People always say that you meet your very best friends in college. While I believe that is true, I think I have a stronger bond with my high school friends, a bond that could not be broken.
In high school, I had a close group of friends. We did everything together. If any of us had a sporting event, a music event, or anything in between, we knew we would have a support group there. When it was pouring down rain, we played the football games together. When it was 100 degrees, we watched each other's soccer games together. We spent almost every weekend together by camping out, going to the lake, watching scary movies, or baking cookies. My group of friends and I were truly inseparable (形影不离的).
High school friends were there for me whenever I was in trouble. They were the first to know when my grandpa died and they were there at the funeral (葬礼), with a shoulder to cry on. When I needed a home away from my home, their door was always open.
I think bonds with friends are closer in high school. We didn't have to focus on what we were going to spend the rest of our lives doing; we only had to focus on our plans for that weekend. When we were in high school, we didn't have to go to the bars to have a fun night. We would sit in a tent or in a backyard and talk about our lives. And that was our wild night.
My high school friends knew me better than I knew myself, and I think a handful of them still know me better than I know myself now. I love my college friends very much, but I have never met anyone in college who means as much to me, as my high school friends meant to me.
In early November of 1942, my geology (地质学) class was supposed to go on a field trip to see the mica mine (云母矿). Although it rained, everyone showed up on time. I was the only girl in the class. We all fit into two cars.
Near Deary, Mr. Tier, our teacher, went into a store to ask about the direction, while townsmen looked at us with curiosity. On the store owner's advice, we drove out into the hills for a few miles. Then we left the cars. We were afraid they would get stuck in the mud.
Eventually, we located the mine near the top of the mountain. There was a very small hole, running about two or three hundred feet into the mountainside. The passage (通道) was so narrow that we could touch both sides with our hands, and not tall enough to allow us to stand up straight. The first boy held the torch；we took hold of the backs of each other's coats, in a line, and followed him in, ducking our heads. After getting in, we were disappointed because it was not the mine our teacher was looking for.
The rain was coming down hard as we started back to the cars to go home. Back at Deary, we went into a drugstore and stood around its big heating stove to dry out. The clerk was a middleaged lady. Seeing our entirely wet hair and clothes, she handed each of us a cup of hot water immediately and asked if there was anything wrong with any of us.
Hiking eight miles in the rain had not reduced our interest at all. We all felt we had a wonderful time, even if we didn't find the mine.
In South Sudan, girls face many barriers (障碍) to education. Some girls cannot1 to attend school because their parents cannot meet the costs, and there is also2 housework for girls, which takes up their time. Therefore, their parents don't 3their daughters to go to school.
Another problem is that girls can be married off early, often4force. We don't have the5to choose the person we wish to marry. Our parents6us to the one who pays the highest price in cows. Now more people are going hungry and marrying off girls to get cows to7. This happened to me. My parents married me off when I was studying, and I had to8school.
Luckily, my brother helped me come to ASEW, which9to help girls finish school.
I saw that the headteacher was a woman and that10me. ASEW was a school without punishment and school fees (学费). It was a day school, not boarding school (寄宿学校)，that gave me11to help at home. The curriculum (课程) was12so we could complete our education more quickly. It was also13, protected from outsiders. It is extremely dangerous for women and girls14there is fighting all around Rumbek.
At ASEW, I studied hard and passed with a high score of 77 percent. I wish other girls could have15like me, to go back to school.
Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn't help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand for a while, watching the middleaged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave.
The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, "Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?"
"Oh, yes, but I don't have money on me，"she replied.
"That's nothing. I'll treat you today，" said the man. "Come in."
The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, the smell so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently.
"What is it?" asked the man kindly.
"Nothing. Actually I was just touched by your kindness!" said Jenny as she wiped her tears. "Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!"
Hearing the words, the seller smiled, "Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you number the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?"
Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock; she remembered her mother's familiar face and weathered hands. "Why didn't I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel indebted. Why haven't I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?"
On the way home, Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.
Paragraph 1：
Approaching the doorway,
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A gentle touch on her hair called her mind back.
