That summer I turned 18. I was wild with excitement because I just took my driving license and my parents bought me a new perfect car. I was reminded repeatedly by my parents to drive cautiously. Along with this new privilege (特权) came new responsibilities. I would practice the same routine-call my parents and tell them where I was going, whom I was with and when I would be home. It became a typical cycle.

I had been working all day in the hot sun.I was exhausted and ready for a nap. But my stomach told me something different. So I called my friend Mike and made our way into town. After our meal, we never knew our day would soon change for the worse.

It takes only a moment to turn your life upside down. I recalled later that I was driving fast. Actually too fast. I reached the conclusion two years later that the mistake would be with me for the rest of my life.

Mike and I were driving down a dusty gravel (沙砾) road. I was driving a shiny black Saturn,which was the car I had admired for long. I was overflowing with excitement and pride to be driving it.It was perfect in my eyes. I could see the rolling hills in the distance. Tall pine trees traveled on both sides of the road.The music playing loudly, we both were in high spirits. Somehow, without realizing it, I sped up.

Enjoying ourselves in my car,we came across a loose spot of gravel. My tires were stuck in it and desperate to escape. My car started fishtailing (摆尾行驶). Terrified,I pressed hard on the brakes and all of a sudden the car lost control. I froze, my body was stiff, great panic holding me entirely in its power. Looking into the right, I took a glimpse of Mike, whose body had leaned towards me. His face went pale but he was trying to balance himself. The car was rushing left to right, coasting (惯性滑行) along the gravel as if it were ice. It was only seconds later that my car crashed head on into a big pine tree.

7 . Peter, 60, loved his job as a bus driver. He had been one almost all his life, loving the little children who rode his bus daily. It made him feel much younger. His record was clean, without one accident, which made him a trustworthy driver.

However, Mr. Clark, Peter’s boss, was worried and thought that it was time for him to retire (退休). “You don’t have a choice here, Peter.” he said seriously. “We don’t want to invite any risk to the children.”

“But I have a perfect record,” reasoned Peter. “You know, for an elderly man like me, my job is the only thing that keeps me alive. I want to keep my job.”

“Would you take responsibility if something bad happened to those children?” Mr. Clark said.

Peter thought it over, and very reluctantly, he gave in to Mr. Clark’s request. Peter decided to retire a week later.

The day before his last day, Peter was dropping of the kids at his first stop when he looked out of the window and saw a lady who had passed out. He asked the kids not to leave the bus and got down to help the woman.

Just when he finished, he heard cries behind him. The children were looking out of the window and shouting. “Fire! Fire! Help!” “How could that have happened?” Peter was shaking in fear. With shaking hands, Peter dialed 911 and rushed to help the children. Covering himself with his jacket, Peter rushed into the burning car and took the children out one by one. Thankfully, the firefighters arrived soon and helped Peter, saving all students.

The next day, Peter found the whole school standing in front of his home. When Peter got close to them, Mr. Clark started clapping and everyone joined him. “You are a hero, Peter! You saved the lives of those young children.” he said. “You are the best driver. We hope you can keep the job!”

Cruz Genet, 11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn’t agree. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? There was only one way to find out. So    1    a chilly January evening last year, the two friends ventured onto the frozen pond near their homes in Frankfort, Illinois,     2    (get) a better look. First they cast a rock onto the ice to test it, Cruz told NBC5 Chicago, “Then we stepped on it.”     3    (convince) the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, then...FOOMP. He crashed through the seemingly frozen surface. “There was no sound, no crack,” he told ABC 7 Chicago. “I just fell through instantly. ”

Cruz rushed to help his    4    (panic) friend. FOOMP — the pond swallowed him too. Cruz managed to lift himself out of the frigid water and onto a more solid section. He then carefully worked his way toward Anthony. But the ice didn’t hold, and in he    5    (fall) again. This time, he couldn’t get out.

The boys were up to their necks in icy water and quickly losing feeling in their limbs. Any chance of their    6    (free) themselves was slipping away. Cruz was sure he was going to die. Anthony’s older sister had seen the boys fall through the ice and started screaming for help. John Lavin, a neighbour driving nearby on his way to the grocery store,     7    (hear) her. He quickly pulled over. Seeing the boys, he grabbed a nearby buoy,     8    (kick) off his shoes, and ran into the slushy water,     9    (chop) his way through the ice with his free fist.

Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and dragged them back to land. They were taken to the hospital, where doctors discovered that their five-minute stay in the water    10    (lower) their body temperature nearly ten degrees.

Fortunately, the boys have fully recovered, though they are still kind of awestruck by their fearless neighbour. “Just to think,” says Cruz, “if he wasn’t there, I could have died.”

10 . During the day, I heard something happened at the Twin Towers. But nobody seemed to really ____ what was going on. Not until school let out did I realize something might be ____. My dad usually ____ me up, but he wasn’t there. My dad was a firefighter. His ____ was less than a mile from the Twin Towers.

When I got home, my mum told me that the Twin Towers had been attacked, and that my dad had gone there to ____. I remember only bits and pieces, like my mum calling hospitals all over New York City, ____ to find my dad. Hopelessly, she told me that he was probably ____.

We didn’t learn exactly what had happened to him until much later. We ____ that he had sent a radio message at 9:56 am when he and hundreds of other ____firefighters were in the burning South Tower, saving as many people as possible. Just three minutes later, the tower ____.

Twenty years later, I still ____ my dad every day. He instilled (灌输) in me a ____ for my community, and his ____ encouraged me to volunteer.

Looking back, I don’t think only of the sad ____. I also remember the great acts of so many people, ____ my dad. I’m really proud to call him my hero.