1 . Most students, when asked about their ideal graduation gift, would probably reply, “Acar”,   or “Money for a deposit on a house”. Cai Kaiyuan,21, made a different choice. As a graduation gift to himself, he decided to work as a volunteer teacher in a remote village in Tibet.

Cai, a senior majoring in electrical engineering at Huan Railway Professional Technology College, originally planned to cycle from Sichuan to Tibet. During his journey, Cai’s idea for a different graduation gift to himself began to take shape. “I did not know beforehand what the journey would mean to me. I just want to gain a unique experience and have pleasure in appreciating the view there,” he said.

It turned out cycling on a plateau (高原) was extremely challenging. And it has kept changing his view on life. Cai’s fingers even became frostbitten while cycling up a 5008-metre-high mountain, where temperatures often dropped to 18 below zero. At night, the ice covered the road and he fell off his bike three times. The lack of oxygen made him feel dizzy and weak. “At the most serious moment, I felt that my life was on the line,” said Cai.

However, he also gained something unexpected. At Ya’an, a city in Sichuan, he met a group of tourists who are also university students. A girl called Wu Ling told him that she planned to work as a teacher in a primary school in Tibet after her journey. He was impressed by the idea as she looked thin and weak.

It was not until he reached a family-run hotel in Shigats e that Cai’s spirits began to rise. The hotel manager’s two daughters enjoyed talking with him. The kids asked about his experiences on his trip, and showed him the beautiful local lakes. “They told me that they always liked to talk to guests, as they wanted to improve their Mandarin,” he said. “Their parents and many locals can only speak Tibetan. ”

Cai was touched by the girls’story. Their situation is tough and the local people have little chance to learn Mandarin because the schools are short of teachers. “I want to do something to improve the situation for kids like them,” said Cai. His parents finally gave their agreement and his teachers also supported him.

2 . Car Talk

When I got the driving license last summer, Mom and I took our first trip around an empty parking lot. Then I found that my mother was not the best teacher for me. It wasn’t that she shouted, or told me that I was doing poorly. As you can imagine, my mother’s “helpful instructions” only managed to make me more nervous.

Since I could no longer practice with her, the job was placed in the hands of my father. The idea of learning from Dad was not one that thrilled me. I loved him dearly, but I just did not see Dad as someone I could be comfortable learning from. He almost never talked. We shared a typical father-daughter relationship. He’d ask how school was, and I’d say it was fine. Unfortunately, that was the most of our conversations. Spending hours alone with someone who might as well have been a stranger really scared me.

As we got into the car that first time, I was not surprised at what happened. Dad and I drove around, saying almost nothing, aside from a few instructions on how to turn. As my lessons went on, however, things began to change. Dad would turn the radio up so I could fully appreciate his favorite Stones music. And he actually began talking. I was soon hearing about past failed dates, “basic body” gym class, and other tales from his past, including some of his first meeting with Mom.

Dad’s sudden chattiness was shocking until I thought about why he was telling me so much in the car. In all the years that I had wondered why my father never spoke that much, I had never stopped to consider that it was because I had never bothered to listen. Homework, friends, and even TV had all called me away from him, and, consequently, I never thought my quiet father had anything to say.

Since I began driving with him, my driving skill has greatly increased. More important, though, is that my knowledge of who my father is has also increased. Just living with him wasn’t enough—it took driving with him for me to get to know someone who was a mystery.

6 . Larry and I have always had our basic values in common, but our interests are as far apart as opera and basketball. I love art, and he is a huge sports fan. His big passion is seeing basketball games. He has been sharing season tickets with his friends for years. I must admit I’ve been always invited to see the games together.

This morning, I called my brother, Larry, and said, “I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” “Good news first,” Larry answered. “You can go to sleep early tonight,” I said. “Okay. What’s the bad one?” he asked. “We’re going to the opera!” I answered, laughing loudly.

There was a reason for the joke. Last time I invited him to go to the opera, he fell asleep in the theater. I had to admit it was always boring for him, but when I gave him a ticket for my favorite opera, I really thought he might enjoy it. I woke him up, but soon he fell asleep again. When Larry found I was joking, he breathed a sigh of relief on the other end. He said, “But I want you to go to see the last basketball game this autumn with me.” I promised and complained, “Not again!” Actually, most of the time, when the game was on, I’d be texting or daydreaming. Sometimes, my telephone messages would be interrupted when the home team scored. I knew they scored because everyone jumped up and exchanged high-fives and fist bumps.

However, today, as I looked around at thousands of people cheering and getting increasingly excited, I decided to at least give it a try—for my brother’s sake, if not for my own. The game was in-tense, and I was hooked soon. When the other team scored, I eventually felt a bit disappointed with the rest of my crowd. My brother was surprised to see me getting involved. I was astonished myself! I didn’t keep glancing at the clock, counting the minutes until we got out. Time flew. The game was over before I knew it.

7 . When I retired, my wife Peg said “Great! You’ll have time to clean the garage (车库)!” After 30 years’ ________ as director of a radio station, I would finally have more time for housework, but I worried I’d lose the sense of ________ I had felt in my profession．

I pushed at the garage’s wooden doors, but they were as ________ as I felt in this new stage of my life．I finally got the doors open and started to empty the shelves．Then my hand hit something ________．It was a common old metal can (金属罐)．I _______ the cover and found a ________ envelope with a postmark of May 13, 1940 inside．________, I opened it and found some flower seeds in it, “Eighty years old! I wonder if they’ll still grow.”

I ________ the seeds in a plastic pot. I checked it every day, but nothing happened．“I guess they’re just too ________ to be any good,” I told Peg in ________．I picked up the pot to get rid of it, but something made me ________. I changed my mind and set it aside．Meanwhile, I was keeping ________, buying some books to improve my photography skills and teaching my granddaughters everything I knew about gardening and dogs．

Six weeks later, I was out in the yard when I ________ to notice the pot．A new bit of green-a leaf had ________．I proudly showed it off to my granddaughters．“Look, girls, even something old can still ________ for its purpose and be pretty cool．Just like your grand-papa!”

8 . When I was eighteen, I couldn’t wait to get my first job, which meant I made the first step toward adulthood.

But it was difficult to get a work permit. One day I was dropped off by my parents at the ________, where applicants took their physical tests for work permits. Although I had night blindness, my vision was clearer during the day, which helped me walk easily by myself. Then the doctor began the ________. He looked into my eyes with a bright light. “I suggest your parents take you to an eye specialist,” he said, “I ________ you have a retinal (视网膜) disease. If you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. . . ”

My parents did take me to specialists. After much time and money spent seeking an ________ result, it was determined that I had an eye disease that slowly ________ a person of sight. But still, during daylight, I could walk without ________. I could read, but not for hours. My eyes began to ________ and words slipped off the page when I read more than a few pages. However, no matter how tired my eyes became, I never gave up reading. I knew the names of great writers as well as the most popular music stars. Their words were powerful, which ________ me to try writing. Soon writing brought me a lot of ________ each time I completed a paper.

Then an important phone call from an editor changed my life. An article I ________ appeared in a local newspaper. The newspaper, to my delight, continued to print my work. Next, a book series published several of my essays. I got interested in writing and ________ up with each acceptance. On the pages, readers never knew of my blindness ________ I chose to present it. For me, finding my voice through writing gave me the pride and satisfaction I ________ so many years ago. Now, I have numerous essays and articles in print.

Should I be thanking that misguided doctor? By falsely predicting that I could never work a day, he fueled my ________ into success. He set the bar too ________ and focused on what I wouldn’t be able to do. Yet I proved what I could do.