1 . As I was a young boy my family was very poor. I would often help do something for the neighbors to _________ a little pocket money.

One day I _________ on the door of an elderly woman and asked if she needed me to clean     the yard. She asked why I was not in _________ and I showed her my worn _________, which no longer kept me warm. She allowed me to work in the yard. When I finished, she looked at me and said, “I suppose you want to be _________ now.” She then took out a jar filled with dollar bills and said, “I’m glad you’ve done a   _________ job today but that is not something you should be doing again. I want you to _________ new clothes and get back to school. I also want you to come back to visit me with your report card and I will _________ you when I see you have worked hard and have some good_________. Now reach out your little hands and take out as much money as you can.”

I put my hands in the jar and __________ so much money that it was __________ for me to buy what I badly needed. Later, I returned several times to see the woman and she did just as she__________. She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and some delicious food every time I __________ her that I had an “A”.

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighbourhood. I will never forget the huge__________ this wonderful lady made over my life with her__________. This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.

2 . Jorge Serrano and his dog Charlie were wandering around in a park. Suddenly, they heard a(n) _______ near the pond. It was a mother duck, sounding anxious quacks from a drain(排水沟) in the center of the water. Across the street, about 150 feet away, some people had gathered at the drain’s exit.

Five ducklings had swum too close and had been _______ in the water pipe by the drain’s current. You could hear their _______ quacks from the pipe’s mouth. The pipe was less than 2 feet in diameter (直径). Serrano would never fit. It suddenly hit him that his dog could _______ the task. He patted Charlie and said, “Go to get the duckies.”

Charlie _______ into the pipe from the outside, listening carefully. The tunnel was dark, dirty and _______ .Charlie took a few steps into the unknown. He turned back with a strange look as if to say, “What are you asking me to do here?”

“Go in and get the duckies,” Serrano _______ . Charlie faded out of sight, _______ few seconds later with a muddy stick. He handed it hopefully to Serrano.

“Duckies,” said Serrano. This time, the message went through. Charlie walked into the _______, again. For a while, Serrano couldn’t hear his footsteps, feeling ________. What if Charlie got lost or stuck?

Minutes later, he emerged, ________ holding a duckling in his mouth so as not to hurt it. Serrano ________ , and then sent him back in. Five times, Charlie ________ into the tunnel, carrying the ducklings out one by one. Then, cheering ________ carried them to their mom.

“I am glad I have trained him to help people, but he’s really a smart guy that wants to please,” said Serrano. How   ________ the ducks were!

One day, when I was a first-year student in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Kris. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd (书呆子).”

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a gang of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up, and I saw terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So I jogged over to him, and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw tears in his eyes. As I handed him his glasses, I said, “They are bad guys! They really should be punished.” He looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to a private school before. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before, but we talked all the way home, and I carried his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

We always hung out on weekends, and the more I got to know Kris, the more I liked him.

5 . I was said to be the worst student in my class and my family thought I was hopeless. I had to repeat sixth grade. At that time a new teacher, Miss Sadia came to our school.

One day after class, she_________that I was staying alone during the lunch break. She came to me and began to talk to me. It was just a_________conversation. After that day, she gave me particular_________and it made me feel special. I started to work hard because she gave me the feeling that someone believed me. So my_________started to improve in her subject.

Months later, she moved into a house near my_________. We would walk home together after school. Her constant support helped me,_________in my studies. I knew she would_________my grades both in her subject and the other subjects. So I tried my best and finally came second in my class.

Then, after sixth grade, she started to drift apart (逐渐疏远)_________still kept a constant check on me. By the time I was in seventh grade, we hardly spoke. But by then I had become the_________in my class. When I left school, I lost__________with her, as she never answered the phone when I called her.

Then I graduated and went to a good university. One fine day, our paths__________again. I met her at a wedding. I could not__________asking her, “Why did you stop talking to me?”

“You are a clever boy. I wanted you to be a tree__________on your own roots, not depending on others. Now here you are and I feel__________of you. You are your inspiration and do not need to__________a shoulder.” she said. I could not say anything, but I smiled. I’ll always thank her.

7 . Mr. Lee was in bed and was trying to go to sleep when he heard the bell ring. He turned on the light and looked at his clock. It was twelve o’clock. Who can it be at this time of night? He thought. He decided to go and find out. So he got off bed, put on his dressing gown (浴袍) and went to the door. When he opened the door, there was nobody there. That is very strange. Then he went back to his bedroom, took off his dressing gown, got back into bed, turned off the light and tried to go to sleep.

A few minutes later, he heard the bell again. Mr. Lee jumped out of bed very quickly and rushed to the door. He opened it, but again he found no one there. He closed the door and tried not to feel angry. Then he saw a piece of paper on the floor. He picked it up. There were some words on it: It is now after midnight, so it is April Fool’s Day. April fool to you.

Oh, it was the English boy next door! Mr. Lee exclaimed (惊叫) and almost smiled. He went back to bed and fell asleep at once. The bell did not ring again.

Billy was 15 years old then. He grew up in a very poor neighborhood. No one in his family had gone to college before. Actually, few people around him had received higher education. They all struggled to live a good life. Therefore, Billy knew nothing about colleges or scholarships and he never thought he would go to college one day. Although he was a smart boy, he didn’t study hard at school and often got into trouble with other teenagers in his neighborhood.

One day, while Billy was walking on the playground, a boy of his age started making fun of him. Then that boy pushed him hard and Billy fell onto the ground. Billy became so angry that he stood up and beat that boy. So a fight began.

It happened that Billy’s English teacher Mr. Smith was walking nearby. He immediately ran to the boys to stop the fight. Billy was a bit worried because he knew his teacher was very strict with students. He was afraid his teacher would punish him. However, to his astonishment, his teacher didn’t do that.

“Billy, let’s have a talk,” said his teacher.

Billy, not knowing what his teacher wanted to do, was very worried. But he nodded. So they went to a bench nearby and sat down. After they sat down, Mr. Smith began, “Billy, I know you’re a smart boy, but you’re wasting your life now. Why don’t you study hard to go to college so that you can change your life and have a bright future?”

Hearing that, Billy didn’t know what to say. He had never thought about it. Billy was in silence. Mr. Smith continued, “I know you may have never thought about going to college. But everything is possible. When I was at your age, I was a troublemaker just like you and never thought I’d be able to go to college, either. It was all because of the support and encouragement of Mr. Howard, my math teacher in high school.”

Then, Mr. Smith began to tell Billy his story.

Billy was greatly touched by Mr. Smith’s story.