1 . It was about the third week in June last year. My 15-year-old son had already settled into his summer routine: Go to _______ at 2 am and wake up at 1 pm only to get back on his computer to play computer games until dinner.

It was the middle of the _______ when the sound of his computer games woke me up again. I couldn’t _______ that any more and decided it was time for him to get a summer job. I got on the computer and found a lifeguard certification (证书，执照) class that _______ the next day, and a company that _______ teenagers to guard their pools.

From that day I woke him up at 8 am every day for him to _______ the class. At first, he continued to complain that I was _______ his summer. But by the end of the week, he was actually looking forward to going. He learned something about first aid, figured he really could save someone from drowning, and got some ideas on how to actually work for a living.

Two weeks later, he had a _______ as a lifeguard. He took his responsibility very _______ and never went to work late. He said a lot of his ________ didn’t have jobs. And I told him that was because their mothers didn’t try ________ enough!

Even if your kid is ________ with finals and after school activities and doesn’t have time, you can ________ job information for him. Whether it is an ice cream store, a movie theatre, or a summer camp, you can ask if they hire ________ for the summer. After your kid gets a job, pay attention to the ________ to make sure he is never late.

3 . Tonight, our family was going out to play under the full moon.

My husband Todd and I first started going on full moon walks for ourselves, as we needed these little doses of moonlight to stay happy, though sometimes we had to hike through the forest to find a perfect spot. But after we became parents, we did this for our children. We wanted to show Sierra and Bryce that it was not necessary to travel far from home to have an adventure and learn something new, and that there was much magic in the natural world, available to all.

Once we arrived at our location, Sierra and I stood holding hands, waiting to cheer the full moon in its rising—a thin sliver of the appealing moon emerged above the ridge of the mountain afar. Soon, more of the moon came out until it turned into a brilliant orange sphere. Todd explained to Sierra and Bryce that the moon generates no light, but simply acts like a mirror, reflecting the sunlight back to us. “Does the moon’s face change?” Bryce asked. I told him that the moon rotates (旋转) around the earth, but does not spin by itself, so the same side of the moon is always facing the earth. Sierra remarked that the moon looked larger and closer when it was rising. I explained that it is a visual illusion (错觉) because it is so close to the horizon that the moon magically tricks our eyes into comparing it with nearby objects, thus creating the impression of the increased size.

Much of the knowledge that I shared with the kids was learned from my parents. During my childhood, they would take me on educational adventures out in the woods, and as I later found, so did their parents. So every time I go for a full moon walk with my beloved family, I thank those wise educators who came before me.

To educate, sometimes all it takes is going outdoors and gazing up at the heavens.

It was a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon some fifteen or sixteen years ago. I had volunteered to take my two older kids to the local playground while my wife put the youngest down for a nap. As soon as we got there my daughter headed for the swings and asked for a push. As I was helping my daughter to go higher and higher, I noticed another girl who was about 8 years old, trying in vain to get her own swing going. Her elderly grandmother was sitting quietly on a nearby bench and smiled at me.

I gave my daughter one big push and then walked over to the little girl and asked if she could use a push too. She smiled and said “Yes!” I soon had her feet soaring towards the clouds while she laughed happily. For the next two hours I found myself pushing swings and playing tag with my son, daughter, and the other little girl. By the time we headed home, I was physically exhausted, but my spirits was still flying higher than those swings.

One day, I was exhausted again after a long day’s work. Still, I needed to pick up my kids from the local grade school before heading home. I stood wearily in the parents’ waiting area watching for my children. Suddenly, I felt two tiny arms wrap around my stomach. I looked down and there was the little girl from the playground smiling up at me. She gave me one more big hug before heading off to catch her school bus. As I watched her back, I didn’t feel quite so tired anymore and my spirits were once again soaring in the Heavens.

10 years later, something terrible happened to me.

I was so excited to hear that.

7 . I was never very neat. Yet, when I arrived at college, my roommate didn’t seem to appreciate my ________.

I am not sure why they stuck us together. Kim was ________ all the time. She ________ everything and each item she owned had its place. We were always having a hard time with each other. She would be mad at my dirty clothes and I would ________ about the headaches from washing powder. She would push my clothing over to one side and I would lay one of my books on her ________ desk.

However, it all came to an end one late evening and I didn’t even know why we had both returned to each other’s________. When the phone rang, she picked it up and I could tell from her end of the conversation that her father was ________ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled under her covers (被子) and I could hear her quiet ________. Though I didn’t mean for it to happen, I could feel the warm feelings of ________ rising up in my heart. It was something that no girl should ________ alone. What to do? I smiled as I got the idea.

Slowly, I began to clear up my side of the room. I took back the ________ I had set on her desk. I got so ________ in my work that I didn’t even notice Kim had come out from under the covers. She was watching my every move, with dried tears and expression of disbelief. When I was finally done, I went and sat at the end of her bed. Her hand was warm as it ________ over to grasp mine. I looked up into Kim’s eyes and she smiled at me.

________, Kim and I stayed roommates for the rest of that year and we became closer. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we learned the ________ to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

Two Golden Hearts

Meg and her eight-year-old daughter, Haley, were on their way home from school, and it had just stopped raining. “What’s that squeaky(吱吱作响的) noise?“ Meg asked. She looked down at the girl’s shoes and noticed her shoes had been tor open. Water on the road had leaked into Haley’s damaged shoes, making the squeaky noise.

Meg immediately took her daughter to a shoe store to buy her a new pair of shoes. She had some money for groceries but thought getting Haley a new pair of shoes was more important. “How about these?” asked Haley, who was checking shoes in the section only for boys.

Meg frowned and approached her daughter.

“Mama, I want these sneakers(运动鞋).Buddy needs them badly.”

Meg was surprised. Not only did she not have money to afford two pairs of shoes, but she wondered why Haley was too interested in getting her classmate Buddy a new pair. “Why do you want to do that?” asked Meg. Haley’s tone became serious. “Buddy is from a very poor family, mama. Poorer than us. His shoes are tom. Everybody laughs at him. Please, can we buy these shoes for him? You can buy mine later.”

Meg thought for a while and decided it would be best if she bought her daughter shoes for now. “You will fall sick if you keep wearing your wet, tom shoes. I’m sorry, honey, but I really can’t afford two pairs.”

Haley sighed (叹气) heavily but agreed.

As Meg and Haley left, Bob, the shoe store owner who knew Meg well, walked to the entrance and sighed. He had overheard everything and knew what it was like to live in poverty. He wanted to help Haley complete her mission of helping Buddy but didn’t know how. Moreover, the sneakers Haley wanted to get for Buddy was a limited-edition collection. They were pretty expensive, and he could not just give them away for free.

Suddenly, Bob remembered the store’s basement where unsold shoes were stored.

The next morning, Haley was surprised to find a shoe box on the doorstep.