1 . For years I wanted a flower garden. I would spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together. But then we had Matthew, Marvin, Helen, and the twins, Alisa and Alan. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was tight (拮据的), as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I’d have to say, “ Do you see a money tree in the yard? Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden. Then, one spring morning, on Mother’s Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow (垂柳), because I saw things blowing around on all is branches. Then I put my glasses on — and couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!

I went to have a look. It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. There was also a note among them, “Thank you for your time, Mom. We love you.” Later, my children bought me tools, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.

That was three years ago. My garden’s now very pretty, just like I wanted. When I go out and take care of my flowers, I don’t seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they’ re right there with me.

I live in a city where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short. But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out of my window and think of the flowers, I’ll see next spring in my little garden. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes — every time. I’m still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

With New Year coming , the weather was becoming colder. I was second grade then, 7 years old. One day, on my way home from school, a lady gave me a piece of paper saying that the neighborhood was asking people to give New Year presents to those who needed them. When I showed my mom this paper, she encouraged me to take part in it and spread kindness to others less fortunate than us. She said we would become “Neighborhood Angels”.

Several days later, my mother said, “Get ready, and we will go.” “Where are we going?” I asked my mother. “ I will drive you to to Boots Department Store to buy something you think would be suitable for a neighborhood present.” she replied. As we went into the store, my mother   gave me $20 to pay for the present. Then she said, “I’ll see you outside in the car.” She left me alone to do the shopping. I was not used to buying things on my own, as I had always been with one of my parents before. Everything seemed very strange and confusing to me, but I carried on. I asked myself what I should buy and for whom. Suddenly, I remembered the poor boy called Jack who lived in our neighborhood. I used to see him often without a jacket during the freezing winter months, so I decided, then and there, to buy him a warm jacket.

I looked at many jackets and eventually chose a heavy blue one. The price was just within my spending limit. The assistant at the checkout asked , “Is this for someone?”, as I paid for the jacket happily. I said it was,and she wished me a Happy New Year. I felt as if I were a real “Neighborhood Angel”.

That evening, my mother helped me packed the jacket in beautiful paper.

My mother and I waited breathlessly for Jack’s front door to open and finally it opened. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In ancient China lived an artist,     1     painted the pictures almost lifelike. The artist’s reputation (名声) had made him proud. One day the emperor(国王) wanted to get his portrait (画像) done so he called all great artists to come and present their     2    (fine) work, so that he could choose the best. The artist was sure he would     3     (choose), but when he presented his masterpiece to the emperor’s chief minister, the old man laughed. The wise old man told him to travel to the Li River, perhaps he could learn a little from the greatest artist in the world.

Filled    4     curiosity (好奇), the artist packed his bags and left. When he asked the    5     (villager) on the banks of the river where he could find the legendary (传奇的) artist, they smiled and     6     (point) down the river. The next morning he hired a boat and set out     7     (find) the well-known painter. As the small boat moved along the river, he was left speechless by the mountains being    8     (silent) reflected in the water. He passed milky white waterfalls and mountains in many shades of blue. And when he saw the mists rising from the river and the soft clouds     9     (surround) the mountain tops, he was reduced to tears. The artist was finally humbled (谦卑) by the greatest artist     10     earth, Mother Nature.

4 . Few people have achieved fame for coming in last place. That is why Michael Edwards, or “Eddie the Eagle”, became a rather unexpected hero. Unlike most athletes, Eddie did not come to the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games for a medal. He came simply to compete. In doing so, he realized his dream.

At first, Eddie tried to make the British national ski team but failed. Then he chose the riskiest event, ski jumping. No British skier had ever competed in that sport, but having no competitors meant that Eddie had a better chance of qualifying (取得资格) for the 1988 Olympic Games. It also meant there was no support for him. Eddie had no coach, equipment, or financial support, but what he had was determination. Not afraid of what he lacked, Eddie set out to learn his chosen sport, training himself for nearly 2 years. And he managed to meet the qualification for Olympic ski jumping, and landed himself in the 1988 Olympic Games. Eddie was determined to compete, and while he came in last, he did manage to land his jumps, and he still holds the British record in that sport. Coming in last place actually made him the star of the Olympics and the true embodiment (化身) of the Olympic spirit.

Many of us may have experienced similar limitations during our own youth that prevented us from following our dreams. Eddie’s rejection (拒绝) from the British national ski team is a story that many of us can relate to. Rejection can be devastating, but we can struggle to find the courage to put ourselves back out there, or the creativity to find another way.

5 . My mother turned ninety. I knew I needed to find a senior _______ center. Not for her — for me. If I were at her age, I would want to stay in shape to _______ life, getting a lot of pleasure. Yes, walking in local parks was my _______, but I wasn’t so active as before.

I called a nearby center, “Do you have aerobics (有氧运动) classes _______ for seniors?” “Sure. Come and check us out! We start at 10 am,” the receptionist (接待员) replied and _______. The next morning, I went there. One part of me was _______ that the class was too easy, not doing me any good. The other part feared it was too hard for me to _______.

When I came into the room, a woman _______ me, “Oh, you’re new. Welcome.” Then the music started. The hour-long workout woke up the muscles I didn’t often _______ in daily walks, suiting me fine. I became a member there. My classmates ranged in age from fifty to ninety. Most gave the exercises their own ____________, doing as much or little as they could. ____________ no one kept score. Soon I learned physical well-being wasn’t the only ____________ there. During breaks, people chatted happily. Whenever some people were ____________ we asked around. Were they busy? Were they in hospital? Moreover, we signed cards for those who were ill.

I ____________ to be in good shape now as I’ve hoped. Still, I’m grateful for things more valuable from the class — close friendships and new social ____________.

7 . Our neighbors had a loud party last night. We weren’t _________ but this was one of those celebrations that I didn’t mind. They are a bunch of young, single guys and I would have felt out of place.

What _________ me was the way they behaved. One of the young men came over _________ in the day to “warn” us of the upcoming event and said it would be over at about 11 p. m. That was the first step. Even more _________ was what they did next. “Here’s my _________” offered our neighbor _________. “Text me if it’s too noisy.” That was a level of _________ I had never experienced in all my years of being a neighbor!

And it really worked in their favor. My husband and I were so friendly that even when the event went past the _________ end time, even when the music reached high decibels(分贝), and even when we couldn’t get through on the phone number, we felt no _________. We knew they would stop and be __________ eventually.

It takes such little effort to make people feel that they __________ and get people on your side. Everyone needs to let loose every now and then, especially in these uniquely tough times. But people who do it without __________ others are few and far between. I hadn’t fully __________ my neighbors until this week. We had adopted that all too American “live and let live” posture. But now I see them in a new light and with greater __________. They didn’t just bring noise to the neighborhood; they shone the light of __________.

One pleasant New-year morning, Edward rose, and washed and dressed himself in a hurry. He wanted to be first to wish a happy New Year to his family. He turned up at every door of the house, and shouted the words of “Happy New Year” in an excited voice. After a quick breakfast, he hopped along the street like a happy bird, greeted and repeated the words to those he met.

When he came back, his father gave him 50 dollars, saying he could buy whatever he had been wishing for. His face lighted up as he took them. He had wished for a long time to buy some interesting books that he had seen at the bookstore. He thanked his father and danced out of the house again with a light heart, wanting to buy those books.

As he ran down the street, he noticed a poor German family, the father, mother, and three children trembling with cold. “I wish you a happy New Year,” said Edward, as he was happily passing on. The man took a look at the happy boy and shook his head sadly.

Edward stopped and said, “It seems that you do not belong to this country” The man again shook his head, a confused expression appeared over his face, for he could not understand or speak English.

But the poor man pointed to his mouth, and to the children with hungry looks, as if to say, “These little ones have had nothing to eat for a long time.”

Edward quickly understood that these poor people were in difficult situation.

He took out his dollars, and gave them all to the man.

When Edward went home, his father asked what book he had bought.

9 . The clock had just struck eleven when I first heard a noise coming from the lift. I opened the door of our room and listened: someone was _________against the door of the lift and calling out at the same time.

“What’s wrong?” I shouted. “The door has been stuck (受阻) and I can’t _________.” The _________ came back. The voice came from several flights below.

My wife had now _________ me and she went off directly in search of the night porter (守门人). After calling to the girl that help was on its _________, I went back into our room to get some _________. Then I hurried _________ the stairs until I reached _________ the lift was stuck.

I tried my hand at forcing to _________ the lift door, talking all the while to the girl trapped inside, ________ my tools were of no use for this purpose. Very __________, however, my wife returned. ________ to find the porter, she had called the police, who agreed to send an engineer. ________, she had got in touch with the fire service.

In a short time, the engineer appeared. Almost immediately the fireman arrived too. With his __________ equipment it took the engineer only a short while to get the door open. In spite of her experience, the girl was in good ________. “I’m hungry,” was her only remark as she stepped out of the lift.