I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. The best gift I ever received was presented to me 1 a stranger. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him 2 less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed 3 way I think about people and about Christmas.

    I hate Black Friday sales. It's often a gathering of people 4 are there for many different reasons. Some are looking for one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their purpose are completely have 5 to do with the festive time of year, and can merely be summed up with one word, "Cheap!"

    It was several years ago when my wife asked me 6 her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child's bike 7 she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle（口哨）. I told my wife 8 we got a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.

    As 9 bikes began to gradually（逐渐）decrease in size, I saw my "polite" opportunity to reach my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I 10 it and suddenly felt some mild resistance（阻力）. I looked up to see one of 11 gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not the word to describe his appearance. He was wearing lots of straps of metal spiked leather（带有铆钉的皮带） around 12 arms and even his neck and he had tattoos（纹身）too.

    I started to return the box 13 he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping car. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Merry Christmas." All the way home I 14 that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all prejudice（偏见） I may have had of certain types of people. The softness of a human heart can be seen in a simple act. I will never 15 it.

    A very rich man Peter lost his sight. The 1 told him that only by doing a cornea(角膜) transplant operation could he bring his sight back. Peter 2 a lot of money for the cornea, but the time passed day after day, 3 came for that. It was all because he was too proud of his "wealth", and had done many dishonest things.

    One day, he took a walk in the park. He raised his head to 4 the long-awaited sunshine. However, he saw nothing but darkness.

    Just as Peter started feeling 5 ， someone suddenly ran into him. "Don't you have eyes? Don't you see who you hit! I'm millionaire Peter!" Peter said 6.

    The answer was from a little boy, "I'm 7, sir. I didn't notice. Please forgive(原谅) me!" Suddenly Peter changed his mind and said, "I can forgive you, but you must 8 me!"

    The boy said yes repeatedly and Peter nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Is the 9 big today?" The boy answered merrily, "Yes, it is pretty fine today, big and bright!"

    Peter smiled. He thought he could feel the sun again. He asked, "Is the park beautiful?"

    "Yes, very! The grass is green and the flowers are pretty. The little 10 are so lovely when the birds sing in them. "

    11 he was listening, Peter began to envy (嫉妒) that boy. .

    Suddenly, he 12, "God! How I envy this boy! It's unfair! Why not give me good 13?"

    "You are wrong!" a woman said to Peter. "My son is 14 just like you. He could only tell you so much because that's all I told him!" Tears suddenly 15 Peter's eyes.

    Since then, the city charity has got a lot of money every year. It is from a man named Peter.

    When I was little, one of my favorite holiday traditions was making a wish list for Santa Claus. Every year, my father helped me 1 all that I wanted. Often, I put food on the list: chocolates, candies. …One year, I even asked for my favorite 2!

    As I grew older, I no longer wrote to Santa Claus, but I never 3 making a list of the things that I most liked or wanted.

    One year, I went to China to work in a 4. In China, most people don't celebrate Christmas. 5, they celebrate Chinese New Year. In my classes, I asked my students to make lists for Santa Claus. But they 6 me. "We get lucky money at Chinese New Year, "one girl told me." That's better than gift from Santa Claus!" I nodded. Maybe she was 7!

    On Christmas Eve, my friends and I went walking in the city. 8 Christmas isn't a holiday in China, many people were out in the streets and having fun. They 9 Santa hats, ate candies and said "Merry Christmas" to us in English. They knew we were 10.

    After a few hours, my friends and I were 11 and a bit cold. "One Christmas when I was small, I wished for soup from Santa Claus, "I told my friends. They laughed.

    We went into a restaurant and sat at a table. 12, my friends cried out. "Look, Beth, your 13 is coming true!"

    I turned around. "Santa Claus" stood 14 me. Well, it was the waiter, but he was dressed in a red and-white Santa Claus suit!

    "Merry Christmas. What can I get you？"15 asked.

    "Soup! "we said in chorus(齐声).

Today was a clear day and I had a great farm trip with my friends.

We got to the farm at nine o'clock. A nice farmer called Uncle Tom welcomed us. Our first stop was the Chicken House. We helped feed(喂) the chickens. The chickens were quite friendly and it was not difficult to feed them at all.

Then Uncle Tom took us to walk around the farm. It was amazing(令人惊讶的) that there were no people but many robots doing the farm work. That was quite different from the farms that I visited before. Soon it was 11:30 and it was time to cook lunch. We were not good at cooking but we all tried our best. We cooked beef and some vegetables. They were not very delicious', but we ate them up.

After lunch, we had a short break and then we went to the Warm House. We picked and ate many big and red strawberries there. My friends took some home to share with their family, but I didn't. Because only I love strawberries in my family.

What a nice day! I think I will go to the farm again.

Grandparents called me one day. They asked me to spend my vacation with them. They lived in a village. It was quiet and cool in summer. I was very happy and thanked them. I told them to go when my summer vacation began. 

It was July 15th. My parents took me to the supermarket and we bought some delicious food for my grandparents. The next morning dad took me to the train station. It was the first time for me to have a trip by myself. But I wasn't afraid and felt relaxed. The train left at eight twenty. I looked out of the window and found it was beautiful outside. I wasn't tired at all. At three twenty in the afternoon I arrived at the station. I saw my grandpa standing outside. I got off the train and ran to him. He was happy when he saw me. His village was about two kilometers from the station. We got there by bus. There were lots of trees and flowers around it. The village looked very beautiful. 

I arrived home from work, but my mind was still busy. I was going to perform a very important experiment, but I had spent the whole day worrying about it. And I wanted to shake off my worries very much. So after dinner, I made a cup of hot chocolate, sat on my sofa, and opened a page. Almost at once, my mind left behind the experiment and went into a wonderful world different from my daily life. It was exactly what I needed.

 Growing up, I was actually never a big fan of novels. My classmates would be crazy about the latest novel, while my copy sat collecting dust on a bookcase. Instead, I would choose to read through the books about school lessons. After I started graduate school, extra reading didn't interest me at all, but I spent most of my time at school working on research papers and my mind couldn't process nonfiction(非小说类纪实作品) books at home. So I knew that I needed to find a way to enjoy reading again.

 To help me stick to it. I made a New Year's resolution: I would read two fiction books per month. The result was that I loved fiction almost at once, along with many unexpected results including ones that are good for my schoolwork.

★some of the best books I read were historical fiction books. I learned life in different countries, as well as challenges which people there faced during difficult periods in their histories. The books have helped me build sympathy and understanding, with an unexpected advantage: I' ve started to think more deeply about the different types of the scientific problems in my study and could se rve them with all my heart.