2 . The past few years have been difficult for 13-year-old Adeola Abraham. In 2020, the teen was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, and he survived a successful bone marrow transplant (骨髓移植) and rounds of chemotherapy (化疗). Thankfully, Adeola is now out of the hospital. During his recovery, he found out that he had qualified for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ask for a dream wish from Make-A-Wish Mississippi. While many teens would choose a memorable Disney trip, meet a favorite figure or get a PlayStation, Abraham instead chose to feed the homeless in his local community.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is famous for brightening the lives of children suffering from critical illnesses by meeting their wishes. A wish typically falls into three categories: a wish to have something, go somewhere or meet someone. Abraham’s charitable wish to give came as a surprise to the organization. Linda Sermons, a Make-A-Wish Mississippi representative, said that Abraham’s generous wish was the first of its kind in the organization’s 35-year history. She was impressed with the teen’s maturity and sense of sympathy.

Make-A-Wish Mississippi approved of the teen’s wish in a big way. They created a service named after the teen, called Abraham’s Table, which would provide free meals to the homeless every month for the next year. Local businesses generously donated food and supplies, and receivers gathered in Jackson’s Poindexter Park for the meals. Abraham and his proud mom personally attended and handed out the food. Abraham’s Table fed more than 80 people at its first event. Abraham said it warmed his heart when the receivers came back to thank him for the meal he provided.

Abraham now wants to inspire other teens to get more involved in local charities. He also wants to continue his mission of helping others by starting his own nonprofit that helps those experiencing food insecurity.

3 . The Best National Parks to Visit in Winter

While most parks tend to draw families in the summer and fall, there are also ideal spots for adventurous winter trips.

The country’s oldest and best-known national park takes on an almost otherworldly atmosphere in winter: the air filled with rolling steam, the strong colors of hot springs, the surrounding white landscapes, let alone the impressive wildlife during this time, like bison, wolves, and playful red foxes. Just book a guided hiking tour to get a ranger’s perspective on the park and local people.

With its giant red rocks and unique trees, you’ll feel like stepping onto a foreign planet as you spend hours hiking the Panorama Loop or Maze Loop. The park is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, featuring virtually zero light pollution and the country’s best views of a starry sky.

A significantly lower number of visitors in winter means you can take in unblocked views of the South Rim, and get to see the rare beauty of the Grand Canyon dusted with snow. For those adventurous and daring, it is recommended to hike the Bright Angel Trail and take the chance to see the canyon’s wintertime wildlife, including mule deer, elk, and bald eagles.

Surprise! Not all wintertime national park trips need to involve snow. Virgin Islands National Park is most famous for its white-sand beaches. You can also hike inland to visit old sugar plantations, or venture out to the water to swim along with sea turtles and manta rays. You will definitely enjoy a different winter here.

My neighbor told me immediately after I got home that my uncle had visited and just left my place. As I thought of this, I ran even     1    (fast) down the road.

I ran until it occurred to me that I     2    (leave) the house 15 minutes before. Having been running for about another 15 minutes, I needed to know how I missed     3    (he).

Now thinking more reasonably, I reached for my phone     4    (call) him up. Twelve calls     5    (miss) from his mobile number. I must have been running so fast that I didn’t even notice. As I was about to make the call, his call came in, again. I picked his call and told him I was on the way to meet him. He was     6    (astonish) at my words. Then he said I would have caught up     7    him if I had run the right way. He had been standing about five buildings from mine, talking to     8    old friend.

I had taken the wrong way.     9    (actual), all I needed to do before was know     10     my uncle was and I would have saved my time and energy.

Good afternoon, students. We have finally made some     1    (change) to the school clothing rules. The main differences are about hair and shoes. First, I'll talk about the problem with shoes. Recently, I     2    (notice) that some of you have been wearing very expensive designer shoes to class. This has some bad influence     3     our students. We want the school to be an exciting     4     serious place to learn. So, we are keeping out all shoes     5     cost more than $100. The second issue is hairstyles. While we understand that you want to express     6     (you), we have to say no to     7     (color) hair. A little red or blue or even     8     (make) your hair blond is OK. But bright pink hair or crazy hair that has five different colors? That' s too much for the classroom. You can wait to experiment with your hair during summer vacation. During the school year, we want you     9     (keep) your minds on your work so you can do well on your tests. The exams will be     10    (hard) this year, so we have a lot more work to do!

Recently, Chinese people from all walks of life    1    (discover)their daily lives are filled with an academic term; involution(内卷). In agricultural economics, involution originally means that    2    (add) work is put into agricultural production for higher output,    3    yet doesn’t increase proportionally(成比例地).

Our society is becoming increasingly competitive when population outgrows resources. Accordingly,    4    we used to achieve easily requires more efforts now. The level of competition we have in our society is often compared to millions of troops    5    (cross) a single wooden bridge. The    6    (major) of us are trying hard to get ahead of the troops.

Netizens now use involution to describe their current conditions, especially in the study of children. Parents feel stressed    7    (provide) their children with the best, and children must keep    8    in the race. Though great efforts have been made, they find it much    9    (hard) to go to the schools that they have been looking forward to.

Too much pressure is bound to do harm to children physically and mentally. Parents should cool down firstly and relieve their own anxiety, taking    10    (measure) to rid their children of heavy burden from involution.