Catalin Baciu from Romania wanted to make money in Germany. So, he and his wife, Oltita went to Bucharest, the capital city of Romania to get legal papers to move to Germany. However, when they arrived, they were surprised by what they saw. “Hundreds of street children were living in a busy and dirty city of two and a half million people. Many of them were using drugs. They all seemed lost. Most of them were under ten years old. Oltita had tears in her eyes,” Catalin said.

Many of these streets children were orphans (孤儿). They had grown up in the government orphanages, but had run away. They thought any place would be better than the orphanages. But the streets were cold and hard. The winters were freezing. The children had to sleep in warm sewers (下水道) under the ground. Many of the children even became involved with crime and violence (暴力).

The Baciu’s did not like the sight of so many pitiful children in Bucharest. They wanted to leave immediately and go to Germany. However, that night, Catalin and Oltita stayed with a friend in Buchares. “The friend we were staying with was working with street children. I was deeply touched by what he and his fellows were trying to do…they were sacrificing (牺牲) their jobs and lives to save street children,” Catalin said.

After that visit, the Baciu’s completely changed their life plan. Instead of moving to Germany, they began working with street children in Bucharest. They started by opening a home called House of Hope, which provided a warm and loving place for children who needed to get away from the streets. Many hospitals and business workers called House of Hope when they found troubled kids. Everyone knew the House of Hope would help.

   During my school days, I was one of those shy and distant kids who would just sit in a corner for an entire day. For me, my books were my _____ world. Even during breaks, I used to sit in a corner of the _____ and see others play games. It was not because I wasn’t interested in _____ others or making new friends, but because I always felt lacking in energy when _____ others. I always had an opinion that if I attempted to be close to new _____ I would be rejected. And I just didn’t want to _____ a rejection.

Once during my English class, my teacher shared a(n) _____ with us. It was about King Bruce and a spider. Although having lost a battle, King Bruce _____ in the end as he was _____ by a little spider. The way the spider dealt with rejections ______ me a lot. I myself started ______ the movements of spiders at home. Once, a spider took around an hour to reach the top of a wall and I ______ knocked it down. To my ______, within seconds it started making its ______ up again.

For me, this ______ was a game changer. I realized that rejections are ______ a failure. The world may treat me ______, but I can stand up and start working again. There will be a time when people would like and ______ me. At present, I ______ mixing with people, learning new things and making new friends. I think there are just no such things as rejections or failures as everything can ______ at any moment.

   It was Thanksgiving morning. I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags（衣衫褴褛）on the top step.

"Any old papers，lady？" asked one of them.

I was busy. I wanted to say "no" until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals（凉鞋），wet with heavy snow.

"Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot coffee."

They walked in and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks on the floor. I served them coffee and bread to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started cooking.

The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands，looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice，"Lady，are you rich？"

"Am I rich？Pity，no！"

I looked at my worn-out slipcovers（家具套）.The girl put her cup back in its saucer（茶碟）carefully and said，"Your cups match your saucers." They left after that，holding their papers against the wind. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.

Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.

I tasted the potatoes and stirred（搅动）the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup，a roof over our heads，my man with a regular job，these matched，too.

I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy marks of the little sandals were still wet on my floor. Let them be for a while，I thought，just in case I should begin to forget how rich I was.

   A little girl studied at her desk in the purple bedroom of her childhood home. The girl’s homework was to _______ a true story. Simple. Yet there she was, _______ it for a long time for better past her bedtime.

So attentive was the girl — changing words to _______ the mood (语气), erasing passages to move the story along, reading out loud to _______ the rhyme — that she jumped when she _______ her father’s hand on her shoulder. Dad was a business manager. He liked to _______ and watch TV at night. It was not his _______ to check up on her.

“Daddy?” she said, looking up at him. “I think I just decided what kind of job I want when I grow up. I like to write about things that really _______. I like to move the words around.” “I’m glad to see you take your schoolwork so _______,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”________ he kissed the top of her head.

Decades later, the girl made great efforts in writing, which ________ her a top job at Reader’s Digest, a ________ that has for nearly a century told true stories of ________ interest. As she walked out of the office that afternoon, she ________ the night in her purple bedroom and decided that for every issue (期刊), she would write her editor’s note as a story. That way, she would honor the ________ of the magazine. She ________ her mom with the news of her job. “Oh, honey, I wish your father were ________,” her mom wrote. “He would be so proud.”

“As an ________, I am doing the work I love, writing about people of interest doing things that matter. It’s been a (n)________ to connect with the thousands of you who have ________ to me. Let’s continue to do so,” the girl said.

Last week, my schoolmates and teachers were organized to climb the East Mountain located 20 kilometers away from their school. As soon as we arrive at the foot of the mountain, we set about climb with great passion. On our way up, we had so much difficult walking along the steep hill that we were tiring out. But with the teachers 'help, we managed to reach for the top of the mountain that we were greeted by the bright sunshine and beautiful view. Seeing from the top, the city looked like a huge garden. This mountain climbing activity turned out to be great success. Not only did we take a break from our heavy school work, and we also had a chance to get close to nature.