In our life, we have rarely expressed our gratitude to the one who’d lived those years with us.In fact, we don’t have to wait for anniversaries to thank the ones close to us—the ones so easily overlooked. If I have learned anything about giving thanks, it is this: give it now！While your feeling of appreciation is alive and sincere, act on it. Saying thanks is such an easy way to add to the world’s happiness.
Saying thanks not only brightens someone else’s world, but it also brightens yours. If you’re feeling left out, unloved or unappreciated, try reaching out to others. It may be just the medicine you need.
Of course, there are times when you can’t express gratitude immediately. In that case don’t let embarrassment sink you into silence—speak up the first time you have the chance.
Once a young minister, Mark Brian, was sent to a remote parish of Kwakiutl Indians in British Columbia. He had been told that the Indians did not have a word for thank you. But Brian soon found that these people had exceptional generosity. Instead of saying thanks, it is their custom to return every favor with a favor of their own, and every kindness with an equal or superior kindness. They do their thanks.
I wonder if we had no words in our vocabulary for thank you, would we do a better job of communicating our gratitude? Would we be more responsive, more sensitive and more caring?
Thankfulness sets in motion a chain of reaction that transforms people all around us—including ourselves, for no one ever misunderstands the melody of a grateful heart.
【小题1】When we say something for what others do for us, it ______.

In 2003, Bethany Hamilton,13, lost her left arm to a shark attack while surfing off Kauai, Hawaii. A new film ,Soul Surfer, is based on the story of how she overcame that to achieve her dream of becoming a professional athlete.
Growing up on the “garden isle” of Kauai, Hamilton spent every minute she could riding the waves. She was on the verge of (即将) becoming a top competitor in professional surfing. But while she was practicing at an isolated cove (小湾)，a four-meter-long tiger shark ripped off her left arm. Though her life was saved ,nobody could imagine she would ever get back on a surfboard again.
In a true test of her faith and by tremendous will power, Bethany did get back up on a surfboard only a month after the attack. Six months later, she was competing again. Bethany Hamilton won her first amateur surfing championship just two years after she lost her arm. She also established the “Friends of Bethany,” a non---profit foundation dedicated to supporting sharks attack victims.
It’s a story told in her autobiography, which is the basis for the film that stars teenager Anna Sophia Robb. “I knew Bethany’s story, of course, but I thought ‘What an incredible role’ ,”explains Robb. “I was so fascinated by all of the challenges. What would it be like to have your arm taken and what would go through your head and how would your faith be challenged?”
The filmmakers used special effects to digitally remove Robb’ s arm .However ,no tricks were necessary for the surfing scenes because Hamilton herself did the breathtaking wave riding .
Now 21, Hamilton says she hopes audiences find inspiration in the description of the sport she loves.
“Not a lot of people know that much about surfing, so I hope they’re educated about it,” Hamilton says. “And most of all if people are going through a hard time, they could be encouraged and find inspiration to push through those hard times and see that, in my case ,so much good has come out of it.”
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?.

On a cold November afternoon，my mother and 1 were walking home from a   21  ．We were dressed   22  ．1 was feeling a little   23 as 1 was carrying our shopping，and decided to throw away something．So I started to walk towards a   24 when I noticed a poor man walking out of the restaurant in front of us．He   25  over to another nearby dustbin and started looking through it．
I suddenly felt very guilty because 1 was about to throw away a new drink just because it was
  26 ．1 walked up to him and handed the   27  and some snacks over to him．The man looked up   28  and took what I gave him．
A huge smile   29  across his face and this   30   me to feel indescribable satisfaction．I felt I couldn’t be happier   31  myself．But then he said：“Wow，this is my son’s lucky day!”
With that，he thanked me happily and started off on his bike，I    32  heard him whistling a song as he rode away．
I got a warm  33 inside．I now understand  34 is meant by the saying “giving is getting”．
Although it only   35  a little action and a few words，I gained and learned more in those two minutes than I did in the rest of the month．Everyone in the world needs   36  ，everyone can   37  help and everyone will be helped by   38  kindness．
The image of that man’s happiness caused by my small gift appears in my mind every   39 I have the chance to do something nice．
This is the   40   of charity．

A professor I have worked pretty closely with has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It has been devastating(悲惨的) for his family and heartbreaking for his students.
What made him extraordinary was not only that he was a rising star. He had only recently collected the highest honors for young researchers at the White House. We truly admire him—as someone put it, ‘He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.” It is very hard to find someone who is extremely intelligent should be so nice a human being.
I decided that we needed him to know our attitude and also how we are all praying for his recovery. I bought him a simple card which read, ‘Healing thoughts and wishes coming your way.” I met all the students he worked closely with and got them to sign on it. Each student in his laboratory signed and also added a message. ‘We love you so much”, ‘We miss you! We need you back here—recover soon”… These were some of the messages that were written. Most of the students were really glad we were doing this and said it was a very good idea to give it to him.
He is still undergoing intense treatment, and along with his family is trying his best to stay optimistic and hopeful. I didn’t see a trace of self-pity or sadness when I met him last week. Instead, he paid attention to every word of my presentation and asked me several questions related to my work. I was amazed at how much he gave his 100% on that day in spite of being in pain because of chemotherapy( 化疗)，he did not know if he even had another month to live. “I am trying to focus on staying positive, hoping to be back this summer,” he said.
Needless to say, I saw an expression of joy and hope on his face as he opened the card. He said he was truly touched to see the messages from the students he worked closely with.
There is one thing I learnt from last week: It is so important to tell people how much they mean to us and what an inspiration they are before it becomes too late. My professor, in spite of being too sick to teach classes, has managed to continue being a great teacher, introducing his last valuable message to us.
【小题1】The professor was admired because _______.

  Remember how great exercise was when you were a little kid? Back then, racing around the playground or skipping rope for hours, you weren’t thinking fitness, you were thinking entertainment. But in this age of high-tech home equipment and underused gym memberships, the simple joy of jumping rope has been forgotten. Rediscovering it will give you a total-body exercise you can find.
Although considered an excellent form of exercise, jumping rope has never gained widespread acceptance because of two fundamental reasons. First, most people recognize jumping rope as an excellent form of cardiovascular (心血管的) exercise, but they also believe that it is simply too difficult. In other words, they don’t think they’ll be able to continue jumping for the near 20 minutes that it takes to achieve a beneficial physical outcome. Second, many view it as somewhat boring and overly repetitive—not as something fun or enjoyable.
As a matter of fact, jumping rope can be great fun if you find a proper way to practice it. Instead of doing the usual two-foot bounce over and over again, people good at rope-jumping often change their pattern every 10 or 20 jumps. A single bounce, a double–bounce, a skip, a knee-up, side swings, as well as a variety of other easy-to-learn free-style rope-jumping.
Now researchers are learning that jumping rope also prepares the brain for learning. It is an exercise allowing both brain hemispheres to perform in parallel to each other. In short , jumping rope can be a life-long activity requiring little equipment, time and space, yet leading to a much healthier life.
【小题1】 From the first paragraph we learn that         .