— ______. The nearest one is at least fifty minutes' walk from here.
— Sorry, I ______ my driving test then. How about 3:30 in the afternoon?
— I'm sorry, you ______ have the wrong number. There's no one here by that name.
Draper was the owner of a secondhand bookstore. One day, when he was sorting through a pile of old books, an envelope fell 1 one. Inside was an undated 2 and a faded photo of a woman holding a little girl on her lap. The letter said if Bethany was 3 it, it meant the author had died.
Tears were welling up in Draper's eyes. These were a 4 woman's last words to her child. He had to 5 Bethany. "Whoever it is will want this," he thought. "You wouldn't 6 a letter like that."
He supposed if the 7 ended up in his shop then Bethany was likely from around Bishop Auckland. And he thought he would 8 the little girl's face. 9 she'd since left the area, there might be someone in the town who would recognize the picture.
He started with the local newspaper. The Northern Echo ran the story of the 10 letter.
11, Bethany Gash, now 21 and a(n) 12 herself, was on Facebook about 10 miles away when a close friend messaged her to check out the 13. As she read her mother's 14, which she thought had been lost forever, she said she thought she must be 15.
Bethany was only 4 when her mother 16. Five years later, her family moved to a new home and the letter, put away in the pages of a book for safe keeping, was unintentionally 17.
She remembered unpacking and looking for the letter, and then 18 searching through everything in the hope that it was there. "That's when I realized it was gone and I'd never see it again," she said.
Draper 19 the letter in person. He also brought her a children's book for her son. Bethany was greatly moved to have the letter back, and also touched by the stranger's 20.
Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are probably a mere walk away from your college.
King's Art Centre
A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend tees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.
You could attend a class teaching you how to 'learn from the masters' or get more creative with paint — free of charge.
The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.
The Botanic Garden
The Garden has over 8,000 plant species; it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.
The multi-branched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue-green leaves, and is not one to miss.
Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.
The Garden is also a place for wildlife-enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called 'Hissing Sid' is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.
Byron's Pool
Many stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University, Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of "mess and drunkenness". However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his roans. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.
It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths around the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me, then perhaps you'll take it from Virginia Woolf一—over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.
My family moved into our home nine years ago. We spent a lot of time and energy in the yard to get it looking like the way it does today. In front of the house, the rocks appear to be just thrown up onto the dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish. We called this area our "rock garden". Denise and I would also plant some flowers between the rocks, just to bring some color to the area.
Last summer I found, in the rock garden, a tiny little plant that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn't plant it and Denise said she didn't either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could figure out what it was.
Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the strange plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. It looked thin and tall with only one head on it. I decided to baby it along and weed(除杂草)around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something unusual. The sunflower had not started where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.
That's when I realized that if a tiny little sunflower didn't allow a big rock to stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability to do the same thing. Once we believe in ourselves like that little sunflower, we can attain the same nourishment(养分)for growth as well.
Stand tall like the sunflower and be proud of who and what we are, then the environment will begin to support us. We will find a way to go under or around any "rocks" in order to achieve our goals.
Children are becoming addicted to social media for their sense of self-worth, a major study warned. It found many youngsters measure their status by public approval they get online, often through "likes". Some change their conduct in real life to improve their image online.
The research into youngsters aged from 8 to 12 was carried out by Children's Commissioner(专员)Anne Longfield. She said social media firms were exposing children to major psychological risks, with some youngsters starting secondary school ill-equipped to deal with the huge pressure they faced online. Youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they didn't respond to social media posts quickly and around the clock.
Children aged 8 to 10 were "starting to feel happy" when others liked their posts. However, those in the 10 to 12 age group were "concerned with how many people like their posts", indicating their need for social recognition gets stronger as they become older.
Children tended to compare themselves to others online. "Then there is this push to connect—if offline
will you miss out, will you show you don't care about those you are following, all come together in a huge way at once." Miss Longfield said, "For children it's very difficult to handle."
The research—involving eight groups of 32 children aged 8 to 12—suggested that as they grew, they became increasingly anxious online. Children as young as 8 were using social media platforms largely for fun. When they started secondary school, they became more conscious of their image online and felt more pressure to ensure popularity of their posts.
However, they still didn't know how to deal with mean-spirited(刻薄的)jokes, or the possible sense of inability if compared with celebrities or more brilliant friends online. They also faced pressure to respond to messages at all hours of the day.
Schools and parents must do more to prepare children for the emotional minefield(雷区). Social media companies must "take more responsibility" and monitor websites better or adjust their websites to the needs of youngsters. It's also hugely important for parents to know which apps their children are using.
"Every life is a boat, the dream is the boat sail." Every child has a dream of what they want to be. When Renee Butts was little, her dream was to become a volunteer firefighter because her father was one. Sadly, when she was 14, her beloved father died and she was never able to do volunteer work with him. However, Renee's story didn't end there. She was determined and never gave up, which makes for a good firefighter.
Now Renee is a member of the Carmel Fire Department, where she is required to be an Emergency Medical Technician. She should also be ready to deal with any emergency, like fighting a fire, dealing with a car accident or helping someone who's sick. Sometimes she is in the driver's seat or using the water pump. Renee works nine to eleven days a month on 24-hour shifts. She also has a family to care for, as her husband is also a busy firefighter. Dealing with housework and working so much can show her great determination.
When I asked Renee what the best part of her job was, she replied, "Helping people and saving lives." I think that shows signs of being a true hero. She's always willing to do anything for anyone in need. Renee says that her job is frightening at times, but extremely exciting. "The worst part of my job is that I see death. Actually, sometimes people die in the accident, for which I am very sorry." With 140 people in her station, Renee is one of the only three women, but that doesn't bother her. She says everyone can get a fair shot and do the same jobs.
I was inspired by this because I knew I would be very scared to do her job and didn't know if I could handle seeing people die. We would never live without people like her who have the courage to risk their lives. Renee's determination rubs off on me and makes me believe that I can do anything.
1）你遇到的挑战或困难；
2）你应对挑战或困难的方法和最终结果；
3）你从中吸取的经验或教训。
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；
