My father was a highly educated, intelligent gentleman. He could debate or discuss for hours on almost any topic and hold your 1 in the process. I thought there was nothing he wasn't 2 to do.

    A few days before my younger brother's 7th birthday, Dad planned to assemble（装配）a new  3 as a special birthday surprise. After nearly an hour of  4 the instructions, Dad was still unable to 5 the new bike together. Later he 6 the paper of instructions, 7 up his tool box, and decided to take the bike back to the local toy store and pay extra 8 to have it correctly assembled there. 9 an idea came to him, as he called out to Lovett, the quiet little man who cut our grassland.

    “Lovett, have you ever assembled a boy's bicycle?”

    As Lovett walked towards the bike, Dad handed him the 10 . Lovett handed it back to him, saying, “No, thanks. I can't read. When you can't read, you have to 11 .” Less than 15 minutes later, the new bicycle was 12  assembled, with no 13  parts remaining. Dad shook Lovett's hand, patted him on the back, thanked him, and hid the bike.

    On the night after my brother received his shiny new gift, Dad announced at the family dinner table what had happened several days earlier. He took great 14  in telling it over and over again — he used it as an example of thinking.

    He did not refer to illiteracy（文盲）, but strongly taught us to use our  15  . The joke was on my father,  16  he was able to turn it into a learning tool, and I liked him even more after that incident. I also gained a new  17  for Lovett. To me he had  18  been the old yard man who didn't 19  much, but after that day, he seemed to smile 20  , even walk taller. It's amazing what a real nod of approval can do to lift people up.

      A few years ago, an elderly woman entered my video store, along with her daughter. The daughter was displaying a serious case of 1, 2 her watch every few seconds. If she had possessed a leash(绳子), her mother would have been 3 to it as a means of pulling her along to 4 the rush of other shoppers.

      I 5 and asked if I could help her find something. The woman smiled up at me and showed me a 6 on a piece of paper. 7 rushing off to find the DVD for the woman, I asked her to  walk with me 8 I could show her where she could find it and I want to enjoy her 9 for a moment. As we walked along the back of the store, I 10 its floor plan: old television shows, action movies, cartoons, science fiction. The woman seemed glad of the unrushed “trip” and 11 conversation.

      I said to her daughter, “ 12 some advice?” “Of course not,” said the daughter. “13 her ,” I said. “When she's gone, it's the little 14 that will come back to you. Times like this. I know.” It was 15 . I still missed my mom and remembered the times when I'd used my impatience to make her 16 .

     Together they made their way toward the store's resting area. They sat there for a moment, side by side, 17 the holiday crowds. Then the daughter 18 and immediately regarded her mother lovingly. And slowly she placed her arm with 19 unaccustomed affection around her mother's shoulders and 20 guided her back into the crowd.

    I learned to do wood work when I was very young.

    I remember I made my first project—a small table when I was 9 years old. I was so 1 of it that I looked upon it as if I had created a(an) 2. It was absolutely beautiful and it had taken me six weeks to3 it. I could hardly wait to give it to Mother Winters as a(an)4. She was the head mistress of our orphanage（孤儿院）, who was always kind but 5 with us.

    As the tables were not dry from the clear coating(清漆), our woodworking teacher told us to wait a few days before taking them to our dormitories. But I was just so 6and happy that I couldn't wait I dashed out like a 7, carrying my table, smiling from ear to ear.

    When I reached the dormitory I placed the little table beside my bed. I was 8 it when Mother Winters entered. She walked over to the table. Running her hand 9 it, she noticed that it was still wet.

    “Were you 10 to bring this home?” she asked.

    “No, ma'am,” I 11 with my head down.

    She ordered me to throw the table out and so I did. After she left, I immediately opened the door to get it back. There was 12 stuck all over. I brushed and cried, but the dirt would not come off.

    I hid the table in my closet and never 13 it. However, a year later during a cleaning-up, it was discovered. Painfully, I had to give the table to Mother Henderson, my houseparent, thinking that she would 14 it away.

    Thirty years later at a reunion, I 15 that Mother Henderson was living nearby, so I drove up to see her. We talked cheerfully for long. As I was about to leave, she asked me to come down to her 16 to get something important. I followed her 17 into a dark corner. She picked something up. 18 she turned around, I could see that she was holding a little table.

    Mother Henderson kept the little table that I had given up for lost so long ago.

    Today, I look at that table with bittersweet memories but full of 19 to Mother Henderson, who kept the table for a young orphan who 20 it so much.

    When I settled in Chicago, my new city seemed so big and unfriendly. Then I had a 1problem and had to go to hospital for a2examination.

    It seemed a small3compared to the one I was about to face ,but things started to go4right from the beginning.Not having a car or5the city, I was depending on a couple of buses to get me from A  to B. 6I'd left myself plenty of time, soon it was7I was going to be late, as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that was taking me in the8direction.

    I9the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do. I looked into the eyes of a 10, who was trying to get past me11, instead of moving on,she stopped to ask if I was12. After I explained my13 to her, she pointed to a bus stop across the street, where a bus would take me back into the city to my14. Sitting there waiting, I felt15that someone had been willing to help.16, hearing a horn (喇叭) nearby, I looked up to see a car with my new friend17at me to get in. She had returned to offer me a18to the hospital.

    Such unexpected19from a passer-by was a lovely gift to receive. As I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her, she smiled and told me not to lose20, for all things are possible.

    As a banker, Chip Paillex had never planted so much until he moved to rural Pittstown, New Jersey, seven years ago. 1by farms, he quickly became interested in growing and rented a 30-by-30-foot land. One weekend, he 2tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant—enough to feed his family for the summer.

He ended up with so much 3that he couldn't give it away. Thus he founded a local food 4, and by the time he delivered his last5, he had 6120 pounds of fresh vegetables.

    The following year, with a handful of 7from his church and a memorable name “America's Grow-a-Row”, Paillex planted,8,and harvested 2,500 pounds of vegetables, all of which he donated to food banks. Later he had more volunteers, rented more land and donated more vegetables.

    Paillex also 9 local school kids. On a 10Friday morning in May, 40 third and fifth graders trooped onto a freshly plowed field, each 11with a spade. Squatting or kneeling in teams of two, they loosened the dirt, then carefully12the plants .Several rows later, they eagerly lined up to seed corn under a hot mid-morning sun. Nobody 13.

    “The 14makes kids know there are people 15, says Paillex, “and it plants the seed for giving back. When they become tomorrow's 16, it will be much more possible for them to 17 their coworkers and employees to get 18 in something like this.

    “Paillex makes people want to 19,” says Colleen Duerr, a mother of two who has signed on as an 20“Grow-a-Row” member. “And families love this. Pallex has given us a way to raise our kids with a giving heart.”

    As a child I once read an article about the Pacific Crest Trail (太平洋屋脊步道) in National Geographic. It was a 1 of two men who walked 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada with huge packs. It caught my eye, as I, too, 2 adventures in the wilderness. I've always remembered that story, but never believed I would actually 3 it. It was too far out of my comfort zone.

    But then, at the age of 42, I hiked the 88 Temples Trail through Japan. There, I experienced how 4 it could be to hike alone. What 5 me most were the fantastic mountains, grand temples and generous local people. And 6, I managed to complete the trail in six weeks without any severe injuries. For the first time, I 7 that I could achieve my dream of travelling around America one day.

    When I shared my plan with friends and colleagues, the news was welcomed with 8 reactions. From some I got enthusiastic 9. But from others there were frowns and question marks. Half a year away from my family was a 10 for me. Yet it wouldn't defeat me. After all, six months is 11 a short period in a lifetime. After having worked hard for 20 years in shiny office buildings, I felt the need for more 12 in my life. I hoped to 13 and look within, as well as explore the unfamiliar things. I understood that I needed them both. 14 John Muir once put it, "Keep close to 15… and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."