When young urban couples get married, they usually hire a fleet of about 10 cars to escort them and their family to the wedding venue. But one new couple in Dalian, Liaoning province, did something a little different — they     1     (choose) to rent a public bus instead.

    2     (look) back on their wedding day on Oct 5, the bride, Yang Le’er, said she still felt joyful about the bus experience,     3     added special meaning to the wedding.

On their wedding day,     4     red electric bus carried the bride and groom, and the guests to a hotel. “We played festive music along the way, and friends sang along. Even though my parents didn’t sing, they     5     (attract) by the atmosphere and didn’t show the traditional     6     (sad) of a daughter’s marriage,” Yang recalled.

    7     a cost of 10, 000 yuan, which included the decorations, she said getting the bus was     8     (relative) cheaper than hiring a fleet of cars. Besides, using a bus as their wedding car was so much cooler than a luxury car. On the road, they drew a lot of attention. Pedestrians took out their phones     9     (take) pictures and waved at them. When the bridesmaids and groomsmen shouted to passersby that “we’re getting married”, they received smiles and cheers in response.

Song Jian, the head of Dalian Transportation Advertising Co, said the company will explore more creative “theme buses”     10     expand related businesses in the future.

What an adventure!

One of Scotland’s most active centenarians(百岁的人), Lady Morton, drove for nearly 80 years. Though she had a     1     (wrinkle) face, she had a young heart. She loved driving and spent the war years as an ambulance(救护车)driver for Bangour Hospital. Aged 100, she was still driving around Edinburgh, up to Perthshire and elsewhere—the oldest among all the drivers in Scotland. Then she was brought     2     focus. Some people said that she had better not drive a car due to her old age. They asked her, “Would you like to continue to drive?” Without any     3     (hesitate), she replied that she would love to. But she had her first ever accident several days after her 100th birthday—she hit a traffic island, which is a raised area in the middle of a road where people can wait until it is safe to cross, when she took her new car for a drive in Edinburgh.

Lady Morton, who celebrated her 100th birthday in July, was given a car as a surprise present. She talked about the accident     4     happened that night. “Though not     5     (go) fast, my car hit a traffic island. It had no lights. As     6     result, I couldn’t see it, which I think is unbelievable and unreasonable. But in that case I am still all right and not     7     (damage) badly, my car was in good condition. A traffic island ought to have lights.” She said that the next time she     8     (take) more care while driving.

Although she had the accident, Lady Morton didn’t plan to stop driving. She said she was     9     (capability) of driving well. Her real intention was to go on driving her car     10     (independent).

An anxious 18-year-old Peng Lanxi got his     1     (admit) letter from Hunan University of Science and Technology on July 26, bringing his dream closer—making prosthetic limbs (假肢) more advanced and     2     (access) to people like him.

Peng lost his legs in a car accident in 2005, leaving him     3     (whole) unable to move around.     4     (learn) to walk using just his hands for years, he now enjoys life as much as the teenagers around him. On his wheelchair he plays basketball and badminton. “I believe that obstacles (障碍) are there     5     (conquer). Someone says that life is like a mirror, and we get the best results     6     we smile at it,” Peng says.

His story, which     7     (view) more than 19 million times up till now, has gone viral (在网上快速传播的) on social media platform Sina Weibo and he wins admiration from its users     8     his courage, determination and hard work. Lu Ming, director of the university’s School of Information and Electrical Engineering, says that the school will help Peng to pursue his dream—to be a prosthetics engineer, a career     9     will in time change lives.

Peng is not alone. According to the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, 14,559 students facing physical challenges entered college last year. From 2016 to 2020, about 57,500 students with special needs enrolled at universities,     10     more than 50 percent increase compared with the 2011—2015 period.

It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father,     1     profession was an artist, and me that she wanted a new bicycle. We were     2     favour of her request. She cracked     3     smile. Her dream was to be a geologist when she grew up and her hobby was watching     4     (cartoon). With Christmas drawing nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to die, or we thought so. She didn’t constantly ask for one. The next day we bought some lovely dolls, and a doll house. Then, much to our surprise on December 23rd, she said that     5     (get) a bike was her real     6    (prefer). It was just too late to take the time to select the “right bike” for our little girl. It was Christmas Eve around 9:00 pm. Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, lay comfortably in their beds. Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. “I am     7     (make) a little bicycle out of clay (黏土) and I will write a note that she could trade the clay model for a real bike.” her dad said. “This is an expensive item and she is ‘such a big girl.’” Then her dad began to make one. After some time I said to my husband. “You     8     (work) with clay to make a tiny bike for three hours. I wonder when you can finish it.” He said he could complete it in one hour.

On Christmas morning, we were excited for Almie to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. She asked, “Does this mean that I can trade this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?” I said, “Yes.” Almie had tears in her eyes when she     9     (mere) replied, “I could never trade this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made for me. I’m very     10     (appreciation) of the clay model.”

Last night at 8:30 pm, I was doing my homework     1     I heard a strange voice outside. Out of     2     (curious), I went to figure     3     what was happening.

It was     4     little bird that wanted to look for food.     5     (unfortunate), he was injured by the fence surrounding by yard. I went close to him and checked     6    (he) injury carefully. He had trouble     7     (fly) away because of the injury. I treated the bird and     8     (give) him enough food and water. I was too happy     9     (watch) him enjoying his dinner. It was obvious that the bird looked     10     (good) after dinner than before.

Three months ago, I moved to Italy with my parents. One day, after playing badminton, I saw Amma when I set out     1     (leave) the club. She’s an old lady in her late 60s, and she is responsible     2     cleaning the floor of the club. At that time, she was talking to the boss of the club,     3     (ask) for some cash. Her hand was in pain and she intended     4     (see) the doctor. The boss gave her some excuses and drove her away     5     (instant).

I felt bad for her.     6     the fact that I had never talked with Amma before, I approached her and opened my wallet. I knew I didn’t have much money, but I gave her whatever I had in my wallet. In my     7     (break) Italian, I tried to say “Amma, please take the money and make an appointment with the doctors to check it up”, but I didn’t know if my     8     (express) was correct. She seemed to have understood me and said “Thank you!”.

When I went to a nearby restaurant for dinner, surprisingly I found one bill,     9     was more than enough for my meal.     10     next day, I came across Amma, and even though it was very dark in the street, she recognized me and waved to me.

How to unleash your art potential? Traditionally, people may bury themselves    1    learning painting skills at an atelier (画室) and begin from drawing lines. However, Maggie Wiebe,     2    21-year-old girl from Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan, has her own method. 

Wiebe and her school friend Jessie Rice are trying to do something     3    shows their love for art and also    4    (benefit) the environment. For the past year or so, they have tended a garden at their campus farm,    5    (plant) a variety of different colorful flowers, as well as flax (亚麻) to make linen (亚麻布) and paper    6     (use) in art. “I’ve been doing it my whole life,” she told the University Record website. “I’ve been drawing since I was 2. It’s never been a question for me that I would do something art-related, but rather    7    more specific art-related thing I’ll end up doing.”

Inspired by a group of old ladies in Canada who plant sustainable art materials and post their videos on social platform YouTube, Wiebe learned about how to plant, harvest and separate fibers. She planted different fruits and vegetables     8     (tradition) used to dye (染色) fabrics. She then put their peels into boiled water and added hot pressurized air to make a dye. For her, it’s a tiring process but enjoyable. 

Wiebe also likes fiber-based art, such as quilting, weaving and sewing. She has applied those techniques     9    her recent works,     10    (display)as part of the annual Senior Exhibition at her school.

Ten years ago, Melanie and Jeremy Zanni     1     (find) the house they dreamed of: a 300-year-old cottage in a small town. They moved into their new home     2     (short) after and set up a bakery. They’ve been happy ever since until     3     accident changed everything. In March, the Zannis’ cottage was burnt     4     the ground when a chimney fire grew out of control. Firefighters eventually put out the flames, but the house was completely destroyed. The couple were desperate.

Luckily, residents from the town joined hands to help the     5     (ruin) family. Using their     6     (variety) skills, they immediately got down to rebuilding the cottage.    7    (work) day and night, they ensured the couple and their nine-year-old son had a roof over their heads. Thanks to the efforts of the residents, Melanie and Jeremy once again had a place    8     (live) in.

“I am so grateful that we are living in a community     9     everyone is willing to offer a helping hand,” Jeremy said. Such     10     (story) have been heard everywhere on earth, and will continue to be heard.

One day a rich father took his young son on a trip to the country with the purpose     1    (tell) him how poor people can be. They spent a day and night in the farm of a very poor family.

When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, “    2    was the trip? ”The son said, “Very good, Dad!” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. The son answered, “Yeah!” Then, the father     3     (continue) asking, “And what did you learn?” The son answered, “I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four dogs. We have a pool that     4     (reach) to the middle of the garden; they have a creek (小溪)    5    has no end. We have     6     (beauty) lamps (灯) in the garden; they have stars.     7     (we)front yard is very big,but they have the whole horizon (地平线).”

When the little boy finished, his father was speechless. His son added, “Thanks, Dad,for     8     (show) me how poor we are!”

Isn't it true that it all depends     9     the way you look at things? If you have love,    10     (friend), family, health, good humor and a positive attitude to life, you've got everything!

There are people who say love can move     1     (mountain). This might not be     2    (physical)possible, but Dashrath Manjhi, also known as the ‘Mountain Man’, came quite close. Dashrath Manjhi and his wife lived in a small village. One day, his wife fell while     3     (climb) over a nearby hill and hurt herself seriously. She needed quick medical assistance, but that wasn’t possible due to the hill that     4    (separate) their small village from the nearby town. To his great sadness, his wife died from the serious injuries before Dashrath could do anything about it. It was on that very night     5     Dashrath Manjhi decided to carve a small path through the mountain in order to give his village easier access     6     medical assistance.

It was an     7     (ambition) plan and he was laughed at by the villagers for it. But after working for 22 years with the greatest determination and willpower, a path     8     (carve) into the hill. Even though people initially laughed at him, he finally managed     9     (give) his hometown a path available to the nearby town. His life’s work helped to reduce     10     distance between his village and the nearby town from 55 km to only 15 km so that such a thing as his wife’s incident would never happen again.