I grew up in a small town where the primary school was a 10-minute walk from my house and children could go home for lunch and find their mothers waiting. At the time, I did not consider this a luxury （奢侈品）, although today it certainly would be. I took it for granted that mothers were the sandwich-makers, the finger-painting appreciations and the homework monitors.

I never questioned that this ambitious, intelligent woman, who had had a career before I was born and would eventually return to a career, would spend almost every lunch hour throughout my primary school years just with me. I only knew that when the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would be standing at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me with a look that suggested I was the only important thing she had on her mind.

One lunchtime, when I was in the third grade, would stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had patiently rehearsed （排练）my lines with me. But no matter how easily I acted them at home, as soon as I stepped on stage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s part （旁白）to the play, and asked me to switch roles. Her words, while kindly delivered, still stung （刺痛）,especially when I saw my part go to another girl. I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my unease, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.

It was a lovely spring day and under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions （蒲公英） popping through the grass in bunches. I watched my mother bend down and pull a blossom up by its roots. She turned to me and said： “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds. Then we’ll have only roses in this garden.” “But I like dandelions,” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions.” My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?” She asked thoughtfully. “And that is true of people too,” she added, “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that. Now, let’s go inside and talk about the lines.”

Just a few minutes before the play, my teacher came over to me.

After the play, I took the flower home.

5 . Peter loved his wife Marion, loved adventure, and loved his camper van (野营车) called Schoen.

The pair made numerous unforgettable road trips in Schoen. But after Marion died, the ___________ Schoen had fewer and fewer outings. With Schoen’s adventuring days seemingly over, Peter decided to put it up for ___________.

Elise and her husband, Domenic, had always dreamed of owning their own “happiness bus” and traveling in a camper van. One day, Elise ___________ the sales information on Schoen and the couple ___________ decided to take a look. Elise fell in love with Schoen at first sight, but Peter asked for $39,000, well outside their budget (预算).

Feeling extremely disappointed (失望的), the couple left. “We were ___________ to have met Peter,” said Elise. “We shared with him our story and dream of owning a van like that.” A few days later, Peter called to ___________ them back for a second look. ___________, the young couple came again, but without much ___________.

Peter said he had so far received two ___________ for Schoen, and both met his asking price. But they were from collectors (收藏者), which would likely mean the van’s ____________ gathering dust in a garage or display. Peter asked how much the couple would be able to ____________. Domenic told him the most they could spend was around half of what he was ____________. Peter, holding back tears himself, told them he would ____________ their offer only if they promised to have adventures with Schoen.

Now Schoen is on glorious adventures somewhere, ____________ Elise and Domenic create wonderful family memories.

“Peter is definitely a hero for us, ”   says Elise. “Finding Schoen and making that ____________ to Peter has totally changed our life.”

6 . To this day, I remember my mum's letters. It all started in December, 1941. Every night she wrote to my brother Johnny, who had joined the army that summer. We had not heard from him since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

I didn't understand why my mum kept writing to Johnny when he never wrote back.

＂Wait and see—we'll get a letter from him one day,” she claimed.

Mum said that there was a direct link from the brain to the written word that was just as strong as the light God has given us. She trusted that this light would find Johnny.

I don't know if she said that to calm herself, dad or all of us down. But I do know that it helped us stick together, and one day a letter really did arrive. Johnny was alive on an island in the Pacific.

I had always been amused by the fact that mum signed her letters, Cecilia Capuzzi, and I made fun of her about that. “Why don't you just write “Mom”?” I said.

Around next spring mum had got two more sons to write to. Every evening she wrote three letters which she gave me and dad afterwards so we could add our greetings.

By and by, the rumor about mum's letters spread.

One day, a small woman knocked at our door. Her voice trembled as she asked: "Is it true you write letters?”

＂I write to my sons."

“And you can read too?” whispered the woman.

“Sure.”

The woman opened her bag and pulled out a pile of airmail letters. Read...please read them aloud to me.

The letters were from the woman's son, a soldier in Europe.

Mum had no difficulty reading the letters one by one and translated them from English to Italian. The woman's eyes welled up with tears.

“＂Now I have to write to him," she said. But how was she going to do it?

＂Make some coffee, Octavia," mum yelled to me. She seated the woman and started to write. When she had finished, she read the letter aloud to the woman.

＂How did you know that was exactly what I wanted to say?”

＂I often say and look at my boys' letters, just like you, without a clue about what to write.”

A few days later, more and more people in our town asked mum to write letters for them. Sometimes she would write letters all day long. Even after the war, many people turned to mum. On one occasion, mum admitted that she had always had a secret dream of writing a novel.

“Why didn't you?” I asked.

“All people in this world are here with one particular purpose,” she said. “Obviously, mine is to write letters. A letter unites people like nothing else. It can make them cry and laugh.”

Today, all mum's letters are lost. But those who got them still talk about her and cherish the memory of her letters in their hearts.

On Sunday,Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing with his father at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. They had a wonderful day and decided to drive home to Massachusetts after a final run. They took a chairlift to the top of the mountain, where they split up to go down in different trails. When the father finished his run, he headed to the parking lot to wait for his son. However, Nicholas never showed up.

It turned out that a fierce snowstorm had swept into the area as Nicholas was on his way down. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path and ventured down the west side of the mountain. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost and all alone. His way back to the ski trails was blocked. What's worse, he didn't have any food or water with him, let alone his cell phone or other supplies. The sun began to sink and he was getting colder by the minute.

Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic. He thought about Bear Grylls' survival show Man vs. Wild that he used to watch on TV. In the show, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to help himself out. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.

He decided to stop moving around. He needed the energy, and the winds weren't as strong in the valley where he stood as they were up on the mountain. Plus, there was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to seek shelter from the freezing wind and snow. Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could.

When evening came, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate some snow and drank some water from nearby stream so that he wouldn't dehydrate (脱水）。 Then he returned to his cave and slept.

When Nicholas didn't show up, his father realized there must be something wrong.

The next day,Nicholas heard the sound of a snowmobile.

Emily White came to the world 17 years ago, with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive long. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.

In her hometown, a yearly outdoor performance was held in the school auditorium(礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town's people.

Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.

Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens- her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a glance at Amy's body and said, "Child, you are just not suitable. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”

Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.

This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Butler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.

Emily didn't want to be rejected again, so she hesitated about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Butler called, “Emily, you're next." Kind of nervous as she was, Emily did as Mr. Butler told her to. Mr. Butler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Butler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.

Emily couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned in bed one thousand times. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn't fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain due to stress.

Emily hurried to the choral room and anxiously glanced at the list on the door.

Finally, the day of performance came.

9 . Buck did not know that there was trouble ahead, Trouble for every dog with strong muscles and warm long hair, from Seattle to southern California. Some men had found a yellow metal in the Arctic darkness, and thousands of other men were rushing there. These men wanted dogs that were heavy, with strong muscles for working hard and furry coats to protect them from the cold.

Buck lived at a big house in a sunny valley in California which was owned by Judge Miller. He was neither a house dog nor a kennel (狗窝) dog. The whole of Judge Miller's land was his. Buck was king---king over all the crawling, flying things of Judge Miller's lands, humans included.

His father, Elmo, had been the Judge's inseparable companion. And when he died, Buck took his father’s place. He was not so large---he weighed only sixty kilogram---for his mother, Shep, had been a Scottish sheepdog. Hunting and other outdoor activities had hardened his muscle, and swimming had made him healthy.

This was Buck in the autumn of 1897, when the discovery of gold in the Klondike brought Men from everywhere to the frozen north. But Buck did not read the newspapers. And he did not know that Manuel one of the gardeners helper, was not a good man. Manuel gambled (赌博) and wasted the little money he had. No one saw him and Buck go off on what Buck thought was a walk. No one saw them arrive at the railway station where Manuel sold Buck to a man who was waiting for him,

After two days ho was cried off the train in Seattle into a small, high-walled yard. There a fat man in a red sweater broke open the cage with a small axe (斧头)，while holding a club (棍棒) in the other hand. When there was a big enough opening, Buck jumped out like a red-eyed devil, straight at the fat man. But in mid-air, just as his teeth were going to close on the man, he received a shock that he had never felt before, It turned him over and onto the ground. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and he did not understand. He was smashed down a dozen times.

Buck saw that he stood no chance against the man with the club. He had learned the lesson, and for the rest of his life he never forgot it. It was his introduction into the world of primitive law.

In the end a small man called Perrault paid three hundred dollars for him, and he was led away with Curly, a good-natured Newfoundland dog.