2 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.

She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9­year­old daughter Bailey.

He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.

Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”

After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.

3 . “You’re very talented, dear. I hope everything turns out great. I’ll tell my friends about the animal shelter (避难处),” a kind old lady told Conrad, who smiled ______ as she left $20 in his hat.

Conrad was proud of what he was doing and people in the ______ loved hearing him sing and play his ______. The 11-year-old didn’t know how much money the local animal shelter _____.

His mother, Sandy, worked at the shelter and had always been a(n) ______ animal lover. Therefore, he grew to be fond of animals as well. ______, he recently heard his mother telling a friend that the shelter was not doing well. It ______ on donations (捐赠), and not much donations were ______. This made the boy very ______. So he grabbed his guitar and ______ the local town park to sing and play.

He placed a ______ to tell people he was doing it to raise (募捐) money for the animal shelter, which helped greatly. People ______ and gave him mostly $1 and change, and others, such as the kind old lady, were more ______. He was grateful to everyone and continued playing songs and ______ money.

Raise your kids to love animals, and they’ll be better people. Caring for innocent animals makes people more selfless, ______ and caring. That’s why Conrad used his skills to raise funds, knowing how vital the shelter was.