1 . Navy officer Allen Parton suffered a serious head injury while on duty in the Gulf War. It left him in a wheelchair, unable to talk, and he lost half of his life’s memories. He couldn’t remember his children’s first steps, their first days at school, and their being born. Allen didn’t even recognize his children. And he lost the ability to feel any emotion. He had two attempts at killing himself in the process of recovery.

But all changed when coming across a dog named Endal, who failed his training to be an assistance dog and needed a home. Endal saw something on the floor by Allen's wheelchair, ran across the training centre, picked it up and put it in Allen's lap. He wanted a treat, a reward, praise, anything, but he got no reaction. Then he ran over to the mock-up supermarket, took a tin off the shelf, put it in Allen’s lap. Surprisingly, that made Allen’s brain switch on and he smiled for the first time in a long time. And it was the start of their relationship.

Endal became his 24-hour companion, helping with every practical aspect of his life.

Then one night, which showed the dog’s devotion, Allen and Endal were both hit by a car. Although Allen had been knocked unconscious out of the wheelchair and Endal had been hurt by the vehicle as well, he got up, pulled Allen into the recovery position, and he pulled out the blanket from under Allen's wheelchair and covered him with it.

Legs bleeding, he ran to a nearby hotel and sounded the alarm. Before that, he found Allen’s mobile phone in the dark, and he brought it to his face.

And for what he did to his owner he won the Victoria Cross Award.

The dog saved Allen’s life, his marriage, and brought him back to his children.

3 . In my late 20s, my world turned upside down in just 72 hours. My husband Doug worked at local construction company, while I was a quality-control inspector for JanSport, a backpack manufacturer located in Wenatchee, Washington. We were both extremely hard workers, but we could not work our way out of a declining economy. Doug was laid off on Wednesday and, two short days later, I learned that my entire plant had decided to relocate to Mexico to save money.

I didn’t react well to the news. I wanted to find a place to hide, but that wasn’t an option. I was scared when my husband got his lay-off notice on Wednesday. I was still suffering from the uncertainty of how we would make ends meet when I walked into work that fateful Friday and was told our plant was closing. At that point, I was absolutely shocked, angry, scared beyond description, and at a loss as to what we were going to do.

Although money had been tight in our home for some time, our family had made a smart decision a few years earlier that saved us from disaster. It had taken us two years, but we managed to save an emergency fund. In the end, losing all of our family’s income sources in the space of three days didn’t break us. It made us stronger.

Instead of hiding from my problem, I picked myself up and decided to help improve my family’s circumstances. There was actually a hidden blessing in the whole storm for me. Because my plant had closed down, I was eligible to go to school under Job Training Partnership Act. Was it embarrassing to ask for help from the state to improve myself? Sure. But in studying to be an accountant I was making a better future for my family for years to come. I have also paid that help forward countless times, contributing time and money to the community and sharing my story to help others help themselves.

Papa always wanted a boy, a cowboy, to help on our ranch (牧场).I know he wishes I were a boy. He's always calling me "Joey" instead of "Josefina. "Whenever I ask to help herd (放) the cows here at the ranch, Papa says, "That's men's work."

It was Saturday morning. I flew into the kitchen when I smelled the delicious smell of breakfast. Papa had already finished eating and was putting on his rubber boots (橡胶靴子). Without a word, he walked out into the heavy rain.

"Is Papa mad at me or just the world in general?" I asked Mama.

"We've been having a lot of rain. Your father's worried about the cows," she explained. "Unless he can drive them to high ground, they will be in danger. He needs help."

"I'm pretty good on a horse," I said. "I've got prizes to prove it."

She laughed. "You know how Papa feels about young ladies driving cows."

I did, but I decided to make an offer anyway. When Papa got back, I was waiting at the door. "I could help if you'd only let me, "I told him.

He stood there for what seemed like an hour,and then said, "Go get your raincoat,Joey."

"It's Josefina!" I raced back into the house.

We rode into the grassland, Papa on a big horse named Miguel and me on my horse, Isabella. We began calling the cows as soon as we reached the river. Finally, we found our red-and-white cows in a thicket(灌木丛). We got the cows out of the thicket and herded them toward higher ground. But they stopped at the deep river that stood in our way.

Finally,the first cow stepped into the water,and the others followed. Papa swam across on Miguel, then turned to watch me, "Hold on tight,Joey."

As Isabella walked in, I felt cold water around my legs. Then my horse tripped(绊倒) and went under except for her head. I got wet all the way up to my back. Smiling, Papa said, "A true cowboy is brave, Joey."

"Cowgirl,"I corrected him.

We'd just gotten on the ground when loud thunder almost made Isabella jump out from under me.

I could smell the wonderful smell of Mama's cooking as we rode past the ranch house.

8 . Marijana grew up in Serbia. Her parents made a living by picking vegetables and selling them on the market. Neither one of them ever got past primary school. “We were poor," Marijana says.

The Roma are Europe's largest minority (少数)group, numbering 8 to 12 million. They often face discrimination and have trouble getting basic rights and services. Many Roma families go hungry now and then. Roma children are often put into “special schools” for children with special educational needs. Without education, people can't find jobs, and they're poor for generations.

For Marijana and many other young Roma, both the chance for success and the pain of discrimination began in primary school. “It made me feel so bad," she says,"when my classmates' parents didn't want their children to sit with me." Sometimes she had to deal with teachers who picked on her simply because she was Roma. Once, she did an art project for a class.“But the teacher said, ‘You didn't do it, someone else did. You are Roma; it is in your   character to lie,’ Marijana says.

But it was not all discrimination. “I had a very nice teacher of geography, ”Marijana says. “Because of the trust some teachers gave me, I felt I needed to keep going and succeed.”

Marijana is glad she went to mainstream schools, where the quality of education was better, but what really got her through school was that her parents believed in her. “Some people often said to my parents, ‘She'll get married. Why are you wasting your money and time on her?’ Nobody except my family believed I could do it,” she says.

Since university in Belgrade, Marijana has been working for the World Bank for 7 years. She deals with both Roma and non-Roma problems including education and social protection. But her most important impact might just come from her own history. “When I do field visits as part of my work, I always tell my own story to encourage Roma kids and their parents to go to school, and not to give up.”

Pupils’ lives spared during Falmont earthquake

On 17 March,476 students and 36 teachers at Falmont Primary School escaped an earthquake     1       hit the country.Only 5 students suffered slight injuries,despite the current figures of 7 killed and over 200     2     (injure) in the disaster area at large.

Alice Brown,head teacher at Falmont Primary School,was teaching     3     the floor began to shake.Her students’     4     (react) was quick and correct——they moved under their desks,head first,and     5     (hold) on to the legs of the desks.At the same time,Miss Brown quickly opened the classroom door,in case it became damaged during the shaking and could not open.There were loud crashes of glass breaking and things falling to the ground,     6     the students remained still and waited calmly and quietly.

The moment the shaking stopped,Miss Brown sensed it was     7     best time for the class to make their escape.She signalled to her students to exit the classroom in an     8     (order) covering their heads with their hands.Within one minute and twenty seconds, the whole class went down the stairs and rushed to the playground. Soon students from other classes arrived too.After a roll call confirmed that all were safe and sound,they relaxed,     9     (hug) each other. “We practise earthquake safety procedures twice a rear,” said Miss Brown, “so the kids were calm enough to protect    10     (they) during the earthquake.”