1 . The first time my grandma came to visit us in Canada, she was a little upset. She ________ that there was nothing to do.

Before my grandma arrived, I used to tend the flowers in our garden. But while I was at school and my parents were at work, my grandma, feeling ________, came down upon the little piece of land. She pulled out the annuals and ________ those with orderly rows of green onions and other ________. I told her to stop, to keep the flowers. “They’re pretty, but they're ________,” she said matter-of-factly. I was annoyed until I learned something about her past.

Grandma was ________ at the time of a severe famine (饥荒). She lost her parents and did everything on her own. _______, she never cried about it to anyone.

Different times ________ unique characters. My grandma was shaped by the ________ of her family members and the difficulties in China’s recent history. Those who experienced the famine are, ________, unwilling to use valuable land to plant flowers. Her ________, responsibility, diligence and frugality (勤俭), helped her through those difficult years, some of which were laid down by the hands of time, and to change them now would ________ her. She is a (n) ________ link between my family’s past and future—she ________ her times’ challenges to support the next generation. Someday, I will be like my grandma and ________ my small part to human’s moving on.

Yours,

Li Hua

I remember the first time I met Roy. He was telling a joke. When he reached the final line, everyone burst out laughing. “A popular boy,” I thought to myself. My name is Daniel. I was the new boy in the class. There were 33 students in my new class, and most people weren’t very interested in a shy new boy. Roy was kind to me. He often invited me to join his particular group and we became good friends. We trusted each other and we could talk about personal matters.

Five years later, Roy and I were still in the same class. But just a year ago Roy’s father was knocked over by a car. He died a few days later. The family had difficulty with finance. Roy changed completely. He started losing friends, including me.

About three months ago, a group of us were playing football together after school. Having left something in the classroom, I went inside to get it and found Roy going through the pockets of people’s coats. In his hand he had a wallet and I knew it wasn’t his. Roy went bright red. “I will put it back right now,” he said, and he did so. I turned round and walked out without saying a word. I really hoped that Roy would explain why he had been stealing, but instead he started avoiding me.

Last week, our school had a big fair in order to raise money for a charity and we made about ￡500. But to our surprise, the next morning, we were told that the money had been stolen. This morning I decided to ask Roy about the theft so I went to see him. Roy was out. I put his jacket on and put my hands in the pockets. I could feel a lot of notes and I pulled them out. It looked as if there were about ￡500 there. I was so surprised that I just stood there, holding the notes in my hand. And that moment, Roy walked in.

Seeing me standing there with money in my hand, Roy felt panicked (恐慌的).

We went to the head teacher Mrs Smith, together.

Jack and I are good friends. We tried to walk across the United States of America. We’re not exactly sure why we were doing it. Part of     1     (its) was to test ourselves; to see     2     we could face the challenges. When I was a teenager, I often daydreamed that I was going to walk across the United States after     3    (graduate) from high school.    4     , I didn’t do that.

Before I knew it, I was     5    my thirties，married, a job, yet still had this idea in my mind with each passing year. I figured I was too old and my opportunity     6    (pass). Then, a few years ago, I met Jack, who     7     (be) thirty­five years old and quit his job as a civil engineer in New York City to walk across the United States. He wasn’t doing it for a cause as part of an organization. He was doing it     8    (simple) because he loved to walk and discover. The idea was back and I no longer had an excuse. We planned on averaging 20 miles a day and taking some days off     9    (rest), so we expected that the walk will take about 6 months, realizing it could take     10    (long). We were in no hurry: The total distance would have been about 3,100 miles.

For a long time, I had been looking for a piano of my own to practise on. There was a piano shop on the street along which I walked every day to school. Whenever I passed the shop, I would stop, looking at the beautiful piano standing in the comer of the shop window. How I had been dreaming, day and night to possess a piano like that!

Unfortunately, my father was just a clerk. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove. In order to save money, even on cold winter days, my father would walk the seven miles every day to get to work. No he could never afford to buy me an expensive piano. Though he knew I wanted to play that piano so much» buying it was an extravagance (奢侈品) well beyond our family’s income.

One day after school, I went as usual to the shop window to look at the piano. However, to my surprise and disappointment, the piano had gone. I should not have been surprised as others had the right to buy it, if they could afford to. Tears filled my eyes when I thought of not being able to sec that piano any more.

Disappointed, helpless and sad, I wandered aimlessly up and down the street. After about an hour. I returned home. I had just entered into our house, when I heard my mother calling me. I brushed away my tears and followed the sound of her voice into the dining-room.

I could not believe my eyes.

As soon as my father appeared, I hugged him tightly.

Several years ago, I traveled by train to Stockholm. I was visiting two friends who were to meet me at the train station. I stood there waiting for my first friend to arrive and in the midst of   all the hurrying passengers that Friday afternoon, I heard a weak voice; it sounded like   a   question. I turned and saw a young man standing with a white cane ( 拐 杖 ) , his suitcase by his feet.   I   approached   and   asked,“Do   you   need   help?”“Yes,”he   replied,   nodding   his   head, appearing relieved.

He had been trying for some time, unsuccessfully, to get someone’s attention. He had   missed his train home. His cell phone battery was dead, and he needed to call his mother to tell   her of the circumstances.

This young man named Mustafa, I found out, had just completed his first week at a school   for the blind. He went to school on Mondays and returned home on Fridays. Of course I helped him call his mother. I did not understand what he spoke with her on my cell phone, but I could tell the language was Swedish. Of course the next problem was finding the right train home and telling his mother the new arrival time. Yet in   this disordered   train   station, I did   not want to   miss connecting with my friend Bogdan who was on his way to the spot where we were standing.

Before I could dial the number to call Bogdan, he was suddenly already there. I described the problem and Bogdan took the young man’s arm and we were off on our adventure to help get Mustafa home. While sorting out where his home was, what train, and what time, my second friend Marcello called and wondered where we were. Soon he joined us. It happened that   Marcello speaks 12 languages.

Marcello’s gift in language was a great advantage.

Now we were leading Mustafa to his train.