1 . When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very kind person. When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked why, he said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you watered them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow (浅的）roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves. Deep roots were very important. So he never watered his trees. He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs died several years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twenty-five years ago. They’re very big and strong now. I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for a whole summer. After two years of caring too much, whenever a cold wind blows in, they shake a lot.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. Mostly I pray (祈祷) that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to face difficulties. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere, so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we could face it strongly and won’t be beaten down.

3 . There was once a boy called Joseph Webb who always loved to show off how many friends he had at school. One day his ________ said to him, “Joseph, I bet (打赌) you a big bag of popcorn that you don’t have as many friends as you think. I’m sure many of them are nothing more than companions.”

Joseph ________ the bet at once. However, he wasn’t sure how to test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandfather. The old man answered, “Wait a minute.” Then he left and ________ soon as if carrying something in his hands, but Joseph could see nothing there.

“Take it. It’s a very ________ chair because it’s invisible (看不见). It’s rather ________ to sit on, but if you take it to school and ________ to sit on it, you’ll activate (激活) its ________ and it’ll be able to tell who your real friends are.”

Joseph, brave and determined, set off for ________ with the strange and invisible chair.   At break time he asked everyone to form a ________, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. Having difficulty seeing it, Joseph tried to sit on it but he ________ the seat and fell straight onto his backside. Everyone around him had a pretty good laugh.

“Wait! Let me try again, ”Joseph said. But again, he missed the seat,________ more surprised looks and a few catcalls. Joseph didn’t ________ and kept trying to sit on the magic chair. But he kept falling to the ground...until, suddenly he tried again but didn’t ________. Looking around, Joseph saw three of his best friends holding him up.________, many others he had thought of as friends had done nothing but make fun of him. And there, the show came to an end. Joseph understood that true friends were those who care for him, and not just the ________ that happened to be passing by. And someone who took joy in his misfortunes was even less of a friend.

4 . What does it mean to be a hero? I think a hero is someone who goes out of his way to make others happy. My hero is Mr. Wright, my chorus (合唱队) teacher.

When I was 12 years old, my grandparents passed away. I was really close to them, and losing them was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to ________ through. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or think; I felt like I couldn't even breathe. It was as if my whole world had fallen down from under me, and I ________ into this huge hole of depression (抑郁).

________ I was battling depression, I was determined to make my high school years the best of my life. It was difficult to be ________ , but I had to try. I joined Women’s Choir. Mr. Wright was the choral director and he was so funny that the first day, I just knew I had made the best ________ of my life.

As the year progressed, I loved chorus more and more. I began to smile again and really enjoy life.

Then one day that all changed. My friends—or those that I thought were my friends—started talking about me behind my back. I was hurt , and I sat by myself. Mr. Wright came over and asked what was wrong. The look in his eyes told me that I could ________ him. Trying hard to ________ back tears, I told him the whole story.

When I finished, he nodded and told me, “If you never learn anything from me, learn this: No one is worth ________ your joy. ” What Mr. Wright said really ________ a chord (心弦）in my heart. He ________ cared about me and what was going on. I’ll never be able to thank him enough, because he not only saved me but has ________ every day of my life since. Any time I feel like giving up, I remember Mr. Wright's words and push forward.

I’m proud to say that I ________ my depression, and I'm now a senior. I’m still a part of chorus, and now I'm also in the best choir at my school.

Mr. Wright is a hero to everyone he meets. He cares about every single person who walks through his door, and he loves what he does more than any other teacher I've known. That’s ________ he deserves to be Educator of the Year. He deserves the ________ not just this year but every year.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet you, Mr. Wright. You are an ________ teacher, and I hope you realize that. You’re my hero.

5 . Mom wanted only one thing for her birthday．"Can you find me another copy of this song？"she asked，and handed me a worn-out cassette tape. I know exactly what was recorded on it-"My Redeemer (救世主)."I heard the song played at least a thousand times while growing up. After 37years，the cassette tape was too worn-out to be used. I promised her I would find a replacement．

"My Redeemer"had become Mom's favorite song after my younger brother Tim was killed by a drunk driver in 1973. The only thing that helped her calm down was the soulful sound of"My Redeemer"from the local radio station．We recorded it on a cassette tape so she would listen to it any time she wanted，but none of us knew who the singer was. These days, I figured it would be easy to find out. I went home and searched the Internet. Several songs with that title came out，but none of them were the one Mom loved. I got depressed.

Mom's birthday drew near and then one day, I was driving home, listening to our local radio station．I heard a familiar song, "My Redeemer!"As soon as I could, I phoned the station. I found out the singer was Alan Parks．I typed his name into Google and found his home number in South Carolina. Minutes later, I was telling him how much his recording meant to Mom. He offered to post two CDs to me personally. I gave him my address．

"Red Lion, Pennsylvania?"he said."Do you know the Logans?""They're our neighbours!""I've been friends with them for 25years，"Alan said. "They'll be at my concert at Your Gospel Chapel on April 17^th. Would you and your mom come, too？"We sure would. Mom was excited to hear Alan sing"My Redeemer", on the evening of her 87^th birthday.

8 . When I was young，my father and I used to climb the mountains near my house. South Korea has more _______ than plains（平原）, and for this reason，climbing the mountains has been a natural thing for me since I was a kid.

_______ together，my father and I used to have _______through which I learned a lot from him. He always stressed，“You should have goals in life just like in climbing the mountains. ” This has _______ my life deeply.

Without such mountaineering _______，we couldn’t have had enough time to spend together because my father was very _______. I believe mountaineering is really _______ . It gave me time to talk with my father and to develop my _______. I loved walking in the mountains，_______the routine of city life，the noise and the pollution，and being able to breathe fresh air.

One time we climbed one of the highest mountains in Korea. It was so________for me because I was only ten years old. ________the first few hours of climbing，I enjoyed the fresh air，the birds singing，and the beautiful dances of butterflies. As time passed，I got pains in both of my________. I wanted to quit climbing. But my father said to me，“ ________ is a season when everything comes to life again. The mountain where we are ________are decorated with flowers and trees. You can ________ see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain，but you can’t ________ you are halfway up. Only at the ________ can you enjoy all the beautiful things，just like in ________. You should have patience with all things，but chiefly have patience with yourself. ”

At that time，I was too ________to understand his words，but after that, I got new hope and confidence. ________, I found myself standing at the top of the mountain. And there，I could see the beautiful sky.

9 . There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.

One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“For your wonderful kindness, ” the good fairy said to the girl，“I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.”       The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.

As the little girl grew up，there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness . She would only smile and answer，“The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”

When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, and       feared that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “ tell us，please, ” they begged，“ tell us what the good fairy said. ” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said，“ She told me that everyone，no matter how safe they seemed，no matter how old or young，how rich or poor, had need of me.”

10 . One day, I was visiting Dubai, traveling with a few passengers in a bus. At our first stop, I got out to take some pictures. At our second stop, I noticed that I had _______ my shoulder bag at the first stop. The worst part was that my passport (护照), visa (签证), and other _______ things were inside that bag. I was very _______, as I had to return to India the next day.

During this process of searching for my bag, I came into contact with so many_______ whom I found to be involved in my situation and _______ to me. The tour guide helped me to locate a taxi _______ I could travel back to the first stop to find my _______. The taxi driver stayed with me for almost 3 hours. He gave me his mobile phone so that I could _______ others. He took me to the nearest police station and helped me in communicating with the _______. He gave me constant (不断的)________ words by saying, "Nobody loses their goods in our country; don't ________; you will find your bag."

A local man, who actually found my bag, ________ the bag and found a number to a travel agency(旅行社). He ________ them and sent his driver to a common place from where I could get my bag back.

There was real ________ inside me that day. I kept thinking of what would happen next. Could I find my bag ________? What would happen to me ________ my passport and visa? When I got my bag, I even wasn't able to say a ________ THANK YOU to all the people who helped me in such a(n)________ situation. I don't even know their ________. I will never forget their faces and their ________. The world needs more humans like them and I decided to try to become one of them.