— I'm not monitor of our class. I __ with the teacher until the monitor is elected.
—Oh, it ________ my younger sister. She was in my room at that moment.
—Of course not. ________.
I sat down at my desk and started writing an emotional letter of1But when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox, I2.
The letter was to a teacher whose volunteer efforts had3my view on the world and I felt I should let her know how her4positively influenced my life.
I could have easily sent her an e-mail,5that seemed a bit6for such an important thank you. That's why I ended up7the letter. But now I hesitated. We had8merely by Facebook comments and occasional private messages. I9knew her. Maybe my letter was too heartfelt. "People don't normally do this," I10to myself.
Thinking a while, I put the envelope in the mailbox11.
A couple of weeks later I received a Facebook response from her. It turned out she was12a tough time and my note meant the13to her. She said she had no idea that she was making such a(n)14to others.
Not only did this letter make her happier, but her15increased my joy as well. I was so16that it made such a difference to her that I decided to write a gratitude letter to her each month.
I've been doing this for two years now and it's17transformed my life. I'm more likely to seek out the18in others and more thankful for the beautiful life I'm19.
Cultivating (培养)20is a great skill to practice. Life is too short not to do it.
We lived in a very quiet neighborhood. One evening I heard a loud crash in the street. Earlier that evening my wife had asked me to go to the store to get some soft drinks. It seemed that this would be a good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her driving, so I sent her to the store in my truck. At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my truck. I enjoyed having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is not set on that truck. I like it but it is just metal and won't last forever. Never set your heart on anything that won't last." After hearing the loud noise, the whole family ran outside. My son shouted: "Dad! Dad, Holly crashed your truck."
The accident had occurred in my own driveway. Holly had crashed my truck into our other vehicle, the family van. In her inexperience, she had confused the brakes(刹车) and the gas pedal (油门). Holly was unhurt physically but when we reached her, she was crying and saying: "Oh, Dad, I'm sorry. I know how much you love this truck." I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later that week a friend stopped by and asked what had happened to my truck. I told her the whole story. Her eyes were wet and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl. I borrowed my dad's car and ran into a tree that had fallen across the road. I ruined the car. When I got home, my Dad knocked me to the ground and began to kick me."
Over 40 years later, she still felt the pain of the night. I remember how sad Holly was on the night she crashed our truck, and how I comforted her. One day, when Holly thinks back on her life, I want her to know that I love her a thousand times more than any piece of property.
How often do you sit still and do absolutely nothing? The usual answer these days is "never" or "hardly ever". As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is a natural part of everyday life. There is no way to avoid it, since it takes many and varied forms-driving in traffic, problems with personal relationships are all different forms of stress. Stress, in fact, is not the "baddy" it is often reputed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first sight of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make a choice between "fight" and "fright" and in more primitive days the choice made the difference between life and death. The crisis we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. All the energy is shifted to cope with the stress. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart disease have established links with stress.
Stress in some people produces stomach disorders, while others experience tension headaches. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives, we need to find ways to cope with it.
CUYAHOGA COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Bay Village Branch, 502 Cahoon Road, 440-871-6392.
The Egyptian Pyramids, 7 pm Sept. 17. Join us as Don King, a long-time student of Egyptology, discusses the pyramids and presents the possible theories of the construction, design and mysteries surrounding these ancient wonders. Join us as local villager, Tom Bell, discusses his book "My Dad Is a Freak: a Memoir", 7 pm Sept. 27.
Fairview Park Branch, 21255 Lorain Road, 440-333-4700 or cuyahogalibrary. org.
Dress for Success, 7 pm Sept. 17. First impressions count. Some job recruiters (招聘人员) use appearance to determine self-esteem, respect, confidence and organizational skills. Learn how to dress to emphasize your strengths and improve your employ ability. Registration (注册) required.
Music Study Groups, 1:15-2:45 pm Wednesdays, Sept. 19-Nov. 28. Explore current con- cert music performed by The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall through informal lectures and listening. Classes are designed for both new and experienced music lovers and are led by Dr Rose Breckenridge.
Practical Herbs, 7 pm Oct. 3. Famous doctor Sarah Hurt will talk about growing, drying and storing herbs (药草) and how to use them. Registration required.
North Olmsted Branch, 27403 Lorain Road. 440-777-6211 or cuyahogalibrary. org.
Job Club, 1:30-3 pm Tuesdays. Join Jim Hansen for helpful tips on job search strategies (策略) and interviewing. Anyone who is job hunting or looking to change careers is welcome.
Olmsted Falls Library, 7850 Main St., Olmsted Falls. 440-235-1150 or cuyahogalibrary. org.
Family Story-time, 7-7:30 pm Wednesdays, through Nov. 27. Join us for rhymes, songs, finger-plays and a story or two. For children ages birth through age 8 with their caregivers.
Huntington Practice SAT Test, 10 am to 1 pm Sept. 15 and 4-5 pm Sept. 26. Get ready for college by taking a practice SAT exam. Discuss strategies to improve your score, and get tips on preparing for the real exam. Registration required.
Reading a book can enlarge the imagination, support independent thinking and widen a person's world. Writing a book can do even more. Educators now are using book-writing to help students develop creativity and a love of reading at an early age.
This is a third grade classroom at Taylor Elementary school in Arlington, Virginia. The students of eight or nine years old are busy writing, making pictures and talking with their teacher. And today, each student is working on writing a story.
Creating a book begins with the children finding the ideas that interest them. Then they write the first version (版本). After that, they edit their work, which means to make corrections and changes. In the process, students learn to think like real writers.
Holly Karapetkova writes children's books and teaches literature at Marymount University in Arlington. She says she is happy that her 8-year-old son K. J. and his classmates are writing books at school. She thinks creating books sends them back to books. It encourages them to read more, both the books they are creating and other books.
Creating books is one of her favorite activities at home with K. J. and his 3-year-old sister, Kalina. "We have made books about animals about weather, a lot of books about letters and numbers to reinforce skills. One of our favorite kinds of books to make is an alphabet book, just with a simple letter, then pictures, either pictures that we print out from our real photos or pictures that the children draw to match those letters." She says the way to keep children interested in creating books is to give them freedom of choice.
K. J. has written more than 12 books on different subjects. His mother hopes the skills he and Kalina are developing-writing, reading, thinking, imagining-will help them succeed in the 21st century job market.
Before she was crowned (加冕) Miss Amazing National in Chicago? US, Vanessa Cleary had never thought of herself as a beauty pageant (选美) competitor.
Yet the way in which Vanessa told the story of her birth mother's struggle to help her with her disabilities and the positive impact the adoption had on her life helped her win over the judges last month. After the pageant, in which she took top honors in the junior teen division, the 15-year-old girl said she's looking forward to telling her friends about her experience so they can join in as well. "I want everyone to have the experience I had," Vanessa said. "It was really fun and I really enjoyed it."
Miss Amazing is a pageant for girls with learning disabilities. In the ten years since it began, 1700 girls with disabilities have benefited from it. The pageant is designed to help the girls who participate to build sisterhoods, develop life skills, and so on.
The main event of the pageant is the stage performance, in which participants get to showcase a talent of their choice. When Vanessa's mother first heard about Miss Amazing, she thought the pageant would be a great opportunity for Vanessa to showcase her skill for public speaking. Vanessa wants to be a teacher to teach other students who have disabilities like her.
Vanessa's hearing is impaired, and she has a disability that makes reading difficult for her. Despite these, she is very active and loves public speaking. For Vanessa, it wasn't about winning the pageant. It was about the opportunity for her to participate and feel supported.
注意：1）词数不少于100；
2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯；
3）开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jenny,
Yours,
Li Jin
