Jessica wasn’t doing well enough at school, or at least she wasn’t satisfied with herself. She wished she could do better.

“Let’s review the material we learned in the last unit,” the history teacher said. “Who can tell us what caused the War of 1812?” Jessica sat at her desk, staring ahead. She hoped the teacher wouldn’t call her name. They hadn’t studied the War of 1812 at her old school and she didn’t know the answer.

“Alison?” the teacher asked instead. Oh, perfect, Jessica thought. Of course Alison would have the answer. She seemed to have all the answers. Alison was the most popular girl in school-always surrounded by millions of best friends. She was like a brilliant sun.

Jessica hadn’t made one or two friends of her own so far. Her old school was small and low-key, but a shy person Jessica had a chance there, who always stood out among peers in study and play. This new school, however, seemed as big as an airport to Jessica, and it seemed very hard to get around in it. She still got lost sometimes in the school.

Jessica frowned (皱眉) as Alison answered the teacher’s question. Alison probably never got lost, Jessica thought to herself. You could probably put Alison down in the middle of a desert, and within five minutes she’d be able to tell you the best way to get home.

History class finally ended, and Jessica headed for the gym. The class had been playing basketball. Alison, who was as tall and thin and attractive as a tree, was very good at it. Beside her, Jessica felt like a very small and foolish ant. Today, however, the gym teacher pointed to a thick rope hanging from the ceiling and said, “Everybody! You’re going to climb this rope today.”

Hearing the teacher's words, Jessica smiled.

Jessica stepped forward and got close to the rope.

My mother was a busy working woman who was in charge of a big company when I was young. In my memory, she was always on business trips and hardly had time with my family. It was mostly my father who took care of my daily life and saw my growth. Unfortunately, my father suffered from an incurable cancer 20 years ago. Right after his death, I moved 2000 miles away to New York city and started my own family and career. When I moved back near my hometown five years ago, I promised myself that I would spend more time with mom, a 75 year old lady, who had lived alone since my father died. But with the demands of my job and three kids, I never got around to seeing her much beyond family get-togethers and holidays.

She was surprised and doubtful, then, when I called and suggested the two of us go out to dinner. “What’s wrong?” she asked. My mother thought anything out of the ordinary signals bad news. “I thought it would be nice to spend some time with you,” I said. “Just two of us,” “I’d like that a lot.” She replied.

As I drove to her house, I was actually nervous. What would we talk about? What if she didn’t like the restaurant I chose. When I pulled into her driveway, she was waiting by the door with her coat on. Her hair was curled, and she was smiling. “I told my lady friends I was going out with my son, and they were all impressed,” she said as she got into my car. “They can’t wait to hear about our evening.”

We didn’t go anywhere fancy, just a neighborhood place where we could talk.

From then on, mom and I went out a couple of times’ a month.

"Number 7, Jobie Nymble, takes the lead," cried the announcer. "Just one more hurdle （跨栏比赛中的栏架） and-"The crowd burst into cheers.

"Jobie Nymble from Riverside Middle School takes first place in the girls’100-meter hurdles!” The crowd went wild as Jobie's teammates-shouted loudly. "Good job, Sweet Spikes （钉鞋）," they yelled.

"County championships, here we.come," laughed Jobie, patting her worn green track spikes They were already worn out, but she didn't care. They were her lucky shoes and she loved them. She firmly believed that her spikes would bring her good luck and the championship.

"Next Saturday, we're taking home the gold, Jobie whispered to her spikes, excitedly retying them. “Don't forget, guys,” said Marisol, one of her teammates. “My birthday party is next Friday at Hidden Park” “Beep. Party recorded in calendar," joked Jobie in her best robot voice.

The day of Marisol's party. Jobie put on her favorite outfit: her fashionable blue shorts, an old track T-shirt from her dad, and her lucky spikes. “Perfect.” She smiled at herself in the mirror.

The party was in full swing when Jobie arrived at Hidden Park. In the party area, there was a large infatable slide （充气滑梯） that she had never seen before.Her friends were having a great time playing on it. Without thinking twice, Jobie took off her spikes and ran toward the slide. Jobie couldn't get enough. She had so much fun sliding down the slide that she completely lost track of time.

When it was finally time to go home, she made her way back to the place where she'd left her shoes. As she looked for her spikes,panic set in. “They're gone!” She screamed. “My lucky spikes are gone!” Jobie's teammates helped her search the park.

No lucky spikes.

“Goodbye, gold,” Jobie sighed.

The next day, the best track teams in the county gathered at Hidden Park for the track-and-field championships.

"Next up is the girls' 100-meter hurdles," said the announcer.

Marisol cried out, "Jobie, you broke a record! Lucky you!"

I sat in the breakfast corner with my four-year-old son, Matthew, trying to ignore the ache in my stomach. I was still recovering from a surgery. I hoped for strength and happiness. But the future seemed so hopeless.

Matthew jumped up from his spot on the kitchen floor. “Bird!” he shouted, rushing to the sliding door. Sure enough, there was a white dove seated on a rubber tree. It sat there a few moments, and then flew away. I’d never seen one in our neighborhood before.

When I dragged myself to the kitchen the next morning, the dove was back. This time it was with a mate carrying twigs (嫩枝), “Look, Matthew,” I said, pointing to the tree. “They’re going to make a nest.” The doves flew in and out of the courtyard all week, building on the top of the rubber tree. Matthew could hardly contain his excitement. Every morning, he’d run into the kitchen and take his spot by the sliding glass door, talking to the birds while they worked. As much as I was grieving (感到悲伤), I couldn’t help but look forward to the doves’ visits too. We watched their progress as if it were a real-life soap opera unfolding before us. Gradually, my pain disappeared, replaced by joy.

Then it all went wrong. The courtyard was a safe enough spot for a nest, but the rubber tree’s broad, thin leaves were far from stable. One night, a strong wind blew through, throwing the doves’ nest to the ground. I heard the twigs break apart. Nothing good ever lasts. I wouldn’t blame the doves if they never came back. But they returned. And they paid no attention to the pi le of sticks that had once been their nest. They started again from scratch, though the wind destroyed all their hard work. The next day, and the next, they renewed their efforts, as if nothing had happened.

Paragraph 1: I knew I had to do something for the poor creatures.

Paragraph 2:“The birds were back!” Matthew announced.

When I was seven years old, I saw my mother sitting at her sewing machine making doll (玩具娃娃) clothes. When I asked her who the doll clothes were for, she told me that they were for the poor people, so I never gave it another thought. On the Christmas morning when I opened my present, there were those beautiful doll clothes. I said to her, “I thought the doll clothes were for the poor people.” My mother just smiled and said, “They are for the poor people. We’re poor.”

When I was nine years old, my greatest desire in life was to own a pogo stick (弹簧单高跷). I had recently learned to walk on a pair of sticks my dad had made for me, and I thought that if I had a pogo stick I surely would be proud of my unbelievable skills.

When Christmas season approached again, I told my mother that the only thing I wanted was a pogo stick. My mother told me they were too expensive and that we simply couldn’t buy one. On a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks before Christmas, my mom and dad told me we needed to go to Sears to pay our credit bill. While my mother and I were at the counter paying the bill, my dad said, “I’ll be right back. I need to see something in the tool department.” Soon my dad came walking out with a long box. I remember wondering at that very moment if it was a pogo stick in that box.

When we arrived back at home, my dad put the box in the barn (谷仓). While my parents were busy with their things, I walked out to the barn and found the box. I was so excited and I knew that as soon as I opened that magical box my bright shiny pogo stick would appear.

No such luck! Inside the box was a silly old broom (扫帚). And so Christmas morning was both great and disappointing. I got some nice gifts but I didn’t get the present that I really wanted.

Paragraph 1: On Christmas morning, when I woke up, I found the box on my bed.

Paragraph 2: I couldn’t believe how they were able to get the money for it and how they cheated me with the broom.

From high up in his apartment building, Peter could see the river stretching in both directions. Every Saturday, Peter watched grandfather riding towards the building on his bicycle. But today, Peter knew that his grandfather wouldn’t come. Peter would not hear the ring-ring of grandfather’s bicycle bell. And there would be no Saturday afternoon picnic in the park.

Last week, grandfather had a hip operation. Now he needed a cane (拐杖) to walk—and Peter didn’t know if grandfather could ever ride his bike again. Peter sighed. London looked beautiful today, but Peter missed his grandfather. Would he ever again hear the ring-ring as grandfather approached?

That’s when Peter had an idea. He was determined to provide grandfather with a picnic and a surprise. He grabbed his birthday money—10 euro (欧元) —from the top dresser drawer.

A few minutes later, Peter ran down the stairs of his building and burst into the afternoon sunshine. His bike was waiting for him. Peter put on his helmet and rode down the rough road.

Ring-ring sang his bicycle bell to warn walkers that he was approaching. He rode past the corner hardware store. He rode past the window washer who whistled as he worked. And he rode over a bridge. Peter rode two more blocks and then arrived at the market.

Buckets were filled with varieties of chocolates. Tables were piled with rounds of cheese. And Peter’s favorite-baskets overflowed with delicious potato chips, and rolls. All smelt nice, and his mouth watered. Then, he passed the toy store full of amazing toys and furthermore, he caught sight of what he had been dreaming of—a game player! The market seemed to be his paradise where everything attracted him.

Peter’s euros danced in his pocket, but suddenly he thought of the picnic and the surprise.

“This bicycle bell is for your cane! “said Peter.