It was the second day of a winter holiday in Queenstown, New Zealand, three years ago. When we decided to explore the beautiful scenery, our landlady 1 us, "Make sure you are well wrapped up today. The weather is 2 . Head back when you see snowfall. "
The day was bright and sunny, and I started to wonder if she was being too 3 . When snow began to fall at 6：00 pm, I was not worried, thinking we'd have no 4 in catching a taxi back. However, we waited for a while, and all the drivers 5 their heads when told of our 6 .
The first driver passed by and gave me a card with a number for me to 7 help. I was filled with 8 , but I had no choice but to lead my three sisters to a nearby place to make the 9 . Then a taxi 10 up and we climbed in. The driver did not appear very 11 Then the light streaming from his headlights showed very 12 why no taxi wanted to take us to our hotel. And I began to understand the driver's apparently unfriendly silence-he was 13 . The steep incline (斜坡) ahead was 14 with snow. The taxi slowly made its way up the hill. Suddenly, we came to a dead 15 , and the driver turned to us. "Look! It is very 16 to go forward. You have to get out and walk. If I drive any 17 , the taxi will slide back, "he said. "Er…can you keep your headlight on and help my elder sister?The rest of us will 18 you up, "I said. The driver 19 .
We made it safely back to our hotel. Even though it 20 for the rest of the days, we could see the silver lining in the cloud(一线希望)：the generous soul who helped us.
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What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming, and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion (蒲公英) standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood, I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame (框架), I knew I had given the perfect gift.
Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat.
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement catalyzes weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult normally requiring long-term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.
However scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those who lived alongside a greater number of mice had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their "couch potato" fellows.
Study author Dr Matthew During whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism said "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs. " Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing he added "It's not just a sedentary (久坐的) lifestyle and high calorie foods but an increasing lack of social activities. " Co-author Dr Lei Cao said, "Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital. "
I had been working for a company in Australia for more than ten years. I had just found a better job and I knew that the manager would be disappointed when I was leaving. I recently became friends with a young man who had just migrated to Australia to escape war in his homeland. He was unskilled and was finding life difficult as he was unemployed.
The manager asked me to introduce someone who I thought could do the job just as well as me, so I took this opportunity to arrange an interview for my new friend. However, in the end, he was not offered the job after the interview.
Later, I asked the manager why my friend was turned down. The manager thought that his English was not good enough for the position, but I suggested that my friend will be a good choice for the company since I could train him. I believed that once given the time to learn, he could do the job. After a week's training, he was employed and was happy with his position.
I knew how the terrible war had forced him to leave his homeland and what price he had paid for doing so. I appreciate being able to live in Australia and believe that this appreciation is best proved by offering acts of kindness to people in need of help. The smile of appreciation from this man continues to impel me to give, which is a very happy and enjoyable process, during which I also receive some unexpected things, such as help, prize, flowers, love and so on.
参考词汇：文明中学生 civilized middle school student
注意：(1)词数不少于100词；（2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；（3）开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Hello, everyone! My name is Li Hua.
That's all. Thanks for listening!
