It was exam time at Marc’s school. Every day, their teachers gave them loads of homework and told them the test was very important and that they ought to spare no effort to perform well in it. Everyone followed the teachers’ instructions and made preparations for it, except Marc. He just turned a deaf ear to it. He thought he would rather play football than study.

His mum and dad repeated the importance of revision for exams over and over again. They told him that he should be working hard preparing for the test. But the weather was sunny and he thought he had better things to do.

“Shall we go to the park?” he said to his friend Huck one afternoon. “It’s a nice day. We could play football and kick around.” Huck shook his head. “I’m supposed to review my lessons,” he said. “I’m going home to do some math.”

Marc was amazed. “You’d rather do math than play football?”

“Math is important. Besides, my mum says she will buy me a mountain bike if I do well in the math exam.”

“That’s crazy,” said Marc. Huck shrugged (耸肩) and replied, “Wait until I beat you in the test and you will watch me riding past on my mountain bike!”

“You won’t beat me,” said Marc.

“Oh yes, I will.”

“Oh no, you won’t! That will never happen. Just wait and see!”

For the first time ever, Marc wanted to perform well. He couldn’t bear it if his friend came top and he did badly. So when he got home, he opened his math book. But there was so much to do. All of a sudden, he felt like he’d forgotten everything he had learned that year! He didn’t know where to start. When his sister Lily came in, he was sitting expressionlessly by the desk, just staring out of the window.

“You don’t look happy, Marc. What’s wrong?” she said.

On the day of the exam, Marc went to school with great confidence.

2 . In a world where acts of kindness often go unnoticed, a good story that has been discovered reminds us of the power of care and the effect it can have on someone’s life.

It all started with a “Kindness Week Challenge” given to Brennan by his 8th-grade teacher, Ms. Watkins. Little did he know that this challenge would lead to a wonderful friendship with 84-year-old Ms. Ann.

Brennan’s promise to send his little attractive things every day for a week developed a habit of checking up on Ms. Ann and sending gifts regularly(定期地), long after the challenge was over.

Their friendship has now lasted for over five years, and Brennan still visits Ms. Ann every month with flowers, cakes, chocolates, cards and more.

They talk about everything from his high school life to his college goals. The pair has found that they share a common love of chocolates. Ms. Ann always hopes to hear about what he’s doing and loves to share her own stories from a different time. They have become the best friends, with Brennan treating her as his great-grandmother.

Brennan’s mom, Traci, takes pride in her son. She said, “The best thing a teenager can do is to take care of the elderly. I’m so glad my son has added more sunshine to Ms. Ann’s life. I hope he always remembers the joy he’s brought her, and his fun talks with her, keeps his kind heart, and thinks of others.”

Ms. Ann’s daughter Emma, with her husband Gould, has a 2-year-old son. They are thankful for Brennan’s friendship as they cannot always be with Ms. Ann. Brennan’s kind heart has brought more sunshine into Ms. Ann’s life, and her encouraging words have helped to inspire(启发)him in return.

4 . While I was driving a motorbike with one hand, a lady suddenly stepped into the street. I braked ______ to try to avoid her. As a result, I fell heavily to the ground and my left arm became completely paralyzed(瘫痪的).

Thus, I had to ______ everything I used to do with two hands. As a person who would rather get lost than ask for directions, asking for ______ is difficult for me. But I never expected things would ______ after years of swimming training for the 2020 Paralympics(残奥会).

When swimming, I need to wear a tight racing suit. It took a lot of practice to become ______ slowly putting one on with one hand. However, ______ one was a different story. I was once stuck and half naked in a swimsuit. I still refused to bother others and was even ______ to reach for a knife to find my way out. A girl near me saw me struggling. She rushed over and managed to ______ me in a minute.

At a Paralympic event, everyone player has a(n) ______. Being unwilling to ______ a helping hand made me a(n) ______ one. However the ______ in that changing room helped me start to become a new normal person.

At first, learning to ask for help was the adaptation that proved to be more difficult than putting on a ______ with one hand. After some efforts, I realized learning to do so was not the decision I had ______ made, but it became the win I______ wanting most.

On my seventh birthday, I got a gift from my father, which was a book titled Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians. It was my favorite. I kept it under my pillow and read every page over and over every night enjoying the pictures of colorful animals. Some of the snakes were the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen.

Little did I know that my book would end up saving a life.

Years ago, my family moved into a new house near the woods. My father built a sandbox in our yard. The cat sometimes used the sandbox for a litter box, so my father had to put a plastic cover over it .When I wanted to build sand castles, I had to pull the cover off.

One day before dinner, I ran to the sandbox to build a miniature city. I pulled off the plastic cover, and there in the sandbox was a snake. It was lying very sill, all coiled up, and it was beautiful. The snake had rings of color around it. I had seen a picture just like it in my guidebook, and I remembered that it was one of the prettiest snakes in it. It said in the book that the poisonous coral snake looked very much like the harmless king snake, the only difference was in the order of the colors. 1 ran inside to get the guidebook.

“Mom! Mom! There’s a snake in the sandbox!” I yelled. “I have to find out what kind it is!”

Mom came running. “Don’t touch it, Chris! It might be poisonous!”

Dad was at work, so my mother went to get our neighbor, Mr. Cook.

“Mr. Cook!” my mother yelled across the fence, “We have a snake in the sandbox, and it might be poisonous!”

Mr. Cook was retired and lived with his wife in the house on the other side of our back fence. He came running toward the gale with a shovel and tried to kill the snake.

“Wait!” I shouted, waving the guidebook in my hand.

“So what to do now?” Mr. Cook put down the shovel.

9 . A man was driving home when he saw a car stuck on the side of the road. So he _______ behind the car and got out. Even with a smile on his face, the lady was still _______ . He said, “I’m here to help you. By the way, my name is Bryan.”

All the problem she had was a _______ tire, which was bad enough for a lady. Bryan helped change the _______ , making hands dirty and hurt. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her _______ . She asked him how much she owed him. He never thought twice about the _______ . This was helping someone in _______ .

He waited until she _______ her car and drove off. It was a cold day, but he felt _______ as he headed for home.

Halfway the lady stopped to grab a bite to______at a small cafe. A waitress came over with a sweet smile. She ______ that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant. After the meal, when the waitress went to get the _____ for her hundred dollar bill, she left __________ . The waitress found the words on the napkin under which was four $100 bills—“Somebody once helped me out, and I won’t let this __________ of love end with me.”

That night when the waitress got home, she shared the story with her husband and whispered, “With the __________ due next month, it may be hard, but everything’s gonna be all right, Bryan.”