When we got ready to go to the rink (溜冰场), Mom always helped me tie up my skates. Then she _____ her own. Mom and I had been coming to the rink every _____ since my lessons began. That was our deal. I went to _____ on Tuesdays, and we skated together on Sundays.

When we were ready to _____ on the ice, Mom took my hand and put an arm around my shoulder. I looked up at Mom and smiled. She seemed _____ but still smiled back. I took a short gliding (滑行) step, and she stepped with me, holding my hand tight. We went across the rink very _____ After a few minutes, we _____ in the center of the rink. I gently took my _____ back from Mom’s and glided slowly away.

While Mom stood still, I _____ the move my teacher taught me this week. I put one foot on the ______ , leaning forward a little. I slowly raised my back foot as ______ as I could behind me. I stopped and ______ a moment when some bigger kids skated quickly by. ^“OK, Mom. It’s ______ for you to skate alone,” I said. “In fact, there is ______ to be afraid of. Skating alone is no ______ than skating with me.”

Then I did what my teacher did when he was teaching a ______ skater. “ Watch my face, Mom,” I said. “Not your feet. Now, step.” She took a baby step and ______ We stayed until Mom could skate across the rink three times by herself. When she was ______ , she glided over to me and gave me a big hug. “I ______ you could do it,” I said.

She smiled and said, “I couldn’t have done it without my excellent ______.”

   Sarah grew up on a fishing boat. Her father, _____ to make enough money to buy a house, had _____ her within their only small boat since his wife died.

One morning, Sarah saw a _____ above the sea, which was close to them, and the boat began to rock as waves grew. ____  the mountain of clouds approaching from the south, she rushed below deck (甲板) ,“Dad, _____!”

“What?” her drunken father asked _____.

“Dad, a big storm is coming. We need to get out of here.” She grabbed his shoulders and _____ him.

He got angry, shouting, “What are you doing?”

“Dad, we have to _____ the boat. There’s a big storm coming.”

Her father _____ her at last. He walked to the deck, saw the ______ and fired up the engine.

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“Sarah, ______ we stay here, we will die. We need to go out to the sea. We must ride the waves; that’s our only ______.”

Their boat headed into the storm ______. Above them were black clouds and in front of them were dark waves. It was so ______.

Hours passed. The dark day turned into darkness totally. They held each other for ______, but the experienced fisherman needed no ______ because he had fought many such battles.

Eventually, the waves ______ and the sky brightened. Sarah was ______ and hugged her father, “You did it, Dad.”

They sailed back into the port. Other boats had been destroyed. Their boat was the only one to ______ the storm. Sarah hugged her father again. “Dad, you made it. You ______ us.”

“No, Sarah,” he held her by his arms, “we did it together.”

   It was a Sunday morning. I got out of bed as quick as a bunny _____ it was the final of my soccer tournament. I got _____, ate the breakfast my mom had made for me and headed to the car. On my way, I wondered what it would be like to _____ the shiny gold medal in my hands. As I got closer, I saw my team _____ on the field, so once I finally got there, I started rushing towards them.

When the _____ was about to begin, I was already sweating like a pig because it was so _____. When both teams were on the field, the referee blew the whistle which was a _____ of the start of the game. As my teammates passed the _____ down the field, I heard the cheers from the parents in the bleachers (露天看台) _____. The score was zero to zero at half-time and I had a rest by drinking water to get ready for the second half. We ______ the second half but still couldn’t put the ball in the net. The game score was ______ at the end of the second half which meant that we had to go to extra time. Towards the end of extra time, the other team’s defender ______ one of my teammates, which ______ a free kick (任意球). I went up to take the kick. I shook with ______ as the ball went out of the net. It was the end of ______ time, which meant that we had to go to penalties (点球).

I went up to take the first penalty. I was ______ I would miss again, but once I ______ it, I was relaxed as I made it in the top left corner. The final ______ was 4-3 on penalties but we ______. After they gave me the silver medal, I went home and was happy that it was all over and that second place wasn’t that ______.

   A ten-year-old boy from Howell, Michigan is being praised as a hero thanks to his persistence (坚持) that led to saving the life of an elderly neighbor. The event happened late in an evening when Danny DiPietro was being driven home from hockey practice by his mom.

That’s when the young boy noticed an open garage (车库) and a figure that he believed was a dog outside an apartment building near his house. Given the freezing weather, the young boy got a feeling that something was not right. But instead of dismissing it like most kids at his age, he insisted that his mother, Dawn, find out what was going on. Dawn tried to make Danny believe that no one would leave a dog out in such cold weather, but he refused to take no for an answer.

Dawn finally gave in and decided to drive to the area with the family dog and see if there was any truth in Danny’ s hunch (直觉). Sure enough, as she got closer to the apartment building she noticed a garage that was wide open and someone waving madly for help. Upon getting there, she realized that it was not a dog the young boy had seen, but Kathleen St. Onge. The 80-year-old woman had fallen down on some ice in front of her garage and had been lying there for two hours, unable to get up.

Dawn rushed home to get her husband to help and called 911. The two then returned with some blankets to cover Ms. St. Onge, while they were waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Though still in hospital, the elderly woman is recovering well and forever grateful to Danny for following his hunch!