Leo had gone nowhere during his two-week vacation. He had the money, but he hated to travel alone. He used to take vacations with Max, his younger brother, but they had a big argument at the end of their last vacation. Each of them had spent the last two months waiting for the other to apologize.

Leo did not feel good about being distant with his favorite brother. But he was not going to ask for forgiveness when, in his mind, he just broke Max’s cup by accident, but it was not a big deal at all. So Leo's summer vacation was spent in his own "back yard". As usual, he cleaned up his apartment , put away his books, trying to make his life busy and full.

However, he did do one thing new and different alone. He went to a new coffee shop at the corner. It served delicious coffee at reasonable prices, and the staff were quite friendly.

The vacation seemed endless. He always sat at a coffee table outside by himself and read the free daily paper. Each day he was there, reading most of the newspaper articles and drinking his coffee black with the question crossing his mind again and again: What was Max doing?

Leo was unhappy. Between articles, he took breaks by watching the nearby traffic and pedestrians(行人). The coffee shop was next to a huge park, the favorite place for both Max and him where they even spent a whole summer vacation battling for the same soccer team. They   were champion of the town! The coffee shop, with its excellent location and coffee, had helped make his vacation a pleasant one. If his brother should be there to join him just one day, his vacation would be perfect, he imagined.

One morning, accidentally knowing from mom the cup he broke was a gift from their late grandma, Leo was deeply sorry. He tried to break the ice and smiled to Max at the breakfast table but got no response. Leo was still unhappy.

Then Leo decided that he should do something more. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Leo got to the coffee shop early. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Every day Zhao Dong goes around the city on a two-wheeled motorcycle running errands (差事) for its citizens for around eight hours. At night, the 26-year-old young man, taking off his helmet (头盔) and blue jacket, dives into small theaters where he is going to use stand-up comic sets inspired by his personal stories as a deliveryman to make people laugh.

In 2019, he found that running errands can bring him a good income. Then he moved from his hometown to Xi’an, and became a deliveryman. He turned all the hardships he has been going through these years into funny jokes, which brings a refreshing life. For him, the skill of humor is not something he was born with, but what he has been diligently (勤奋地) training with his sincerity and eagerness to get a better life.

On a freezing winter night, he stopped for a while in a bar after finishing the errands and heard rounds of cheers and laughs coming from the bar, and he was told that it was an open-mic event for stand-up comedy (脱口秀) . He was crazy with the joyous atmosphere into which he wanted to get himself integrated. The club owner later sent him a guidebook for stand-up comedy and gave him a chance to go on stage. His performance attracted wider attention and he received an invitation from the Shanghai-based comedy company Xiaoguo Culture to join a comic training camp last year. It was his first time to take a plane and get out from Shanxi province. He soon found that Shanghai offers more opportunities for stand-up comedy performers.

In October, he moved to the city. There, he still chose to be a deliveryman and put on comic performances for four or five times a week. For him, what’s special about the comic form is its inclusiveness (包容性). “It welcomes people from all walks of life and varied backgrounds to share stories and express opinions on the same stage,” he says.

My dad got a new job. We had to pack up and move away from everything we were familiar with. There were so many changes. We came from the north, and now we were almost as far south as possible. We landed in South Florida, and we were total strangers. We moved over during the summer vacation, so I didn’t have to deal with school right away. Summer passed by while we unpacked, arranged furniture, found stores we liked, and adapted to the Sunshine State.

School was coming, and I was afraid of it. I was not an adventurous person. Being shy and quiet, I read a lot and did not make friends easily. My head was filled with fears and worries. Would I make friends? Would If it in? Would I survive in this strange new world? Anyway, there I was, attending a new school full of people I didn’t know.

I had a difficult time adapting to the new school. However, I still loved learning and reading. I even loved homework, and I was good at doing my homework. Loving books and reading helped me to get good grades. Teachers loved that about me. Other kids, though, did not. Although I always answered questions in class, I seldom talked with my classmates. I was unpopular. I felt like a total failure and nobody would like me.

The none day, at all boy walked over to me after an English class. He introduced himself and told me he was in the school basketball team. I knew him—he was the star player! “Hey,” he said. “You do really well in English class. And you know, my teammates and I spend much time competing and practicing. The subjects, especially English, really bother us. Do you think you could help us?” “Yes. Oh, definitely yes. I could, and I would,” I replied with surprise. We made the deal with an exchange of smiles.

Something gradually changed after that.

Meanwhile, the basketball players taught me how to play basketball.

10 . Marcus is a handsome and athletic kid. He plays tennis and _________ the state tournament every year. Marcus’s neighbor, Conrad, is also _________ to compete, but he has rheumatoid arthritis (类风湿性关节炎). Although it pains him just to walk, he _________ painful days at school walking to the sports field. He loves watching his school compete so he doesn’t _________ a game.

Marcus has known Conrad since primary school. They’ve always been _________. He sees Conrad in pain and his _________ at not being able to play sports. So, every day alter school, Marcus _________ his classmates to go to Conrad’s for a moment of discussion about the game competition. The discussion is as _________ as a real high school game, which makes Conrad forget the hurt.

Finally, the doctors found a new _________ to reduce the pain. Conrad walks without much pain, and then begins running, but he still has to learn the __________ of running. After a childhood of walking carefully and taking __________ steps, Conrad has to train his walking like a kid again and stay in shape. He pushes himself every day，building his lungs and doing leg lifts repeatedly for his leg __________. He knows what pain feels like, but running for Conrad is no longer __________.

To Conrad’s delight, he gets a chance to join the cross country team. Conrad doesn’t win, not once, but Marcus is there, __________ for him who always finishes in the middle of the competitors, breathing in wind and waving his hands __________.