1 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.

On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.

Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.

Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.

Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?

2 . High school graduations are one of the most important moments in a teenager’s life. However, heading into the ______ on June 6th, David was stopped at the door by a gatekeeper. So you can imagine how ______ David was. Although his sneakers were not extremely unacceptable, David learned they were in ______ of the school’s dress code and he was ______ entry.

David was about to ______ his chance to walk across the stage with his classmate when he caught sight of a ______ face. Butler, a famous local educator, came to the graduation as a parent. Learning David’s unpleasant situation, he ______ the young man back to the entry to see if he could ______ the gatekeeper’s mind.

“I was hoping that she would let it go, but she ______ not letting this young man in, and I didn’t have time to ______ with her,” Butler said. “I wasn’t going to let him miss the most ______ moment in his life for anything.” Without missing a beat, Butler simply changed his ______ with David. Just as the ______ closed, David made it inside the hall. Eventually he ______ David from ruining his graduation day.

Although firstly ______ by the last-minute substitution, Butler’s family were thrilled that his quick thinking turned a very ______ situation into a joyful celebration. “I wasn’t ______ because Mr. Butler is always helpful,” a ______ parent of David’s said.

It’s said that a truly generous man will give the shirt off his back to someone ______. Now it seems, the saying also ______ to the shoes off his feet.

5 . The sky began to show red in the early morning as we drove across the Minnesota state line to New York for my new PhD program. The move was good for me professionally, but I worried about my husband and daughters. I also feared that I wouldn’t be able to give my kids the childhood they deserved.

Anne, our first daughter, came into the world when I was a junior majoring in biology in college. It was challenging to balance classes, work schedules, and being a mom. But I got through it, finding moments of joy along the way. On the nights when I was home, I’d read my class notes out loud with my daughter. She’d respond by asking questions, such as “Mom, what are bacteria (细菌)?” It helped us both learn.

After I graduated, I knew that I would need a PhD to land the kind of job I wanted. I arrived in New York feeling more than the usual new-graduate-student anxiety. I also suffered from a more personal fear that I was being selfish—that my decision to invigorate my career was going to have long- term bad impacts on my kids. So, I made a rule to never be visibly upset about my work in front of my children.

Over the past year, though, I’ve started to let go of some of this worry. I’ve realized that we have not only adapted to our new situation, but things are getting better. My husband landed a job that he is happy with. Anne dreams of becoming a biologist. Recently, while driving past the cancer institute I work at, Anne said, “Thinking about people having cancer is so sad, but I feel better knowing that you are researching it to help.”

Pursuing academic career as a young mother is hard, but it’s also rewarding. My kids are learning to look at the world through science, and watching their mom succeed inspires them. I look forward to seeing them follow my footsteps, whatever path they choose.

6 . One day recently, Laurie Fenby was shopping at a garage sale in Rochester New York and as she was leaving, she found a wallet on the ground.

Laurie looked inside and found a Jamaican (牙买加人的) driver’s license, some American cash and some Jamaican cash. She tried all the usual ways to find the man, whose name was George. She couldn’t find him through Google or Facebook and then she asked for suggestions through Next door, a community website. Laurie received a lot of ideas and responses-some of them were not so positive. But one lady advised her to contact a little store that is known to have many Jamaican migrant workers as clients. Laurie called the store and found that yes, indeed, there was someone named George who lost his wallet.

Laurie suggested that the store owner contact George and have him call her. When George contacted her, he was able to identify everything in the wallet and Laurie was able to return it. But it didn’t stop there. Laurie asked George, “What do you and the migrant workers need?” He said they need some warm clothes. Laurie immediately contacted the community and was able to organize a clothing drive. She received lots of coats, jackets, shoes and other supplies. Recently Laurie met George and the other migrant workers in Rochester, and she joined them to pick apples together.

They were so thankful to Laurie and her friends — and none of this community building or friendship would have happened if Laurie had not been so kind.

Marmi, my big sister, was eagerly looking for a pup (小狗) to look after and love all her life, so she would ask Mummy many times for a pup of her own, but the answer was always no. You see, my mum is not very fond of dogs, never has been, and always says they're too big a responsibility. She's just not a dog person. Well, that didn't stop my sister from looking or hoping for a dog. She used to search online for her favourite breed (品种). Until one day Marni found some Cavapoo pups advertised for sale. She immediately showed Mummy and begged to go and see them. Not sure how my sister persuaded her, but to our surprise, Mummy said we could go and have a look at them but not to get high hopes. Marni rushed everyone in the car before Mummy changed her mind. Off we sped to the advertised breeder's house which luckily wasn't too far. We got to the house and I bet I could hear my sister's heart dancing with excitement. As we rang the doorbell, we could hear cute little barks coming from inside. We went in and saw lots of little black pups excitedly jumping around. There were other people there too, so we needed to choose one fast if you know what I mean. It was rather crowded but the breeder let us hold and cuddle (搂抱) the pups. The breeder handed a little confident pup to Marni. The little pup seemed an old friend with my sister. But after a lot of cuddles, Mummy said we had to go and would have to think about it.

As we were walking towards the door, the little pup followed my sister.

The little pup made a mess (杂乱) of our home.

8 . In 2017, I was diagnosed (诊断) with Type 1 diabetes (糖尿病). And then I was told that I couldn’t drive for a few weeks until my blood sugar levels had________.

Driving was a________very soon after diagnosis for me. I needed to get to the chemist’s shop for my diabetes medicine and get to hospital appointments, but at first couldn’t, for having been told not to drive. I didn’t want to be a________, having to ask for lifts all the time.

I found it really________to be unable to drive, but things settled down after that and seemed to be________for a while. ________, to my surprise, I had severe hypoglycemia (低血糖) last year and wasn’t able to________it myself. I called an ambulance and was taken to________, where I saw doctors and nurses I didn’t know as none of them were connected to the diabetes team who usually cared for me. That’s where my________began. They advised me not to drive on the basis of this disease. They told me to call the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) and________what they’d told me to them. This led to my licence being canceled.

I couldn’t________all that had happened. It seemed________. I needed answers and________, so I phoned the Diabetes UK Helpline number I got from their website. They________I was right in thinking that the DVLA shouldn’t have________my licence based on this hypoglycemia, according to the law. With their help, the DVLA sent me a letter admitting making a mistake. I got it back in six weeks.

Mark Twain, like you know, was famous in his days as the public speaker. He always liked to play joke on his friends. One day, the one of his friends lost their wallet and asked him to buy a train ticket for him. “But I don’t have enough money to pay both your ticket and mine,” Mark Twain said. The friend didn’t know what to do. “Let’s do this,” Mark Twain saying, “You can get off the train and when the conductor comes to check the ticket you can hide under my seat.” Later, however, when the conductor comes to check the ticket, Mark Twain gave him two tickets— one for him and the other for his friend.