Wings of Angel
I used to hate myself because I wasn't "normal". Everyone else could play on the monkey bars and ride on a bicycle, but not 36 . I had a severe spinal cord disorder(脊髓病) and I knew I would always be much 37 than others. I hated going to school and I hated  others  38  at me. I hated seeing others smiling broadly and standing 39 and tall. And most of all, I hated looking in the 40 and seeing an ugly  hunchback(驼背).
My friends found me 41 because I didn't let other get close to me. I thought I was going to go on like this for the rest of my life 42 Angela appeared.
That afternoon, I was sitting by myself in a corner of the school—a spot where no one would 43 me. That's when I first heard your voice. "Hi. Can I sit down?"
I raised my head and there she was, with an irresistible smile on her round face. "What are you looking at?" you asked. "Ants." "What are they doing?" "No 44 ." "I bet they're playing games and make friends. Don't you think so?" That was how our 45 started and it didn't stop. We talked about everything under the sun—the ants, the clouds, my little niche(处境)—until it was sunset. Then suddenly, you saw my 46 . She just stared. My heart 47 . What I feared most had happened and I knew for sure she would 48 me now. She stood up, pointed at my back and said, "I know 49  your back is hunched." I closed my eyes like a criminal waiting to be 50 . I begged in my heart for her to 51 , but she just kept on going. "I know what you've got there. Do you?" "No," I answered 52 . She bent and whispered in my ears. "Your back is bunched because you've got a pair of wings from the angels."I was 53 . I looked into her eyes and her 54 touched my heart. From that day on, I started to learn to 55 myself because I have the wings of an angel and a kind_hearted friend.

The Price of a Dream
I grew up poor, living with my wonderful mother. We had little money but plenty of love and attention.  I was   36  and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still   37  a dream.
My dream was to be a sportsman.   38  I was sixteen, I had started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and hit anything that moved on the football field.  I was also   39 . My high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me  40 to believe in myself. He   41 me the difference between having a dream and realizing the dream. One particular   42  with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.
It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend recommended (推荐) me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—money for a new bike and new clothes, and the   43  of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to   44  summer baseball to deal with the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. 
When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as   45  as I expected him to be.  “You have your whole life to work,” he said.  “Your playing days are limited. You can’t   46  to waste them.” I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the   47  that would explain   48  him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his   49  in me.
“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” he asked. “Three twenty-five an hour,” I replied.
“Well,” he asked, “is $3.25 an hour the   50  of a dream?”
That simple question made it   51  to me the difference between   52  something right now and following a dream. I   53  myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was   54  by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was   55  a $20,000 contract. In 2000, I bought my mother the house of my dream!

In 1957, Jane Goodall first met the famous anthropologist (人类学者) Dr Louis Leakey, who later played an important role in her life. With the  32  of gaining insight into humans’ evolutionary (进化的) past, Dr Leakey  33  a pioneering long-term field study on  34  chimps. Even though Jane had no formal  35 , her patience and determination to understand animals  36 him to choose her for the study.  37  it was unusual for a woman to work in the forest of Africa, going there 38 the fulfillment (实现) of her childhood dream. In the summer of 1960 she  39  in Tanzania(坦桑尼亚) on Lake Tanganyika’s eastern shore. This marked the  40  of the longest continuous field study of animals in their  41  habitat(栖息地). Five years  42 , she earned a doctor’s degree at Cambridge University and then  43  to Tanzania to found the Gombe Stream Research Center. And in 1977, to provide on-going  44  for chimp research, Dr Goodall  45  The Jane Goodall Institute.
Today, she  46  most of her time traveling around the world, giving lectures on her  47  at Gombe and speaking to school groups about Roots &Shoots, her environmental education and humanitarian program for the  48 .
“Chimps have given me so  49 . The long hours spent with them in the  50  have enriched my life beyond measure. What I have learned from them has shaped my 51  of human behavior, of our place in nature.”

Around 5:30 p.m., I was on the bus one day and everybody on the bus was quiet. People had just  36 from work, students had just finished their 37 class and everybody was a little  38  from a long day. It wasn't a particularly good day for me as I was feeling quite tired too. I was just looking outside of the 39 without any specific thought in my mind. It was the same 40  I had seen many times before, people hurrying home.
In front of me, there was a man sitting in the seat who didn't look too clean. 41  he was looking out of the window, the man suddenly 42 to me and pointed at something outside. "Hey, look." He had a big smile on his face. I turned to the  43  he was pointing to and there it was ---- the beautiful Catalina mountains burning with a beautiful  44 . The mountains were coated with bright pink light and shadows. He turned to other people on the bus and told them to look at the mountains. He  45   
" Wow" and " It's so beautiful" again and again. Everybody on the bus  46  the views indeed.
The  47 view also helped me to 48  my long tiring day with a good feeling in my heart. But, more 49  , I was so inspired (鼓舞）to see that this man wanted to 50  the beautiful view with everybody on the bus, total strangers. His 51 act made me accidentally find something that I had lost which I didn't even know I had lost. He made me  52 that I had lost the feelings and the excitement I  53 have everyday. In my daily life, many things had  54  their color and movement. But he 55 me that things are still there ---- they never get lost.

Bill White’s father is a lawyer. In his   56 time, he likes to get out in the country and take some 57 of animals.
For a long time, Bill had wanted to go with his father on one of his 58 . But his father didn’t take Bill along with him 59  he was fifteen.
He and Bill drove to the farm which 60 to his uncle in the afternoon. They        61 the night there, so that they could 62 out early the next morning. Uncle Steve and his son Larry, who was sixteen, were going to go out with them.
It was still dark when Bill heard the alarm 63 the next morning. He wondered why it was running so early. He couldn’t remember 64  he was. He turned over   __65__and looked at the clock. It was 5 o’clock. Then he 66  that he was at the     67 and that he was going out to take pictures with his father. He jumped out of bed and got 68 quickly.
He ran downstairs. The others were already in the   69   ,where Uncle Steve was cooking bacon and eggs. There was a pot of coffee on the stove. It   70  good.
They ate breakfast quickly. They didn’t talk 71  , because they didn’t want to   __72__ up the other people in the house. They filled a thermos bottle(热水瓶)        73 hot coffee and took some sandwiches 74 Aunt Grace, Uncle Steve’s wife, had made for them. They gathered their camera   75  and started out.

My First Trip in the United States
I still remember my first day in the U. S. very clearly. My friend was waiting for me when my plane   36  at Kennedy Airport at three o’clock in the afternoon. The weather was very  37 and it was snowing, but I was too excited to   38  . From the airport, my friend and I took a taxi to my    39   .On the way, I saw the skyline of Manhattan for the   40  time and I looked in surprise at the famous skyscrapers（摩天大楼） and their man-made   41  .  42   me unpack at the hotel, my friend left and promised to return the next day.
  43  my friend had left, I went to a   44   near the hotel to get something   45    . Since I couldn’t speak a single word of English, I couldn’t tell the    46   what I wanted. I was very worried and started to make some   47   ,but he didn’t understand me. Finally, I ordered the    48  thing as the man at the next table was   49   . After dinner, I started to walk along Broadway   50   I came to Times Square with its theatres, neon lights, and crowds of people. I did not feel tired, so I   51  to walk around the city. I wanted to see   52  on my first day, although I knew it was impossible.
When I returned to the hotel, I couldn’t fall asleep, lay    53  and thought about New York. It was a very big and amazing city with many high-rise buildings and streams of cars, and full of   54  and busy people. I also decided right then that I had to learn to    55  .

Roberta appeared on the stage. She took a deep breath and began to   36 .  Now she was Portia, a strong–willed   37   in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The theater was filled with people. She was speaking with a power she had never before experienced, the words flowing   38   form her.
  39 , Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition (选拔试演). She   40  being in front of other people. She was very   41   at school. She had never thought she was good enough at anything to   42   much attention. She stayed mostly to herself, making   43  friends. She had excellent grades,   44   she always thought that something was missing.
Two weeks before the audition, Roberta’s mother had heard about it and   45   her to join in.
“I can’t think of anyone else better suited to   46   the part. Remember all the plays you used to act out for us?”
Her mother wouldn’t let the   47   drop. “You’re just a little scared (害怕) .Everyone gets scared. You know you   48   do it. The trick is to look past the   49   to find the love of what you’re doing.’’
So Roberta had made an appointment (预约) with the head of the Drama Club. She had read the play and found herself excited by the   50   of speaking such rich words. In secret she practiced Portia’s part,   51   the lines by repeating them over and over. It wasn’t hard; she   52   every minute of it. Every time she spoke the words, she had a new    53   of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels.
On the day of the audition, she   54   two of  Portia’s famous speeches for the auditors. When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the   55   was hers.  

I shall never forget the day when the earthquake took place. It was about 5 o’clock in the afternoon and I was   26  to my daughter’s school. Our plan was to go   27 together. I’d stopped at a   28  to get some fresh fruit. We like to have some fruit to eat   29  our swim. I was driving along a high road on the way.  30  my road was another road which was built like a   31 . I was hungry so I put the bag of apples   32  me and started to eat one.  33  I saw the cars in front of me start to   34  from side to side. Then my car started to shake! I didn’t know what was happening. Perhaps something had   35  wrong with my car. I drove a little more slowly and then I   36  the car and at the same moment the road   37  onto the cars in front of me. I found myself in the __38 . I couldn’t move. My legs and feet were hurting badly and I couldn’t move them. All round me was   39 But above me I could hear shouts and a lot of noise. Then I memorized what had happened. I had been   40  an earthquake. For about two hours nobody came. Luckily I could reach the bag of   41 , so at least I had plenty to eat. Then I heard people   42  towards me. A team of people had come to   43  if anyone was under the   44  road. I called out, “I’m here!” I heard a shout. Soon a stranger climbed to my car. “How are you   45 ?”He asked. “Not too bad,”I said. They didn’t get me out until the next morning.

I noticed the woman when I entered the newsroom. My secretary told me she wanted to put an ad to   36  a baby. So I suggested several    37 lines for these ads to her:   38 , Baby to love; or Dear Birth Mother, Let Us Help You. The ad would contain   39  about her and her husband: they were   40 , could afford to raise a child. But then something   41  me: the major newspapers carried ads like this and their  42  were larger than ours. “Have you tried the major ones?” I asked. “Yes, but all failed and one more wouldn’t   43 .” She handed me a check and left with a   44  smile.
A week later the woman called in a    45  of delight: “Please don’t run the ad again. We ’ve connected with   46 . The baby is due in a month.” Good news. I asked her if she   47  keep in touch if the adoption   48  to have a happy ending. She agreed but added when the adoption was final she was   49   to give me the story.
One day my phone rang. I   50  her voice immediately. “The adoption is final. Would you like to come and meet him?” Happily, I made a (an )  51  with her for the next day. “His name is Ben,” she said, as I started to take                  52 . “He slept through the night from the start. Now he’s smiling and starting to turn over. Of course I’m not   53  him. If he is a little slow.” She paused. “ Oh, I should tell you Ben has Down’s Syndrome.(唐氏综合症)” I stopped writing . I wasn’t sure how to   54 . But she smiled “Ben was meant for us, don’t you see? He needs me more than a   55  developing child would.” She sat on the sofa, holding her son. Both of them smiled. “You wanted a story with a happy ending,” said the woman “ You got it.”

My 4-year-old son now enjoys posting letters. He has formed the   36  of drawing pictures, writing his name on them, and then    37  the artwork in an envelope. He then insists on   38  his handwork to the neighbors, and a mail box he   39  belongs to the elderly couple who live next door. To be   40  , I didn’t think much of it, but I had   41  to warn my neighbors of the drawings   42  appearing in their letterboxes—I just didn’t have the   43  to do so, because I was a little busy recently.
On Tuesday of last week, I was walking down to school to collect my son when I   44  Mary, my elderly neighbor,   45  at her mail box. She said, “Jodie, is it your little son that has been posting items in my letterbox to me?” I was at once   46 , “Oh yes, Mary, it is. I’m sorry. I meant to tell you…” She cut me off, “Jodie, I just love his mail. I’ve   47  every item he has sent. You don’t know how much   48  the letters has made my day. I just love them.” While I was walking down to school after our   49 , many thoughts came to me. Mary doesn’t have a lot to fill her days,   50  she was a mother to a number of children herself who receives fairly regular visitors. The small   51  of getting some mail—pictures drawn by the hand of a young child—has brought   52  to her days, just as my visit to my grandparents does.
I have decided that my son should   53  this practice. He should also start sending some items to his grandparents in Perth as well. It will most   54  make their day.
It’s doing the little, simple things that can often make a big   55  in someone’s life.