1 . The mom had died when the rescuers found her after the terrible earthquake. She was covered by a destroyed house. Through gaps (缝隙) of those ruins, the rescuers could see her last posture (姿势). It was something like an ancient person who was kowtowing (叩头), but it just looked strange because she was out of shape by pressure.

The rescuers confirmed her death by touching her through the gaps of the ruins. They shouted at the ruins again and again, knocked the bricks using various tools, but no reply inside.

Then the rescuing team went to the next building. Suddenly the leader ran back, calling “Come here.” He came to the body, put his hands under the woman, feeling and touching, then shouted loudly and gladly, “There is someone, a baby, still living.”

Through some efforts, rescuers cleaned up the ruins which blocked her. Under her body lay her baby, who was covered by a small red quilt (棉被). He was about 3 or 4 months’ old. Since well protected by his mother’s body, he was safe. He was in a deep sleep when the rescuer carried him out, and his lovely and peaceful face warmed everyone around him. The doctor, along with the rescuing team, took the baby out of the quilt to check if the baby was all right, and he found there was a mobile phone in the quilt. The doctor looked at the screen; a written message was already there: “My dear baby if you could live, don’t forget how much I love you.” As a doctor, he experienced much of this type of separation; but at this moment, he cried. The mobile phone was passed, and every person who saw this message shed (流出) tears.

2 . When I first met Sarah, all I noticed was her drool (口水) running from the corner of her mouth. As Mrs. Wagner pushed the wheelchair towards me, I felt _________. Why did she sit beside me?

For the entire morning, I was uneasy. Eventually, I nerved _________ to ask Mrs. Wagner, “Mrs. Wagner, can I have my _________ changed?”

She patted (拍) my shoulder gently and said, “Natalie, Sarah _________ our care. Try it.”

Why? I didn’t need a deskmate with running drool! I decided to _________ Sarah, at three o’clock, our _________ teacher came and said, “Kickball time! Put on your gym shoes.” As I bent (弯腰) over to tie my shoes, Sarah caught my attention and I wondered _________ it feels to never walk. My _________ felt tight.

Mrs. Wagner asked me, “Natalie, _________ Sarah cannot kick, she can throw balls. Would you help her in the gym class?”

I had to __________ and push Sarah to the playground.

Firstly, Matt kicked the ball and it came to me. I handed it to Sarah and she __________ it, which just struck Mike’s heel!

“You got him out!” I shouted. Sarah __________ happily. Then I laughed, too. The rest of the game was __________ and we all enjoyed ourselves.

At the end of the day, Sarah read a journal entry to us, “My __________ day of school went well. I had fun playing kickball. I made a nice new friend, Natalie.”

Sarah __________ at me. I didn’t notice her drool. What I saw was a new friend, a friend I had almost missed.

My name is Maeli. I am so lucky, because I have Lizzy Jo. She is my cousin and my friend! We are close. We talk about everything from our dreams, our sad things to the things we value most such as her beautiful bracelets (手链) and my beads (有孔的珠子).

Yesterday our teacher brought out a big box just before the last bell rang. “I have a little gift for each of you,” she said. Then she gave each of us a perfect popcorn ball. Each popcorn ball was in clear bag that was tied with a ribbon (丝带). Just that little ribbon made the gift look so fancy! Sometimes, it’s the tiny details that make things special.

I happen to have a great appreciation for popcorn balls, so I was pleased. Lizzy Jo and I rode the bus home. The moment I was off the bus, I untied the ribbon and put it into my pocket. Then I took the popcorn ball out of the plastic bag. I didn’t even stop walking. Unfortunately, my feet were in a big hurry to get home, and sometimes when feet are in a hurry, they trip.

My feet tripped. I fell. And my perfect popcorn ball dropped right into a dirty puddle (水坑). I was okay, but my popcorn ball wasn’t. Have you ever seen a perfect popcorn ball in a dirty puddle? It isn’t something that you want to take a photo of and frame and keep forever.

I looked at my popcorn ball. That moment definitely was NOT the time to use the two second rule. Last week at my grandma’s house I used the two second rule. I accidentally dropped my cookie on her floor. I picked it up REALLY fast, and I admit that I ate that cookie. But this was a very different situation. This involved a puddle.

Emma had two exams that day — physics and history. She really hated physics. It was her worst subject. Alice looked at her, and then looked away quickly. Emma thought Alice looked pleased, because she didn’t have a problem with physics, she didn’t have a problem with anything...Miss Perfect!

“I thought we were friends, but she hasn’t spoken to me for two weeks now. she promised to help me go over for the physics exam too, but then she’s forgotten all my calls and texts. And when I rang her house, her mum just told me she was busy.” Emma thought angrily. At that moment, Mr. Read asked all the students into the exam room.

Emma couldn’t answer some physics questions. Suddenly she saw Alice sitting two rows in front of her. Emma couldn’t believe it! Alice was holding her phone on her knee under the table and reading from it. Is that how Alice always got such good grades? She felt really angry at Alice, and thought about telling the teacher, but...“Stop writing,” said Mr. Read and started to collect the exam papers. Oh no, Emma hadn’t answered two of the questions. She was going to fail again!

Emma wanted to talk to Alice at lunchtime, but she couldn’t find her anywhere. Emma went to the library to prepare for the history exam, which was her favorite. But she couldn’t concentrate. “Unfair! Alice was getting good grades by cheating all that time.” She thought about telling a teacher, but everyone would hate her if she did that. Just then, Mr. Read walked past her table. “Mr. Read...”

Emma was sitting behind Alice again in the history exam that afternoon. Mr. Read wanted her to look at Alice and agreed if she saw that Alice was cheating in the exam.

She was working on the last question when she saw that Alice had her phone under the table.

Emma was walking towards the school gate when she saw Alice waiting for her there.

5 . I came to the United States ten years ago. I would always say that I was trying to study, but there were always things like work and my kids that would not allow me to start.

Now I realized that those were only excuses. What stopped me was that I was afraid to start studying again. I always believed I would learn by myself.

One day, however, my son told me that he was sad because his friends would come over and I didn’t understand them because I didn’t speak English. He was also sad because I could never help him with his homework. That same day, I told myself, “Rocio, you have to start believing in yourself and you will see you can make it.”

The next day, I went downtown to look for a big banner (横幅) in front of the school which said that they offered classes for adults. I came in to see if I could join, but the classes were closed already. That night I took the kids to the movies, and on the way back, I told them we would take a new route. I ended up getting lost. That’s the way I found Chaffey College. The following Monday, I went to ask for information. They told me that summer school was starting that week.

That’s how I started studying English last summer. It is difficult, but I have had great rewards. My daughter had written a story for school. It was about the female they most admired and why. She wrote that I was the person she most admired because I had started going to college. I will never forget this.

7 . My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard.    1     Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.

My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon.     2     She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.

    3     Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us.     4     She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.

Often she says to us, “work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is!     5     This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

9 . The Jones-Baldwin family wasn’t always so big. When Keia Jones married her husband Richardo Baldwin in 2010, she had just one child: a 2-year-old daughter, Zariyah from a previous relationship. Little did they know, though, that their family would eventually add not one, not two, but three more children to the Jones-Baldwin family, thanks to the gift of adoption.

First came 11-year-old Karleigh, in 2014. She and Zariyah became close friends at school, but due to some financial difficulties, Keia says Karleigh’s mother fell on hard times and was unable to properly care for her. In 2017, the couple adopted a lovely 3-year-old named Ayden. That same year, their fourth child came into their lives unexpectedly.

“Unlike our three other black kids, the baby, named Princeton, is white,” Keia recalls. Princeton was born seriously ill and stayed in hospital several weeks after his birth. “They needed someone to do skin-to-skin with him,” says Keia, “and chose me for the task, and I was more than willing to take on the job.”

The experience of being black parents raising a white son has certainly caused them some trouble. There are always lots of suspicious stares and unfavorable comments wherever they go. Someone even called the police and said the baby was stolen by the couple. Once the family were enjoying themselves on the beach in Florida when the police were called in. It was not until Keia showed the police their ID cards that they were convinced that the baby was indeed their adopted son.

When asked why they would make so much effort to adopt the kids, Keia smiled. “It’s all love,” she said.“Both my husband and I love kids. We just can’t stand seeing kids suffering. Thank goodness, the lovely kids, who are from different cultures and of different ages, are all growing up healthily and happily under the same roof. Over the years, they have brought us so much joy! Our hearts are so full and so grateful.”