wanted to join our local swim team. She practiced hard and finally made it. The team practice, however, was a rough start. She coughed and choked and could hardly survive her first few weeks. Hearing her coughing bitterly one night, I decided to pull her from it all. But Cathy woke me up early next morning, wearing her swimsuit ready to go! I told her she shouldn’t swim after a whole night’s coughing, but she refused to give up and insisted she go.

From that day on, Cathy kept swimming and didn’t miss a single practice. She had a firm intention within herself to be the best she could be. My ten-year-old was growing and changing right before my eyes, into this determined human being with a passion and a mission. There were moments of frustration of course: often she would be the last swimmer in the race. It was difficult for Cathy to accept that she wasn’t a winner—ever. But that didn’t stop her from trying.

Then came the final awards ceremony at the end of the year. Cathy didn’t anticipate any award but was still there to cheer on her friends and praise their accomplishments. As the ceremony was nearing the end, I suddenly heard the head coach announcing, “The highest honor goes to Cathy!” Looking around, he continued, “Cathy has stimulated us with her will and enthusiasm. Although skills and talents bring great success, the most valuable asset one can hold is the heart.”

It was the greatest moment of my daughter’s life. With all she had been through in her ten years, this was the hour of true triumph.

4 . Summer heat can be dangerous, and heat leads to tragedy far too often. According to Kidsandcars Organization, an average of 37 young children per year die of car heat in the US, when they are accidentally left in a hot vehicle.

For Bishop Curry, a fifth grader from McKinney, Texas, one such incident hit close to home. A six-month-old baby from his neighborhood died after hours in a hot car. After hearing about her death, Curry decided that something needed to be done. Young Curry drew up a sketch of a device he called “Oasis.”

The device would be attached to car seats and watch the temperature inside the car. If it reached a certain temperature in the car, and the device sensed a child in the car seat, it would begin to circulate cool air. Curry also designs the device using GPS and Wi-Fi technology, which would alarm the child’s parents and, if there was no response from them, the police.

Curry’s father believes that the invention has potential. “The cool thing about Bishop’s thinking is none of this technology is new,” he said. “We feel like the way he’s thinking and combining all these technologies will get to production faster.” His father even introduced the device to Toyota, where he works as an engineer.

In January, Curry’s father launched a campaign for the invention. They hope to raise money to finalize the patent, build models, and find a manufacturer. They have raised more than twice that—over $46,000.

“I was so proud of him for thinking of a solution,” the father said. “We always just complain about things and rarely offer solutions.”

5 . Our Teen Summer Spanish Program is two weeks of fun, educational excitement that helps students learn Spanish fast. Our Spanish Summer program allows our students to learn from highly trained, certified teachers and be absorbed in the language and the culture of Costa Rica.

Features include:

*Intensive (强化的) daily Spanish classes

*Extracurricular classes in dance, cooking, music and handiwork

*Outdoor activities including hiking, camping, rafting, and ziplining (高空滑索)

*Homestay with a local Costa Rican family

*Volunteer work in needy neighborhoods

Our Teaching Methods:

We are proud to use TPRS — Total Physical Response Storytelling — in our curriculum. This innovative method uses strange and amusing stories to teach new vocabulary, increase fluency, and get students involved by giving them the opportunity to alter the details themselves. Because of the silliness, creativity, and repetition involved, TPRS allows students to learn easily and remember information effortlessly.

Memorizing vocabulary and listening to lectures on grammar are slow, inefficient ways to learn a new language. The best way to truly learn and commit new material to memory is through conversation. In our Spanish classes, students can expect to speak up to 80% of each class. By speaking in the new language freely and consistently, students can see progress faster because they are using the new grammar and vocabulary that they have learned at the same time. This helps the brain remember the new words and grammar structures for future use, making it much easier to progress.

6 . Mom wanted only one thing for her birthday．"Can you find me another copy of this song？"she asked，and handed me a worn-out cassette tape. I know exactly what was recorded on it-"My Redeemer (救世主)."I heard the song played at least a thousand times while growing up. After 37years，the cassette tape was too worn-out to be used. I promised her I would find a replacement．

"My Redeemer"had become Mom's favorite song after my younger brother Tim was killed by a drunk driver in 1973. The only thing that helped her calm down was the soulful sound of"My Redeemer"from the local radio station．We recorded it on a cassette tape so she would listen to it any time she wanted，but none of us knew who the singer was. These days, I figured it would be easy to find out. I went home and searched the Internet. Several songs with that title came out，but none of them were the one Mom loved. I got depressed.

Mom's birthday drew near and then one day, I was driving home, listening to our local radio station．I heard a familiar song, "My Redeemer!"As soon as I could, I phoned the station. I found out the singer was Alan Parks．I typed his name into Google and found his home number in South Carolina. Minutes later, I was telling him how much his recording meant to Mom. He offered to post two CDs to me personally. I gave him my address．

"Red Lion, Pennsylvania?"he said."Do you know the Logans?""They're our neighbours!""I've been friends with them for 25years，"Alan said. "They'll be at my concert at Your Gospel Chapel on April 17^th. Would you and your mom come, too？"We sure would. Mom was excited to hear Alan sing"My Redeemer", on the evening of her 87^th birthday.

7 . Where the heart is?

In three days I will leave China behind for a few weeks and head back to Australia to spend some time with my family and friends. This will be a very _________ trip for me as, for the first time ever, I will not be _________ to my hometown. You see, my parents sold their house in my hometown and moved about 500 kilometers away.

As it _________ me that I would be returning to a whole new place, I was _________ with two questions: Do I still have a hometown? Where is my home? I needed to do some research.

After reading A Story from the Chinese Diaspora, I learned I was not alone in feeling _________ about where I call home. In the story, a Chinese American girl _________ with finding her identity and _________ her past with her present. I suddenly realized the place where we live now and the place where we lived then, have a great _________ upon who we are, where we long to be and where we feel _________ and safety.

Back to My Motherland__________ of a woman who left her motherland years ago and started a new life in America—the place she now calls home. But, __________ some people move on from their hometown and __________ a new life somewhere else, others have a strong __________ with the city that they grew up in. In Hometown Boy I learn of a man who clings (坚持) to his __________ and continues to make his hometown a __________ of his life for now and for the future.

He makes it his __________ to give back to the community that has given so much to him and his family.

As I __________ the days until I head back to my motherland and __________ where exactly my home is, I am __________ to decide where my heart is. And quite __________, my heart is wherever I am.

A generous stranger bought a plane ticket for a homeless mother to watch her three daughters compete at the AAU Junior Olympic Games. It is an annual event where kids in the U.S. compete in sports.

Sisters Tai Sheppard, 11, Rainn Sheppard, 10, and Brooke Sheppard, 8 ― who began training in track and field in January of 2015―all made it into the Junior Olympics to compete in various races. Brooke also competed in the high jump, an event which involves equipment that her training team doesn't even have. That meant all of her jumps were practiced during competitions.

The girls, who live in a homeless shelter with their mother, Tonia Handy, 46, were able to attend the games thanks to support from the girls' training team and a successful GoFundMe campaign. Handy, however, could not afford a plane ticket of her own to watch them compete in person.

That was until Ken Smaltz Jr., A complete stranger, read about the family. He reached out to Handy and offered to buy her a ticket.

“It just feels nice to help someone,” Smaltz said, who also didn't intend for the gesture to be made public.

On August 1, Handy surprised Rainn by showing up to the track right before she was about to run the 3,000 m race.

Rainn was extremely excited. The mother and daughter hugged six times before they took each other's hands and walked to the track together.

Shortly after their sweet reunion, Rainn won the gold medal in the race.

Although the family's athletic accomplishments are grand, their needs are simple.

“Do you have money to eat?” Rainn whispered into her mom's ear after her race.

“She knew I didn't have money,” Handy later explained. “For me to be out here is an impressive achievement on its own.”

9 . I had worried myself sick over Simon’s mother coming to see me. I was a new teacher, and I gave an honest _________ of the students’ work. In Simon’s case, the grades were awfully low. He couldn’t read his own handwriting. _________ he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work in no way reflected his _________.

So when Simon’s mother entered the room, my palms(手掌心)were _________. I was completely _________ for her kisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you,” she said, surprising me beyond speech. _________ me, Simon had become a different person. She talked of how he _________ me, he had begun to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he had _________ spent an afternoon at a friend’s house. She wanted to tell me how grateful she was for the _________ I had nurtured(培养)in her son. She kissed me again and left.

I sat, stunned(惊呆), for about half an hour, __________ what had just happened. How did I make such a life-changing difference to that boy without __________ knowing it? What I finally came to __________ was one day, several months before, when some students were __________ reports in the front of the class, Jeanne spoke __________, and to encourage her to raise her voice, I had said, “Speak up. Simon’s the expert on this. He is the only one you have to convince, and he can’t hear you in the __________ of the room.” That was it. From that day on, Simon had sat up straighter, paid more attention, __________ more, and became happy. And it was all because __________ to be the last kid in the last row. The boy who most needed __________ was the one who took the last seat that day.

It taught me the most __________ lesson over the years of my teaching career, and I’m thankful that it came early and positively. A small kindness can indeed __________.

10 . U. S. Open Championships

The US Open has been in existence for almost 140 years. The first tournament was held in 1881 at the Newport Casino. It was called the US National Singles Championship. Entry was limited to only those clubs which were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association, and the competitors were all male, competing in both single and doubles. Richard Sears won the men’s championship and he went on to win the next six men’s singles championships.

The Wimbledon

In 1875, the All England Croquet Club was troubled financially due to declining membership. A new sport called lawn tennis was gaining fast in popularity and taking away the members. Two years later, a new roller was needed for maintaining its lawns so the club proposed to hold a tournament to raise money. Twenty-two players entered that first Wimbledon tournament which was won by Spencer Gore in straight sets over W. C. Marshall. Two hundred spectators each paid a shilling to watch the final game, enabling the club to buy the needed roller plus some extra cash.

The French Open

The very first French Championship was held way back in 1891, and the tournament has since grown into one of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments we know today. The first competition was a one-day national championship which was won by a British. The competition was poorly attended by world class players. It took 24 years before it became fully international and an accepted tennis grand slam event. After the First World War, French tennis was achieving stature（重要性）. Suzanne Lenglen was the predominant（卓越的）French player, winning the championships six times between 1920 and 1926.

The Australian Open

The very first tennis tournament ever played in Australia was held in January 1880, on the courts of the Melbourne Cricket Club. In 1905, the Australian Open was established as the Australasian Tennis Championship and was played at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in Melbourne. It became the Australian Championship in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Women’s events were added in 1922.