1 . Exercise and I had never had a good relationship due to my fear of sports. From a young age, my dad _______ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, _______.

When I entered the University of Regina, my dad _______ telling me “You have to find a way to stay _______.” or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I _______ to give swimming a shot, but I _______ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was _______ to convince myself that’s OK.

The spring semester came. A friend of mine _______ me if I wanted to try Zumba (尊巴) with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically a kind of exercise: dancing to Latin pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be _______.

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my ________ of tea. The instructor would always say, “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my ________ of sports. I didn’t have to be ________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to ________ the music and move. Zumba did ________ me from the Freshman 15, and it also did so much more. It let me make ________ with my unpleasant past about physical exercise, and enjoy staying healthy.

2 . In a certain village lived a farmer and his only son. The son was a thief who always went about stealing from people’s homes. He continued this bad lifestyle till the day his cup got filled. He stole heavy sum of money from the richest man in their village, but that day he didn’t escape successfully as he used to. The rich man contacted the police immediately when he found out that his money was missing and the police started investigating, and finally they found out that the boy stole the money so they sent him to prison.

After some months, it was time for farming and the farmer was already old and weak and couldn’t dig the ground any more, so the old farmer wrote this letter to his son in prison. “Son, this year I will not plant cassava and yam because I can’t dig the field, I know if you were here you would have helped me”. The son was really touched by his father’s letter so he thought of a plan, and replied his father “Dad, don’t even think of digging the field because that’s where I buried the money I stole”.

On reading this letter, the policeman went early in the morning and dug the whole field in search of the money but nothing was found. The next day the son wrote his father again “Dad, you can now plant your cassava and yam. This is the best I can do from here.”

Dad replied “My son, you are too powerful indeed, even in prison you still command policemen to work for me. I was so surprised to see the policeman and his team holding hoes and shovels, digging my farm. Next time I will write to you when I want to harvest.

Long long ago, there lived a girl named Eat. She was a good girl, but she never liked her name because all the kids made fun of her name. She ran away from everybody who laughed at her name, so Eat never really had friends. She played alone all the time.

One day, Eat went to her favorite place near the river behind her house, where she always spoke to the river. On that day, when talking to the river, she said, “You are so lucky, as you can travel to different places and always be with your friends — ducks, turtles, fishes, and plants. I wish I had more friends and wouldn’t be alone anymore.”

When she was bored talking to the river, she picked up some stones and tried to skip (打水漂) them across the river. However, she failed most of the time. Finally, she found a perfect stone. She held it tightly (紧紧地) in her fingers, and said to the river, “Oh, dear river, if I could skip this stone all the way across, I would wish for a dear friend just like you.” Saying this, Eat waved her arm back and threw the stone with full strength.

She watched the stone skip once, twice... and to her surprise, the stone went on skipping and finally, on the seventh skip, made it across the river onto the shore of the opposite side. Eat was totally amazed. She could not just believe her eyes.

Her happiness were disturbed (打断) when she heard footsteps coming towards her. Eat looked around and found a little girl was rolling down towards her. Eat hurried to get up to help. However, she lost her balance and fell off, too.

The little girl was crying and holding her knee. Eat pulled herself and went close to the girl, whose knee was bleeding (流血). She said gently to the little girl, “It will be alright. My house is nearby, let me help you. My mother will take care of the wound.”

Once they arrived at her house, Eat called out, “Mom, help! Someone is injured.”

The little girl looked at Eat and asked, “What is your name?”

Eric was working in a selling business. He had been on the road visiting people for more than a month without going home. He couldn’t wait to get back to see his wife and children. It was coming up on Mother’s Day, and he usually tried to make it “back home”, but this year he was just too busy and too tired. The day when he was driving in a small town, he saw a flower shop. He said to himself, “I know what I will do. I’ll send my mother some roses.”

He stopped and went into the flower shop and saw a young man talking to the girl in it. “How many roses can I get for fifty dollars?” the boy asked. The girl was trying to explain that roses were expensive. Maybe the young man would be happy with something else.

“No. I have to have roses,” he said. “My mom was badly sick last year and I didn’t spend much time with her. I want to get something special. It has to be red roses, because that is her favorite,” He was stubborn.

The girl in the shop looked up at Eric and was just shaking her head. Something inside of Eric was touched by the boy’s voice. He wanted to get those roses so badly. Eric had been blessed (幸运的) in his business, and he looked at the girl and silently said that he would pay for the boy’s roses.

The girl looked at the young man and said, “OK, I will give you a dozen red roses for your dollars.” The young man almost jumped into the air. He took the flowers and ran out of the store. It was worth more than fifty dollars just to see that kind of excitement.

Eric ordered his own flowers and asked the girl to have it delivered to his mother. After that, with a relief he drove down the road. Not long after his driving, he saw the boy walking to a graveyard (墓地).

Eric stopped his car and followed the young man.

Eric went into the car in tears.

Christmas was hanging around. Six-year-old David was thinking what presents he could get from Santa. He wanted slippers; he wanted a silk tie; he wanted some toys. And school starting soon, he also hoped to get something about schooling. In order to get Santa to know what he needed, he thought he would write a letter to Santa, which he believed would bring him those presents. He found a sheet and made a list of the items on it, and then bent down to post the letter up the chimney, waiting for the winds to take it up.

David got up very early on the Christmas morning. He searched his room carefully, but to his disappointment, he didn’t find the presents he hoped for. Hadn’t Santa received the letter? Was he too busy to send him the gifts? Although feeling a little upset, David was convinced that Santa would not forget him and he was bound to receive the items.

Many years had passed and 2019 came. In an old house, a young builder, Lewis Shaw was removing the fireplace with his colleagues when he suddenly found a small piece of paper, which was still in perfect condition even if it had turned yellow. He picked it up and unfolded it. It was a letter written to Santa. The touching hand-written note read:

Please can you send me a drum, box of chalks, slippers, silk tie, pencil box, any little toys you have to spare?

Love David

It was then signed off with lots of kisses.

This was the very letter written by David and the house was where he had lived during his childhood! The letter struck Shaw so much. How simple Christmas once was! David didn’t ask for much, just the things he just needed. Nowadays kids always want expensive gifts and take it for granted.

Shaw decided to find out the author of the letter. He shared a photo of the note on Facebook.

David is a 22-year-old man. Not having received a college education, he found it difficult to find a job. He worked at a small company and wasn’t paid well. He thought life was unfair and often complained.

One day, his boss asked him to go to his office. To his sadness, he was told he didn’t need to come to work again.

That day, David didn’t go straight back to the small apartment he shared with another man. He wanted to find a quiet place and sit there quietly for some time. Having lost his job, he had no idea what to do.

He walked and walked. Finally he stopped in front of a beautiful house. The house had a very big garden behind it. He saw an old man sitting in the garden.

“The old man must be a millionaire (百万富翁)”, thought David. “How I wish I were him! If I were him, I wouldn’t have to work and I’d have a large amount of money. I would be the happiest man in the whole world.”

Thinking how poor he was, David was even sadder. He hurriedly walked forward and found a place and sat there quietly.

Finally, he became hungry and decided to go back home. On his way back home, he passed the old man’s house again. This time the man was sitting in his front yard. When David passed by him, he noticed that the old man was looking at him. The old man looked as if he admired him very much. David was confused. Why would such a rich man admire him? He was so poor while he was so rich.

Finally, David decided to have a talk with the old man. So he stopped and walked to the old man.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hello,” said the old man.

Then they started talking. David told the old man he really admired him.

“You have such a beautiful house. You’re so rich! How I wish I were you!” said David.

Hearing that, the old man smiled and said, “And I admire you, too! I wish I were you! If I were you, I’d still enjoy my youth. Now I’m so old. Wealth doesn’t mean much to me!”

What the old man said struck (击中) David.

It took place in a teacher’s family. One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room after school, when he accidentally threw the ball at a vase sitting on the shelf. The vase dropped to the floor and a large piece broke off. What made Ben more upset was that the vase was not a common decoration but an antique (古董), which was handed down through generations from the 18th century. It was also his mother’s favourite possession. To cover his terrible action, the terrified boy glued the pieces together hurriedly and put the vase back to its place.

As the mother herself dusted the vase every day, she naturally noticed the cracks (裂纹) that evening. To her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the suddenly inspired boy said that a neighbour’s cat jumped in from the window and he couldn’t drive it away no matter how hard he tried. It raced around the living room and finally knocked the vase off its shelf. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying, for all the windows were closed before she left for work each morning and opened after she returned. However, in the face of her son’s nervous eyes and the suspicious looks of the other family members, Ben’s mother remained calm. She realized she shouldn’t just simply blame and punish her son for lying. She came up with another idea.

Before going to bed, the boy found a note from his mother in his room, asking him to go to the study at once. The boy thought he would now be punished but, as he had already lied, he was determined to deny everything to the end, no matter how angry his mum became.

In the study, calmly bathed in the light, his mothers face showed no sign of anger. On seeing her son push open the door and cautiously enter, she took a chocolate box out of a drawer and gave him one.

The mother said, “This chocolate is a reward for your imagination: a window-opening cat!”

Now with some chocolates in hand, the boy’s bad attitude disappeared.

10 . Chen Xingrong, 16, was born with autism(自闭症). “We did not understand why such a thing would happen to us,” says Chen’s father Chen Xunhu. He quit his job at a computer company and devoted his full attention to helping his son. In 2012, Chen Xunhu learned that swimming could help people with autism improve their articulation (发音) and physical growth, so he spent months teaching his son to swim.

“The efforts made no difference in the first three months,” he recalls. To his surprise, after another three months, he discovered that his son had developed the ability to control his breath under water, which significantly boosted his confidence. “I used to plan all his exercises for him, but now it is all up to him,”says the father. “He decides how many exercises he wants to do, and we respect his choices.” In spite of all the hardships in life, Chen Xingrong managed to become an outstanding swimmer, thanks to constant training and the support of his parents. Last year, he won five medals, including a gold, at the 11th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the eighth National Special Olympic Games.

In 2010, an autism-themed film, titled Ocean Heaven, hit the big screen in China. It describes how a dying father attempts to teach his son the necessary life skills to live without him. “My wife and I watched the film in the theater,” he says. “We wept uncontrollably because we could resonate with the film’s characters.”

Since then, as well as swimming, helping his son learn basic life skills is also an important aim for the father. Thanks to his efforts, Chen Xingrong has learned to buy food in the market in their neighborhood He also does voluntary jobs at supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, such as arranging shelves and cleaning dining tables. “He is part of the community, and I hope he will live a normal life in the future. There is nothing that we want more than that,” says Chen Xunhu.