1 . As a young boy my family was very poor. I would often help do something for the neighbors to ________ a little pocket money.

One day I ________ on the door of an elderly woman and asked ________ she needed me to clean the yard. She asked why I was not in ________ and I showed her my worn ________, which no longer kept me warm. She ________ me to work in the yard. When I finished, she looked at me and said, “I suppose you want to be ________ now.” She then ________ a jar filled with dollar bills and said, “I’m glad you’ve done a ________ job today but that is not something you should be doing again. I want you to ________ new clothes and get back to school. I also want you to come back to ________ me with your report card and I will ________ you when I see you have worked hard and have some good ________. Now reach our your little hands and take out as much ________ as you can.”

I put my hands in the jar and ________ so much money that it was ________ for me to buy what I badly needed. Later, I returned several times to see the woman and she did just as she ________. She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and some delicious food every time I ________ her that I had an “A”.

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighbourhood. I will never forget the huge ________ this wonderful lady made over my life with her ________. This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.

2 . I’m proud of myself for this kindness I did last night. I did it ______ and did the right thing. However, I was unwilling to share, because by sharing I am also sharing the ______ and more self-centered side of myself.

It was last night and I ______my shift at work. It was late and I wanted to go straight home. On my way out of the door I noticed a fellow staff member and colleague. She doesn’t have a ______and usually either catches a taxi home or ______for an hour waiting for another staff member and friend of hers to finish work.

In the past I’ve ______ to drive her home as she ______ on my side of town. But last night I really did not want to. I wanted to drive straight home, alone. And I did not have to make “small talk”．

So I tried to ______ her, walking past her, heading down, and stealing out (偷溜) to the ______without letting her see me and ______ without offering her a lift.

Yet, something in myself was stopping me. Something in myself made me look at her and put myself in her shoes. She had young   ______ who she wanted to go home to attend to and, she could go home right now ______ I took her, not an hour later when the other staff member and friend of hers who was taking her. So I offered. She ______. And of course, she was extremely   ______．

Well, I learned a great ______ last night about not being so self-­centered and selfish!

3 . Even as I write this story, I am still smiling. The past few weeks have been rather ______, but when a large number of Smile Cards arrived in my mailbox the other day, having traveled all the way from the United States to my home in the Netherlands, I knew things were about to ______.

I ______ where to leave the cards as I went to bed that night：the train, benches at the station, at work, libraries, mailboxes, the gym- the possibilities were ______.

I woke up, went to work, and afterwards, I went ______ to the shop to buy some candy bars, planning to leave them as anonymous (匿名的) ______ for people on the train. However, unlike my early morning train, my main home was extremely crowded. An elderly man must have seen me searching for a place to ______ a Smile Card, because he asked me if I was looking for something.

Right then I ______ that my first Smile Card would not be anonymous. With a big smile and cheeks filled with excitement I told him that I ______ what I was looking for, ______ him the candy bar and Smile Card I had in my hands. He had only just finished reading the card when I arrived at my stop, but he was still smiling and ______ his candy as I waved at him from the ______.

Despite having worked a full day, I almost bounced (跳) home. Before I entered my apartment, I delivered a few more Smile Cards and candy bars to my neighbors’ mailboxes. I added an ______ candy bar for a neighbor who I knew was in a difficult financial ______, but who I saw working hard every day to get the very best for her young son. I figured they both ______ a tasty little treat.

4 . We have all heard how time is more valuable than money, but is it possible to have too much time?

I remember back in high school I spent most of my day at school since I also _________ a team sport. By the time I got home, I only had a few hours to do my homework, so I had to do it at once.

When I got into college, things _________. I suddenly found myself out of class before noon time. Because of all this extra time, there was no need to do my school work immediately. I waited until it later became a habit. Once that happened, I just kept _________my studying further and further back in my day. Then I got to the point where I have to _________ really late at night to get my work done.

One day I met a former classmate of mine who was _________ a lot of money running a sideline (副业). Since his regular job was _________, I asked him why he just didn’t do his sideline full-time. He said without the job, he would _________ have too much time and would just do what I did back in _________. He said that if he quit the job, he would lose his drive (干劲) to work and succeed.

So, try to _________ up your time with other work. That is why there is a __________that if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.

5 . Yesterday, a salesman called me to sell his phone plans. I was at work and while I usually don’t like spending time on those things, I _________ myself that I couldn’t talk yet and _________that he call me back at 6 pm.

That’s what he did. So we talked about 20 minutes. He _________ to me his different phone plans. While listening to him, sometimes I was _________in my thoughts. I gave several “hmm hmm”, as a sign of agreement and to _________that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit_________. But I stayed calm and _________ until the end of the discussion.

Finally, he said the following to me: “Thank you, Olivier. You are the first person in a long time with whom I had an enjoyable conversation. _________, people shout at us and slam down the phone. Today, since 10 am, I hadn’t had a phone _________ without an offense (触怒). I know you had a long day at work and you could have __________ in front of your TV. But you listened so carefully to me. I am __________ and I sincerely thank you.”

It set me thinking. He had been the __________ of verbal violence (语言暴力) all through his working day. Physical __________ do not exist in this situation but dehumanization (非人性) seems to happen. __________, he was only doing his job. I felt a sense of __________ that I hadn’t treated him so rudely.

6 . Exhausted, I returned home from work. I found the front door was _______ open and I felt a little scared. Did I carelessly forget to lock it after I left? I looked around tensely to see what could be _______. Nothing? Why would someone come into my home only to _______ with nothing? After searching every inch, I realized that everything was where I had left it. No overturned cushions, broken lamps, or drawers emptied out on the carpet. Feeling much _______, I looked out my oversized window of my dining room at Ms. Sullivan’s house. Jimmy, the little boy next door was visiting her. Jimmy cared a lot about Ms. Sullivan and was very concerned about her health after she became ill. She used to guard Jimmy when he was just a baby.

Forgetting about the _______ with my front door, I decided to walk over to Ms. Sullivan’s house to see how she was _______. With a warm hello, she invited me into her home. I noticed twelve beautiful roses delicately presented on the table next to her bed. They looked exactly like the _______ on my dining room table in front of my oversized window. With a pleasant smile, she told me Jimmy brought them to her as a “get-well gift”. Suddenly Jimmy _______ out of his seat in an instant and said that he had to go home for a while to do some homework but he promised to be back to _______ up on Ms. Sullivan.

Talking for a while, Ms. Sullivan began to get very tired so I gave her my phone number in case she ________ needed help, and left her home. I thought about how sweet it was for little Jimmy to be so concerned for Ms. Sullivan. I got home, laughing at how nervous I was that morning about what had happened over nothing. I walked past the dining room and noticed my roses sitting in the vase were missing. Without a second thought, I glanced out the window at Ms. Sullivan’s house. With a smile on my face, I turned off the light in the room and went to sleep.

The next morning my doorbell rang. I opened the door and Jimmy was there…

7 . One day, I was preparing for an important exam in the library and people kept disturbing me. I was getting more and more _______ and of course, the more upset I got, the less I was able to _______. The last straw (稻草) was when I heard someone singing _______ me. I turned around and saw a girl who seemed very interested in what she was reading. The fact that she looked like a friendly girl didn’t _______. However, it made me even angrier. I _______ my books, glared at her and whispered angrily, “because of your noise, I’ve been unable to study. You’re so _______!”

I left the library _______ hurriedly that I left my most important textbook behind. It was only when I got home two hours later _______ I realized it. I was so _______ that I almost cried. Just then, the phone rang. A gentle __________ introduced the speaker as Jenny. Jenny said that she had __________ I’d left my book in the library and, as my name was in it, she’d asked a __________ to get my phone number from their files (档案). She said that she could bring it around for me.

Of course you’ve guessed who Jenny was. She was the girl I had shouted at for singing. When I recognized her in the street, I was filled with __________ and apologized several times for my rude behavior. Jenny just laughed and told me she was glad to see that I’d __________ left my glare in the library! I couldn’t help __________ at this and invited her back to my apartment for a cup of tea.

We got along really well and ever since then we’ve been best friends.

8 . There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school (寄宿学校). Before being sent away this boy was the ______ student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. He was a ______.

But the boy ______ after leaving home and attending the boarding school. His grades started ______. He hated being in a group. He was ______ all the time. And there were especially dark times when he felt like ______ himself. All of this ______ because he felt worthless and no one loved him. His parents started ______ the boy. But they did not ______know what was wrong with him. ______ his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.

They sat ______ the bank of the lake near the school. The father ______ asking him casual (随便的) questions about his classes, teachers and ______. After some time his dad said, “Do you know, son, ______ I am here today?” The boy answered back, “To ______ my grades?” “No, no,” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about ______. I care about you. I care about your happiness. You are my world.” These words ______ the boy’s eyes to fill with tears. He ______ his dad. They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time.

Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this ______ who cared for him deeply. He ______ the world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him sad!

9 . I moved to a new city and took a job in marketing. I didn’t really know whether it _________ me. I enjoyed doing things that I felt had _________ — I could see their benefit and feel their impact. As the months passed, I felt it just wasn’t for me. I needed to find a way out.

A job advertisement for a(n) _________ for a new youth magazine came at exactly the right time. I applied and was _________. My role was to help teams of young people edit their _________ and help them with their work. I had thought the _________ would be a mixture of games and boring reviews, so I was _________ when one of the first pieces written was about social welfare(福利). _________, I found something I was interested in.

I felt a _________ in me straight away. I had a purpose again. Days were spent in discussing hot topics and __________ the words of readers’ strong voices. __________ this world, I could see myself making a __________ to the team’s writing ability. As our website’s hits(点击)__________ and the work changed to reflect what our __________ wanted, I developed a greater __________ of what young people might want to read.

The biggest change the job brought, __________, was to my real happiness. It is fantastic that you find yourself in a job you love and willing to __________ each day. I was content in this __________ environment, inspired by the talented young people I was helping to __________ their careers. Now, I realize that there are jobs that will keep you __________, passionate and inspired.

10 . A man was employed to paint a boat. He brought paint and _________ and began to paint the boat as the owner wanted. While painting, he _________ there was a hole in the body of the boat and decided to repair it. When he finished painting, he received his _________ and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat visited the painter and _________ him with a cheque(支票), much higher than what he was paid for the painting work. The painter was _________.

“You’ve already paid me for painting the boat, sir! he said.

“This is not for the paint job. It’s for repairing the _________ in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was such a small service.” the man said. “Certainly it’s not worth paying me such a high amount for something so _________!”

“My dear friend,” the owner said, “You don’t understand. Let me tell you _________ happened. When I asked you to paint the boat, I _________ to mention the bole. When the boat dried, my kids took it and ____________ a fishing trip. They did not know that there was a hole there. I was not at home at the time. So when I ____________ and noticed they had taken the boat, I was hopeless. Imagine my ____________ and joy when I saw them returning safely from fishing.”

“Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole! You now see what you did? You ____________ the life of my children!”

Each of us has a moral duty to offer help, wipe tears, listen carefully and repair all the “hole” we ____________ in our life journey, because a small act will make a big ____________ in the future.