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.

The family had just moved. The young woman was feeling a little   (1)  . It was Mother’s Day－－and 800 miles separated her from her parents.

She had called them that morning, and her mother had   (2)   how colorful their backyard was   (3)   spring had arrived. Later, she told her husband how she   (4)   those lilacs (丁香花) in her parents’ yard. “I know where we can find some,” he said. “Get the   (5)   and come on.” So off they went.

Some time later, they stopped at a hill and there were lilacs all round. The young woman rushed up to the nearest   (6)   and buried her face in the flowers. Carefully, she   (7)   some. Finally, they returned to their car for the   (8)   home. The woman sat smiling, surrounded by her   (9)  .

When they were near home, she shouted “Stop,” got out quickly and   (10)   to a nearby nursing home. She went to the end of the porch (门廊), where a(n)   (11)   patient was sitting in her wheelchair, and put the flowers into her lap. The two   (12)  , bursting into laughter now and then. Later the young woman turned and ran back to her   (13)  . As the car pulled away, the woman in the wheelchair   (14)   with a smile, and held the lilacs   (15)  .

“Mom,” the kids asked, “  (16)   did you give her our flowers?” “It is Mother’s Day, and she seems so   (17)  while I have all of you. And anyone would be  (18)   by flowers.”

This satisfied the kids, but not the husband. The next day he   (19)   some young lilacs around their yard. I was the husband. Now, every May, our yard is full of lilacs. Every Mother’s Day our kids   (20)   purple lilacs. And every year I remember that smile of the lonely old woman. And that has become a lasting touching memory of my life.

Many years ago, I was working in an office in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had large _____  (1)  _____ that look out over a busy street. I was standing by one of those windows one day when a woman in a ___  (2)  ____ car looked up and made eye contact. Naturally I ____  (3)  _____. As she turned and tried to identify me, a quiet laugh_____  (4)  ______ my lips. My co-workers began taking an interest, and stood back watching the _____  (5)  ______ I received, and laughing happily. Then the stress of work was ______  (6)  _______ away.

Christmas approached, and job _____  (7)  ____ were announced. Several of my co-workers were losing their jobs, and everyone was _____  (8)  _______. While I was working a night shift, a red jacket , a box of foam (泡沫橡胶）packing and strips of tape in the corner attracted my _____  (9)  ____. They could be Santa’s jacket and beard! Then I folded a red file into a hat and tied the ______  (10)  _____ to it. With the red jaket , a Santa’s Costume appeared.

The next day I walked ____  (11)  ___down into the office in the costume. My co-workers _____  (12)  ____around me and laughed for the first time in weeks. Suddenly, my boss came to me, ____  (13)  ____, shook his head and then left.I feared____  (14)  _____. Then the phone rang.

With a bead of sweat ______  (15)  ___ my forehead, I entered the boss’ office . ____  (16)  ____, he laughed: “Thanks, Mike! It’s been hard to enjoy the Christmas season. Thanks for the laugh. I ____  (17)  ______ it.”

That evening, I stood ___  (18)  ____ by the window and waved at my fans, with my heart ____  (19)  ___ with joy. For a few minutes of that day, we’d been able to forget our _____  (20)  ______.

On 24 December, 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Köpcke got on a plane with her mother in Lima, Peru, to   (1)   to another city to meet her father.

Over the Amazon jungle, there was a   (2)  . The rain fell heavily and there was a strong wind. And then   (3)   hit the plane at 3,000 metres, and it exploded. Juliane   (4)   quickly through the air in her seat and hit the trees hard. For three hours, she was   (5)   When she woke up, her right arm was  (6)  , and her shoulder hurt badly. She was alone,   (7)   she was alive!

When Juliane was small, her father taught her how to survive in the  (8)  . She found a small river and walked slowly along   (9)  . “If I follow the river,” she thought, “I’ll   (10)   people.” The river also gave her clean water to drink. It was extremely   (11)  , but the river water kept her cool. Sometimes she had to swim in the river   (12)   it was too deep to walk in. There were crocodiles in the water but   (13)   they didn’t attack her! There were   (14)   on some trees but she didn’t eat them—she knew they were too dangerous.

Juliane walked for   (15)   days. At night she stopped to sleep because it was too dark to walk. Ten days after the   (16)  , she found a small hut by the river. There were some woodcutters in the   (17)  . They cleaned her cuts carefully and the next day, they carried her down the river, and a plane took her safely back to the city of Pucallpa.

Juliane was the only person who   (18)   the plane crash. The other 91 people, including her   (19)  , all died.

The film director, Werner Herzog, had a ticket to travel on the plane but  (20)   it. Thirty years later, he made a film called “Wings of Hope” about Juliane and her incredible story.

I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was  (1)  and when I was 14, he said, “You’re never going to be  (2)  but a failure.”

After five years of   (3)   jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best  (4)  that could have happened to me. I  (5)  I wanted to do something positive(积极的) with my life because I wanted to prove to  (6)   that what people said about me was  (7)  , especially her mother, who had said to me, “let’s  (8)   it; you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.” So I tried hard with my  (9)  and went to college. My first novel   (10)   while I was at collage.

After college I taught during the  (11)  in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a   (12)  in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of  (13)  that job to write full time when I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel  (14)   of myself——here was a working-class boy who’d  (15)  school early, now teaching at the university.

My writer career(职业)  (16)  when I discovered my own style. Now I’m rich and  (17)  , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars.  (18)   what does it mean? I  (19)   wish all the people that have put me down had    (20)  : “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”

During the winter of 1990, I was working at a construction site. It is not unusual for construction workers’ hands to become very   (1)   in winter from working with concrete and mud. Cracking open and bleeding at the finger joints, my hands were   (2)  exception that year. Stopping work   (3)  because of hurting hands is not a(n)   (4)  in the construction industry. You just grit your teeth, keep working and cause further  (5)  to your hands.

      One morning I left for work at 5:00 a.m. and  (6)  a gas station to fuel up.  (7)  I got out of my truck, I noticed a newspaper delivery van and the driver  (8)  with bales(捆) of newspapers. Taking a second look, I was  (9)  to find that the man had no forearms.   (10)   he was doing a job that would  (11)  a very physically gifted person. On my way to pay for the  (12)  , I asked him if I could help in any way. He politely  (13)  my offer.

Minutes later while I was refueling, he called, “Hey buddy, would you mind helping me tie my shoes?” I  (14)  agreed to help and he went on to explain that tying his shoes was the  (15)  thing he couldn’t do for himself.

      He expressed his  (16)  as I got back into my truck and started to drive away.

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.

A Heroic Driver

      Larry works with Transport Drivers Inc. One morning in 200, Larry was  (1)  along 165 north after delivering to one of his  (2)  . Suddenly, he saw a car with its bright lights on.  (3)  he got closer, he found  (4)  vehicle upside down on the road. One more look and he noticed  (5)  shooting out from under the  (6)  vehicle. Larry pulled over, set the brake and  (7)  the fire extinguisher (灭火器). Two good bursts from the extinguisher and the fire was put out.

The man who had his bright lights on  (8)  and told Larry he had  (9)  an emergency call. They  (10)  heard a woman’s voice coming from the wrecked (毁坏的) vehicle.  (11)  the vehicle, they saw that a woman was trying to get out of the broken window. They told her to stay  (12)  until the emergency personnel arrived,  (13)  she thought the car was going to  (14)  . Larry told her that he had already put out the fire and she should not move  (15)  she injured her neck.

Once fire and emergency people arrive, Larry and the other man  (16)  and let them go to work. Then, Larry asked the  (17)  if he was needed or  (18)  to go. They let him and the other man go.

One thing is  (19)  —Larry went above and beyond the call of duty by getting so close to the burning vehicle! His  (20)  most likely saved the woman’s life.

At my heaviest I weighed 370 pounds. I had a very poor relationship with food: I used it to   (1)   bad feelings, to make myself feel better, and to celebrate. Worried about my health, I tried many different kinds of   (2)   but nothing worked. I came to believe that I could do nothing about my   (3)  .

       When I was 50, my weight problem began to affect me   (4)  . I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with this   (5)   weight any more.

       That year, I   (6)   a seminar where we were asked to create a project that would touch the world. A seminar leader shared her   (7)   story —she had not only 125 lost pounds, but also raised $25,000 for homeless children.

         (8)   by her story, I created the As We Heal(痊愈), the World Heals project. My goal was to lose 150 pounds in one year and raise $50,000 in support of a movement founded 30 years ago to end hunger. This combination of healing myself and healing the world   (9)   me as the perfect solution.

         (10)   I began my own personal weight program, I was filled with the fear that I would run into the same difficulties that beat me before. While the fear hung over my head, there were also signs that I was headed down the right   (11)  . I sent letters to everyone I knew, telling them about my project. It worked perfectly. Donations began   (12)   in from hundreds of people.

       Of course, I also took some practical steps to lose weight. I consulted with a physician（内科医生）, I hired a fitness coach, and I began to eat small and   (13)   meals. My fund-raising focus also gave me new motivation to exercise   (14)  .

       A year later, I reached my goal: I lost 150 pounds and raised $50,000! I feel that I’ve been given a second life to devote to something that is   (15)   and enormous.