Recently, several friends came to me. They hadn’t   (1)   video games before. They had been told that video games were   (2)   . But they saw many people doing that and  (3)   that some had become millionaires because of video games. They felt very   (4)   . So they came to me and asked, “Keith, should I play video games?”

   It’s an interesting question for two   (5)   . Firstly, I write about video games for a   (6)   ; that’s my job. So what did they think I was going to say? “No, they’re a waste of   (7)  ” ? Secondly, a few years ago, people of my age   (8)   playing video games; now there are people feeling guilty that they’re not playing them.

   So should you play video games? Yes! Games have been proved to   (9)    hand-eye coordination(协作), decision making, and even vision. Games help players enjoy a   (10)   social life as some games   (11)   you to play together with others. Some may say that playing video games is a waste of time. If you’re    (12)    to watch TV for three hours a day or surf on the Internet for    (13)   important or talk with friends over the phone for hours, you cannot call video games a waste of time.

    So my   (14)   is: yes, you can play video games. But there is one important thing for you to   (15)  : just play the games that can   (16)    do good to you. So please think   (17)   about whether you should play a game or not before you start playing it.   (18)   you don’t know anything about the game, ask for others’ opinion or   (19)   on the Internet for comments. Also, don’t play too long every day. After all, for students   (20)   come first.

I do voluntary work for an organization that helps the people in need in Haiti. Recently I took my son Barrett there for a week, hoping to   (1)   him.

Before setting out, I told Barrett this trip would be tiring and   (2)  . For the first two days, he said almost nothing. I worried the trip was too   (3)   for a 17-year-old. Then on day three, as we were   (4)   over high rocky mountains, he turned to me and grinned（咧嘴笑）,“Pretty hard.”

After that there was no turning back. A five-year-old girl, wearing a dress several sizes   (5)   large and broken shoes, followed Barrett around, mesmerized（着迷）. He couldn’t stop   (6)  . Later he said   (7)  . “I wish I could speak French.” I was   (8)  －this from a boy who hated and   (9)   French classes throughout school.

Usually silent, he   (10)   Gaby, our host, and kept asking questions about the country and its people. He blossomed（活泼起来）.

  (11)   , the moment that really took   (12)   breath away occurred in a village deep in the mountains. I was   (13)   a woman villager for an article. 135 centimeters tall, she was small in figure but strong in   (14)  . Through determination, she had learned to read and write and   (15)   to become part of the leadership of the   (16)  .

Learning her story, Barrett was as   (17)   as I by this tiny woman’s achievements. His eyes were wet and there was a   (18)   of love and respect on his face. He had finally understood the importance of my work.

When leaving for home, Barrett even offered to stay   (19)   as a volunteer. My insides suddenly felt struck. This   (20)   achieved all I’d expected. Soon he will celebrate his 18th birthday. He’ll be a man.

    From a young age, I was taught to be kind to people around. My parents ____(1)____ explained to me the importance of giving generously to the less ____(2)____ So out of habit, whenever there is something I can ____(3)____, I give it to someone on the streets.

    Last week, as I left the house for work, I carried with me some ____(4)____ clothes, a handbag and some food to hand over to someone____(5)_____.

    As the car stopped at a traffic red light, I saw a girl of five or six asking for ____(6)____. I ____(7)____ her to come to me and quickly____(8)____ all the stuff I had into the handbag. As I started handing it over, she seemed ____(9)____ She looked up at me with a sweet smile on her face and asked what was in the ____(10)____. I told her there were some clothes and food for her.

    Once again she ____(11)____ me, "Can you give me some water?" It was then that I ____(12)____ her dry lips. It seemed that she had not had a ____(13)____ of water all day. I took out the water bottle that I always carry with me and ____(14)____ her to drink from it. She finished it quickly and gave me a heartwarming smile of ____(15)____.

    I was thankful that I could ____(16)____ what she really wished and realized once again that day that you don't necessarily have to make big ____(17)____ to help someone. And this incident, as well as a lot that followed,____(18)____ my belief in the simple acts of kindness and how they can make someone's day.

    The next time you want to do something ____(19)____ for someone, don't hold back, seizing the right ____(20)____, or it would be late. Go ahead and do it!

As my husband, Doug, stood on the busy New York city street trying to stop a taxi, I tried to protect my daughter from the cold December wind and rain. I put my head down to kiss her tiny face.

      (1)   and wet, my husband gave up his attempt to flag down a taxi. I knew the    (2)  _. Just after her first birthday, we were told our daughter Katie has a    (3)  brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept   (4)  . We knew Katie was running out of    (5)  _. It had taken months before we finally had a name for the   (6)  , but we were told only a few specialists in the world knew how to   (7)  it. Now, as we finally found a brilliant doctor to    (8)  our girl, we were in a strange    (9)  in the cold rain.

   Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, "Pardon me? May I offer you a(n)    (10)  ?"

    Before we could say anything, she continued, "It's really no   (11)   for me. Just get in."

    It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent, which   (12)   me up like hot soup. We simply said, "Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital, please," as we got in her car for the ride.

    "Are you going   (13)   the baby?" she asked us.

    I nodded my head, holding back my    (14)  .

    At the hospital, we    (15)  her a dozen times for the ride. As the woman hugged me, I   (16)  her face was wet with tears. She promised to    (17)  _ for us before she left.

    After three more visits to New York and two more   (18)   surgeries (手术), Katie is cured. But the    (19)  of the Irish Angel still rang as a constant reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our    (20)  days.

In 1952, my daddy traveled with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This meant he would  (1)  a lot of time away from home.

As  (2)  came near，he called my mother and   (3)   why he would not be celebrating the holiday with us. Money was tight and he didn't have a way to get back to his  (4)   Though she was   (5)  , Mother knew he was right. When she told us the news, it really  (6)   me, and I went to bed on Christmas Eve with a  (7)   heart.

When we  (8)   up on Christmas morning, Santa had conic. I still remember what gift we   (9)   that year. We were all happy with our gifts, so we went outside to play. As we were   (10)   I looked up and thought I saw my daddy in the distance I ran inside to tell Mother. She did not  (11)  me and told me not to make up stories. My mother  (12)  it just wasn't possible.  (13)   I was sure it was Daddy！I turned to go back outside when I heard familiar footsteps. Daddy was home！As I   (14)   into his arms, Daddy explained that he had tried   (15)   to get home for Christmas, but without success. At last, a group of the workers had decided to drive. But the  (16)   guy lived miles away. So Daddy started   (17)   on Christmas Eve until he arrived home. He had walked all night！

Though the  (18)  that year were wonderful, tile best gift was not found under the  (19)  . Daddy's special surprise made this my most  (20)   Christmas.

My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling   (1)   , but I always knew he was   (2)  . He never criticized us, but used   (3)  to bring out our best. He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don’t give them water, they die.” I   (4)   as a child I said something   (5)   about somebody, and my father said, “   (6)   time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best  (7)   people, I would get the best   (8)  . From then on I’ve always tried to   (9)   the principle in my life and later in running my company.

   Dad’s also always been very   (10)  . At 15, I started a magazine. It was   (11)   a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a  (12)   : stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.

   I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision,   (13)   any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad   (14)  me to go into law. And I’ve   (15)   regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist,   (16)   I didn’t pursue my   (17)   . You know what you want. Go fulfill (实现) it.”

  When I was young, I had a friend named Mark who loved to make friends. He always   (1)   how many friends he had at school. One day his grandfather said to him, “Mark, I bet you a big bag of popcorn that you don’t have as many friends as you   (2)  . I’m definitely sure many of them are   (3)   but companions.” Mark accepted the   (4)   without hesitation. However, he wasn’t sure how to test   (5)   his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandpa. The old man   (6)  , “Wait a minute.” Then the old man left, returning soon as though   (7)   something in his hands. Mark could see nothing there   (8)  .

“Take it. It’s a most special chair, which is rather hard to sit on,   (9)   it is invisible to the eyes, but if you take it to school and   (10)   to be seated on it, you will make its magic happen and you’ll be able to   (11)   who your real friends are.”

Mark, brave and   (12)  , took the chair and set off for school. At break time he asked   everyone to   (13)   a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. Having difficulty seeing it, Mark tried to sit on it and fell straight onto his   (14)  . Everyone surrounding him had pretty good laugh.

“Wait! Let me try again,” Mark said. But again, he   (15)   the seat, causing more surprised looks and a few catcalls. Mark didn’t give up and kept trying to sit on the   (16)   chair. Yet he kept falling on the ground… until, all at once, he tried again but didn’t fall. Looking around, Mark saw three of his best friends holding him up. Meanwhile, many others he had viewed   (17)   friends had done nothing but made fun of him.

And there, the show came to an end. Mark   (18)   that true friends were those who   (19)   him, and not just the companions that happened to be passing by. And someone who took   (20)   in his misfortunes was even less of a friend.

Grandma always says, “Gardening is good for the soul.” She lives in the _ _  (1)  _ _ and has a big yard with raised flowerbeds and an organic vegetable patch, _ _  (2)  _ _ , as her only granddaughter, I live in the city. I always _ _  (3)  _ _ about planting a garden in my neighborhood, but I never had the _ _  (4)  _ _ . Last year, the chance came by itself. The building across the way was torn down. The lot (一块地) _ _  (5)  _ _ untouched for months littered with garbage. When I decided to turn the _ _  (6)  _ _ lot into a community garden, I started a difficult but _ _  (7)    (8)  _ _ adventure.

At first, the difficulties I had _ _  (9)  _ _ me. I had to make phone calls to _ _  (10)  _ _ of the local 15 city offices before the city would give me _ _  (11)  _ _ permission to use the lot. Now with their permission, I put up posters in local grocery stores and buildings _ _  (12)  _ _ volunteers to help pull weeds and _ _  (13)  _ _ garbage, glass, rocks, and bricks. Only two people signed up. I ended up doing most of the _ _  (14)  _ _ myself. Not only did I have to remove tons of garbage in the lot, but I also had to use all my persuasive skills to convince a gang of kids to do their hanging out _ _  (15)  _ _ . No matter _ _  (16)  _ _ challenges I had, the rewards were far greater. _ _  (17)    (18)  _ _ I planted some flowers and trees, the place looked _ _  (19)    (20)  _ _ and cheerful. More and more people in the community _ _（18）_ _ me and wanted to help. Students in our local elementary school planted vegetables. A senior citizens’ group started a small herb garden. I’ve got to know many _ _（19）_ _  people in my community by starting this garden. Grandma was _ _（20）_ _ : gardening is good for the soul.   

The Gift of Love and Forgiveness

Each year as the holidays approach, it’s easy to become lost in the commercialism of the holidays and to forget their real meaning and purpose.   (1)  , there is meaning and purpose all around us, and sometimes we just need to take the time to look for it. We can also give the holidays meaning by what we do. It can be as   (2)   as a note, a call, or a small act ofreaching out in love that can positively   (3)   another person and bring many blessings to you.

I recently heard a story about the power of   (4)  . A therapist(治疗专家) at a   (5)   living community — let’s call her Anne — addressed the   (6)   of forgiveness in a discussion group around Thanksgiving,   (7)   that we need to let go of mistakes we have made and forgive both ourselves and those who have   (8)   us. The next day, a(n)   (9)   resident came to Anne and said she felt   (10)   during the holidays, because she had been estranged(疏远了) from her   (11)   for more than 10 years. Anne’s talk about forgiveness had touched her heart,   (12)   now, she wanted to   (13)   to them. So, Anne helped her make a card and send it to her family members.

A week later, the resident returned,   (14)   that she had not received a response to her note. But shortly after, in walked a young man, her great-nephew, whom she had not seen since he was a little boy,   (15)   by her nephew, the boy’s father. The resident was so excited to see both of them. They   (16)   each other and spent hours reconnecting. They left with a promise to stay   (17)  .

Four years ago, in that same spirit, I   (18)   a nonprofitorganization ---Wish of a Lifetime (WOL),with the goal of helping to change the lives of seniors in a meaningful and  (19)   way, by helping them   (20)   their dreams.

In our whole life, we will come across different kinds of people and things.   (1)   , our views of the world, life and value have been changing all the time. To be honest, one of my English teachers has made a great   (2)   on me.

Although she was short, old and ugly, she was talented,  (3)   and passionate(热诚的).Thus, we called her “a crazy stone”. She didnˈt mind it   (4)  ; instead, she seemed to love her   (5)  very much. In addition, she was so   (6)  with students that she knew how to raise our   (7)  and get along well with us. Therefore, we studied English well and   (8)  her.

To be honest, I am fond of listening to   (9)  told by others in my daily life. Maybe I have heard so many that it is__(  (10)  __for me to laugh. But she was a(n)__(11)__. Her jokes were always so funny, for she always led you to the scenes of them and__(12)__an interesting atmosphere. Although I_(13)__the university ten years ago, I still remember several jokes, one of which I would like to__(  (11)  __with you.

Before having an English lesson, there was a handsome boy who made a self­introduction. He said that he was able to do__(15)__and finally made a conclusion that he was rather untalented. After hearing that,Stone__(16)__the teacherˈs desk and said an old saying: “Innocence is the virtue(美德) for__(17)__”. Hearing this we all burst into laughter.

Although I met several good teachers when I was in the high school and during my college, “a crazy stone” is the best teacher in my__(18)__. It was she that made me get__(19)__in English. It was she that educated me how to fight for success and__(20)__difficulties.