When a homeless man named Marcus wandered into Abigail’s Café, begging for spare change, he didn’t get turned away. Looking at the man, the owner Abigail asked, “Why don’t you have a   (1)  ?You know nothing is given to me for free.” Marcus  (2)   that he had “a lot of crimes”. Because of his  (3)   , no one wanted to hire him, so he made money the only way he knew:  (4)   money.

Although the young owner had hit some hard times for her café, Abigail was  (5)   of hands that day and then decided to  (6)   Marcus the task of washing dishes. “His  (7)   opened wide and his smile made my   (8)   !”She wrote on Facebook.

“Hesaid he would do  (9)   to get some food.” For the past two weeks, Marcus has been on time every day for his  (10)   of working for two hours when he washes dishes. He uses the money he earns to  (11)   his own food at the restaurant,  (12)   to take it for free.

“A lot of people are saying that I’ve been a blessing for him.  (13)  , at that point I was the one who needed a blessing,” Abigail said. Her post(帖子) has earned a lot of attention with plenty of  (14)   on the Internet. Because many people have asked  (15)   they can help people like Marcus, she  (16)   a GoFundMe page. “The hope,” she said, “is to create more opportunities for Marcus  (17)   others in the community.”

Abigail shared the story, hoping that people might be moved to help a  (18)   , too. “Do something nice for whoever may not be familiar to us and don’t  (19)   them just because they go out there begging for money, for we don’t know their real   (20)   . They deserve another chance.”

“Paul must have been trying to carry his waste paper to garbage can and dropped a few pieces.” I  (1)  ,picking them up.   (2)  later I found more pieces. No quiet sighing this time. I   (3)  ,“Who is throwing garbage?” No answer. Instead, I saw more bits of paper silently floating  (4)  from upstairs. Looking up, I saw my seven-year-old son, Paul.

“Stop making a mess.” “It’s not a mess. They’re  (5)   .” “Sorry, what did you say?” I hadn’t heard him clearly.

He didn’t answer me. Paul has autism (自闭症) and  (6)  answers a question, especially when he’s   (7)  attentively on something else. He ran down the stairs. “Where are my other butterflies?” he asked,  (8)  around. Every time Paul   (9)  five or more words together, my heart says a   (10)  of thanks. But lately he seems to   (11)  that the benefits of forming complete sentences when communicating are  (12)  of the effort.

Butterflies. Of course. I rushed to  (13)  them from the garbage,  (14)  them off and handed them to my young artist. “Want to see them  (15)  again?” he asked with a shy smile. “Oh yes! They’re beautiful.” I whispered. He ran back upstairs to float his   (16)   down again. They really did look like beautiful butterflies.

That day Paul   (17)  me to look up at   (18)  instead of down at garbage. How many other masterpieces (杰作) do I miss because I’m too caught up in my   (19)  to take time to appreciate what’s right in front of me? Life is not what happens to us. It’s   (20)  we look at it. Now, I look up.

 I was 12 years old and had talked my older brother into taking me to a drive－in movie. I felt so grown up ____(1)____ with him and his friends. When I found out that one of them had brought a bottle of cheap wine in ____(2)____, which was against the rule, I persuaded my brother into buying me a bottle. It was a big mistake. The ____(3)____ hit me like a large heavy hammer. Within minutes, my ____(4)____ was buzzing and my body felt numb (麻木的). When I got home, I did my best to ____(5)____ straight and appear normal. Dad knew ____(6)____ I walked in the door that I was ____(7)____. He yelled at us for quite a while and I ____(8)____ the next day hung－over.

   That ____(9)____ did serve to teach me one thing, ____(10)____. It taught me to prefer a natural high over a(n) ____(11)____ one. I get a natural high when I watch the birds flying ____(12)____ the sunny sky. I get a natural high when I exercise my body, ___(13)____ and soul. I get a natural high when I ____(14)____ my dogs, hug my child and ____(15)____ my smile. I get a natural high from ____(16)____ the morning breeze on my face and get a natural high from every act of ____(17)____ I share.

   You can ____(18)____ your life with natural highs that lighten your heart and calm your mind. All you have to do is ____(19)____ them. May all of your natural highs bring you ____(20)___.

Chris Marlow, a minister and father of two, would say that his life prior to 2009 was good but ordinary. Then a mission trip toZimbabweturned his entire world _（1)__  upside down, and he returned to his home in North Carolina a(n) _（2)__ man.

It was on this trip that Marlow was faced with the __（3)__  of extreme poverty that showed itself determinedly in the faces of _（4)__  children begging for food. One orphaned boy, in particular, who slept on the concrete floor of an __（5)__gas station with dozens of other orphaned children, ___（6)__  the direction of Marlowˈs lifeˈs work forever.

The young boy begged Marlow to allow him to work for him _（7)__ food, as he had not eaten for days and was starving. It was an __（8)__ that Marlow could not forget as he spent the following days of the trip driving through dusty roads and desperation,_（9)__ to find a way to feed the hungry orphans.

Marlow went on to found Help One Now, a non－profit organization that __（10)__ ordinary people to help provide food, shelter, and education to poor children in Africa, Haiti, and around the world through _（11)__  acts of generosity. In 2016 he published his first book, Doing Good Is Simple, the story of his transformative experience with the reality of severe poverty, as a __（12)__  for others looking to make a positive _（13)__  in the world from right where they are.

The book does more than ___（14)__  people to do good—it puts the suggestion into action with every __（15)__ .“Early on, we decided that we would use the profits of Doing Good Is Simple to __（16)__  meals to children in our communities around the world，”Marlow explains.“Every book that is ___（17)__  will provide five meals to children in one of our communities. In the first 30 days after the bookˈs ___（18)__ ，we hit over 30，000 meals.”

Help One Now is _（19)__  working to aid Haiti in the disaster relief of Hurricane Matthew.“We encourage those interested in working with the ___（20)__to think of ways to help that fit their individual personalities and lifestyles，”he says.“And we also love to see you advocate for us.”

Who doesn't like getting cards in the mail? Every year I mail dozens of Christmas ____  (1)  __, mostly to people with whom I've been exchanging yearly ____  (2)  ___.

   One year was ____  (3)  ____. That year it seemed like everyone had decided to reject the Christmas card ____  (4)  _.

   I waited. My kids noticed.

   "Mom, didn't you (5)_______ out Christmas cards this year?" Asked my sixteen-year-old daughter.

   "Yes, of course I did. Why do you ask?"

   She pointed to a(n) ____  (5)  ____ basket on the counter. "Where are all our Christmas cards?"

   That was the big (7)____, wasn't it? It was ____  (6)  ____ the second week of December and the ____  (7)  ____ cards I'd received were from our insurance agents.

   I don't know ____  (8)  ____ changed from all the years past. One friend sent out a Facebook message to let people know that, while she was ____  (9)  ____ everyone else's Christmas cards, she wouldn't be sending out cards this year because she was too ___  (10)  ____.

   Too busy. Too busy to write cards.

   Then, not ____  (11)  ___ after Christmas, a special card arrived in the mail that caused my shrunk ____  (12)  ____ to grow three sizes that day.

   "Loved ones," it read, "I can't tell you how much we look forward to receiving your Christmas card every year. The ____  (13)  ____ are growing too fast, and we are getting old, so your yearly holiday greeting is better than any monetary(货币)____  (14)  ____. We love you and hope that you know that our ___  (15)  ___ travels miles to reach you, just as your card has traveled miles to reach us. Much love."

   My grandparents are both ____  (16)  ____ now, but I still have that card. It is the first card I put in the basket to (19)______ me that true spirit of Christmas is ____  (17)  ____, not receiving.

The Keeper of the River

An old man had been working for many years for a town．His job was to clear away natural waste from the pool water in the hills, which made up the lovely river flowing through the town nearby．Quietly and  (1)  , the old man guarded the hills,  (2)  the leaves and branches, and cleaned up the dirt that would have   (3)   and polluted the fresh flow of water．The town soon became a popular attraction for tourists．Elegant swans（天鹅）floated along the clear river and the view was so beautiful (4) words．

Years passed．One evening the town  (4)  met．As they reviewed the budget, one manˈs  (5)  caught sight of the salary  (7) _being paid to the seldom seen keeper of the river．He asked, "Who is the old man? Why do we  (6)  to employ him? No one in town ever   (7)  him．For all we know, the strange keeper of the hills isnˈt doing his job．His position isnˈt (10) _any longer．" Then they voted to(11)_ the man．

   For several weeks, nothing changed．．．

By early autumn, the trees began to   (8)  their leaves．Small branches broke off and fell into the pools of the hills,  (9)  the flow of the shining water．One afternoon, someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown  (10)   in the river．A few days later, the water was much   (11)   . Within another week, an oily something covered some sections of the water along the banks, and a terrible   (12)   was soon sensed．Swans left, and so did the   (13)   . The only thing that was now visiting the village was disease and sickness．

Quickly , the  (14)   town committee called a special meeting．Realizing their huge mistake in  (15)  , they rehired the old keeper of the river again, and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up．Swans and tourists came back again and new life returned to the small town in the Alps．

Never ignore the seeming smallness of a task, job, or life．They may all make a  (16)  .

1% chance of survival?

That day my heart was beating, faster and harder than usual, and the last thing I remembered was my friend sitting next to me and   (1)  if I was alright. I was    (2)  brought to the CCU in the nearest hospital, and the doctors    (3)  to me right away. I had a    (4)  heart attack and my chance of survival was 1%. As I was not getting out of my unconsciousness in the following two weeks, the doctors had a   (5)  with my parents. Given the very, very slim chance of my actually    (6)  , maybe it would be the best to just take me off life support and end my life now    (7)  leaving me to suffer and remain in a vegetative state for the rest of my life.

Today, I am only    (8)  that my family and friends decide not to listen to the doctors; they chose to pray and   (9)  instead. As the expenses were getting too high in the hospital, they   (10)   me home. Within 3 months,    (11)  , I got out of my unconsciousness, and could speak and communicate    (12)  I did before. But then came the next problem. My    (13)  was hurt a bit as well. I lost lots of my memory. So then, everybody I knew, had a mission. They had to make me    (14)  . My memory came back   (15)  , bits and pieces here and there. Another problem I encountered was my inability to move and    (16)  due to my immobility for a few months. So I went for physiotherapy(理疗) classes.

My full recovery came faster than    (17)  . Of course, until today, my memory has not been fully restored, and I still have pieces of my life    (18)  which are missing here and there, but I do believe I will remember what I need to remember in time. For now, I’m    (19)  as The Girl Who Lived, and I’m here today to prove that a miracle(奇迹)does    (20)  if you never ever lose hope.

After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An__  (1)  __had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great __  (2)  __ to him, so I agreed.

During the nine­mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy(肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not__  (3)  __it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me__  (4)  __I was a gold­medal power lifter, and I knew about__  (5)  __obstacles and struggling to achieve my dreams.

I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he __  (6)  __ or ask,“Why__  (7)  __？”He spoke about winning and succeeding and achieving his dreams.__  (8)  __，he knew what he was talking about. He didnˈt mention that his classmates had__  (9)  __him because he was different. He just talked about his__  (10)  __for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me.

When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and__  (11)  __out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his__  (12)  __. I told him he was more of a __  (13)  __ and knew more about success and conquering difficulties than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it__  (14)  __and handed it back to me. He said,“You are a champion. You__  (15)  __ that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”Last summer I received a __  (16)  __ from Matthewˈs parents telling me that Matthew had__  (17)  __away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:

DearDick，

Mymum said I should send you a thank­youletter for the picture you sent me. I alsowantto let you knowthat the doctors tell me that I donˈt havea__  (18)  __time to liveany more, but I still smile as much as I can.

Itold you someday that Iwouldgo to the Olympics andwina gold medal, but I knownowIwillneverget to do that.__  (19)  __，IknowIˈm a champion, and God knowsthat too. When I get to Heaven, Godwillgiveme my__  (20)  __andwhenyou get there, Iwillshowit to you. Thank you for lovingme.

                                                                                                                                                                                                Yourfriend，

                                                                                                                                                                                                Matthew

When young, I had flown hundreds of flights since graduation, but one stands out among the many. One day, I   (1)   a call light in the coach cabin and there I found a young mother   (2)   with her baby. Everything was in a mess. What’s worse, the mother, who felt nearly   (3)   about these, told me she had no more diapers(尿不湿) or other clothing   (4)   her.

　  In tears, she informed me that they had   (5)   their flight the previous night and because she had very little   (6)  , she and her son had spent the night on the airport floor. Since she hadn't   (7)  to get late for the flight, she was forced to use up most of her   (8)   and all the money she had to feed them.

　   As a mother of three daughters, I could feel her   (9)   through the hopelessness on her face. Immediately I turned to the other flight attendants and tried every   (10)  . After the young mother and her son had changed their   (11)   and the baby had gone to sleep, I sat with her,   (12)   her hand, trying to provide some support and   (13)   for the rest of the flight.

　 Soon after we   (14)  , I walked them to their next flight, which would take them to their final   (15)  ;With tears in my eyes I gave her a hug, "You have shown me the true   (16)   of a mother's love. I will never   (17)   you."

　As she   (18)   me for all I had done she said softly, "You're not the flight attendant, you're a sky angel." she   (19)  , "And these are your angel wings."

　Though I have retired, I still   (20)   the gift that the mother gave me on that special day - that we truly are all spiritual beings traveling in human.