Javon was the shortest kid in the class. He’d had to ask to get his gym locker changed so that he didn’t have to strain (拉紧) so much to reach it. But he didn’t care about his height? Either he would grow or he wouldn’t — there was nothing he could do about it, so why let it bother him?

That was Javon’s attitude about most things. He didn’t like to get all worked up about stuff, especially stuff he had no control over.

The one exception was school work. Javon had worked hard. He was one of the top kids in the class. He was still the shortest, but now he also got called one of the smartest.

For Javon, math used to be easy. He figured that since he had ten fingers, he could do most of it. However, when Mr. T started a new unit and threw letters into his math problem, Javon could not wrap his mind around using these letters. Although Mr. T explained over and over again, he still didn’t understand. Soon the day when the class had to take the chapter test arrived. The test was brutal (残酷的).

Hard as Javon tried, he hadn’t finished all of the problems: The day came when the class finally got their papers back. D. 64%. Written in red ink on the corner of Javon’s paper. The worst grade he had ever got. In the seat next to him, Tyler got a red 72% on Tyler’s paper. Javon was surprised that Tyler, who is dyslexic (阅读障碍), got a higher grade than him.

“How did you get such a grade?” asked Javon. “I get extra time on tests. Because of my —” Tyler said. “You got extra time?” Javon cried out.

At this point, Mr. T appeared at the corner. Javon walked up to him and said, “Mr. T, why Tyler could get extra time for this test? Plenty of people didn’t finish, including me. It’s unfair!”

Paragraph 1: Mr. T was astonished, and then started to explain.

Paragraph 2: “You asked for a different locker in the gym.” said Mr. T.

When I was a kid, my parents and I lived near the forest. They often told me that our family was a team that needed to work together for the household to function smoothly. There was always an abundance of work to do — cooking, cleaning, and walking dogs. I volunteered to walk our dog, Max, who had been adopted one month before. I never dared let this giant dog off the lead (牵狗绳), just in case he took off.

One morning, we were walking along in the forest when Max started pulling on the lead. At first, I was able to hold on despite the wet ground from a recent shower. But the more I tried to stop him pulling, the more it turned into a tug of war. And thanks to the slippery ground, I lost.

Pulling his lead, Max shot off like a bullet, leaving me screaming behind. I chased him but lost my footing and fell face-first into some mud. I stumbled (踉跄) to my feet, but looking ahead, I found him running back towards me. I thought he was going to stop and give me his “Sorry” look. But instead, the dog shot past me and returned after a while.

As soon as we got home, my mother immediately attended to Max with a warm towel and a doggy treat. I thought seeing me stumbling and covered in mud, I would also get a warm cup of tea and a motherly kiss. Instead, I got a very loud lecture about letting the dog loose in the forest.

I felt frustrated. It wasn’t fair that she didn’t understand how difficult it was to control Max. I fought back, “Stop lecturing me! Why is everything my fault?” With these words, I stormed into my bedroom and slammed the door shut.

In the evening, I heard my mother call Max and take him out. It wasn’t long before I heard my mother screaming and the door opening again.

I walked out of my room.

Dad stepped in, suggesting that we work together to train Max.

After little Julie lost her parents, she lived with Aunt Clara, who worked day and night to support her and her own daughter Mira. As the school prom (舞会) approached, both Julie and Mira dreamed of buying beautiful dresses for the occasion. However, Clara’s limited budget posed a challenge, as she could only afford one dress.

To determine who would receive the dress, Clara suggested the girls draw lots (抽签). Unfortunately, luck was not on Julie’s side, but she remained optimistic. “Don’t worry about me,” Julie smiled. “I’ll figure something out.”

Julie reached under her bed and pulled out a box containing money from Grandma. Grandma loved Julie and Mira very much. Every year, Grandma would send cash gifts to both of them. Julie had carefully saved her money and now had enough to buy a prom dress. With excitement and anticipation, she purchased a beautiful black dress, imagining being the prom queen at the prom.

The following Sunday morning, Aunt Clara left for work early. When Julie woke up, she was shocked that the dress she had hung over the nearby chair was gone! She looked out of the window and froze in horror at the sight of the family dog tearing it to pieces.

She screamed as she ran toward the dog. “What have you done to my dress?” Mira soon learned of the situation and rushed to help Julie to remove her dress caught between the dog’s teeth. However, it was already completely ruined and unable to be repaired. Julie felt heartbroken at the thought of not being able to afford another dress.

Lost and unsure of what to do, Julie went to her grandma’s house with the remains of her dress, seeking comfort and advice. When Grandma answered the door, Julie cried and said what had happened. Grandma comforted her and offered a glimmer of hope. “I can help you with your dress,” she smiled. “Follow me."

Grandma, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease (帕金森病),walked slowly and led Julie into the dining room. There, she removed the cover from her old sewing machine and instructed Julie to open the top drawer of the dresser, where an abundance of colorful cloth was stored.

Julie said, “But I’m afraid that you couldn’t sew anymore. You know, your hands.”

Eventually, their joint efforts bore fruit, and they completed a new prom dress.

I should have been content and happy. I was newly married and had a well-paid job at a stock brokerage firm (证券经纪公司). I was surrounded by good friends and lived in one of the most beautiful cities in the country. But I didn’t feel fulfilled. Every day, after coming home from work, I was depressed. The work itself was fine. My co-workers were wonderful. I just didn’t feel like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.

After a few weeks and many discussions with my husband, he asked, “If you could do anything in the world you wanted to do, what would it be?” Without hesitation, I spoke out, “I’d be a hairstylist!”

I was a receptionist at a hair salon when I was a teenager. I loved that job! The majority of my tasks were unskilled. I folded towels, s wept hair, and wrapped the cape (披肩) around the customer. But, most of the time, I listened and talked to people all day long! Some clients talked because they lived alone and had no one else to talk to. We talked about everything. I learned about their families. Their work. Their home life. I loved it. Every bit of it.

But at the job I had, there was none of that. I worked with numbers. And computers. And papers. Lots and lots of papers.

And so it went. Every day, I went to work. Every day, I came home feeling unfulfilled. And each night, I thought more and more about switching careers. At the end of each daydream, I talked myself out of the idea. It was too much work to start a new career. I would be crazy to give up my well-paid job with health insurance. I would have to go to school again. It would take too long to build a clientele (客户群). Its disadvantages outweighed its advantages!

Police chief Matthew Bruce’s son, Adam, came late into his lives, so he always spoiled him and never said no to him for anything. As Adam grew older, he began to take his parents’ love and concern for granted, as if it were permission for him to do whatever he pleased. There were certainly times when he was criticized for bad grades or sneaking out of the house, but that was limited to only minor blame. Adam thought that if he pretended to be an “ideal” son, he would have to face absolutely no blame from his parents. So he began to act like a good son in front of them while engaging in all sorts of wrongdoing behind their backs, such as breaking the law. However, Adam always got away with it.

One day, Adam was driving back from a party with his friend Freddie when he began over-speeding. Freddie warned him to slow down, but Adam didn’t listen. Adam’s driving worried Freddie. He asked Adam to slow down again, and when Adam didn’t, he grabbed the steering wheel himself, causing the car to slide off the road and ran into a tree on the side. Then they heard the alarm of a police car behind them. The car came to a stop in front of them, and a police officer approached them.

“I’ve been following your car for a while now, and I’m afraid I’ll have to take you to the station for speeding. May I have your driver’s license first?” the police officer said.

Freddie was scared. “Here’s my driver’s license, sir,” he said, offering it to the officer. Adam tried to explain that he was the police chief’s son, but the police officer turned a deaf ear to him. They drove him to the station, and when Adam stepped inside, he was surprised to see his father there. He had been called to the station for an urgent case.

I always love going to school as I can meet my friends and learn from my teachers. Everyone has an unforgettable moment in their school life and mine was in junior middle school.

That day started as usual. I woke up, got ready and went to school, where I first met my friends and then we were required to gather for the daily get-together. After that, we went to our respective classes. I went to my classroom as well and settled down as usual, greeting my classmates and waiting for the teacher to arrive.

It was a chemistry class and the teacher asked us to go to the laboratory to conduct a long-anticipated experiment. I took my stuff and was ready to leave the classroom when I felt sharp pain in my stomach. I sat down for a while, with hands rubbing my stomach. I was waiting for the pain to go off by itself. However, it was in vain. The pain still remained. Unfortunately, all of my friends had gone except the class monitor, the one I had never thought to make friends with.

But anyway, I called him and informed him of my condition, asking him to help me contact my parents. Noticing my trembling voice and begging eyesight, he agreed instantly and went to contact my parents without any hesitation.

On his departure, I realized that things were getting worse. Beads of sweat dropping off my paleface, I had to lean against the desk to ease the severe pain without realizing I suddenly vomited (呕吐). Everything around me was in a total mess, including myself. At that point, I thought my life was over and was scared of all the mean words to be said by my classmates and schoolmates. At that embarrassing moment, the class monitor came back. Obviously, he knew my dilemma. I was frozen with pain on the spot, maybe awkwardness, to be accurate.

However, he considerately helped me to go to the toilet.

After fully recovering from the food poisoning, I returned to school.

Ben and Laura were always proud of their son Johnny. 12-year-old Johnny was energetic and had a lot of friends. But he became different after he turned 13, he failed to control his mood occasionally, and led six other boys as his followers, who encouraged all his bad tricks.

One day after school, he decided to show his friends what more he was capable of, and his attention was finally drawn to Stanley, a 51-year-old park cleaner he regularly laughed at. Stanley had been cleaning the park for a living for almost half of his lifetime. As usual, that day, poor Stanley was anxious when he saw Johnny and his friends approaching him. “Hey, look, dirty Stanley is sweeping! Here, clean this... and this... AND THIS,” Johnny began throwing garbage in different directions around him. Johnny and his friends gathered around Stanley, bursting into deep, loud laughter. The boy was so busy laughing at the man that he didn’t notice his mother, who had come to pick him up, was watching everything.

Laura was beyond shocked. She didn’t approach or stop Johnny because she knew he would disobey or make a scene in front of his friends. So she left the spot to meet her husband. Ben was angry when Laura told him what she saw. He wanted to punish him. But Laura insisted that Johnny needed a little lesson to learn to respect everyone but not a severe punishment. They arranged something secretly to teach Johnny a good lesson.

The following day, Johnny and his followers marched to the park to make the poor guy’s day uncomfortable. But that afternoon, Johnny was so embarrassed at seeing his parents wearing cleaner jackets and holding a broom each, sweeping the park with Stanley. “Mom, Dad? What are you doing here?” he shouted. “We are working, son. We need money to pay for your education and buy clothes and food for you. Actually, we are not different from Stanley now. Will you laugh at us?” said Laura.

Hearing these words, Johnny lowered his head.

After a while, Johnny’s parents came back and knocked softly on his door.

I was a 15-year-old girl when my beloved grandma Rosie was placed in a group home in Brookfield because of sharply declining memory. I can vividly remember the unpleasant environments inside the nursing home. That impression has ultimately impacted me in a very great way, even after I graduated from university with a degree in architecture.

Grandma Rosie was the heart of our family. Her little two-bedroom home was truly where all her children and grandchildren gathered. She was also an amazing cook and her specialty was fried pork steak. Most of my nephews and nieces were fans of her specialty. She lived alone after my grandpa passed away but was cared by many relatives and friends. When she was in her late 60s, we began to witness a significant memory impairment (受损) in her. Everyone started checking up on her. A frequent question that people would ask her, “What did you have for dinner?”, almost always brought the same answer — fried pork steak. Every day she would report making fried pork steak. One day a group of us went to her house secretly, and found she was making fried pork steak!

After some lengthy consideration, our family were concerned for her condition and ultimately decided to place Rosie in a group home in Brookfield. A year later, Rosie caught heart disease and her condition required her to be moved to a nursing home in Oconomowoc. Her memory also declined sharply and she no longer remembered our names. It was heartbreaking for our family to know that.

By that time, I was in high school and thinking about plans for college. Seeing the cold, sterile (呆板的) long hallways and unfriendly surroundings in the nursing home, I was determined to become a professional architect concentrating on senior care and health care design. I wanted to design living space where seniors can not only live but benefit from lovely environments.

Bearing this goal in mind, I worked extremely hard.

Finally, Grandma Rosie moved into a senior living community I designed.