1 . I was somewhere in Utah, trying to take a ride. It was getting dark and beginning to_________. I didn't have many clothes to protect me from the snowstorm. I'd_________in Vietnam and come home to see my dad in Minnesota. Vietnam had left me bad_________. I was in an artillery unit (炮兵部队）. Once, we accidentally hit a South Vietnamese militiaman. He died alongside his pregnant wife. I tried to_________the horrible memories with alcohol.

I'd been walking all day without_________anything. It was getting colder and I was starving to death. _______, a truck stopped before me and a voice said, "Hi! Where're you heading?” The driver was rough-looking. _______, his voice put me right at ease.

“Minnesota,” I said.

“No_________. I can take you 50 miles and then I have to turn south," he said.

After I got on the truck, he said, "I used to be in your_________. I once served in South Korea. One day I was driving drunk and__________someone. The guy lived, but he was disabled. That horrible__________made me take a long, hard look at myself." His story__________me. It seemed as if he had lived my life and was telling me I could__________.   

The driver's__________was in a small town. He__________me to take some money for a bus ticket to Minnesota. I got off and watched the truck run away until it__________into the snowy darkness.

That__________was the turning point for me. I ________drinking, went to college, found work and got married. Through the years, anytime I've felt__________, I think of that trucker. His words__________me and made me believe that great things can happen if we have a try.

2 . One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor ________ the question papers, with the text facing down as usual. ________ he handed them all out, he asked his students to ________ the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no ________, just a black dot (点) in the center of the page. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them the following:

“I want you to write what you________ there.”

The students, ________, got started on the inexplicable (令人费解的) task.

At the end of the class, the professor ________ all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, with no ________, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. After all had been ________ , the classroom was silent, the professor began to explain:

“I’m not going to grade this. I ________ wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the ________ part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot, and the same happens in our ________ . We have a white paper to observe and ________, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a ________ given to us with love and care and we always have________to celebrate: nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that ________ our livelihood and the miracles we see every day.

________, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots: the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the________ relationship with colleagues, the ________ with a friend, and etc.

The dark spots are very ________ compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds.”

3 . I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on Christmas Day. It was always_______in the emergency room on this day; so I was not expecting any patients. When I was complaining about _________ on such a beautiful festival, five people showed up at my desk—a pale woman and four small children.

"Are you all sick?" I asked in a (an)_________way because they seemed all right.

"Yes," the women answered _________ and lowered her head.

But when they started to present their problems, things got a little vague. Two of the children had headaches, _______ the headaches weren’t accompanied by the normal body language such as holding the head. Two children had earaches, but neither of them could tell me _________ ear in pain. The mother complained of a cough but seemed to be _______.

Something was wrong, but I didn’t say anything but explained that it might take a while _________a doctor could meet them. “Take your _______, please.” the mother responded. Then, I checked their charts ----no address. Suddenly I knew they were homeless and the hospital was ____________.

I looked out at the family, gathering together under by the Christmas tree, smiling and ______________with each other sweetly. Quietly, I went back to nurses’ station and told them that we had a homeless____________ in the waiting room. It was just like God sending us a ____________on Christmas Day. The nurses’ station suddenly came back to______________. All the nurses went into action, just as we did when there was a real ______________emergency. But this one was a “Christmas emergency”.

We ____________our meals for our Christmas “patients”. We also put together oranges and apples ______________presents. Usually we just tried to______________the physical needs of our patients. But today, we worked hard to exceed(超越) the needs of a family who only ______________a warm place on Christmas Day.

Later, when the family was leaving, the four-year-old came back, gave me a____________, "Thanks for being our angels today." she whispered in my ear.

4 . Jeremy Locke, 25, has his own roofing company in Bridgeport, Nova Scotia. For a couple of years before he began his _______, he would drive past the home of Jeanette MacDonald, noticing the _______ state of her roof. He was _______ —not just for the elderly woman but also for the children living with her. So Locke _______ to lend a helping hand.

The young man knocked on MacDonald's door and _______ to fix her roof for nothing, "I didn't know who the woman was, but I wanted to _______ this for her and her grandchildren," he explained to The Chronicle Herald. However, despite his kind _______ , the woman politely turned him down.

MacDonald and her _______ left an impression on Locke. He saw _______ between the woman and his own grandmother, and couldn't bear to see her in this ________ . He had also grown up without much and felt that he should use his skills to ________ .

A year after Locke set up his own roofing company, seeing that the roof was ________ in a state of disrepair, Locke returned to MacDonald's home and asked MacDonald if she wanted to enter a raffle (抽奖) his company was doing for a ________ roof. The 70-year-old woman ________ the chance, but little did she know that there was no ________ .

MacDonald's relief ________ Locke's kindness is immeasurable, "I could win $1 million but it wouldn't make me as ________ as knowing I'm getting a new roof on. Jeremy is ________something. He's a guardian angel (守护天使) sent from God."

The________ should cost about $ 9,000 in terms of materials and manpower. However, the only thing Locke wants in return is a home-cooked meal for his staff from the woman who ________ him of his grandmother.

5 . My childhood and adolescence were a joyous outpouring of energy, an endless pursuit for expression, skill, and experience. _______was only a background to the great delight of lessons in music, dance, and dramatics.

Then one night at a high school dance, a remark, not intended for my _______, injured my youthful happiness: ''That girl, what a pity she is blind. '' Blind! A(n) _______word that implied everything dark, blank and helpless. _______I turned and called out, ''Please don't feel sorry for me. I'm having lots of fun. '' _______the fun was not to last.

In college years, I began to struggle with the problem of earning a living. Part-time teaching of piano and occasional giving concerts proved only _______sources of economic support. In terms of time and effort involved, the financial return was _______.

Self-doubt and dark moods sparked within me. _______to my misery was the repeated experience of knowing my sisters and friends dating excitedly. How _______I was to my piano, ________I could dissolve my frustration, accompanied by Chopin, Brahms, and Beethoven.

Then one day, I met a girl, an army nurse, whose faith was to change my life. As our acquaintance ________into friendship, she sensed my ________. She said, “Stop knocking on closed doors. I know your opportunity will come. You're trying too hard. Why don’t you relax? And have you ever tried ________?” The idea was strange to me. I had always believed that if you wanted ________, you had to go and get it for yourself. Yet, my sincerity and hard work had yielded poor returns, so I was ________to try anything else. Self-consciously, I performed the daily practice of prayer. I said, ''God, show me the ________for which You sent me to this world. ''

In the years to follow, the answers began to arrive, satisfying ________my most optimistic expectation. One of the answers was Enchanted Hills, where my ________friend and I had the privilege of seeing blind children come alive in God’s out-of-doors. ________are the sources of pleasure and comfort I have found in friendship, and most important of all, I ________closer to God and, through Him, to immortality.

6 . Jeremy Locke, 25, has his own roofing company in Bridgeport, Nova Scotia. For a couple of years before he began his_________, he would drive past the home of Jeanette MacDonald, noticing the_________state of her roof. He was_________—not just for the elderly woman but also for the children living with her. So Locke_________to lend a helping hand.

The young man knocked on MacDonald's door and_________to fix her roof for nothing, "I didn't know who the woman was, but I wanted to_________this for her and her grandchildren," he explained to The Chronicle Herald. However, despite his kind_________, the woman politely turned him down.

MacDonald and her_________left an impression on Locke. He saw_________between the woman and his own grandmother, and couldn't bear to see her in this__________. He had also grown up without much and felt that he should use his skills to__________.

A year after Locke set up his own roofing company, seeing that the roof was__________in a state of disrepair, Locke returned to MacDonald's home and asked MacDonald if she wanted to enter a raffle (抽奖) his company was doing for a__________roof. The 70-year-old woman__________the chance, but little did she know that there was no__________.

MacDonald's relief__________Locke's kindness is immeasurable, "I could win $1 million but it wouldn't make me as__________as knowing I'm getting a new roof on. Jeremy is__________something. He's a guardian angel (守护天使) sent from God."

The__________should cost about $ 9,000 in terms of materials and manpower. However, the only thing Locke wants in return is a home-cooked meal for his staff from the woman who__________him of his grandmother.

7 . When I was a little girl, there was the magic of Mercurochrome(红药水). It was good for cuts, scratches(抓痕), or other_______. My brother and I tested and_______the powers of Mercurochrome many years ago.

It was summer and hot. Mama was not feeling well and had become_______tired. She told us that she was going to_______on her bed. Only a few minutes had passed when Ronnie_______a scratch on his knee that needed immediate_______.We tiptoed(踮脚走) into Mama’s room and asked her if we could put Mercurochrome on Ronnie’s scratch._______on her back, Mama had fallen into a deep sleep and made no answer.

We stole into the bathroom and took the Mercurochrome and_______Ronnie’s knee. Undoubtedly, he immediately began to feel better._______, we tiptoed into Mama’s room to show her that we had taken care of our scratches without__________her. But she was in sound sleep. Then we whispered that__________Mama didn’t feel well, perhaps Mercurochrome would make her feel__________.

Twenty minutes__________, we painted every scratch and every freckle(雀斑)of Mama’s skin. She had Mercurochrome__________her legs, arms and face. At Ronnie’s encouraging, we__________tried to paint her fingernails and toenails.

When Mama screamed in__________, we knew that she was awake. With all the__________, it didn’t seem at first that she was feeling better,__________she burst into laughter as she stared at her image in the mirror.

We laughed a lot the next few days. If anyone had asked us, we would have__________that Mama had been cured by the__________of Mercurochrome.

8 . The whole school was talking about the coming trip at a winter camp. And everyone was ______ , except me.

“I’ll hate it,’’ I told my parents. “I’ll get homesick. I’ll look stupid at winter sports, and everyone will ______ me.”

“You might be surprised, Bree,” said Mom. “The only way to find out is to ______ .”

“It，s what growing up is all about,” Dad added.

When ______ the camp, we were asked to share one ______ .

“I’m afraid I'll be homesick,” someone said.

I wasn’t the only one?! I began to ______ . After lunch,

we were asked to ski (滑雪）down to the field. I skied   ______ , but I still hit a piece of ice and ______ .

“Ha! Ha! ” Behind me, somebody started laughing. I ______ to see who was making fun of me. To my _______, I saw a girl in the same awkward position as I was in. “I thought I’d be bad at this, ______ I’m worse than I expected!” she said.

______ , I started laughing too. After being so ______ of falling, it was a comfort not to fear it anymore.

At dinner time, I was so happy to be talking about interesting things that I ______ to feel homesick.

The next day, I was ______ to try ski jumping first, even though I didn't want to. But when my feet left the ground, I felt I was ______ and it was wonderful.

Maybe Dad was right when he said, “You might ______ it if you give it a chance!’’

Maybe the kind of ______ Mom and Dad were talking about had more to do with my outlook than my looks. We all ______ not fitting in and failing when we try ______ things. Sometimes you’ve got to fall on your face to discover how much you’ve got in common.

9 . After working an inhuman 8-hour shift at a factory unloading (卸货) parts for cheap furniture, I got on the bus, dirty, tired and hot. I ______ that place every day looking like I worked in a coal mine. _____, I still felt a bit proud of myself as I had held this tiring job for 3months, which was extremely rare. So when I took my seat on the bus going home, I decided my ______ life would not lower my spirits today.

I was dreaming about a better and new life when I was ______ by our new passenger. She was a middle-aged woman with worn-out clothes and messy hair. She got on, aggressively and ______ pushed her way into a front seat, and then turned her glare and ______ on whoever dared to look her way.

All I could feel for this woman was ______. There was no disgust. Only pity and the familiar knowledge of being faceless, nameless, and ______ to no one. Suddenly, she turned her threatening eyes towards me and very loudly yelled, “Why you so ______ man?”

With a smile, I said, “I just came from work.” She then loudly asked if I worked in hell and broke out in laughter, so I laughed too﹣______ her and told her that was funny. Then I asked her her name as I ______ why I was so dirty. Her name was Karen.

In front of all of us on the bus that day, the power of ______ showed its beauty. In front of all of us this woman ______. Her language, her posture, and her voice, even the way she tilted (倾斜) her head when I spoke to her as a ______ changed.

As Karen was getting off the bus, she touched me ______ on the arm. With tear-filled eyes, she asked whether I’d be riding the bus the next day. I promised I ______. We waved to each other and then I got what my life had needed all along: affirmation (认可).

Everyone on the bus had been watching us and then an old woman spoke to me, “Sir, you just changed that woman with your heart. She will never forget how you ______ her. You are great.” Other passengers gave me thumbs-up signs showing their ______.

That day was the first day when I realized I am ______. People say I gave Karen something that day but actually she ______ me so much more. I now work in the field of mental health. I often tell the story of the power of kindness, and I talk about Karen and unlimited possibilities.

10 . I was in Houston a few weeks ago, and needed to be back home in Austin by the early morning the next day. So I   ______ to leave that evening. _____ , my tire blew out on the way. I   ______ a small parking lot. Then I ______ the doors and picked up my phone to call a tow truck(拖车). Soon a man   ______on my driver’s side window and asked if he could help me. From his ______ and behavior , I knew he was far more_____to rob than help me, so I ______refused and told him the tow truck was coming any time. He asked again, but again I gently shook my head. He finally said, “ Madam, you need ______. A tow truck in Houston will arrive anywhere between 45 minutes and approximately   ______ (which I knew was true), and you aren’t going anywhere until you have the tire ______.”

I looked hard, straight into his ______, and instinctively(凭直觉) saw someone different from the     ______ person he appeared to be at first glance. So, against all reasonable _______, but trusting my instincts, I got out. He looked______, but got right to work, trying to find the ______ tire. It took a while ______ it was stored under the van(车厢).

He changed the tire,______the seat to its place and said, “Thank you for letting me help you. You gave me a _______ when most people would never open the door to someone like me. Would it be okay if I gave you a hug?” When I recovered, I gave him a giant hug. I left with a new tire and a renewed   _________ in human nature.