1 . Many have had the same thought as Shannon St. Onge when looking at the approach of snow on a weather forecast—that they have time to finish their jobs. As the director of finance at the First Nations University of Canada, she had to drive 25 kilometers from her home to the city of Regina to attend an important meeting.

As she was leaving, the winter snow began to fall. Taking a dirt road for better traction (牵引) on her tires, she quickly became lost, with no ability to see the edge of the road from a rolled-down window. After a while she stopped and called 911.

“The operator took my information and told me to wait out the storm as my tank was full and I was warm. I waited almost 14 hours and nobody has called me yet to check in,” she wrote in a Face-book post.

“Would the gas tank last until morning? What if I was hit by another vehicle? What if I didn’t make it home at all?” St. Onge wondered.

Determined to ensure the safest end, she went out in the storm and discovered her location on a road sign, and then found a neighborhood Facebook group for the area she was passing through—warning others of her plight through a Google Maps pin.

That was when 80-year-old Andre Bouvier Sr., a retired rescuer, got a call about St. Onge’s situation. He went out to find her, on foot, since he couldn’t manage to start his tractor.

On the way he found three other stranded (被困) vehicles. He walked the quarter mile there and back, and led the helpless cars one by one to his home. Bouvier let the survivors sleep at his house, where they ate and laughed, and departed the next morning after he had cleaned the driveway.

2 . Jeff was diagnosed in 2010 with multiple myeloma (多发性骨髓瘤). It is a disease that is usually noticed when grandpa falls and breaks his hip. The average patient is in his early 70s. But Jeff was only 50 when diagnosed.

“I wondered why me, as a young guy?” Jeff says. But his relative youth and good health has put him in a position to fight the disease in his way.

In January Jeff and his wife Ramona will join a team climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and funds for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. It’s an adventure he’s dreamed about since the 4th grade.

Jeff will be one of four in the group who are myeloma patients not willing to be threatened by cancer. He and Ramona have raised nearly $18,000 toward their combined goal of $20,000.

Still, he’s confident that his earlier marathon training has prepared him to climb the highest free-standing mountain in the world. “I just have to deal with it and understand my limitations.” he says.

What Jeff sees is a clear future. “Having cancer narrows the focus about what we want to do and who we want to do it with.” he says. He and Ramona now ask themselves, “How do we go out and live the most fulfilling lives? Who are the most important people in our lives? What brings us joy?”

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is their next adventure, but Jeff knows it won’t be just a personal accomplishment. “I do these things for all the people who can’t.” he says.

Jeff is certain that his passion for hiking and adventure will take him to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and that his story will inspire those with multiple myeloma to keep sight of who they are beyond their diagnosis.

3 . A few years ago, I realized that I had a fear of heights. Sometimes I would feel uncomfortable if I looked down from somewhere high and the higher I got, the worse I felt. However, there were some things that made me nervous when I looked up at them — such as drop towers (急速下降塔).

About a month ago, my family and I went on a trip to Marineland — an amusement park with a sea animal theme. One of Marineland’s attractions is a huge drop tower called the “Sky Screamer”. My dad wanted to ride it, and he wanted to take me with him. He kept encouraging me, and I finally gave in, because I was desired to face my fears.

Going up was terrible. I got stomachaches from just looking at the tower. When we reached the tower, we lined up and got seated on the ride. When it reached a few feet off the ground, it stopped for a moment, before sending us straight to the top at great speed. I squeezed my eyes shut and I held the handlebar (把手) as tightly as I could during the whole ride. A few seconds later my heart was in my mouth and I was screaming my lungs out. At the top, I opened my eyes and looked forward, not down.

I tried to prepare myself for the way down, but it didn’t really help. There I was, with my eyes squeezed (紧紧地) shut, holding the handlebar and again, screaming at the top of my voice. In fact, it was even worse than going up! But when I got to the bottom, I felt relieved. I thanked my dad for forcing me to go on the ride, and I was pleased I had overcome my fears.

So, was the “Sky Screamer” scary? Well, maybe just a little bit.

6 . This is a story between a woman and a tree in America.

Julia Hill was born in 1974. As she grew up, she realized it was important to protect trees At the age of 23, she heard some bad news one day. A company wanted to cut down part of forest in California. In the forest there was a 1, 000-year-old redwood tree, which was 70 metres tall! Julia wasn’t happy about this. She thought, “If I sit in the redwood tree, the company can’t cut it down. ”

So she traveled to California to protect the redwood tree. In order to stop the company, Julia climbed up the redwood tree, built a small treehouse and lived in it. Her friends cooked food for her every day. Many news reporters came to interview her. Julia talked to those reporters by mobile phone.

Many people supported Julia, but other people were not on her side. They tried to stop her. The company used a helicopter to fly around her treehouse. It made a lot of noise and brought strong wind. But nothing could stop Julia. She stayed in the redwood tree for two years and eight days.

In the end, Julia was successful. The company agreed not to cut down the redwood tree Julia and her friends became very happy.