“It’s been potatoes all week, mom! Can’t we go to the diner for a burger and an ice cream? That’s all I want for my birthday!” Eve’s 8-year-old son Dylan threw his arms around her shoulders, looking at her hopefully. In her hear, she wanted to throw Dylan the biggest birthday party ever, with balloons and a delicious cake with 8 beautiful candles on it. But in reality, Eve could afford none of that. After being let go from the third temporary job and paying the overdue bills, she didn’t have enough money left.

“Sorry, baby. I can’t afford meals...” Eve said sadly. Seeing tears in his mother’s eyes, Dylan quickly changed his tone (语气). He’d seen her struggling to make ends meet and couldn’t stand hurting her. “Actually, mom, that potato salad looks delicious! Can I have some more?” He asked her cheerfully.

After the humble meal, Eve did housework. Dylan took out an envelope hidden on his bookshelf. He’d secretly saved a few dollars from the lunch money his mom had given him over the past few years. He counted the money. “$28!” His eyes lit up. “I can get a good meal for c mom!”

Dylan slid out with the envelope and walked to the next block, where he saw exactly what he’d expected—the mobile food truck! He’d seen it a few times and wondered why the place was always crowded. He waited until the crowd waiting to buy food at the counter cleared away

“Sir! Please give me everything I can get for $28!” Dylan requested eagerly. But Martin, the owner of the food truck, replied, “Sorry, kid. We’re out of everything today!”

Disappointed, Dylan was seated on the sidewalk, mumbling(咕哝): “It’s my birthday, but I can’t even treat her to a nice meal. She does so much for me. I thought, for once, I would do something nice for her.” He kept talking out loud to himself, giving into his urge to cry.

“Woah, happy birthday, boy!” Martin said, sitting down next to Dylan.

The next morning, Eve woke up to a food truck outside her house.

Teenagers’ physical changes may result in family     1    (tense). On the other hand, it can be a big headache to balance your developing mental needs,     2     can lead to a breakdown in your relationship.

Although sometimes it may seem     3    (possibility) to get along as a family, you can take action to improve the situation. The key to     4    (keep) the peace is regular and honest communication. When you disagree with your parents, remember to take     5     minute to calm down and try to understand the situation from their point of view. Perhaps they    6    (experience) something similar and do not want you to go through the same pain. After you have thought it through, explain your actions and feelings     7    (calm), listen carefully, and address their concerns. Through this kind of healthy discussion, you     8    (learn) when to back down and when to ask your parents to relax their control.

Just remember that it is completely normal     9    (struggle) with the stress that parent- child tensions create, and that you and your parents can work together to improve your relationship. The good news is that this stormy period will not last. Everything will turn out all right in the end, and the changes and challenges of your teenage years will prepare you     10     adulthood.

4 . 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.

5 . When I was a child, my father had to do three jobs for a family of seven. Every time I saw him come back late, looking _______, I promised myself that someday I would show my thanks to my father for _______he had done.

Over the next twenty years, my father worked hard to _______ our big family and suffered a lot from a heart problem. One morning, my father’s old car _________ and he asked me to pick him up after his medical examination. He had _________ refused when I offered to replace _______.   He said that he did not want something that he was unable to pay himself.

As he stepped out of the doctor’s office, he looked unusually_______ . We drove _______and he made me promise to keep the medical report as a _______. I did this with a heavy heart.

At that time, I was ________ a new car. I asked my father to go with me to pick one out.________   I started talking with the salesman, I noticed my father admiring a brown car. I finally________ a white car. My father took one final look at the ________car and seemed kind of _________   Before leaving I heard him muttering (嘀咕) to himself, “Really like that car. Wish I could   _______ it.”

Several days later, I asked my father if he could go with me to pick up my new car. As we arrived, the salesman handed him a key to his new car - the brown one - and explained that it was for him, from me. My father looked at me in great surprise . I explained it was my childhood promise and smiled at this man, who had given up everything for his family.

Jenny was the only child in her home. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help crying when she thought of the scolding (责骂) from her mother. Having wandered (徘徊) in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a shop for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy cooking noodles. However, she had no money.

The seller in the shop 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.“Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother didn’t care for me. A stranger is much better than her!”

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 count the times she cooked for you? Have you ever said “Thanks” to her?”

Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock. she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered (沧桑的) hands.“Why did I not think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel thankful, but I have never thanked my mum for what she has done for me.”

On the way home, Jenny decided to say sorry to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.

At the door, Jenny met her father, who just came back from work.

At last, her mother came back home.

9 . Most brides are angry when they are outshone at their own wedding. For Brenna Klemen, however, she would not have it any other way.

When Brenna married Brock Kendall back in April, she knew she _________ her 83-year-old grandmother to play a _________ role in the wedding. “Grandma was very _________,” Brenna said. “She was almost in tears because she wanted to make sure she did OK on my special day.”

On the actual wedding day, Grandma did more than just OK, as she _________ stole the show! All _________ was on her as she walked down the aisle (过道), and the _________ moment was captured (拍摄) by wedding _________ Thomas Felts in images that have since _________ rapidly.

“Every time she threw more petals (花瓣) in the air, our family cheered loudly and happily,” Brenna said, adding that all of her wedding guests _________. This was a wedding that __________ nobody in attendance will ever __________!

While everyone loved the moment, nobody was __________ than Brenna’s grandfather, who told the photographer, “That’s my flower girl.”

“I have __________ that life is too short for us to think about the negatives. As my grandmother would say __________ is a choice,” Brenna said. “She is my inspiration, and I hope that she can inspire you too.”

We’re so glad to see that Brenna got the wedding of her dreams, with a little __________ from her grandma!