1 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a _________ on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she _________ it.

For most people, that would be the _________ of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell _________ the letter. He had just called his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the _________ on the ground outside of a hardware (五金器具) store in Manvel. “I realized it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I _________ it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really _________ me.” Carrell thought the letter would brighten someone’s day and that maybe he could find the _________, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people, _________ one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s reply,” said Carrell.

The comments included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t __________ you found my baby’s letter.” Carrell reached Alvarado to __________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally __________ on Thursday night, one day after Alvarado’s wife’s birthday.

“__________ the letter made it home,” said Alvarado “We are thankful for what James Carrell did.”

We often forget the power of __________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a(n) __________ impression.

7 . Animals are living creatures and most of us often forget about this. Although they can’t speak our language, they can understand us. But some people treat them badly.     1    . Sometimes these little creatures can’t help themselves. So they need you to help them. You don’t have to spend money, though. Here are a few ways you can contribute to animal welfare.

Volunteer at the local animal shelters

If you can’t give money to animal shelters, you can visit a local animal shelter and offer your help. You don’t have to have any special skills to help animals.     2    .

Report any form of animal abuse (虐待)

If you know someone beats their pets to death or doesn’t feed them for weeks, report the case of animal abuse.     3    . Don’t keep silent. Let others know how that person treats animals. This way, you may save the lives of those poor animals.

Have a plant-based diet

    4    . While meat tastes delicious, think of how one animal is killed so that you can eat that steak.

    5    

Break the habit of buying things that contain animal products. Many beauty items, especially face creams and lipsticks, contain animal products. So be sure you don’t buy them. Everyone should avoid anything that includes leather, silk or fur.

Animals deserve to live their lives free from abuse, pain and suffering. They are sensitive, emotional, and intelligent. They are living creatures that need our help. Don’t neglect (疏于照顾) them.

8 . Digital technologies are taking up too much of our time and attention. Many of us will spend a large part of our lives staring at screens, missing out on satisfying relationships. For many years, we’ve been taught that the solution to this harm is some form of digital detox (脱瘾), which mainly shows us the results after our digital addiction.     1     Try the following three steps to achieve balance in your and your family’s digital life:

Determine your problem times

Identify the times and situations when being on screens is making your life worse. It could be when you are streaming a TV series right before bed, feeling depressed afterward and losing hours of sleep. Or you could be getting stuck on your device at the dinner table.     2     Identify your top two or three problem situations.

    3    

Scrolling (滚动浏览) on TikTok for hours keeps you from sleeping and makes you feel depressed afterward, ask yourself: What is screen time replacing and what goals is it serving? In other words, what do you want? You might be endlessly scrolling because you want to feel uplifted at the end of the day. Write down the things you really want.

Try a replacement

    4     It’s crucial to pick something that consistently makes you feel good. For example, if your goal is social connection, make plans for a nice meal with a friend or take that weekly meeting in person rather than via WeChat. If your goal is inspiration, schedule time for oil painting, reading books.     5     And at last, you will become healthy and wise digital citizens.