1 . My faith in human nature has never been so great as it was last weekend after our family get-together in the town of Vail.

On Saturday, we all went to the market right in the middle of the town. Near the end, we all _______ at the fountain near the bridge, and the kids waded (蹚水) around in the fountain until we _______ . This is one of the busiest walking streets.

After we returned to the hotel late in the afternoon, my 7-year-old son Ponder _______ that nowhere could he find his backpack, which _______ his Gameboy and his watch. After a thorough _______ we determined that he must have left it at the fountain.

Ponder has never lost anything. So we just take for granted that he needs no guidance on managing his _______.

He was upset, not about the Gameboy, but about the watch. “But Dad,” he said, through massive _______, “they don’t make that kind of watch anymore.” We were all very sad.

Our dinner reservation was at a restaurant just on the other side of the bridge, so I _______ him that we would not only search the area around the fountain when we went back for dinner, but we would also find the police and ask them if the backpack had been _______ .

As we exited from the parking garage, we could see the fountain as we walked down the long staircase. I saw something black ________ there, but it was right next to a woman standing by the fountain, so I could not ________ what it was or if it was hers.

“See it, Dad?” Ponder shouted. “Don’t get too excited because that may not be it,” I said. But that was it. It had been five or six hours since we left the fountain, and it was still there. There was no ID in it, and it looked like someone had looked through it and then set it right out where all could ________ it.

I literally ________ when we reached it and it was his! Everyone in our party was blown away by this “miracle (奇迹)”. In my wildest ________ , I would never have imagined that this could happen nowadays.

What a charmed life, eh? I believe this was a perfect lesson for a child in losing something important. . . lose it and feel the full ________ of that loss, and then to miraculously get it back.

As Alina sat gently rocking and singing, her two-year-old son was lying on her chest (胸口). He was suffering from a serious disease. It was December 22nd, and they were staying at the hospital.

As Alina rocked, her mind was working overtime. She was worrying about money. She was working as a manager for a retail(零售) chain, and it was the busiest time of the year. Alina had already taken almost all her vacation time and knew she would not be paid for the days she was now taking off. And she had only a couple of hundred dollars in the bank.

But Alina s main concern was her son. His health had not been good. She didn' t know how she would be able to manage, working full-time and looking after him. Feeling sad, Alina felt the tears well up and spill over (溢出).

And that' s when Lorna arrived. She had been Alina s assistant.Quickly blinking (眨眼睛) back the tears, Alina welcomed her in.Lorna had come to offer some support and had brought a card signed by the office staff, about fifteen people. Alina was touched they were thinking of her during a completely crazy work week. But as she read the card, she discovered there was more. Inside the card was this note.Dear Alina. We want to help. Each person who has signed this card has donated one vacation day into your account. We know you need to spend some time with your son and don' t want you to worry about having to take time off without pay."

Even the company owner had donated a day to her. Alina was speechless and got quite choked up (哽咽). The tears held back earlier now threatened to spill over again. She was so touched by such kindness.

After Lorna left, Alina felt an inner peace and a deep gratitude. If only they could get home in time, she felt sure she could pull some sort of Christmas celebration together for her kid. Alina went to sleep that night with renewed hope.

The next day Alina was surprised by what she received from the community.

In the years following, Alina wanted to pay forward the blessings she had received.