1 . It was the first time I had noticed him properly. Before this, Jack had just been a friendly young man provided by the hotel to accompany me on trips to the wildlife park nearby. But then he caught my attention by asking me to shut up.

“It’s just a garden spider. Don’t cry!” he said, looking at the creature with more love than I could gather for most humans. I had indeed cried-I was in the front seat of a jeep and the spider was on my leg.

“I don’t care what it is. Make it go away!” I said. I wanted him to pick the thing up and throw it out of the jeep right at that moment. He did something quite else.

He pushed his leg towards mine and held out the cloth of his trousers to gently let the spider go onto his own leg. He then drove on, as if nothing had happened. The spider climbed a little bit and then just stopped on his knee. I sat there staring at the spider for any sudden movement.

I was frightened that the man was completely at ease with a spider dangerously quiet on his knee. About 15 minutes later, he pushed his knee forward to the dashboard and the spider immediately climbed off his knee and on to the jeep. “The poor thing had been trying to get off me,” he said. “I only noticed now that it was trying to reach the dashboard, so I helped it along.”

I wondered then about this man, who thought about the spider with such kindness... Where and when did I lose my empathy towards the unfamiliar? Now, when faced with a row of ants on the staircase, my first reaction is no longer to attack them. The ants were already wise, but thanks to Jack, I learnt to live with the not so beautiful bits of nature.

2 . Last year I went to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, and it blew my mind. It had been my dream to attend the famous carnival for many years, so I was excited. However ,the moment I arrived, I was a little bit nervous because there were so many people on the streets. They say that five or six million people come to Rio during carnival time and about two million of them are on the streets on any given day. Luckily, I had a local guide, my sister’s friend Ronnie. He said he would take care of me and show me around at the carnival. He did not let me down.

Well, the carnival is all about the samba. It’s a style of music and dance which has its origins in Africa. Lots of Africans were used as slave labor by the Portuguese when Brazil was being conquered, so this mixed culture of African, Latin and European styles is really strong here.   Samba music is usually fast and exciting with a lot of drums and harmonic vocals(和声).It’s the kind of music that you couldn’t help dancing to. And I was learning that as I followed Ronnie through the crowd, I couldn’t help moving my hips and shoulders.

Ronnie had got us tickets for the samba parade inside the Sambadrome where the top samba schools compete for the championship, but we still had a long way to go through the street parties. He said most people enjoy the carnival by making their own parties in the street. About the samba parade, twelve main teams compete for the championship, and if they win, their performance will be talked about for years to come.

So, you must be wondering how it was. Well, I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Ronnie and I never made into the Sambadrome.   We spent the day moving from one street party to another. There were more snacks, more drinks and lots of dancing. Do I regret missing the main parade? Not at all. I experienced the carnival like the locals, and it was truly amazing.

3 . The first day of school we were challenged to get to know a new classmate.I_______around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.I found a little _______lady with a warm smile.

She said，“Hi! I’m Rose.I’m 87 years old.Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and heartily_______，“Of course!”“Why are you in college at such a young，innocent age?”I asked.She_______replied，“I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have children，and then travel around.”“No，_______，”I asked.I was curious why she _______this challenge at this age.“I always _______having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.We became instant friends.

_______，Rose became a campus icon(偶像)and she easily made friends wherever she went.She loved to dress up and she enjoyed the_______from the other students.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet.I’ll never forget what she________us.“We do not stop playing because we are old;we grow old________we stop playing.Here are the secrets to staying ________.You have to laugh and find ________every day.You’ve got to have a dream.When you lose your dreams，you die.________ we have many people like this walking around!”she said.“There is a huge ________ between growing older and growing up.Anybody can grow older.That doesn’t ________ any talent or ability，”she added.“But growing up requires ________ the opportunity in change，having no   ________.The elderly usually don’t regret what they did, but regret things they did not do.”

One week after graduation that year，Rose died peacefully in her sleep.She taught us ________   that it’s never too ________ to be all you can possibly be.

4 . My parents and I never really saw eye to eye on anything. When I was young it was just the ________ stuff — the length of my skirt or the movies I wanted to watch. ________ , as I got older, I found that there was a lot more that we didn’t ________ — my choice of friends or what I wanted to study at university.

I went to university in another city at 17. ________ home has totally broadened my outlook (看法) on the world and has changed my opinions on lots of ________ . I’ve encountered many amazing people with different experiences. My circle of friends includes people with ________ beliefs, values, cultures and different ways of approaching life. But the great thing is that we respect each other’s ________. I’ve learnt to question what I’ve been taught and not always agree just because that is what “everybody else” ________ .

When I went home to visit my parents the first couple of times, I found it really hard to ________ . I found it hard to deal with not being able to ________ my opinions as freely as I did when I was away from home. It was really upsetting. I used to get angry that my parents weren’t in ________ of my opinions. Now, I gradually realize that ________ I want my parents to respect what I say, I have to ________ their views. While it is ________ , once I make an effort to respect their values, it is not a ________ to get along with my parents.

Adam lived with his parents in one city while his grandparents lived far away in another city. Adam’s parents usually took their son to his grandparents’ house during summer holiday every year and stayed there for around 20 days. Adam’s grandfather loved him very much and spent a lot of time playing with him. His grandmother always cooked delicious food for him. Adam loved his stay there. This continued for years. The boy grew up over time.

One day Adam said to his parents, “Now, I am old enough to go to grandparents’ house alone. So, please let me go by myself.”

His parents didn’t agree at first but Adam insisted(坚持). They finally agreed. But they were worried about his safety. So, they taught him everything he needed to know to travel alone.

The day came when Adam was to leave for his grandparents’ house. And his parents came to see him off at the train station. When the boy was comfortably seated on the train, his parents got off and waited for the train to leave.

While waiting, the father went to the window and kept talking to his son. He handed his son an envelope(信封) from the window and said, “Son, if you feel afraid on the way, open this and read it. It will help you to calm down.”

The boy kept that envelope in his pocket carefully and said goodbye to his parents. When the train was ready to leave, the boy smiled and told his father, “I remember everything. Don’t worry.”

At every station where the train stopped, people kept coming and going. The boy started feeling a little lonely.

At one station, a big man with cuts on his face got on the train.

Then he remembered his father’s letter.

7 . When I was a boy, I spent much time playing alone. I didn’t ______ it too much, though. I lived outside town, next to a forest where oaks (橡树) were my ______. I would sit in their shade and enjoy their peace.

Therefore it was so ______ for me when I was in employment in a ______ processing factory. It wasn’t just the ______ work, long hours, and low pay. It was also seeing trees being cut. The red oak trees were ______ influenced because they made the prettiest hardwood flooring.

One afternoon after a long day’s work, I decided to take a walk in the ______. As I wandered, I was filled with ______ for childhood days. Feeling so down, I dropped my head and that was when I ______ it: a red oak acorn (橡子) that had somehow ______ hungry animals all winter long. Something I’d read once ______ me at that moment — “An acorn ______ a forest eventually if it wants!” I smiled, bent down, dug up a handful of dirt and carefully ______ that little acorn. Then I headed home, no longer ______, for I also realized in our life we all ______ as an acorn, but whether our future is a forest or not is up to us.

8 . I live in New York city and my neighbours are people I don’t know. My city, neighborhood and block are filled with people who don’t know me, don’t care to know me, and don’t talk to me. I find that it’s pretty hard to love people you don’t even know. And sometimes, we all, myself included, use that as an excuse not to try. I read Brendan’s story recently and was moved.

One day, Brendan, a young man in New York was on the way back to his Brooklyn apartment when a homeless woman called Jackie asked him for money. He said that he had no money. By the end of the week, she asked two more times, and each time he answered “No”. The woman looked sad, so Brendan said, “I am on my way to a job interview. If I get the job, I’ll take you out for lunch.”

Brendan got the job. He took Jackie out for lunch. That was when their friendship began. They built a strong friendship by supporting each other and spending their birthdays, holidays and difficult times together, over a period of eight years. When Brendan’s heater broke, Jackie made a blanket for him. Two days later when he told her that he had lost his job, she left and returned minutes later, bring him food to eat. She continued to do that during the whole winter. Even with so little, she often gave back.

Over these years, Jackie moved from the streets and subway stations into a halfway house, and is now moving into an apartment. To celebrate it, Brendan wanted to do something special for Jackie. He went with her and helped her to pick out everything she would need for her new apartment.

May Brendan’s story encourage us to find a new way to honour, serve and love the people around us.

9 . “Dad,” I sai one day, “Let’s take a trip. Why don’t you fly out and meet me?”

My father had just retired after 27 years as a manager for IBM. His job filled his day, his thought and his life. While he woke up and took a warm shower, I screamed under a freezing waterfall in Peru. While he tied a tie and put on the same Swiss watch, I rowed a boat across Lake of the Ozarks.

My father saw me drifting aimlessly, nothing to show for my 33 years but a passport full of funny stamps. He wanted me to settle down, but now I want him to find an adventure.

He agreed to travel with me through some national parks. We met four weeks later in Rapid City.

“What is our first stop?” asked my father.

“What time is it?”

“Still don’t have a watch?”

Less than an hour away was Mount Rushmore. As he stared up at the four Presidents carved in rocks, his mouth and eyes opened slowly, like those of a little boy. “Unbelievable,” he said, “how was this done?”

Sculptor Gutzon devoted 14 years to this sculpture and then left the final touches to his son. We stared up and I asked myself, “Would I ever devote my life to anything?”No directions, no goals. I always used to hear those words in my father’s voice. Now I hear them in my own.

The next day we were at Yellowstone National Park, where we had a picnic. “Did you ever travel with your dad?” I asked. “Only once” he said. “I never spoke much to my father. We loved each other-but never said it. Whatever he could give me, he gave.”

The last sentence—it’s probably the same thing I’d say about my father—is what I would want my child to say about me.

In Glacier National Park, my father said, “I have never seen water so blue.” I have, in several places of the world. I can keep traveling, I realize- and maybe a regular job won’t be as dull as I feared.

Weeks after our trip, I called my father. “The photos from the trip are wonderful,” he said. “We have got to take another trip like that sometime.” I told him I had decided to settle down, and I’m wearing a watch.

10 . Every year I write a letter to my daughter on her birthday. I fill it with ________ things that happened to her on unpleasant days or happy days. I add to the letter photos and report cards that would have ________ as the year passed.

I have a small ________ in which I keep the things that I want to send my daughter. Every week, I ________ short notes of what I can think of from the week’s events. When her birthday approaches, I ________ that box and find it full of beautiful cards and ________ memories.

________ the letter is written and all the treasures are put into the envelope, I seal (密封) it. It then becomes that year’s ________ letter. On the envelope I always write: A letter to Ann from Daddy – to be opened when you’re twenty-one years old. It is a gift of ________ from Dad to her daughter. It is a lasting ________ of her life written as she was actually living it.

That tradition of ________ her birthday letters is now one of my duties. As Ann grows ________, I can see that it is a growing and ________ part of her life, too. One day, we were talking about life in the ________. It went like this: I jokingly told Ann that on her 61st birthday, she will be ________ with her grandchildren and having fun with them; on her 31st birthday, she will be taking her own kids to school; on her 21st birthday, she will be ________ university and will be offered a good job soon. “No,” she said, “I will be too busy ________.”

One of my greatest ________ is to be alive and present to ________ that wonderful time in the future when those letters are ________ and the accumulated (积累) love walks into her life.