My husband was looking     1    our two daughters. They started crying when my husband cooked lunch. He ran into the room and     2    (see) a small scorpion(蝎子), so my husband picked it up. The older girl said, “Girls can’t deal with it.” My husband told her, “You never have to be afraid of something only because you’re a girl. You are as smart and strong as any boy.” He held the scorpion’s tail with his     3    (finger). The girl asked to hold it. So my husband put it on her hands while he held the tail. She was so proud of     4    (she) that she talked about it until she went to sleep.

Five-year-old Naomi lost her teddy bear on a hiking path     1     the autumn of 2020. Teddy was the first gift Naomi’s parents gave to her. Despite     2    (constant) checking with the lost and found, her family didn’t get the bear back. Fortunately, Ranger (护林员) Tom,     3     monitors actual bear activity, came across the teddy bear. He kept it and rode with it until a friend of the family spotted the bear and helped send it back home nearly a year later.

5 . James shook his money box again. Nothing!   He carefully _____ the coins that lay on the bed, $24. 52 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90!

He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was _____ to hang out with people when you were the only one without a bicycle. He thought about what he could do. There was no _____ asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to _____.

There was only one way to get money, and that was to _____ it. He would have to find a job. But who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr Clay for advice, who usually had _____ on most things.  

“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing. ”

That was the _____ of James’ business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the _____ of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, and cleared out cupboards. He lost count of the number of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the _____ increased and he knew that he would soon have ______ for the bicycle he longed for.  

The day ______ came when James counted his money and found $94. 32. He ______ no time and went to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode ______ home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard ______ for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle more since he had bought it with his own money. He had ______ what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle.

8 . Alice Moore is a teenager entrepreneur(创业者), who in May 2015 set up her business AilieCandy. By the time she was 13, her company was worth millions of dollars with the invention of a super-sweet treat that could save kids’ teeth, instead of destroying them.

It all began when Moore visited a bank with her dad. On the outing, she was offered a candy bar. However, her dad reminded her that sugary treats were bad for her teeth. But Moore was sick of missing out on candies. So she desired to get round the warning, “Why can’t I make a healthy candy that’s good for my teeth so that my parents can’t say no to it?” With that in mind, Moore asked her dad if she could start her own candy company. He recommended that she do some research and talk to dentists about what a healthier candy would contain.

With her dad’s permission, she spent the next two years researching online and conducting trials to get a recipe that was both tasty and tooth-friendly. She also approached dentists to learn more about teeth cleaning. Consequently, she succeeded in making a kind of candy only using natural sweeteners, which can reduce oral bacteria.

Moore then used her savings to get her business off the ground. Afterwards, she and her father secured their first business meeting with a supermarket owner, who finally agreed to sell Moore’s product—CanCandy.

As CanCandy’s success grows, so does Moore’s credibility as a young entrepreneur. Moore is enthusiastic about the candy she created, and she’s also positive about what the future might bring. She hopes that every kid can have a clean mouth and a broad smile.

Meanwhile, with her parents’ help, Moore is generally able to live a normal teenage life. Although she founded her company early on in life, she wasn’t driven primarily by profit. Moore wants to use her unique talent to help others find their smiles. She donates 10% of AilicCandy’s profits to Big Smiles. With her talent and determination, it appears that the sky could be the limit for Alice Moore.

9 . My First Marathon（马拉松）

A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was ＂not athletic＂.

The idea that I was ＂not athletic＂ stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!

At mile 3, I passed a sign: ＂GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!＂

By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

By mile 21, I was starving!

As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a ＂marathon winner＂.

10 . It was a cold March day in High Point, North Carolina. The girls on the Wesleyan Academy softball team were waiting for their next turns at bat during practice, stamping their feet to stay warm. Eighth-grader Taylor Bisbee shivered (发抖) a little as she watched her teammate Paris White play. The two didn’t know each other well — Taylor had just moved to town a month or so before.

Suddenly, Paris fell to the ground. “Pairs’s eyes rolled back,” Taylor says. “She started shaking. I knew it was an emergency.”

It certainly was. Paris had suffered a sudden heart failure. Without immediate medical care, Paris would die. At first, no one moved. The girls were in shock. Then the softball coach shouted out, “Does anyone know CPR?”

CPR is a life-saving technique. To do CPR, you press on the sick person’s chest so that blood moves through the body and takes oxygen to organs. Without oxygen，the brain is damaged quickly.

Amazingly, Taylor had just taken a CPR course the day before. Still, she hesitated. She didn’t think she knew it well enough. But when no one else came forward, Taylor ran to Paris and began doing CPR. “It was scary. I knew it was the difference between life and death,” says Taylor.

Taylor’s swift action helped her teammates calm down. One girl called 911. Two more ran to get the school nurse, who brought a defibrillator, an electronic device (器械) that can shock the heart back into work. Luck stayed with them: Paris’s heartbeat returned.

“I know I was really lucky,” Paris says now. “Most people don’t survive this. My team saved my life.”

Experts say Paris is right: For a sudden heart failure, the single best chance for survival is having someone nearby step in and do CPR quickly.

Today, Paris is back on the softball team. Taylor will apply to college soon. She wants to be a nurse. “I feel more confident in my actions now,” Taylor says. “I know I can act under pressure in a scary situation.”