Ann, a mother of 3 children, is a warm-hearted social worker and she has done a lot to help people1. The family's dinner conversation often turns to local poor families, and she 2 tries her best to seek help for them. This year, Ann 3 that Santa Claus would pay a special 4 to a young unemployed mother named Ashley, who was 5 two sons by herself.

    One Sunday morning, the family were joyfully having breakfast 6the phone rang, saying that the help she had requested for Ashley had 7 No Santa Claus, no presents, nothing. On hearing the news, Ann noticed the 8 disappear from her children's faces. Kinzie, the youngest one, 9 down from her chair and ran out of the kitchen room. In only a few 10 , she returned carrying her piggy bank and began to 11the coins over and over again, $3.30 in total. "Mom," she shook her head 12 , "I know it's not much. But maybe this will buy a13 for the children." Then suddenly everyone was reaching into their pockets and 14 their purses. Immediately the money — coins and bills  15 on the table. On Christmas Eve, Ann as well as Kinzie drove to Ashley's house. After Ann wished the 16 woman a merry Christmas, she began to unload the gifts from the car, 17 them to Ashley one by one and told her the whole story.

    Ashley was moved to tears 18 the words: Kinzie opened not only her piggy bank but also her19 , and my children as well as I myself would be able to do something20 for someone else in need.

    Many years ago, there was an emperor(皇帝). One day he told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and 1 as much land area as he liked, he would give him the area of land he had covered.2 enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and 3 as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could.

    He 4 riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. Even when he was 5or tired, he did not stop 6he wanted to cover as much area as possible. When he at last covered a large amount of land, he was exhausted and was 7. Then he asked himself, “Why did I 8myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only 9 a very small area to 10myself.”

    The above story is 11 to the journey of our 12. We push ourselves very hard every day to make more 13, to gain power or recognition. We neglect(疏忽，忘记) our 14, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding 15and the things we love to do. One day 16 we look back, we will 17that we don't really need that much, 18 then we cannot turn back time for what we have 19

    Life is not about making money. Life is definitely(肯定地) not about work! Work is only 20 to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life.

    I was often told that God loved me. I wanted to believe that so much.

    For nearly a 1 I was shuttled between adoptive families and group homes—14 of them. Some families were nice. Others were 2, like evils in a dark fairy tale. At the age of 12, I was finally 3, by Gay and Phil Courter, a couple with two adult sons. Gay said, "We lived for a 4, and we believe that reason is you."

    I'd been lied to by adults so many times in the past years. I wasn't sure they 5 loved me. "There will be no 6. All those parents were pretty much the same," I said to myself. I 7 to call them Mom and Dad. I was particular about the home-cooked meals Gay 8 prepared. I hid in my room as much as possible. I wanted to make them 9 so they'd show their true colors.

    One Friday night in the eighth grade, I really 10 things to the limit. A neighborhood girl had persuaded me to 11 out of the house with her to meet some boys. I put Advil(镇痛药) in my parents' drinks after dinner, 12 it would make them sleepy. Wow! I'd never seen them so 13. "Now they would surely send me back", I thought. Instead they said. "Ashley, we are family, we have nowhere to send you back to, we must 14 this like a family."

    I ran in 15 to my bedroom, where I spent the weekend. Seeing how much I'd disappointed them made me 16. No one had ever cared for me like that. I didn't deserve this 17.

    Sunday night, Gay came into my room. She 18 down and kissed my cheek. "Love you, sweetie," she said. For the first time ever, I kissed her back. "Love you too," I said. That word-love-sounded so 19, yet felt so true. I was discovering that love is what makes a(n) 20.

    Tears clouded my eyes as I stood in our washing room, holding Brett's jeans and shirt full of burn holes.

    Tired and defeated, I 1 to the floor. The clothes were just one more thing Brett had 2. He often got almost everything in the house out of 3. Many windows in our house needed repair due to his breaking 4 to steal money when he chose to live on the street. Yet none of this could 5 the emotional damage Brett had done to our once quiet home.

    Brett came to live with us when he was 12 years old. During the next few years I had dealt with Brett as 6 as possible, but inside I was shouting, "I don't want him in my house another day, Lord! I just can't 7 him!" Having wiped my tears, I continued 8 him as before.

    When Brett was nearly 18, he landed again in Juvenile Hall (少管所). After that, my husband and I had to send Brett to a boarding school for helping 9 teens.

    At the 10  ceremony, each graduate held a white rose to give to the person who had 11 the most to him or her.

    Brett spoke 12 to his parents and then spoke to me, "You did so much. You were always there. No matter what my mom and dad, I was their 13. But you, although 14 enough by me, always 15 me such love. And I want you to know I love you for it."

    16, I stood as Brett placed the white rose in my hand and hugged me 17.

    At that moment, tears 18 in my eyes again, this time not for disappointment but for 19. Although I had struggled with silent 20 toward my stepson, Brett had seen only my actions. Love is action. We may not always have positive feelings about certain people in our lives, but we can love them.

    It was 9 P.M. on a cold night in November 2015. Powell was walling home along an empty road when he noticed a person, probably in his 20s, 1 on the bridge railing (栏杆), legs hanging over the Merrimack River.

    "At first I thought he was just 2. But as I got closer, I clearly heard Tm just gonna jump." says Powell.

    "Hey, buddy, what are you doing?" Powell asked He kept his 3, standing about six feet away so as not to 4 the stranger.

    "I'm gonna jump," the guy sad.

    "His voice had 5 in it, but I could tell he didn't really want to do this," says Powell.

    Powell tried to draw his attention. "You have any 6?"

    Without 7 to look at Powell, the stranger pulled up a picture of his daughter on his cell phone. "Think about how 8 her dad at a young age will affect her," Powell suggested.

    "My heart was 9, but I stayed calm," says Powell. By doing so, he learned about the stranger's trouble.

    "I am having a 10 time," the stranger said, "I can't make any 11, I am hungry, and I can't live without heroin (海洛因).

    Powell, who by this point had 12 closer to the stranger, made him believe that he 13 if he jumped into the river. The stranger 14 turned and looked at him. Powell, now about two feet from him, held out his hand and 15 it there. To his surprise, the stranger 16 his hand and climbed down.

    Fifteen minutes later, Powell watched the police 17 the stranger away. He never did get his name, 18 does he know what became of him. But Powell will always 19 the last words the stranger said to him. 20 he climbed into the police car, he turned to Powell. "Thank you," he said. "You really are a hero to me."

    My husband and I both were working in a lonely village in northern Thailand. There were many 1, particularly around our housing.

    We 2 our house this past June. Shortly after, while we were working at the office, the 3 removed all the surrounding banana trees and the grass in order to raise the ground level — she had 4 on tearing down our house and building a new one after we left.

    She brought in tons of 5. This left our house in a kind of moat(壕沟), and when the heavy rain came, our house 6. This was upsetting, but it turned into something 7, because when the headmaster at my school became 8 of it, he got my eighth-grade class to come to help 9 up.

    The boys dug into the moat to drain the water, and built a path out to the street, 10 the girls mopped up the water inside and spread newspapers to 11 it. Before the problem was truly 12, however, we had another flood. This turned into a 13, with teachers and students again 14, and our host mother bringing lunch for everyone.

    Another time, my husband suddenly got very 15. It was going to take the 16 two hours to reach our house, 17 my co-teacher arranged for a truck from the government office to take us to meet it--this truly helped greatly by 18 two hours off the ride.

    There were many other 19 of care and kindness. This community is dear to our hearts, and there is no way we can ever 20 them. I plan to try my best to pay it forward by looking for people in need of help.