1 . At age 37, 1 was diagnosed (诊断) with Parkinson’s Disease. The diagnosis _______ us quite hard.

That summer, my wife discovered an annual charity bicycle ride, the Seattle to Portland (STP) ride, a 200-mile ride from Seattle, to Portland. One of the charities the STP raises _______ for is the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation. This local foundation _______ Parkinson’s research. Kathryn had never been a bicyclist, so I was surprised when she _______. The ride was not easy.

Her bicycle was old, heavy, _______, and hard to ride. People suggested that Kathryn _______ a newer, lighter bike, but she didn’t.

Kathryn found one friend to ride with and went on only a few _______ rides. Then one Saturday morning in July, she _______ her old bicycle and rode to Portland over the next two days. That year she raised over $1000.

I was glad Kathryn was enthusiastic about the ride and had become a fundraiser, but didn’t really _______ why she took part until I heard her explain it to some friends of ours. She told them that the ride was one of the ________ things she had ever done. She said she didn’t even like bike riding. With tears in her eyes, she said that she did it because it was one of the only ways she could help to make a (n) ________ in my life.

I was overwhelmed. I had thought Kathryn had ridden to achieve a(n) ________ goal, fun, or adventure, but I was wrong. She had done it all for me. On learning that my disease touched her enough to ________ something so difficult, I felt loved.

Kathryn has been by my side for over 20 years. We’ve managed every ________ and storm together. She rarely rides during the year, but in July, you’ll be sure to find my ________ riding south from Seattle.

2 . For my daughter's 19th birthday, we bought her tickets to go and see Linkin Park, as they were playing in our city. We didn't really have the ________ but we knew how much this band meant to her.

The night before she was like a ________ at Christmas. Every so often she got up and came to ________ with us, because she couldn't ________ . On the night of the concert it was good to see her so ________ and excited, as she and her boyfriend set off.

Needless to say when they ________ after midnight, with T-shirts and lots of pictures of the band, ________ her telling about how fantastic they had been, we knew the money had been well ________ . This will be a memory she would never forget, and nor would we.

________ full of excitement from the night before, the following day they ________ to go shopping on the other side of the city. My husband and I laughed, loving the fact that she had not ________   that quality as she grew up.

Later that day they returned, with faces full of happiness and warmth. They presented my husband and me with a ________ each. On each present were the words "Because you are the ________ mum/dad in the world. "When we expressed our thanks and told her she didn't have to, we asked her why she had bought us gifts. Her answer was simply "Just because I love you."

This wasn't something ________ from our daughter; she had always given us gifts when she wanted to express her ________ , and each gift was always a welcome surprise. It could have been anything, it wouldn't have mattered, and it was the act itself and the feelings behind it.

3 . A young man was about to go to the office when he received a phone call from a nurse who told him his father was injured and in hospital. So he ______ to the hospital by taxi. He had gone into the hospital when he found he ______ his cell phone in the taxi. What’s ______, he had forgotten to ask the nurse which ward his father was in. He had to run hurriedly around in the hospital ______ his father. Seeing a nurse, he asked her with ______, “My father is in hospital. He...”

The nurse ______, “Oh, my God. It’s you. Come with me!” She ______ the young man to the bed side of an elderly man. “Your son is here,” she ______ to the elderly patient several times. The old man was too weak to stay awake, only to look ______ at the young man standing beside him.

Throughout the night the young man ______ to the old man, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. The dying old man said nothing. The nurse ______ the young rest for a while but he ______ her advice.

Sunrise ______, the old man peacefully died. The young man placed the lifeless hand on the bed and informed the nurse. After the nurse did what was ______, she just found the young man had left, leaving a letter ______ “Thank you, lady! My father is fine. I knew right away the old man was not my father. But I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. So, I stayed.”