3 . I was deeply moved by the kindness of an elderly flower seller at Sydney’s Central Station one evening. I was feeling as cold as the chill winds ________ the steps of the workers who buried hands deep into coat pockets. In many ways, 2022 had proven a ________ year. My teenage daughter had left home for university, my job of 23 years was no more, and a creative project I’d given my all to for years had also been ________ called off. I also found out a person who I’d thought was a friend was ________ it.

A year earlier, I’d dreamt about an earthquake. In the dream, a red light flashed inside a building and then the earth began to ________. Walls collapsed and pieces of brick rained down on me as I ran into the open, feeling ________ for the people I hadn’t loved enough. ________ I was buried completely by the falling world, I reached out my hands and ________, “Abuelo, ayudame,” in my native Spanish. “Grandfather, help me!”

Now, with the very real aftershocks of a number of ________ endings, I walked into a little flower shop to buy a gift for a friend. The gentleman at the checkout looked at me and turned away for a moment, ________ with a beautiful flower. “For you. You need to smile today.” he said in a rich and nice voice, ________ me the flower with eyes full of care. It took all my strength not to ________ tears. Then he wrapped me in a ________ hug that made me want to tell him everything. ________, I just thanked him and headed for the train. How did he know? I wondered. For the first time in weeks, I felt ________.

5 . I made my way into the small restaurant in our Winnipeg hotel for breakfast. Only two other tables were occupied, one by a family with a little boy, and the boy was so _________ because sitting at the table directly behind us was a face he _________. “Mom, Mom, look! It’s Wayne Gretzky! My favourite ice hockey player!”

The other table was Wayne Gretzky, discussing important business with some gentlemen. They were speaking quietly. The little boy was eager to _________ Wayne Gretzky and get an autograph (亲笔签名). After all, this might be his only _________! But his mother just kept _________, “Honey, this is not the _________.” The poor little boy was almost _________. He kept looking at his _________—right in the same room!

Well, it was _________ not to notice what was going on. Wayne excused himself from his breakfast and went over to the little boy. He knelt down, __________ his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Wayne Gretzky. What’s your name?”

The little boy’s face totally lit up! He just couldn’t __________ what was happening. The whole __________ was thrilled. It was __________ to watch as Wayne shook hands with the little boy and then __________ his autograph on a piece of paper for the boy.

I was so __________. It made me realize that he sincerely meant all the things he has said about encouraging youngsters—and that Wayne Gretzky was as much a hero off the ice as he was on.

A new student was transferred (转学) to Jackson’s class yesterday. Jackson sat at his school desk and looked over at the new kid, whose name was Billy. He just moved here from Florida. It was his second day in class and, so far, Jackson had not talked to him. Today, Jackson was going to try to make a new friend at recess (课间休息).

When the bell rang for recess, Jackson hurried out of his seat and followed Billy outside.

“Hi Billy,” Jackson said as they walked outside. “Do you want to play basketball?”

“No. I’m not very good at basketball.”

“Do you want to play kickball?” Jackson asked.

“No. I’m not good at that either,” Billy said. Billy walked away from Jackson and sat on a big flat rock in the grassy part of the schoolyard.

Jackson stood there and wondered what to do next. He asked Billy to do two things but both times Billy said no. Maybe he didn’t like Jackson. Maybe he didn’t want to make friends. Jackson thought about playing basketball with some other kids. He looked over at Billy sitting on the rock all by himself. “It must be hard to move to a new school,” Jackson thought. So he decided to give it one more try.

Jackson remembered the cars in his pocket. “Do you like cars?” Jackson asked Billy as he walked up to him. “Sure!” Billy said with a smile. Jackson finally knew what the kid was interested in. He reached into his pocket and took out two cars. “My brother gave me these. He has tons of cars and always gives me his old ones.” He handed one of the cars to Billy. It was a Mustang, Jackson’s favorite car, and he always took it with him.

“Awesome ! I love Mustangs! ” said Billy as he rolled the car over the rock.

“It’s so kind of you to invite me to your house,” Billy added.

7 . I became a magician by accident. When I was nine years old, I learned how to make a coin disappear. I’d read The Lord of the Rings and gone into the adult section of the library to be buried in fantasy literature but young enough to still hold out hope that you might find a book of real, actual magic in the library. The book I found taught basic techniques, and I tried to practice.

At first the magic wasn’t any good. It was just a trick — a bad trick. I spent hours each day running through the secret moves in front of the mirror. I dropped the coin over and over, a thousand times in a day, and after two weeks my mom got a carpet and placed it under the mirror to muffle (消音) the sound of the coin falling again and again.

One day I made the coin disappear on the playground. We had been playing football and were standing in the field behind the school. A dozen people were watching. I showed the coin to everyone. Then it disappeared. The kids screamed.

A few years later, I staged an underwater escape in the river that flowed through the middle of the campus of the University of Iowa, where I went to school. I stood on a boat in the middle of the river wearing nothing but hiking shorts. The sky was dead and gray, and the water was cold at the surface, and colder in the depths below.

Technically, I succeeded. I jumped into the water, sank to the bottom, and escaped from the locks and chains before swimming to the surface. But it didn’t feel like a success.

8 . A few years ago, I was leaving the dog kennel(养狗场) where I worked, only to find a baby goat at the end of the driveway. The kennel’s owners are animal rescuers, and I thought someone_________him over the fence. The kid was_________nervous but stood perfectly still as I got closer.

I’m an animal_________and I’ve brought home dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and fish, but never a goat. The tiny kid was too_________for me to leave it behind. I_________him Quincy and bottle- fed him in my bathroom.

Quincy proved to be quite_________. When he was about a week old, I tapped my fingers on the floor and said “_________” I was amazed when he dropped down. I was even more amazed when he did it three times_________. A quick study, Quincy learned to lie down, bow, and turn in a circle in no time. He knows the name of everything I feed him, and even joins us for_________to the dog park.

I often take my dogs to shows where they can perform their__________. Quincy did his first show at just six weeks old. He knew only a few tricks then, but he did them perfectly and never__________or got nervous in front of the crowd. Now he’ll shake hooves, come when called, walk on a leash, wave, smile for the__________( “Say cheese!” ), and more. Quincy and my dogs perform regularly at schools, nursing homes, and charity events. Quincy can even “read” his tricks off cue cards(提示卡), which always__________the most applause(掌声).

The goat kid nobody__________turned out to be one of the smartest animals I’ve had. He’s by far the sharpest of my bunch—just don’t tell the__________!

A few years ago, the company I worked for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I’ve always loved running, so I was really happy when I found out I lived next to Central Park. This meant that every morning I could go for a run before I went to work.

Because a lot of people had told me to be careful of robbers in the park, so usually I didn’t take anything with me. How could they rob me if I didn’t have anything? But one morning, my wife gave me a S 10 bill and asked me to buy some bread on the way.

It was a beautiful morning and the park was quiet with very few people walking or jogging (慢跑) around. While I was running through the park, another jogger knocked into me. He apologized and continued running. For a while, I didn’t think too much of it. However, when I noticed the wide path where I was running, I thought was kind of strange. The warning of robbers in the park occurred to me. ”It could have been a robber!” I suddenly became alarmed, so I checked my pocket and found that the money was missing. Without thinking twice, I ran after that jogger. I finally caught up and held him by the arm. I shouted, “Give me the $10 bill! Now!” I am not usually a hot-headed (性急的) person, but I got really angry this time. I couldn’t believe the robbery was actually happening to me. Filled with anger, I shook my fist at him. This seemed to frighten him. He quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ran away as fast as he could.

I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my wife my story. “You won’t believe what happened to me,” I started with pride. She immediately stopped me, “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”

Looking at the money on the table, I stood there, shocked.

10 . When one California construction worker, Colin Blevin arrived at work at around 7 a.m on Monday morning, he noticed a car was blocking the entranceway to the construction site. “He moved the car and I pulled in,” Blevin said. “The black door was cracked open and I saw a baby.

Blevin had no idea that earlier that morning, a car with a 1-year-old had been stolen about 90 miles away while the baby’s father ran inside to order his lunch. “I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know initially the baby was in danger and there was an AMBER Alert,” Blevin said.

Even though everything appeared pretty normal, Blevin’s instincts told him something was wrong. After parking his car, a local woman walked over and confirmed his suspicions. The lady told him quietly, “Help me save this baby.” She said, “You have to save this baby. The guy tried to give it to me.” He looked into the car and there was a beautiful chunky baby looking at him. The baby was calm, clean, with a bottle on his chest.

Blevin met the man, 44-year-old Raymond Randy Gutierrez, and asked whose baby was in the car. “He said a lady gave him the car and left the baby in the car,” Blevin said. “And right sway I thought that makes no sense. The baby was well taken care of and this guy was dirty, skinny and nervous.” Blevin grabbed the baby from the car and Gutierrez ran away when he called 911. Police caught Gutierrez later that day and were able to reunite the baby with his parents.