It was a hot and dry summer. The beach near the city was crowded with a lot of people, from little kids to the aged, who planned to beat the heat in the water. They enjoyed themselves leisurely. Some were playing beach volleyball, some were making sand castles, and some were doing sunbathing.

Among them, there was a group of 10 boys aged between 12 to 15 years old trying to take an adventure. At first, they intended to hire a yacht (游艇), but due to the wind and the waves, the yacht rides were forbidden on that day. After a while, the boys decided to challenge themselves to race in the sea. They made a deal that the one who swam the fastest would win the race and deserve a huge treat from the group. Most of the boys agreed, except for a few. A boy in the group warmed them of the danger, as the waves weren’t constant. Some boys began to hesitate, but some didn’t listen to him and started their race.

Everything went so well. Suddenly, waves from the sea rose a lot and most of the boys in that young group struggled to reach the beach. However, three boys who considered themselves very brave, decided to ignore the waves and swim further out to sea for more excitement and fun.

Although many people on the beach shouted at them and asked them to swim back immediately, they continued to swim further from the beach. The wind became stronger；all of a sudden, one boy was washed away by a rising wave and the other two boys were so scared that they shouted for help and swam as fast as they could to the beach. However, no one on the beach risked his life to save the boy as the waves were so alarming；and the crowd were asked to move to a safe place.

John was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t. Thirteen months ago, in a Florida library he took a book randomly off the shelf and took great interest in the notes in the margin (页边空白). The further he read, the more intrigued (着迷) he was by the notes. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful and profound mind. John couldn’t help picturing in his mind what kind of people the owner would be.

In front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With extreme delight, he couldn’t contain his curiosity and spared a lot of time and effort to locate her address. Eventually and fortunately, all the efforts paid off, He wrote her a letter without any hesitation introducing himself and inviting her to respond.

During the following years the two grew to know each other through the mail, exchanging ideas covering all aspects ranging from classic works to current events, which brightened each other’s life handsomely. John once requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. Later they scheduled their first meeting--7: 00 pm at Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel (翻领).” So at 7: 00 he was in the station looking for the girl with the red rose.

A girl in a green suit was coming toward him, and she has black hair pulled tightly into a knot at the back of her head, her figure long and slim and her eyes amazingly charming blue, which quickened his heartbeat. Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, with a strong voice yelling at the bottom of his heart but didn’t spot the red rose on her lapel. It was just at this moment that he saw Hollis Maynell---a woman well past 40, with a bright-colored rose on her coat. The girl was walking quickly away.

He felt as though he split (裂开) in two,

The woman smiled, “I don’t know what this is about, son,”

I am a doctor and often attend important academic conferences around the world, but I’m scared to fly in an airplane. As is known to all, traveling on an airplane can be a very tiring task even in the best of circumstances. Especially when the plane arrives above the destination and encounters some special reasons that prevent it from landing safely, the feeling cannot be described in words. In this situation, if you see a patient with Down syndrome (唐氏综合征) in trouble, are you willing to help him?

Last week, I took an early flight to Paris, and it was during this flight that I experienced a lifelong and touching experience.

When it was announced on the broadcast that the plane was about to land and passengers were required to prepare, a teenage boy with Down syndrome who was traveling with his family had become upset and would not return to his seat. In spite of the cabin crew’s warnings over the loudspeaker that it was almost time to land, the boy completely disregarded all this and still went his own way. In terms of such a situation, the pilot was forced to circle above the airport temporarily, delaying the landing and angering people on the already tense flight.

Though the boy’s parents and adult brothers and sisters tried to persuade him to get off the floor and back into his seat, he was opposed to their advice resolutely. They seemed to be in despair.

Finally, the crew sought professional assistance from the passengers. Although I am a doctor, I was helpless in that situation. Subsequently, Murphy 42 — who had been a teacher for about 20 years — glanced at the boy, stood up and quickly headed to the back of the plane.

She found the boy in the passage between rows of seats, lying on his belly. So she also lay down on her stomach to face him. She began chatting calmly with him, asking his name, his favorite books and his favorite characters.

He told her he felt sick and she tried to comfort him.

The plane was finally able to land safely on the ground.