In 1973，I was teaching elementary school．Each day，27 kids
(1) "The Thinking Laboratory．"That was the
(2) students voted for after deciding that"Room 104"was too
(3) ．
Freddy was an average
(4) ，but not an average person．He had the rare balance of fun and compassion（同情）．He would
(5) the loudest over fun and be the saddest over anyone's
(6) ．
Before the school year
(7) ，I gave the kids a special
(8) ，T-shirts with the words"Verbs Are Your
(9) "on them．I had advised the kids that while verbs（动词）may seem dull，most of the
(10) things they do throughout their lives will be verbs．
Through the years，I'd run into former students who would provide
(11) on old classmates．I learned that Freddy did several jobs after his
(12) from high school and remained the same
(13) person I met forty years before．Once，while working overnight at a store，he let a homeless man
(14) in his truck．Another time，he
(15) a friend money to buy a house．
Just last year，I was
(16) a workshop when someone knocked at the classroom door．A woman
(17) the interruption and handed me an envelope．I stopped teaching and
(18) it up．Inside were the"Verbs"shirt and a
(19) from Freddy's monther．"Freddy passed away on Thanksgiving．He wanted you to have this．"
I told the story to the class．As sad as it was，I couldn't help smiling．Although Freddy was taken from us，we all
(20) something from Freddy．