In 1989, fresh from high school, I had the difficult task of choosing a career path before college started in three months. In those days in Pakistan, there were limited choices: becoming a doctor or an engineer, or entering the financial world after getting a business degree. I wasn’t interested in engineering, so that I was left with medicine or business. I couldn’t decide.

My uncle suggested that I do a work placement (实习工作) to experience it for a month in an international company followed by a month in a hospital. After that, I could make a decision. It seemed like a good idea.

I was accepted by a foreign bank in Karachi for a one⁃month placement. I got the feel of how the world of finance functioned, made new friends, and generally enjoyed the mostly easy⁃going work surroundings.

The month passed rapidly, and soon I began working at a leading hospital in Karachi. The experience couldn’t have been more different. The hospital had a stressful environment. The days started early (at 7 am, compared to 9 am at the bank), and were filled with endless duties. And the night calls! This was crazy, working all day, through the night, and again the next day.

I began thinking about my two experiences. The bank had offered a more relaxing atmosphere, better working hours and less stress. The hospital was full of excitement, but the studying and training were difficult. It seemed that the business choice was going to win out.

Near the end of my month at the hospital, I was driving home after an especially busy night. In front of me was a public bus, with college students sitting on the top. As the driver weaved through (穿梭) traffic, I could see the boys shaking from side to side.

Suddenly,a boy fell off the back of the bus.

The next day,when I went to the hospital to see the boy,all his family got up,with grateful smiles on their faces.

“Do you forget to bring your homework to school?” my sixth⁃grade math teacher asked. I nodded my head and said in a low voice, “Yes, sir.” What a mistake I had made! I had completed my math homework. But before I left home and headed for school, I forgot to put it into my schoolbag.

“You will get a zero then,” my math teacher said. I was shocked. I had never received a zero in a math class before. But the school had rules, and the teacher had to let everyone follow them. I was immediately worried about my final math average, which was based on my homework and the tests. Would I get a C or even a D at the end of the term? If so, what should I do?

My next class was a PE class. As I walked down the hall with my classmates, all those feelings rushed out in hot tears. I wiped them away as quickly as I could. But when we entered the gym and sat down in our spots on the floor, it was clear to everyone around me that I had been crying.

My PE teacher, Ms. Brown, was an athletic teacher, often with a smile on her face. Her class was a good mix of calisthenics (健美操) and games that can give us all a good workout. And Ms. Brown was nice and compassionate (有同情心的). She loved her students and often came to help if the students were in trouble.

During that PE class, my mind was affected by the math homework and I was worried about my final math average. So I failed to devote my attention to Ms. Brown’s direction. And clearly, I was sad. I guessed that Ms. Brown found there was something wrong with me. When it was near the end of the PE class, she walked to me.

She sat down to comfort me.

I felt relaxed and decided to work harder at math.

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.

The skies were dark. A strong wind was blowing hard, cutting my face like a sharp knife. Rain fell in big drops and thunder and lightning flashed across the skies. I shook with cold and fear as I walked through the streams of muddy water. Some people were rushing by, completely wet in the heavy rain.

Along the way, I saw some schoolchildren holding their heavy schoolbags tightly and rushing home. I also saw that some road repair work had been abandoned(遗弃) by workers. Obviously the workers had left in a hurry because of the storm. There were few signs and it was hard to see what was on the road. There were pieces of wood and metal and it looked like a hole had been dug and hastily covered with planks(木板).

I moved on but suddenly stopped as I heard some sounds. It sounded like children crying. I quickly turned back and went back to the place from where the sounds came. I was terrified! To my sadness, I found that two small children had fallen into the gaping(裂开的) hole on the road. The planks had moved away with the force of the rushing water. I could barely see the children as it was dark all around me. I told them that I was going to get help and ran. I was not sure of what to do or where to go but decided to go to the nearest house for help. I knew the man well, Mr Lee, who lived there and got along well with his neighbors.

I called Mr Lee and told him about the problem.

The children’s parents were shocked to hear of what had happened.

Located halfway up the Italy’s Apennine Mountains, about 100 miles northeast of Rome, the Hotel Rigopiano has never been easy to reach. But its isolation(隔离) only adds to its appeal, attracting a great number of tourists.

Snow began to fall across the Apennines in January and lasted for days. From his home in the Rome suburbs, Matrone watched the weather with concern. He and his wife, Cicioni, had planned an overnight getaway to the hotel. But now he wondered whether they should go. After phoning the hotel, they decided to make the trip. By the time they neared the hotel six hours later, they were battling a snowstorm. When they finally arrived, they were both cold and exhausted. They checked into the hotel, got into their room and went to bed early.

As they awoke the next day, they discovered that their difficulty had worsened overnight. The cars in the parking lot were invisible. The phone and power lines were down. They were having breakfast when the hotel began to shake. An earthquake with a magnitude(震级) of 5.7 had struck the mountain. “Get out of here!” Matrone shouted to his wife. They headed quickly to the parking lot, where others were digging their cars. Fifteen minutes after the first earthquake, another quake hit, this one measuring 5.6.

With a dozen vehicles freed by noon, the guests set off down the driveway. But when they reached the main road, the path was blocked by a six⁃foot⁃high wall of snow. Matrone climbed out of his car and investigated it. There was no road in sight, “We’re trapped!” he told his wife. So they had no choice but to make their way back to the hotel.

As it was getting dark, they managed to get back. That was when the snow on the mountain began to slide. They heard the avalanche(雪崩) before they saw it. The avalanche gathered speed and size, grabbing rocks and trees and anything else in its way down the mountain, tearing the hotel from its foundation. When the avalanche came to a stop, those who were caught inside the hotel were left buried in the icy rocks and ruins.

When Matrone came to himself,he was stuck in the darkness.

It was not until the next morning that the rescuers finally arrived.

My Best Teaching Experience

Tyler was only in my senior class for a semester. He had been suspended (使停学) many times in previous years because of his anger issues. When he entered my class, I thought the worst.

Tyler sat in the back row. Every time I talked to the class, I would ask students questions, calling them by name. Unfortunately, every time I called on Tyler, he would respond with a joke. If he got an answer wrong, he would become angry.

About a month into the year, I was still trying to connect with Tyler. I can usually get students involved in class discussions or at least have them sit quietly and attentively (专心地). By contrast, Tyler was often loud and sometimes rude.

He had been in so much trouble over the years. He expected his teachers to know about his past; about how many times he had been sent to the office or suspended from school. I had found that these sorts of referrals (移交) were not very effective and that students would return from the office behaving worse than before.

One day, Tyler was talking over me while I was teaching. I stopped my lesson and said, “Tyler, why don’t you join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?” With that, he got up from his chair, pushed it over and yelled something. I can’t remember what he said other than that he included some impolite words. I sent Tyler straight to the office, and he received a week’s suspension.

To this point, this was one of my worst teaching experiences. Tyler’s anger was almost too much for me. The week Tyler was suspended from school was a wonderful time, and we got a lot accomplished as a class. However, the suspension week would soon come to an end, and I was fearful of his return.

On the day of Tyler’s return, I stood at the door awaiting him.

A spark of surprise flashed across his face.

Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel (吵架) with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand (货摊) for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave.

The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?”

“Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me.” she replied.

“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man, “Come in.”

The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently.

“What is it?” asked the man kindly.

“Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!”

Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you remember the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?”

Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock: she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful. Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?”

On the way home. Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.

Nearing the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.

At that time, her mother came back and touched her hair gently, which called her mind back.

Opening presents carefully selected by our parents is our family tradition on Christmas morning, which always pushes the festive atmosphere to the climax. However, this year’s Christmas seemed not as happy as usual.

It was Christmas Eve when my sister and I decided to open our presents before our mom got home from work. Though worried about ruining my mom’s original plan, we still wanted to sneak a peek (偷看) at the gifts in advance, driven by a strong impulse of curiosity. Since my sister was older, and that put her in charge, she opened the first gift while I was ordered to stand guard at the big picture window in our front room. I was to report any suspicious activity or person, namely our mother, who can easily capture the details of life.

I was so excited that I could barely stand still. I also couldn’t keep my eyes on the window very long. My head moved from the window to my sister and back to the window again. I felt like I was watching a Ping-Pong match.

“All right!” my sister shouted. She pulled out a jewelry box. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

I jumped up and down. “Yeah, it’s my turn!”

“No,” she said. “It means that there must be some jewelry under here.” I watched my sister rummaging (翻寻) through the presents under the tree, trying to find one she thought was small enough to be a necklace or earrings.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” I complained, stomping my foot.

“Are you watching for Mom?” is all that she said. I couldn’t do anything except stand guard as she opened present after present. Finally, when my sister’s curiosity was satisfied and she had finished wrapping her last present back up, we traded places.

My heart hammered so hard that it felt like my chest was moving in and out. My sister reminded me to be careful so I wouldn’t tear the paper, and to wrap the present back up the same way that I had found it.

After unwrapping a few presents, I found it faster to open one end of a present and peek inside. “Headphones! How can my mom know what I want! Without any hesitation, I pulled the headphones out of the box.

I was about to put them on when my sister shouted, “Quick! Mom’s coming!”

Christmas morning finally approached, and we were ready to open our presents again!_