1 . When I first met Sarah, all I noticed was her drool (口水) running from the corner of her mouth. As Mrs. Wagner pushed the wheelchair toward me, I felt _________. Why was she seated beside me?

For the entire morning, I was uneasy. _________, I nerved myself to ask Mrs. Wagner, “Mrs. Wagner, can I have my seat _________?”

She patted (拍) my shoulder _________ and said, “Natalie, Sarah needs our care. Try it.”

Why? I didn’t need a deskmate with running drool! I decided to _________ Sarah. At three o’clock, our gym teacher came and said, “Kickball time! Put on your gym shoes. ” As I bent over to tie my shoes, Sarah’s caught my attention and I _________ how it feels to never walk. My _________ felt tight.

Mrs. Wagner asked me, “Natalie, although Sarah cannot kick, she can _________ balls. Would you help her in the gym class?”

I had to _________ and push Sarah to the __________.

Firstly, Matt kicked the ball and it came to me. I __________ it to Sarah and she threw it, which just struck Mike’s heel!

“You got him out!” I __________. Sarah laughed happily. Then I laughed, too. The rest of the game was __________ and we all enjoyed ourselves.

At the end of the day, Sarah read a journal entry to us, “My first day of school went well. I __________ playing kickball. I made a nice new friend, Natalie. ”

Sarah smiled at me. I didn’t __________ her drool. What I saw was a new friend, a friend I had almost missed.

A 12-year-old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. It was a necklace with shining pearls. But the price, five dollars would buy almost a week’s groceries for his family.

Reuben couldn’t ask his father for the money. Everything his father made through fishing went to his mother, Dora, who struggled to feed and clothe her five children.

Nevertheless, he opened the shop’s door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, “Once we went to New York, my mum saw a same one. I know she liked it very much, because she fixed her eyes on it. I will buy it for her. But I don’t have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?”

“I’ll try,” the shop owner smiled. “People around here don’t usually have that kind of money to spend on such good-looking but costly things. It should keep for a while. ”

Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out. He had made up his mind to raise the five dollars and not tell anybody.

Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben had an idea. He discovered that he could collect the hessian sacks (麻袋) thrown away in the street and sell them back for five cents a piece.

Every day after school, Reuben walked down the town, collecting the hessian sacks. On the day when summer holiday began, no student was more delighted than Reuben. Now he would have more time for his “work”.

All summer long, Reuben kept on his secret task. Soon the leaves fell and the winds blew cold. Reuben wandered in the streets, diligently searching for his hessian treasures. Often, he was cold, tired and hungry, but the thought of the object in the shop window supported him.

Eventually, the time had come! It was Mothers’ Day. He poured the coins out and began to count. Then he counted again. He made it! Exactly five dollars, not a cent more, not a cent less.

Holding the money in hands tightly, Reuben headed for the shop.

Mother opened the box carefully, and a shining necklace appeared.

5 . It was Christmas Eve. Arriving home, I was greeted with a lot of unattractive mail, which _________ an otherwise neat dining room table set _________ the evening meal. The first letter was an unexpected bill, and then there was the _________ of a parking fine(罚金) to pay. I was feeling pretty _________ at this stage.

Then, from the pile, I noticed a smaller, distinctive envelope and immediately I was _________. I opened it quickly and a pretty Christmas card slid out. To my _________, it was from my three-year-old son. It says, “Merry Christmas! Daddy, you are always the best! I love you!” I was _________ to tears. What’s more, I later found out that the card had been _________ prayerfully(虔诚地)for several weeks before Christmas. And it reached my hand at the _________ time. I knew my son wrote this card with my wife’s __________, but it was just what he really felt. It is a small gift but the small thing __________ love. It has really improved our family __________.

The small gift costs only a little money and time __________ many of us forget to do it or are __________ to do it. Why not? Not only are family members __________ by the words in cards, but also the family relationship becomes more harmonious. Small gifts prove to be of great significance for inspiring people to march on their journeys in life.

6 . When 72-year-old Randy Long was cleaning out his garage not long ago, he came across some practice baseballs he used to throw around with his son and grandson.

Thinking some kids might get ________ of them, he took them to a local baseball cage, where he ________ them along with a touching note that might just bring even the strongest men to tears:

“Hope someone can use these baseballs. I found them when ________ my garage. I pitched (投球) them to my son and grandson for countless ________ . My son is now 46 years old and my grandson is 23 years old. I am 72. They have both ________ away. If you are a father, ________these times. You won’t believe how quickly they will be gone.”

________, Long’s grandson, Ethan Anderson, tweeted about his grandpa’s generous gesture. He never expected the post to go viral. The impact of the story finally hit home when the family ________ by the media, but Anderson says while his grandfather is amazed by all the attention he’s getting, he really doesn’t have much use for social media.

Anderson may be grown-up, but he fondly remembers his grandpa as a thoughtful coach who helped him ________ his true athletic potential. “When I was a kid, we would usually go a few times a week to practice in the cages,” he recalled. “Many times, I didn’t even want to go, but he always wanted me to be the best ________ I could be.”

After the story was shown on the news, Anderson was nearly swept away by the wave of ________ feedback. There are a lot of kids younger than me telling me they’ll cherish the times they have with their dads or granddads,” he told CNN, “And they won’t ________ it for granted anymore.”

“I get to go back and ________ every now and then,” he said. “I just didn’t realize that he missed ________ in the cages. Although he’s moved to Birmingham, about a two-hour drive from Long, Anderson has decided it’s time to team back up with his grandpa on a more ________ basis.