Asad was a 13-year-old boy who was very honest and hardworking. Recently, he had entered a new school, so he had no friends yet. On Monday morning, he was nearly late for school. The night before, his family attended his cousin’s wedding and reached home late, which was why he couldn’t get up on time as usual.

At school, Asad could not pay attention to anything and wanted the bell to ring so that he could buy something to eat. After a few hours, when the bell rang, Asad quickly opened his schoolbag to find his money, but just then he remembered that he had left for school in a hurry in the morning and forgotten to take money. He looked under his books, hoping to find some money but there was nothing.

Not knowing what to do, he walked out of the classroom and sat on a bench in front of the canteen. He saw a few of his classmates there, among them was Fahad. He was one of the richest kids in his class, but he was a very arrogant(傲慢的)boy who thought everyone else was a loser. But as Asad was new, he didn’t know much about Fahad.

When he went towards Fahad and asked if he could borrow some money for his lunch, Fahad laughed a lot and said, “I knew you were a loser, maybe a beggar?” Fahad laughed out so loud that other kids also heard and made fun of the situation. He didn’t answer Fahad, and slowly walked back towards an empty bench.

When he reached the bench, he noticed something lying near it. It was a wallet. He picked it up and recognized it as Fahad’s, as he remembered Fahad showing it to his friends and telling that his uncle bought it for him from the UK. There was quite a lot of money inside for a kid.

At first, Asad wanted to keep it a secret and punished Fahad.

Then Fahad said, “Why are you giving back?”

4 . When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant _______ Miller King, who was the best _______ at our school.

Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for _______.

Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from _______. He looked very _______, but he didn’t cry.

That season, I _______ all of Miller’s records while he _______ the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,_______ I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s _______.

One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller __________ going over a fence—which wasn’t __________ to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept __________ from. But even that challenge he accepted. I __________ him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally __________ on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did __________ .Thank you for filling in for __________.”

His words freed me from my bad __________. I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was __________ ahead of me. I was right to have __________ him. From that day on, I grew __________ and a little more real.

6 . We were sitting in the doctor’s waiting room when my father said something that ________ me. “Are you my daughter or my sister?” My heart broke as I stared at him.

The doctor told us my father had Alzheimers (阿尔茨海默病). It was a big ________ for me. I was facing a battle on two fronts, emotional and physical, and I was ________for it. The disease didn’t take him away suddenly. Instead, it slowly ________him. It made me sad to watch my father hide his _______ to read the clock.

As the disease continued to progress, his behaviors became ________. We had to face another painful truth — we could no longer provide my father with the level of ________to keep him safe at home. He ________ to move to a skilled nursing facility.

Babies are born helpless; parents keep on ________. Children grow up and learn that relationships are reciprocal (相互的). However, the parent-child relationship isn’t ________. The parents remain the giver, and the children remain the taker. That is the natural order of the world — ________the child becomes the parents’ caregiver.

When a(n)________appears, we can do something to change the fact.________my father is alive and taken good care of in the nursing home. If he can ________ the illness, then I can make it. I will give him everything he deserves to have as a great father. And we will be _______with a bright future by doing our best.

Long long ago, there lived a girl named Eat. She was a good girl, but she never liked her name because all the kids made fun of her name. She ran away from everybody who laughed at her name, so Eat never really had friends. She played alone all the time.

One day, Eat went to her favorite place near the river behind her house, where she always spoke to the river. On that day, when talking to the river, she said, “You are so lucky, as you can travel to different places and always be with your friends — ducks, turtles, fishes, and plants. I wish I had more friends and wouldn’t be alone anymore.”

When she was bored talking to the river, she picked up some stones and tried to skip (打水漂) them across the river. However, she failed most of the time. Finally, she found a perfect stone. She held it tightly (紧紧地) in her fingers, and said to the river, “Oh, dear river, if I could skip this stone all the way across, I would wish for a dear friend just like you.” Saying this, Eat waved her arm back and threw the stone with full strength.

She watched the stone skip once, twice... and to her surprise, the stone went on skipping and finally, on the seventh skip, made it across the river onto the shore of the opposite side. Eat was totally amazed. She could not just believe her eyes.

Her happiness were disturbed (打断) when she heard footsteps coming towards her. Eat looked around and found a little girl was rolling down towards her. Eat hurried to get up to help. However, she lost her balance and fell off, too.

The little girl was crying and holding her knee. Eat pulled herself and went close to the girl, whose knee was bleeding (流血). She said gently to the little girl, “It will be alright. My house is nearby, let me help you. My mother will take care of the wound.”

Once they arrived at her house, Eat called out, “Mom, help! Someone is injured.”

The little girl looked at Eat and asked, “What is your name?”

8 . Would you drive around the world on a motorbike? Would you do it with a dog _______ behind you the whole way? Shirley is doing just that with her dog Merlin.

Shirley and Merlin are travelling the world together by _______. Their trip started in March from their home in Guatemala and will _______ them through 90 countries.

Merlin is a German shepherd dog who weighs 34 kilograms and is perfectly _______ on the back of a motorcycle. According to Shirley, it took the dog just a single weekend to learn how to _______. Sitting on the back of the bike in a motorcycle dog carrier, she looks _______ with hot pink goggles (护目镜) to protect her eyes.

Shirley could not _______ leaving home without her beloved dog, so she decided to travel the world with Merlin. Travelling with a dog, _______, has its limits, such as only being _______ by dog-friendly accommodations and attractions.

But according to Shirley, it’s totally ________. “I see Merlin in my mirror ________ . Her head is always right up against my side. Sometimes she even ________ her big nose on my shoulder with her chin up there. It makes me feel so ________ that she’s really experiencing everything.”

One thing Shirley has noticed so far is that no matter which country or area they have gone through, the local people’s reaction to Merlin is ________. “She just puts a big smile on everybody’s face,” Shirley said. “And that’s the part that really ________.”

Michelle was eight years old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking about her little brother, Jack, now only an infant(婴儿). He was very sick and they were completely out of money. Only a very costly operation could save Jack the baby now but there was no one to whom they could turn for the money needed. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mom, “Only a miracle can save him now.”

At the words, Michelle went to her bedroom and took out all the coins from her little moneybox. After counting the coins three times, she slipped out the back door and made her way to the drug store six blocks away . . .

She waited for a long time before the pharmacist(药剂师）turned around and asked her. “And what do you want?”

“Well, it's' about my brother,” Michelle answered . “He's really, really sick . . . and 1 want to buy a miracle.”

“I beg your pardon?”said the pharmacist. “His name is Jack and he has something very bad growing inside his body and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”

“We don't sell miracles here, little girl .I'm sorry but I can't help you, ” the pharmacist said. “Listen, I have money to pay for it.” And with these words, Mich poured out all the coins from her pockets. At this time, a well-dressed man behind Michelle stooped down and ask the little girl. “I'm selling the miracle you want. Tell me how much money you have.”

“One dollar and eleven cents, ” Michelle answered in a low voice. “And it's all the money I have, but I can some more if I need to.”

“Well, ” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents— the exact price of a miracle for little brothers. Show me the place where your brothers lives.”

Holding the man's hand firmly , Michelle took him home.

When asked why he chose to help the family, the man detailed,