In 2012, I had just recovered from a serious illness when I received an invitation to a writer's conference in Orlando, Florida. My family persuaded me that a(n)1might be just what the doctor ordered, so off I2.

    Arriving in the Sunshine State was rather tiring, but I3to catch a taxi to my4and settle in. The next morning, I took another5to the shopping centre to buy a few souvenirs.6I went to a cafe to have lunch, but all the tables were7. Then I heard a friendly voice saying, "You can8my table."

    I gratefully sat down with the9lady and we had a happy lunch together. As the10drew to a close she asked how long I would be in Orlando. I had already told her that I hadn't11a car, and  hadn't  realized how12taking taxis would he. After a while she said, "My dear, don't use any more taxis. I'm retired and it would be my pleasure to13you wherever you wish." I told her that I couldn't put her to that14,but she brushed aside my protests(反对). She asked me where I was15and the next morning she was waiting at my apartment at the16time to take me to Disney World. She spent some time with me before leaving me to17alone. At the end of the day, she18to take me back to my accommodation. I19her money but she refused to take any.

    I'll never forget that wonderful lady who, through her20, filled my brief holiday in Florida with wonderful memories.

    A boy named Nick dialed 911 this Thanksgiving. He just wanted to give 1 to his local police office. Nick asked the police officers to 2 him and his family for their holiday dinner at their home.

    "With all the 3 calls we take on a daily basis, this one was a welcomed happy call that made all of us 4," said Monica from the police office.

    The boy admitted that he'd 5 the number soon. "I had told him to do that for 6 only." The boy's mom, Mary Ann 7.

    When two officers 8 Nick's house to thank him for his 9 offer, she said her young son began crying because he thought he was 10.

    "The policemen had to 11 my son, so did I," Ann said.

    "The officers told Nick that it was 12 to know someone that young was still thinking about them over the holiday and that they were very proud of him, " she 13.

    The officers didn't 14 eating any of the family's turkey, but they did give the boy a badge（警徽） and let him take 15 inside their police car. While he now knows that the number 911 16 be used for non-emergencies, Nick also has his 17 set on becoming a policeman when he's older.

    "It just goes to show that policemen aren't just about 18 people and putting them in prison," Monica told the local media.

    "Nick's call 19 all of our days, and the officers' surprise visit gave Nick a sweet Thanksgiving 20 that will stay with him for the rest of his life. It is a special holiday for Nick and us."

    I arrived at my school one morning. As soon as I walked in, the 1immediately felt sad and uncomfortable. I knew exactly why the mood felt this way. The people around me were 2their emotions, trying to keep their 3steady. Today was the day when our teacher would 4 and move to another school. Mr. Smith was finally saying goodbye to our school after five years'5 here.

    Mr. Smith was a(n)6 likable man. He would tell a lot of jokes during the class 7 so you would remember it. He was very easy to talk with and to have 8 with. He was cool, relaxed,9 was always friendly when you would see him. It was 10 hard not to like him.

    I felt sad and 11.I couldn't even imagine how things were going to be 12 him: all the good times I've had with him. The 13 he said that made me laugh, the countless hours of watching him play the guitar, and the warm 14 he kept on his face. These thoughts 15 my mind, and I became 16.Why did Mr. Smith have to go? This is so 17.I was lost into my thoughts.

    "Hey, are you all right?" My friend Peter 18.

    "Yeah, I'm all right. I'm just kind of sad," I 19.

    "Yeah, me too. I wish he was our teacher forever. Mr. Smith is the best," he 20.

    After suffering severe bums to her back and other pans of her body at the age of three, Sylvia, 49, had spent her life covering up her scars. Her confidence was destroyed by years of1comments. At her lowest she had considered2her own life.

    "I didn't really know what3was. I didn't realize my mental health was being affected﹣I4thought this was a5thing."

    The accident that left her6happened during a7game of hide and seek with her sister. Afterward, a life of8herself up and hiding from attention followed, until a turning point in July last year.

    Sylvia was on holiday with her mother when she9a man's camera phone following her around the hotel pool. She and her mother left for the beach, but she was struck by the10the encounter had on her mother.

    "I could see her11at my scars. She just looked so sad," Sylvia recalled.

So she started to12, calling out to her mum to make her smile.

    "I had been in such a bad place before. I was so13. I was in such a horrible place for so many years. I looked back and felt like I'd destroyed my family s lives and I thought, now is the time for me to stop."

    Sylvia felt it was time not just to make a14for herself, but to help others with disfigurements（外形的损毁）and to raise awareness.

    She15a Facebook group, Love Disfigure, and now runs swimming sessions at High bury pool in Islinton, north London, with the aim of helping increase the16of people with disfigurements or17and health conditions.

    For Sylvia, last year has been18. Having19her body, and had depression, anxiety and post﹣traumatic stress disorder（创伤后应激障碍）she now hopes her story will20others.

    Last year, I was assigned to work at an office near my mother's house.1, I stayed with her for a month. During that time, I helped her out with the housework and contributed to the2.

    After a week, I started3the groceries were running out pretty quickly.4, I began observing my mother's daily routine for two weeks. To my5, I found she would pack a paper bag full of canned goods and6every morning at about nine. She took the food to the slums(贫民窟)and distributed it to street7.

    I asked around and8my mum was popular in the area. The kids looked up to her as if she were their own mother. Then it hit me－why didn't she want to tell me about what she'd been doing? Was she9that I would stop buying the groceries if I knew the truth?

    When she got home, I told her about my discovery and10she could react, I gave her a big hug and told her she didn't need to keep it a11from me. She told me that12of the children lived with an old lady in a makeshift home while others13on the streets. For years, my mum had been helping out by14whatever food she could15.I was so moved by how16she was. She used what was17for her to help others in need. And I was so18of her.

    I19to buy groceries for my mum. But now, I always add a(n)20bag for her other children.

When I was a kid, my family didn't live a rich life. As a result, we couldn't 1 to eat out in a restaurant. My mother 2 cooked in the evening after she returned home from work.

One day, my mother had a very3 day in the office and was exhausted. After work, she went into the kitchen and started preparing supper for us. When she was frying some eggs, she 4 to concentrate on her cooking and the eggs burned. She wanted to throw them away, but eggs were 5 for a family like mine back then. So she placed them in a plate and6to eat them herself.

After the eggs were put on the table, my father looked at them for a while. But he said 7. He just smiled at my mom and then asked me how my 8 was at school. Then he started eating the eggs. He finished them 9 so that my mother and I wouldn't have to eat them.

Later that night, I heard my mom 10 to my dad for burning the eggs. And I'll never 11 what he said, "Honey, I love burned eggs."

The next day, I asked Dad 12 he really liked burned eggs. He held me in his arms and said, "Your mom had a 13 day at work yesterday and she was really tired. I didn't want to 14 her. Besides, a little bit burned egg won't hurt anyone."

My father was a very 15 man, and I learned to be such a man from him.