1 . Mrs. Oren, with her family, lived down the block from us. We were four kids living with our parents happily.

Our happiness _______. I was 14 and my youngest sister was 4 when our mother passed away suddenly. _______, Mrs. Oren always stayed by our side. I was already an “independent” teenager, but she _______ my youngest sister every day while our dad was _______ and the rest of us were at school.

My morning _______ on school days included getting up with the alarm clock as Dad already went to work, and _______ the “kids” to get them ready for school. One morning, I felt so _______ while making breakfast. The next thing I _______ was that I was lying on the floor in the _______, with the world spinning around me.

It was heartbreaking that I soon ________ my sisters crying and throwing up. But I could do nothing, feeling so ________. Suddenly, the door opened and Mrs. Oren came in! We were ________ to the hospital in her car. It turned out that she came to our house that morning ________ to look after my youngest sister, only to find the frightening ________. Later, Mrs. Oren told us we all got gas poisoning.

What would have happened to us but for a caring ________ who kept an eye on us every day?

2 . One day, hundreds of people were stuck in traffic on the highway in below-freezing temperatures due to a snowstorm. With the conditions making it _________ for rescue workers to help, many were trapped overnight with no access to _________.

But one stuck driver found a _________ spot in the despair. As she was sitting in her car fearing the _________, Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe, _________ a bread truck just ahead of them in the jam. Willing to try just about anything, they called the customer service number listed on the back of the truck and left a _________ begging for the driver to open the back and _________ bread to the hungry passengers around them. It was a last-ditch effort, and the couple wasn’t very _________ about getting a response. But to their _________ they soon received a phone call from the company’s owner, Chuck Paterakis, with the news that he was __________ the truck’s driver to open up and pass out loaves of bread from his cargo. Overjoyed by the news, Holihan and Noe __________ the truck’s driver to bring much-needed things to the cars around them.

The simple loaves of bread were surely a ray of __________ in an impossibly disturbing situation. Holihan herself calls it “one of the __________ moments” she’s ever witnessed. This company could have made a(n) __________ from the bread but instead chose to help the people around them. That is just so incredible that someone chose __________ over profit, especially in a situation where people were so desperate.

3 . Last Monday, when I walked into a supermarket, my daughter, Charlotte, said she would buy me some flowers. I came home with a beautiful bouquet (花束), a(n)_______gift I enjoyed. That reminded me of the old days.

When my kids were younger, sometimes I noticed them_______something on a shop shelf, and I asked what they wanted to take home. Or I saw something while shopping by myself and thought which child would love that. I’d buy it and gave it to the_______child. We may be apprehensive about buying_______for our children. Should we be careful about what we give them because they might_______something every time we go shopping? What if we have several_______? If we buy something for one of them, will we have to buy something for everyone to be_______?

Despite the_______, I still bought gifts just to spread joy. After careful teaching, nothing terrible happened. My kids didn’t_______more when we went shopping. They always appreciated whatever I gave them. The child__________a gift would smile with delight, and the other children were pleased too. They shared the joy__________.

Now they do the same for me__________. Yesterday, I was too unwell to__________my son, James, to the mall. He said he would bring home something nice to cheer me up. He returned with some beautiful sunflowers. Sometimes, I stop my writing and glance up at my flowers, and__________fills my heart.I truly feel __________.

4 . I’m interested in a career in _______, so I decided to volunteer for service at the local hospital. I thought it would be the best of both worlds: _______ people while getting valuable on the job experience! So I went to the business office. _______, the hospital director was quite willing to let me help out, and he said I could _______ that summer as soon as I finished my finals.

Soon enough, I _______ for my first day at the hospital. The director gave me a brief tour of different departments (科室) _______ we stopped right in front of the maternity ward (产科病房). I was overwhelmed (受不了的) by the sounds. Women shouted and newborns _______. I got nervous and wondered if I had been in a hurry when I _______ to go for such a _______ job.

My ________ must have shown clearly on my face because the director said, “Don’t worry. You are going to help in the nursery. ” ________ that, we walked down a hallway filled with balloons, beautiful flowers and into the ________ room I’ve ever seen. The soft colors provided a quiet backdrop to the sleeping babies. The nurse in charge of the nursery ________ me, thanked me for ________, and asked me to start putting some baby things away in the drawers. The director gave me a ________ look, which I returned with a quiet nod. I got right to work.

5 . When I am reading a newspaper at home, my friends call me. “Will you _________here and give us some help?” I throw the _________ away and run to them.

My friends are playing a _________ game. And the ball goes right into Mrs. White’s   _________ . They know I live next to her,   _________   they want me to get the ball for them. I am afraid (害怕) of my neighbor, Mrs. White. She looks unfriendly. Everyone says that she doesn’t like the children. And   _________   knows Mrs. White well, because she _________ comes out of her house or speaks. I walk   _________ her garden slowly. I am nervous (紧张的). Suddenly I see a tall   _________ walking to me. It is Mrs. White. I feel worried when I see   _________ . “Is this your basketball?” she asks. I say, “Yes, and we’ll never do it again.” To my   _________   , Mrs. White says, “Why don’t you kids   _________   here? This hoop (球架) here is better than        _________ .” Wow! We are so glad to hear that! Mrs. White is   _________ us to play in her garden! We all learn an important lesson: what many people _________ isn’t always true.

6 . A crow (乌鸦) became rabbits’ friend. It all began when Andrew Silverwood heard of a helpless ______ crow lying injured on a busy road. Without ______, Andrew decided to begin a crow rescue mission, knowing that the bird’s chance of survival was ______ in such a busy street.

Upon ______ the location, Andrew found the baby bird had fallen from his nest. In most situations, the best ______ for the baby bird would be to return the animal to his nest. However, as the nest sat high upon a tree, Andrew had no means of ______ the bird with his family. Besides, the crow had a broken leg, which would require ______ for the animal to survive. Then he took the crow home.

The Silverwoods ______ intended to provide care for the crow until he could be released back into the wild. However, fate had ______ plans in store for the crow, as Andrew soon found there was an unexpected ______ between the crow and his rabbits. The pet rabbits welcomed the crow into their cage, leading to a heartwarming and unconventional ______.

As days turned into weeks, the crow ______ the rabbit family. Surprisingly, the crow took on the characteristics of his rabbit companions.

Despite their differences, this little crow, his human parents, and his rabbit friends ______ happily. Their heartwarming tales serve as a gentle ______ that every living being deserves love and care, regardless of their ______.

7 . Daniel Hove spent years serving his community in Wisconsin as the Assistant Fire Chief for the Burnsville Fire Department. In 2012, he _________ from the job he loved after doctors diagnosed him with pancreatic (胰腺的) cancer.

Daniel spent years fighting the _________ disease. And he had tons of _________ from friends and family. But his beloved 11-year-old Labrador (拉布拉多猎犬), Gunner, _________ by his side every step of the way.

As Daniel’s _________ grew more difficult, Gunner became ill, too. And he _________ highs and lows right along with his favorite human.

“When my dad would get restless, the dog would be _________,” Daniel’s daughter Heather explained. “So once we   _______ how the dog was doing—he wasn’t moving much anymore and not doing well—we knew, it was coming.”

As Gunner’s suffering hit its peak, Heather _________ knew the dog’s time on Earth was done. Gunner was __________ an animal hospital where the veterinarian put him to __________ forever. And soon after Gunner passed away, Daniel found his __________ was close. About an hour and a half later, Daniel was gone too. __________ in life, the dog and his beloved owner also remained that way in death.

Special friends are placed in our lives. And the story of this dog and his owner is a beautiful __________ that sometimes those furry friends offer lifelong __________ without words.

8 . The rain was sudden and heavy on a cold night over ten years ago. My bus had stopped at the depot （总站） because of flooding. With 2 kms still to go, I was running out of _________ to pick up my then four-year-old daughter from her childcare centre. I took off my shoes and ran. I _________ the day care wet through but I was _________ to be only a few minutes late. Now I could face the next _________.

I had no way of getting home. There were no buses and I couldn’t afford a taxi. Home was too far to _________ in the rain with a young child. We stood outside staring at the _________ rain, with it showing no _________ of stopping. Caught up in my thoughts, I just barely noticed another parent _________ up and race inside to _________ his child ten minutes later. I did not recognize him and my thoughts turned back to my __________ situation.

I was at a loss what to do, when a voice asked, “Can I give you a __________?”

I moved around to face the man who’d arrived late to fetch his child. I nervously informed him that I didn’t know how I’d __________ getting the car seat wet. But he didn’t seem to __________, and was simply happy to do us a favour.

To this day, I am still __________ when I think about the evening that my daughter and I were stranded （滞留） __________ the kindness of this stranger.

9 . Many years ago I lived in New York City. One Sunday morning I decided to _________ my parents who lived in a small town two hours north. As I approached (靠近) the town, my car _________. It happened in the late 1970s when there were no cellphones. A woman in her thirties _________ to offer me a ride to a mechanic (修理工) in town, and as we _________ on the way in, I learned that she was a local realtor (房地产经纪人). I _________ that I was from the city seeing my parents. We exchanged _________ and went our separate ways, but I never forgot her _________.

Forty years later, both my parents now passed away; I decided to _________ their house because I was unable to pay the tax (税). I _________ the realtor who had helped me all those years ago and called her office by the number on her business card I always treasured. __________, the lady had passed away, __________ her daughter and granddaughter were running the __________ and ended up being my realtors.

They were __________ to work for their late family member’s old acquaintance (相识之人) who always remembered a simple act of kindness from a __________. And, knowing my difficulties, they helped me, sell the house for free.

Kindness __________ in the same family, and I felt quite thankful, again.

10 . With new term approaching, as a new teacher, I needed to find a reference book in our school library. Therefore, I went in search of the _______. Before leaving, I struck up a(n) _______ with her and then I was completely _______ by her experience.

During the winter break, she had gone by herself to Death Valley, a rarely visited desert. She just rented a car and packed up some simple equipment. All the way, she _______ saw another human being as she drove or _______. The photos she showed me _______ me from freezing New England to the brilliant sunshine of Death Valley, where she could appreciate the appealing landscape. But what really _______ me was how fearless this woman is. So weak is she that I used to think that she was _______ to step out of the comfort zone.

I asked her if she was _______ of being out in the vast wilderness alone and she said no ________. She even loved being alone surrounded by such incredible ________, seeking the meaning of life. Further talk revealed that her life has been ________. She was a young single mother with 2 kids and worked at odd jobs day and night to ________. To her credit, she obtained her degree in education and found a decent job.

Actually, our brief talk inspired me to lead a more ________ life and she taught me to see a person beyond the ________.