Rich Danieu, a man awaiting a heart transplant (移植), had to stay in Strong Hospital in Rochester, New York, since January. His days were filled with uncertainty, medical procedures, and a longing to be with his family. The slim hope of getting cured had almost driven Danieu’s mood down to the ground. He was close to giving up. What’s worse, he was frustrated at the thought of missing a crucial event: his 5-year-old daughter Mara’s school’s father-daughter dance.

Shortly after Danieu’s arrival at the hospital, Mara had excitedly shared the news of her school’s upcoming father-daughter dance. She had been eagerly looking forward to her father’s participation. But Danieu’s illness had kept him away from his daughter’s joyous event. As the day of the dance drew near, Mara’s excitement began to be replaced by a deep sadness. “My daughter was a little upset, for I couldn’t go with her,” Danieu said to a nurse with a heavy heart.

Mara’s grandfather stepped in to take her to the dance, hoping to make the evening special for her. They both got dressed up, arrived at the school hall, and even had a beautiful photo taken. However, for Mara, something was wrong, because she noticed everybody else was with their dads. Excitement gave way to disappointment. On their way home, Mara was walking silently, without saying a word, when her grandfather received a call from the hospital.

The nurses at Strong Hospital had been closely following the family’s story. Having witnessed what Danieu was experiencing due to missing such a crucial moment in his daughter’s life, they decided to do something. They knew they couldn’t make a big change, but they could certainly create a moment of magic. On the night of the dance, with delicate care, they transformed an empty hospital room into a magical dance floor, complete with twinkling lights and soft music playing in the background.

At the same time, Danieu lay in his hospital bed, a sense of disappointment at his heart. When he was gazing out the window, a nurse came in with a warm smile.

Led to the room, Danieu didn’t know what awaited him.

That special dance brought great strength and hope to Danieu.

Tenth grade in school was a time we all enjoyed with our friends and teachers.

One day, our class teacher came in with a girl. She was tall and had dark skin. The teacher introduced her as Navya and she was going to, be in our class that year. My friends looked at me and saw a smile come across my face. They knew I loved making friends, and I was willing to help anyone in any way.

I found Navya to be a very quiet girl — she always liked to stay alone. We would want her to join us but she would never leave her seat. I often wondered why this girl loved being alone in her place. During the break, we would sit with Navya and introduce ourselves to her. I would try my best to make her say anything she wished, but she never spoke anything to anyone. I hardly saw her smile, and I often wondered if there was a smile behind the mask.

The annual day was approaching, and our teachers were grouping us into dance, singing and plays. We all were excited as we all could skip our classes and go for our annual practice. Our teacher asked Navya if she would like to participate in any of the events on the annual day, but she would look down and shake her head, as if she were dumb (哑的). She never came forward to participate in any competitions.

The day finally arrived, and we were all excited. Then our play was about to begin and we found out that our main actor Shruti had an accident and would not be able to perform in the play. We were all sad and tense as the parents were waiting for the play to start.

Halloween is very popular in western countries. On October 31^st, dozens of children dressed in costumes (节日服装) nock on their neighbors’ doors and yell “Trick or Treat” when the door opens. Pirates and princesses, ghosts and popular heroes of the day all hold bags open to catch the candy or other goodies that the neighbors drop in. As they give each child a treat the neighbors exclaim over the costumes and try to guess who is under the masks.

Today school dances and neighborhood parties called “block parties” are popular among the young and the old. More and more adults celebrate Halloween. They dress up like historical or political figures and go to masquerade parties (化妆舞会). In larger cities, costumed children and their parents gather at shopping malls early in the evening. Stores and businesses give parties with games and treats for the children. Teenagers enjoy costume dances at their schools and the more outrageous the costume the better!

Certain pranks (恶作剧) such as soaping car windows and tipping over garbage cans are expected. But partying and pranks are not the only things that Halloweeners enjoy doing. Some collect money to buy food and medicine for needy children around the world.

The generation gap between students and teachers is becoming more significant with only 3.3 percent out of a survey group of 1, 000 students from 30 key middle schools in the city saying they would be willing to tell their teachers of their inner thoughts.

In today’s educational environment, teachers are positioned to be the authority figure for learning instead of also becoming good friends in the life of students.

As only students with good marks in exams are considered the “ apples in the eyes” of the teachers, most students think their teachers to be partial (偏心).

“I feel sad to hear such remarks”, said Yu Yi, a well-known special-class teacher.

She recalled that in the past, teachers and students would play basketball together or comment on the novels while sitting on the grass during a break. But today, study and good marks are the only topics of conversation between students and teachers.

“Schools are not only the place where knowledge is imparted (传授) but also where students are taught how to be an upright person,” Yu said. “The success of a person is not merely determined by intelligence but also by emotional state.”

On September1, 1965, the Tibet Autonomous Region was officially established, which marked the establishment of the people’s democratic power in Tibet. From then on, the Tibetan people enjoyed the right to administer their own affairs and, together with the people throughout the country, engaged in the socialist development. Nowadays, the Tibet Autonomous Region, covering one-eighth of China’s territory with a population of 2.8 million, has developed rapidly in recent years.

China is a multi-ethnic country and Tibet is an inalienable (不可分割的) part of China. For more than 700 years the central government of China has continuously exercised sovereignty over Tibet. No government of any country in the world has ever recognized Tibet as an independent state. Anyone must be denounced (谴责) if he tries to split his motherland. British Foreign Secretary Lord Lansdowne, in a formal instruction in 1904, called Tibet “a province of the Chinese Empire.” In his speech, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said, “Over the past several hundred years, as far as I know, at no time has any foreign country denied China’s sovereignty over Tibet.” The Dalai clique and overseas anti-China forces used to claim that between the 1911 Revolution and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Tibet became a country “exercising full authority.” However, many historical facts denied such a fallacy (谬论). The so-called “Tibetan independence” which the Dalai clique and overseas anti-China forces spread is nothing but a fiction of the imperialists who committed aggression against China in modern history. Never will they succeed.