1 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.

On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.

Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.

Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.

Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?

2 . During the outbreak of Corona-virus, people have got creative with ways to get everyday tasks done. Maria Botero, a resident and business owner in Medellín, Colombia is one of those out-of-the-box thinkers who has a new system in place to go about addressing her day to day workload. Owner of a local mini-market called E1 Porvenir, Botero has sought the help of her dog, Eros, to complete deliveries to some of their regular customers.

Eros, an eight-year-old chocolate Labrador, has been with the Botero family for several years now. Before she met Eros, Maria was uncertain to get a dog. However, her son’s repeated demands finally persuaded her to make up her mind. They welcomed Eros into their lives, and he’s been part of the family ever since.

When they opened their mini-market four years ago, the Boteros would bring Eros along for their daily deliveries. Thanks to a big brain and lots of treats, Eros gradually learned the names of some of their regular customers. When told someone’s name that he’s familiar with, he’s able to make his way to the person’s home alone. When the COVID-19 pandemic (流行病) got bad in Colombia and the government began restricting citizens’ ability to go out and buy groceries freely, Maria knew it was time to put Eros’ skills to good use.

Climbing the hilly neighborhood of Tulipanes with the handle of a basket held tightly in his mouth, Eros completes deliveries on a daily basis. Once he arrives at his destination, the customers know that tipping in the form of treats and lots of pats is a must. He’s such a good boy, after all! Inside the basket, Maria leaves a receipt for the goods delivered. Customers can pay via a simple online transfer.

3 . Julia, a 27-year-old TikTok user from Chicago, has been making dresses that her grandmother designed at fashion school to share on the platform.

According to Julia, her grandma, Georgie, went to fashion school in the 1940s and dreamed of being a fashion designer, but _______ before completing her studies because she needed to _______ some sick family members.

One day in 2021, when Julia was visiting her grandma, _______ old sketches (草图) of dresses that Georgie designed when she was a teenager, she thought they were _______.

“I knew my grandma was _______, but these are really much better than what I was _______ in my head. And she mentioned that when she died, she wanted them to get _______ at her funeral,” she said.

“But,” Julia added. “I just thought, why wait until she’s _______?”

Then, Julia posted a video displaying some of her grandma’s _______ on TikTok, which became her first post on the platform to spread quickly and widely, receiving 2.7 million views.

________ mostly old material left over from her grandmother’s own collection of cloth, Julia has now made four designs, trying to stick to a ________ of under $300 per gown (长礼服).

Julia thinks her story of inter generational bonding has ________ viewers.

“Lots of old people say they love seeing someone younger ________ something from their generation,” she said, adding, “And then younger people, who maybe don’t have the best   ________ with their grandparents, or lost their grandparents, say seeing my videos ________ them of their grandparents.”

4 . When I was about 12 years old, my older brother, James, smuggled (偷运) a BB gun into the house. Our parents had told us many times that we were not allowed to bring home guns or knives, even if they were just toys. Having any form of weaponry (兵器) in our home was strictly forbidden.

James brought me to his room. He opened his closet door and look out a shoebox that was buried beneath a heap of clothes. The BB gun was inside. I was immediately attracted by the shiny barrel (枪管).

“Can I shoot it, James?” I asked, hopefully.

“No way,” James said, taking it from me and putting it back.

One day, when no one was home, I went into Jame’s closet and took it out. For some incomprehensible reason -- I have no idea what I was thinking I went to the front window of the second floor in our row house. I cracked the window open. I pointed the gun outside and shot. I quickly shut the window and looked outside secretly.

In a matter of seconds, old Mr. Schlosberg came out of his grocery store. He looked back at his store window. He looked up the street. He looked down the street. Then he looked straight across to our house.

Thankfully, James made it home before Mother or Father.

As he stepped through the door, I could hear old Mr. Schlosberg call his name. “James, James,” he called. “Come here, son.”

After several minutes, James ran back across the street and into the living room. I had retreated into the kitchen. “Alma!” he screamed. “Get out here! You cracked Mr. Schlosberg’s window with my BB gun!”

“Oh, please, James,” I begged. “Don’t let him tell Mother. She will hit my bottom real good!” James sighed. He wiped my tears and went back across the street to Mr. Schlosberg’s. I don’t know what James said to that man, but there was never a mention of the incident again.

Years later, I found out James had used the money he got from his newspaper route to pay for Mr. Schlosberg’s cracked window. He only got one cent for every paper he delivered. He managed to pay back the debt just before he went off to fight in World War II.

Since that day, I have never touched a gun: a BB gun, a water gun, a real gun, or any other type.

7 . At 20, I was scared and lonely. My laptop was filled with the beginning of novels, half-finished song lyrics (歌词) — things I’d started with teenage __________ only to be disappointed by my lack of creativity. I was __________ trying to find a new way to approach life, with no one to __________ me in the right direction.

One Saturday, I went to a training day for my school’s new journalism team. The teacher suggested I start a blog as a good way to get into __________. Bored and in need of a __________, I immediately set up a Blogger account.

As I typed post after post in the months that followed, I assumed I would __________ steam. But somehow writing about the news and, later, about __________, came easily. Here was something interesting that required only a laptop and an __________. I loved the research that went into each post, loved being able to __________ what interested me and loved finding just the right phrase to describe how I __________. I found something I was good at and more importantly, something I __________.

I kept posting and slowly I got better. I redrafted, __________ and even learned how to employ a metaphor. It wasn’t long until my mind was made up: I was going to be a(n) __________.

Seven years later, I am having just completed a fantastic placement (实习) in a local newspaper. I have never been so __________ to my younger self for actually listening to the one piece of advice that turned out to __________ most.

It was Tamika’s turn to tell her class where she went this summer. She stood up proudly. “This summer I went to Bradley,” Tamika announced. “They have a big market there. My mom bought a painting and I got second-hand inline skates. We had a great time there. ”

“That’s not a trip,” Jeremy whispered loudly to his partner. “It’s only half an hour from here. My dad and I often go to Bradley to buy tools for his repair shop.”

“Jeremy, no interrupting,” said Miss Snowdent, their teacher. “And Bradley has a fine market. I’m glad that Tamika can tell us about it. Go ahead, Tamika.” Miss Snowden smiled warmly at her, encouraging her to continue.

But Tamika didn’t feel proud of her family’s trip to Bradley any more and she just felt embarrassed. Tamika dropped her head and said in a low voice that she was finished, and then hurried back to her desk. She hoped that the other kids didn’t notice her face turning red.

Tamika listened as Peter talked about his cruise to Jamaical. She heard about Mary’s trip across the Atlantic to Ireland. She heard about John’s horseback ride through the Grand Canyon. It seemed as if everyone but her had taken a big trip over the summer. “I never get to go anywhere. ” Tamika thought to herself. A sense of sadness clouded her the whole day.

After school things got worse. One of the wheels on Tamika’s skates came loose. Now she couldn’t even skate. Sitting on the sidewalk, Tamika tried to fix her wheel but did not know how. Then Miss Snowden happened to pass by. She walked up with a smile on her face, asking. “You look unhappy, Tamika. Why are you sitting here?” Tamika lowered her head, tears building up inside her eyes. “Want to talk about it?” Miss Snowden asked kindly. Tamika nodded, trying to avoid Miss Snowden’s eyes! Bending down, Miss Snowden said in a whisper: “You know, Tamika, actually we don’t always have to travel far to learn anything.” Tamika looked up with watering eyes and wondered what Miss Snowden meant.

Right at this moment, Jeremy was walking by and saw them.

“Yes. I can fix it,” Jeremy said with confidence.

“Number 7, Jobie Nymble, takes the lead,” cried the announcer. “Just one more hurdle (跨栏) and —” Cheers erupted. “Jobie Nymble from Riverside Middle School takes first place in the girls’ 100-mcter hurdles!” The crowd went wild as Jobie’s teammates screamed and yelled.

Determined to go all the way to County Championships, Jobie patted her worn neon-green track spikes (钉鞋). They were bursting at the seams (接缝处), but she didn’t care. They were her lucky shoes and she loved them. “Next Saturday, we’re taking home the gold,” Jobie whispered to her spikes, excitedly retying them. “Don’t forget, guys,” said one of her teammates cheerfully. “My birthday party is next Friday at Hidden Park.” “Beep. Party recorded in calendar,” joked Jobie in her best robot voice.

Jobie brimmed with excitement all week long. At track practice, she leaped over those hurdles faster than she’d ever leaped before. The day of Marisol’s party, Jobie put on her favorite outfit: her fancy blue shorts, an old track T-shirt from her dad, and her lucky spikes. The party was in full swing when Jobie arrived at Hidden Park. Music and the smell of grilled food filled the air. Two of Jobie’s teammates rushed toward her, breathless and barefoot, asking her to try the slide. Jobie’s eyes darted toward the party area. Suddenly, she saw it. The BIGGEST inflatable (充气的) slide she had ever seen was on the far side of the park. Smiling kids zoomed down the slide at unspeakable speeds. Without thinking twice, Jobie took off her spikes and rushed toward the slide. Its ladder stretched to the sky like Jack’s magical beanstalk, but she reached the top in no time. She sat down, slipped to the edge, and closed her eyes as she let go. Jobie couldn’t get enough, conquering the slide over and over again. When it was finally time to go home, she reluctantly made her way back to the track where she’d left her shoes.

As she eyed the area from a distance, panic set in.

The next day, without her lucky spikes, Jobie was among the best track teams gathering for championships.