4 . Camel Conversation

A mother and a baby camel were lying around under a tree.

Then the baby camel asked, “Mom, _______ do camels have humps (驼峰)?”

The mother camel considered this and said, “We are desert animals and we have the humps to _______ water so we can survive with very _______ water.”

The baby camel _______ for a moment and then said, “Okay, why are our _______ long and our feet rounded?”

The mama _______, “They are meant for walking in the _______.”

The baby paused, and then asked, “Why are our eyelashes (睫毛) _______? Sometimes they get in my way.”

The mama responded, “Those long thick eyelashes _______ your eyes from the desert sand ________ the strong wind blows in the desert.”

The baby camel thought and thought. Then he said, “I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for ________ through the desert and these eyelashes protect my eyes from the desert sand. Then why are we in the ________?”

We were given all ________ skills and abilities. These special gifts are to bring about the satisfaction we all ________. That satisfaction comes in helping others.

Don’t sit around in a zoo. Use your gifts and talents to help ________. You’ll be glad of what you did.

5 . When I set out to drop my dad at the airport, it was dark and dull. It started to rain on the way. When I left the airport, the visibility wasn’t clear because of the drops of rain. It was before 6 am.

Even though the road conditions were poor, I drove at my normal speed. I was angry with the more cautious drivers ahead of me that were delaying my drive. The exit ramp (坡道) to the highway was a tight spiral (急盘旋). It is a dangerous spot in good weather and totally scary when the weather is miserable or it is dark. But I didn’t want to slow down and arrive home any later than necessary. I drove down the ramp too fast. The road was wet and my car slid, landing face down on the ramp.

I didn’t like to drive by myself at the time and had insisted on taking my husband and son with me on the trip. Thankfully, I was alone in the car. My accident was slight. In fact, I was lucky enough not to have a single scratch. I started to shake when thinking the injuries my son would have suffered had he been in the backseat of that car with no seatbelt when it rolled. After the car rolled three times, I found my mobile phone was lost in a pile of small things that were all lying in the bottom of the car. A lady was kind enough to let me borrow her mobile phone, but without the numbers pre-programmed (预编的), who could I call? I was lucky enough to remember my father’s mobile phone number, and fortunate that he hadn’t yet got on his plane.

You never know when an accident will happen. As a driver, I will keep safety in mind by obeying all traffic laws and have safe-driving habits, especially in bad weather. Insist your children always wear their seatbelts. Life is a journey and everyone should value it and enjoy the ride.

7 . Over the years, thanks to my life’s obstacles (障碍). I understood the meaning of faith and the strong will to survive. It was Hurricane Ike that made me fully _________ the beauty of our strength and a human’s motivation to _________.

Mom had a two-week vacation in summer. While we enjoyed our holiday in Southeast Texas, we didn’t realize the fact that Ike would cause months and likely years of “labor”. By September 7th, the “eyes of Texas” were watching Hurricane Ike more closely, making the typical mad rush for last-minute hurricane _________. Two days later, both oil and food were in _________ demand.

In the early hours of September 11th, some neighbors were planning to _________the storm in their homes, while others were making final preparations to get away. At first, we decided to stay. But that afternoon, the Houston-Galveston area would be on the more dangerous side of the storm. Mom and I packed some of our most _______ belongings in the car and headed for the East Texas town of Lufkin.

As Ike pushed farther inland, we _________ power in Lufkin. On Sunday, our next-door neighbor told us via cell phone that our house had remained well. Our hopes could not have been _________. But a few hours later, the neighbors reported that our brick chimney had gone, and it was sitting on our living room _________ a hole in the roof between two skylights (天窗).

We wouldn’t be allowed to return home until September l7th. I climbed upstairs, and looked toward the hole in the roof which showed a beautiful blue sky.

Without hesitation, I shouted, “Wow! A third skylight!”

My neighbors could not believe I was making jokes instead of crying, but __________ is always good medicine. It was with that joke that I knew, given time, everything would be okay.

10 . Snow had just melted off the ground that April day at our house in Regina Beach. My husband, Carl, had just cleaned up the pool in preparation for selling our _______. The year before, Carl had lost his job, and our economic situation was _______, so we had finally put our home on the _______. The thought of losing our beautiful home was almost more than I could bear.

Deep in despair(绝望), I sat _______ a job application letter for Carl. Out of the corner of my eye I could see our thirteen-month-old son, Forrest, playing near our two beloved dogs, Nana and Sasa. I hadn’t typed more than two sentences when Nana, began _______ violently at the pool and running back and forth.

I _______ to see what was happening. Suddenly, I realized Forrest was nowhere to be seen. Then to my _______, my eyes _______ Forrest’s yellow sleeper in the pool. Sasa was _______ doing her best to keep him afloat by holding on to his sleeper with her mouth. I realized that Forrest had somehow fallen into the ________.

In a split second, I dove in, lifted my precious baby out and carried him inside. But when I realized Forrest wasn’t breathing, I began to go into shock. ________, Carl, who was trained in CPR, arrived and then took over. I stood by with my heart in my ________, and after about three minutes, Forrest began to ________ again.

Things in our lives are much better now. Most importantly, almost losing Forrest —and then ________ — erased any despair I might have had about losing our home.

A house can always be replaced, but knowing we have each other is the greatest ________ of all.