It is a blue, cotton shirt. The shirt belonged to my 　(1)　 David. On his birthday before he left college, his mother bought him the shirt. 　(2)　 I gave him free use of my bike, he let me wear the shirt, occasionally. 

We shared the shirt, and as days 　(3)　, we shared more of our 　(4)　. David was in school by scholarships and grants (助学金). He 　(5)　 to keep his scholarships, because without even one of them, he would have to 　(6)　 and back on the farm. And in David's home, there was always only enough money to cover the expense. His father died when he was twelve. 

　(7) David also talked about his father. Usually it was late at night, in the dorm just before bed, and the 　(8)　 always ended with tears that flowed from a river of memories and 　(9)　: memories of a father suffering from 　(10)　 at a time when his son was just a teenager; longings for opportunities to cure his father's disease. Because disease does not understand the 　(11)　 between father and son. Nor does(do) 　(12)　 care. 

Time passed and we had to say 　(13)　 to each other. After lots of hugging, and words of thanks, we eventually 　(14)　. It was on my 　(15)　 trip upstairs to our dorm that I saw a package on my bed. I 　(16)　 the wrapping paper. It was the blue cotton shirt in a box with a card 　(17)　 to it, reading: 

Thomas, I can't thank you enough for your 　(18)　. This has been tough years and you have been 　(19)　 a friend. Thank you for listening. Thanks for everything. 

David

I pushed aside the note, with 　(20)　 tears dropping on the shirt. 

I still have the shirt today, though it has faded and wrinkled with age.

I felt gloomy (沮丧的)the other day.The weather had been dark and rainy，and I just didnˈt feel so __  (1)  __.

As I was sitting at my desk，I __  (2)  __it was the birthday of a dear long-time friend—a single，middle-aged woman who has devoted the past 30 years to nursing and loves her __  (3)  __.Knowing that she doesnˈt have family in town，I __  (4)  __to give her a call.Sure enough，she was on B-shift，__  (5)  __to work late into the evening，and wouldnˈt have much of a birthday this year.As always，__  (6)  __，she sounded cheerful and was happy that I __  (7)  __.

After I hung up，I couldnˈt __  (8)  __ the feeling that she would really appreciate a little attention on her special day.__  (9)  __feeling a little gloomy myself，I tried to put it out of my __  (10)  __，but as the day passed I couldnˈt shake the thought.I __  (11)  __gave in，and that evening set off to the hospital with a card，a cheese cake，and some balloons.My friendˈs grateful smile and joyful surprise __  (12)  __me Iˈd done the right thing and were a generous __  (13)  __ for the little effort it had taken.

When I got home，I realized that not only had I cheered up a __  (14)  __friend on her birthday，but my own gloomy feelings had also __  (15)  __.Making her day had made my own!

Thatˈs true __  (16)  __we take the time and make the effort to do something for someone else.Itˈs like the little saying，“Loving kindness is twice blessed；it blesses him who gives，and him who __  (17)  __.”

Cheering up people on their birthdays isnˈt the only thing we can do to make their day.Life constantly presents us with __  (18)  __to take an extra step or do a kind deed that will make a __  (19)  __to someone.And the __  (20)  __thing is that as we do，it changes things for the better for us too.

It was at a concert that I happened to find David.He was holding his head at a strange __  (1)  __as if he were staring down at something.Then the truth struck me.He was blind.The last thing he remembers __  (2)  __was his daughter being born.Then the world went __  (3)  __.

Bad luck is no stranger to this 44-year-old man.His mother died of cancer，and his weak father had to __  (4)  __11-year-old David to the care of the state.

Things seemed always to go from bad to __  (5)  __.Two years ago，his beloved guide dog pulled him out of the __  (6)  __of a truck.David was not hurt.The dog __  (7)  __.

But David does not feel sorry for himself.“These are just little obstacles (障碍)you have to __  (8)  __in your life，”he said.

He has to make a daily two-hour trip to his working place—the X-ray department of an__  (9)  __ room.

It was a hard job to __  (10)  __.Before he got it，David was determined to escape the workshop run by the Lighthouse，an organization __  (11)  __ to help blind people.He wanted a job of developing X-ray film，something __  (12)  __，not just he，must do in the dark，including people with __  (13)  __eyesight.The Lighthouse called many hospitals，with no result，__  (14)  __they offered to pay his first three monthsˈ salary.

David works alone in a dark room that __  (15)  __ of chemicals.He cannot wear gloves.__  (16)  __，he could not feel.Since this is an emergency room，lives can be put __  (17)  __or out of danger.His directress says she trusts him 100 percent.

He makes $ 20,000 a year.But his motivation(动机)goes __  (18)  __money.“By working，I can actualize my own __  (19)  __.Thatˈs the most important！”he said.

What a shining example for us to __  (20)  __！

In our life，we have rarely expressed our gratitude to the ones who have lived those years with us.In fact，we donˈt have to wait for  (1)  to thank the ones closest to us—the ones so easily  (2)  .If I have learned anything about giving thanks，it is this：Give it now!

  (3)  your feeling of appreciation is alive and sincere，act on it.Saying thanks is such an easy way to  (4)  the worldˈs happiness.

Saying thanks not only  (5)  someone elseˈs world，but brightens yours.If youˈre feeling  (6)  ，unloved or unappreciated，try reaching out to others.It may be just the  (7)  you need.

Of course，there are times when you canˈt express gratitude  (8)  .In that case donˈt let embarrassment sink you into silence—speak up the first time you have the chance.

Once a young minister，Mark Brian，was sent to a  (9)  town of Kwakiutl Indians in British Columbia.The Indians，he had been told，did not have a  (10)  for thank-you.But Brian soon found that these people had   (11)  generosity.Instead of saying thanks，it is their custom to  (12)  every favor with a favor of their own，and every kindness with an equal or superior  (13)  .They do their thanks.

I wonder if we had words in our   (14)   for thankyou.Would we do a better job of  (15)   our gratitude？Would we be more responsive，more sensitive，more caring?

Thankfulness sets in motion a chain reaction that  (16)  people all around us—including ourselves.For no one ever  (17)  the tune of a grateful heart.Its message is   (18)  ；its words go  (19)  all earthly barriers；its music   (20)   the heavens.

The Depression was still going on, but I was in good spirits. I was going to graduate from elementary school, yet my mother   __  (1)  __   dressed me in shorts. Most of my classmates had given up   __  (2)  __   shorts. For the graduation ceremony, all the boys were   __  (3)  __   to dress the same way—white shirts and dark-blue wool pants.

I waited a week before I told my mother. I   __  (4)  __   Iˈd better break the news to her as gently as I could.

“Mum，” I said, “about   __  (5)  __   …”

“Yes？” she answered.

“Theyˈre going to give me the first-prize medal，” I said.

She looked   __  (6)  _   her shoulder at me and smiled. “Thatˈs wonderful, babe. Dad and I will both be there, and weˈll be the __  (7)  __   parents in the place.”

She must have seen by the look on my face that   __  (8)  __   was wrong. She turned her back and said, “So？”

“So, I have to get   __  (9)  __   pants，” I said.

“Babe, we donˈt have the   __  (10)  __   for new pants right now，” she said very quietly. “You know that.”

“OK，” I burst out. “Then I wonˈt go to graduation. Plus, Iˈm   __  (11)  __   away from home！” 

The following Saturday, when my mother said, “Letˈs go shopping，” I knew she had   __  (12)  __   the problem. We walked a short way and stopped at a place I had never   __  (13)  __   before. My mother said, “ __  (14)  __   here.” She entered a storefront that looked like a   __  (15)  __. She came out about ten minutes later, and we went to the pants store. I was holding the new pants   __  (16)  __  under my arm when my mother went to pay for them. I saw her   __  (17)  __   a tiny brown envelope from her purse. There were four   __  (18)  __   new one-dollar bills inside.

About halfway home, I   __  (19)  __   down at my motherˈs hands. It was then that I saw the wedding ring that had always circled her ring finger was   __  (20)  __   there.

For most people, running one full marathon is quite challenging, but for 37-year-old Rob Young, it is merely a short warm-up. This British man 　(1)　370 marathons last year, which meant that he ran 　(2)　one marathon per day. 

It all 　(3)　as a bet with his wife on a Sunday morning when they watched the TV coverage of the London Marathon in April 2014. In fact, Young had been 　(4)　 to sitting comfortably on a sofa watching TV rather than going out for a walk. Obviously, he wasn't very interested in running at the time, and he even considered it 　(5)　. 

When his wife 　(6)　 him by saying that he couldn't run marathons at all, even if he tired. Young felt this had 　(7)　 him badly, so he replied that he would 　(8)　her some money if he couldn't run. 

The next morning, he 　(9)　at 3:30 am, printed out the route, and completed one marathon before work. He felt so good that he 　(10)　doing it every day, and had run the 　(11)　 equivalent to 10 marathons during that week. 

Before long, Young was addicted to running. He 　(12) all of last year's 365 days running marathons. Since January, 2015, Young has completed several　(13)　. He won the Trans-American Footrace, a 6-month long competition, with a 　(14)　 time of 322 hours and 10 minutes. He 　(15)　the world record for the world's longest run without sleep. 

Having 　(16)　so much already, Young now hopes to use his running to test the 　(17)　 of human endurance. “I'd like to find something that's challenging,” he said. “I'd like to 　(18)　the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. There is only a certain time of the year when people have　(19)　 to do it, but I will try.” 

He added, “For me, nothing is 　(20)　. It's only a test.” 

When I was a child of seven years old，my aunt filled my pocket with some money.Being __  (1)  __in the sound of a whistle in the hands of another boy，I went at once to a shop and __  (2)  __all my money for one.I then came home，and __  (3)  __all over the house.I was much pleased with my whistle，but __  (4)  __all the family.

When I told my brothers and sisters the __  (5)  __ I had made，they said I had given four times as much as the whistle was __  (6)  __.They laughed at me so that I cried.Thinking about the matter gave me more __  (7)  __than pleasure that the whistle gave me.

That，__  (8)  __，influenced me afterwards.Often，when I was __  (9)  __ to buy __  (10)  __I did not need，I said to myself，“Donˈt give much for the whistle.”Then I __  (11)  __ my money.__  (12)  __I grew up and __  (13)  __ the actions of people，I found many people who gave “too much for the whistle”．

If I knew a person who gave up __  (14)  __living，all the pleasure of doing good to __  (15)  __，and the joys of friendship，for the sake of gathering wealth，I said，“Poor man，you __  (16)  __too dear for the whistle.”

If I saw someone who had expensive cars and large houses，__  (17)  __which he had run into debt，I said，“Alas！He has paid dear for his whistle.”

__  (18)  __，the miseries of mankind are __  (19)  __due to their __  (20)  __a false value on things—giving too much for their whistles.

One day I was driven by a rainstorm to take shelter in a little hut by the roadside, which was 　(1)　 by a shoemaker as his workshop. The man and his son were 　(2)　 at their work, and 　(3)　 saying, “Good day,” we began to talk together. 

Before I had been with them long, the old man 　(4)　 his son out to get something that he 　(5) for his work. The boy was only five minutes 　(6)　, but it was too 　(7)　 for the active old shoemaker. He became 　(8)　, moved about the room, and 　(9) took up a piece of leather and fell to 　(10)　 it, saying, “You know, sir, it will never do to be idle.” 

As soon as the rain was over, I went on my way home, 　(11)　 what I had heard—“It will never do to be idle.” Some people are 　(12) idle; others are idle only now and then. I was one of the latter class. I could work only 　(13)　. So the old man's words came home to me. They awakened my 　(14), and I begin to feel how wrong it was to (15)　 so much of my life in idleness. 

I had often heard and read that 　(16)　 is a very great evil, but now I began to see that it 　(17)　 far more sorrow than people are 　(18). It is the man who is doing nothing that is drawn into disaster, while the busy man is 　(19)　. It is only the idle that are unhappy. So I made up my mind to 　(20)　 the shoemaker's rule for the rest of my life. 

After shopping we walked back to the parking lot.A car was  (1)  next to mine.The  (2)  was small and the traffic was  (3)  ，so it was   (4)  for me to pull out.The kids were just  (5)  excitedly in the back seat.

As I pulled out I heard a loud crunch.When I got out doing a   (6)  ，I saw the damage my car had caused.

A woman got out of the car to survey the  (7)  .

“Iˈm so sorry！I thought the car...The kids...”I said.

She  (8)  ，“Merry Christmas.”

My  (9)  look made her laugh.“I said，Merry Christmas.Donˈt worry about the car.Iˈm fine and  (10)  are you.”

Overcome with relief，I hugged the woman.The woman hugged back.  (11)   Iˈd never know her name，I would  (12)  remember her smile.

Days passed.One afternoon，Frankie seemed  (13)  when he came home from school.

“Whatˈs  (14)  ？” I asked.

“Mommy，some kids at school said Santa wasnˈt real.They said that  (15)  put the gifts under the tree.Is that true？”

“When children are very little，itˈs hard for them to understand the Christmas Spirit，so we say that Santa is responsible for Christmas.Parents  (16)  their children to understand the Christmas Spirit.”

“Whatˈs the Christmas Spirit？” Frankie asked.

“The Christmas Spirit is  (17)  Do you remember the lady at the parking lot？”

Frankie smiled，“She was so nice！I see.When people ask if I  (18)   Santa，I say yes.I believe that there is the Christmas Spirit that   (19)  each house at Christmas.I want to keep the Christmas Spirit in my  (20)  all year long.Just like the lady at the parking lot.”