3 . Ethan Reynolds of Columbus, Indiana, has always been a helper.

The 11-year-old loves to ________ at a local nursing home and an animal shelter. ________ asking for toys or video games last Christmas, he wanted lawn mowing (割草) equipment so he could start his own ________!

When COVID-19 began, he ________ more people who were holding cardboard signs asking for food in his area. Thinking of his own $10, he ________ found a way to help. He ________ it by buying as much food as he could. ________ he put everything on a table in his family’s front lawn with a sign saying, “________ Food.”

When the neighbors ________ Ethan’s table, they started ________ their own donations, such as canned fruit and meat. Even better, his ________ was reported by a local news station, and soon, ________ were coming from all over the city to make donations of cash and goods! As Ethan’s table got larger, the ________ fifth-grader started up his lawn care service to bring in some extra ________ for his new charity. Of course, his neighbors were more than happy to ________ him to mow their lawns.

But Ethan’s mower kept ________ in the middle of jobs, so his community got together and decided to ________ him with a brand new push mower! When Ethan came home and saw it sitting in the driveway, he fell over with ________! We’ve never seen someone this ________ get so delighted over lawn equipment, but Ethan is no ordinary child. He’ll use it for a ________ he’s valued.

What a great kid! We know he’s going to put that mower to good use.

4 . It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up. I looked around and ______spotted David. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other______. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to______.

What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event! I quickly searched for the school’s ______ and asked him what had happened. He said that kids from other schools would ______David. After making sure that David could run if he ______ to, I decided to have a talk with David.

David had a brain ______ which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but he always participated to the ______of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it ______ that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him ______— that’s all. As a special education teacher at the school, I was familiar with the ______ David faced and was proud of his strong ______.

I came up to David and ______ him. Finally, he was determined to______ the race. Half an hour later, the race ______, but he had only gone a few meters before he tripped and ______on the ground. My heart ______. As I started to shout encouragement, other voices around me took up the ______. “Come on David, you can do it!” David picked himself up and started again. Needless to say, David ______ last. And he raised his arms high as he ______ the finish line to wild cheers and applause.

5 . My adult son walked to the table this morning for breakfast. As he did he opened his _________ to me. I did the same and gave him a big _________ just like I do every morning. And this time a beautiful _________ came back to me.

My Italian grandma had been a big hugger when I was a boy, but my mom had _________ in a more reserved (保守的) family and didn’t hug me often as I grew into my teenage years. My dad seemed to _________ the gender roles of the day back then and didn’t hug me much as I got older. By the time I was a teenager then, _________ grandma, I didn’t hug anyone.

When I was sixteen, I went on a trip with a group of boys to _________ a college. We visited a _________ on our way, where we were _________ by the largest monk (和尚) I had ever seen. He gave each of us a HUGE HUG. My own __________ came at last. Though I felt a bit __________, I stepped in and hugged him back. I sensed a __________ in my heart as he shared his loving kindness. It was amazing. Later that day I began to wonder why I had __________ giving and receiving hugs when they brought so much joy. When my own children were born, I __________ never to stop hugging them and telling them I __________ them, no matter how big they grew or how old they got.

6 . Last week my four-year-old son Basti and I went for a walk in a park. _________ a beautiful tree off the road, he _________ a lovely toy dugong (儒艮) on the ground. Basti was so excited by this _________ discovery that he held it all day, and even took it to the _________ with him that night.

That evening, I came across a community post from a (n) _________ mum trying to find a _________ dugong, her son’s favourite toy. Although _________ about my son’s sadness, I immediately _________ her and told her we had found it!

The next morning, I had to break the _________ to Basti, who was still __________ the lovely toy. I told him it was another little boy’s. Tears ran down his face. However, he gave me the dugong and cried, “I’m just so sad. I __________ the dugong, Mum. But it’s the right thing to __________ it”.

The lovely toy was returned. Feeling unhappy, yet I thought we had made a good __________ . A week later, on my door hung a card and a new dugong as a big thank-you from that mum. It’s __________ a wonderful surprise! It was the kindest of kind things, which not only __________ my son but also made our week!

8 . Kimberly just wanted to make her mother’s dream a reality when she set out to take her to Orange Beach. Her mother, Dottie, wanted to feel the soft, warm ________ between her toes. Kimberly was ________ to make that happen for her.

The long-awaited ________ finally happened and Ms. Dottie was ________ to enjoy her day on the beach. ________, due to a sore wrist, Kimberly was having trouble ________ her mother’s wheelchair across the sand near their hotel.

The lifeguards ________ and jumped into action. Shane Martin, a lifeguard ________, went across to ask if they needed ________. Kimberly let Shane know that her mother would love to go down to the beach but couldn’t ________. The lifeguards put Dottie into a car and ________ her to some chairs under an umbrella. Shane easily lifted the woman and very carefully ________ her into one of the chairs.

As the days ________ the lifeguards started calling her “Ms. Dottie” and she ________ their attentiveness. Shane and the other lifeguards ________ Ms. Dottie and carried her to her chair where she could spend the day enjoying the ________. Kimberly never had to worry whether or not there would be ________ coming the next day because the ________ crew of lifeguards was always there to help.

Kimberly and her mother ________ several times to give the lifeguards a deserving tip. However, they refused to take one. “All the ________ we need is watching her smile,” the guards said.

9 . I usually find myself saying that with age comes wisdom. It makes perfect _______ when you consider all of the life experiences we have to learn from. _______, that saying was just blown away by a five-year-old!

Robert and I took a road trip to _______ a friend. Our visit was filled with _______ activities like a trip to the zoo, botanical (植物学的) garden, playing on play-grounds and _______ in coloring books.

Helen, Robert’s five-year-old son, was my coloring partner. We _______ at the kitchen table each having our own coloring book. The book I had was on _______. On the front inside cover were the _______ of completed, colored illustrations (插画) of each page of butterflies in the book. When I saw this I _______ told Helen, “Look, they have the pictures of the butterflies and how they are ________ to look. You can look at the picture and then color the butterfly to ________ what they show.”

Helen’s ________ to me was, “Oh, no. You don’t have to color the butterflies like the picture. You can color them any way you ________ .”

What a ________ and powerful nugget (有用的想法) of wisdom. I colored my butterfly any color I wanted and then created a butterfly ________ . If I had copied the picture from the front of the book, it still would have been ________ , but it wouldn’t have been uniquely mine.

Perhaps we can ________ from our auto pilot way of thinking and look at some ________ in our lives differently. Helen opened my eyes to new ________ in creativity. So, with age can come wisdom, but let’s ________ the wisdom of children.