1 . I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenage girl, and I could not bear people to look at me and think I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads. Coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to stop rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.

One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something. “I’m awfully sorry,” I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost (街灯柱). This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn’t stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to guess if the bus had arrived.

Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow (吞下) my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.

But at this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.

Asad was a 13-year-old boy who was very honest and hardworking. Recently, he had entered a new school, so he had no friends yet. On Monday morning, he was nearly late for school. The night before, his family attended his cousin’s wedding and reached home late, which was why he couldn’t get up on time as usual.

At school, Asad could not pay attention to anything and wanted the bell to ring so that he could buy something to eat. After a few hours, when the bell rang, Asad quickly opened his schoolbag to find his money, but just then he remembered that he had left for school in a hurry in the morning and forgotten to take money. He looked under his books, hoping to find some money but there was nothing.

Not knowing what to do, he walked out of the classroom and sat on a bench in front of the canteen. He saw a few of his classmates there, among them was Fahad. He was one of the richest kids in his class, but he was a very arrogant(傲慢的)boy who thought everyone else was a loser. But as Asad was new, he didn’t know much about Fahad.

When he went towards Fahad and asked if he could borrow some money for his lunch, Fahad laughed a lot and said, “I knew you were a loser, maybe a beggar?” Fahad laughed out so loud that other kids also heard and made fun of the situation. He didn’t answer Fahad, and slowly walked back towards an empty bench.

When he reached the bench, he noticed something lying near it. It was a wallet. He picked it up and recognized it as Fahad’s, as he remembered Fahad showing it to his friends and telling that his uncle bought it for him from the UK. There was quite a lot of money inside for a kid.

At first, Asad wanted to keep it a secret and punished Fahad.

Then Fahad said, “Why are you giving back?”

An elderly lady     1     lives near me keeps her garden very beautiful. It has plenty of flowers and colours. The weather is not very good here at the moment, and     2    (actual) it’s always raining. Two days ago when I     3    (drive) past this elderly lady’s house, the garden was showing signs of winter with fewer flowers. After     4    (knock) on her door, I told her I had flowers for her.

She said she couldn’t imagine she would     5    (give) flowers. I told her I was giving them to her because she worked so hard in her garden and we all got to enjoy     6    (it) beauty. She was totally     7    (surprise) . All she could say was “I don’t know     8     I should say to you.” Her name is Elizabeth. She was so excited     9    tears ran down her face as if she had won a prize.

Elizabeth told me she loved flowers, and I burst into     10    (laugh), telling her I already knew that! I also gave her a little thank-you card that reads: All your hard work in your garden brings joy to others.

7 . I was in the second year of my PhD program when a colleague asked what I would do if I had a 25th hour every day. Without much________, I said I would use it to help others. Like many graduate students, I was________with teaching, coursework,________, and some attempts at a personal life.________, I asked myself, “Do I really need a(n)________hour to help other people — or do I need to make better use of the 24 hours I have?”

A short time later, I started to________for an organization that provides________for senior citizens and people with disabilities. To my________, adding this activity to my busy life was just what I needed to________the chaos I was feeling as a first-generation international graduate student.

I was a bit________before my first ride, as I had not________much with people outside school. But my nervousness quickly calmed when I________my passenger: an old woman on her way to church. She was________to see a young international driver and was full of questions about my________. She shared with me how thankful she was to attend________and get some fresh air. She gave me her blessings.________like these and the smiles on my riders’ faces________me to continue driving.

I started to volunteer about 3 hours every weekend — time I otherwise would have wasted________or looking through social media. Sharing stories with my riders was much more________. My previously overwhelming schedule began to feel________.

8 . On a trip back from Boston, my two little guys and I stopped at a gas station. It was not until I got home that I ________ my wallet had been left there.

I tried to set aside my frustration and ________ over this and focused on taking action. First, I had to find the phone number of the gas station. Just a quick Baidu ________, right? Unluckily, the number had been recently ________ due to new ownership. So I ________ the restaurant across the street. The hostess warmly took down my ________ and had a waiter bring it to the gas station manager, who then rang me up. He told me that a regular customer had found my wallet and ________ it over to him for safekeeping. We ________ that I would drive back to the gas station the next day to ________ my wallet.

My relief that the situation was heading the right direction was ________, as was my appreciation for the ________ and thoughtfulness of others --- from the ________ who found my wallet to the restaurant hostess to the manager, who was willing to ________ me my wallet if that was     ________ for me.

At every step of the way, a generous spirit was shown, which was ________ in a world where we often ________ self-focused thinking and self-serving behavior.

Much good fortune ________ me after I left my wallet behind on that trip back from Boston---including a powerful reminder of the goodness and generosity of others. My world was ________ and made more joyful, not just by being reunited with my wallet, but by the ________ acts of others. As Marianne Williamson wrote, “________ is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

9 . Around twenty years ago I was living in New York.______ I had a lot of experience and a Master’s degree，I couldn’t find ______ work.

I was driving a school bus to make ends meet and ______ with a friend，for I had lost my flat. I had ______ five interviews with a company but they said I did not get the job.“ Why has my life become so ______？” I thought painfully.

As I pulled the bus over to ______ a little girl，she handed me an earring ______ I should keep it ______ somebody claimed (认领) it. The earring was painted black and said “BE HAPPY”．

At first I got angry. Then it hit me—I had been giving all of my ______ to what was going wrong with my ______ rather than what was right！I decided to make a ______ of fifty things I was happy with .Later，I decided to ______ more things to the list. That night there was a phone call for me from a director at a large ______.She asked me if I would give a lecture ______stress management to 200 medical workers. I said yes.

My ______ there went very well，and before long I got a well-paid job .To this day I know that it was because I changed my way of thinking that I completely changed my life.