As we slowly drove down the street on that cold December evening, we spotted the porch（门廊）light. “This 1be the house." I told our "Positive Teens In Action" group with certainty. We2in front of an older home with the porch light shining. We gathered up our 3 books, walked up the steps, and4on the door. We heard a 5 voice from inside say, "Come in. The door is open." We opened the door.

    There in a rocking chair 6 an elderly woman with a big 7 on her face. "I've been8you,"she said weakly. Ruth was one of our "Meals On Wheels" stops I had9. I had phoned her and told her about it. Going along with me were the10 church members who 11 singing carols（颁歌）.

    We 12 Ruth the basket of delicious food the teens had prepared earlier that evening. Then I asked Ruth what carols she would like to 13Ruth was smiling cheerfully when she 14 singing each song.

    15we hugged Ruth good-bye, she said to me with tears in her eyes, “The day you 16 I was still in bed. l had just finished17 .I asked God if it would be possible to have some Christmas carolers come to my home and18 this year. Thank you for being the 19to my Christmas prayer."

    Wow, what an awesome 20 to have the opportunity to make Ruth quite content!

    A young man had a traffic accident and got his arms removed. He had to 1 his brother, who stayed with him for years. Except for 2 with his toes, the man could do nothing else. However, one day his brother 3 with him and went away, 4 him   heartbroken and at a loss what to do.

    5, an accident befell (降临) a girl. One night the stove in her kitchen was overturned, resulting in a fire which took her 6 away. Having 7 her sister's offer to help her, she determined to be 8. She tried 9 and soon learned to be self-reliant. “Though my wings are broken, my 10 can still fly,” she wrote in her diary.

    One day, the young man and the girl were both 11 to a TV talk-show program. The man told the hostess about his 12 future, while the girl was full of enthusiasm (热情)for life. They were both 13 to write something on a piece of paper with their toes. The boy: My14 arms are my arms. The girl: Broken wings, flying hearts.

    They had both 15 the same sufferings, but their different 16 determined the nature of their lives. Unexpected disasters can happen at any time. How you 17 the disaster is the true test of your character. If you choose to complain or escape, difficulties will 18 wherever you go. However, if you choose to be 19, difficulties will turn out to be a fortune on which new 20 will arise.

    "Mom, stop. STOP!" yelled my mom outside my bedroom. At 7 am, I 1 to her yells. It was the weekend and I wanted to sleep. 2 a loud knock on the door 3 my chance of sleeping. "Maggie, get up quickly and help with your grandmother," my mother 4 me eagerly.

    I quickly entered my grandmother's room and 5 her when we were going downstairs as she walked slowly. We 6 made it to the living room. Now, I had to get her to sit down to watch TV quietly. " I have to go to work!" she argued, 7 toward the front door. " I have to go and meet with Fran!" she 8, referring to her daughter, who lives nearly one hundred-twenty miles from here. This argument continued 9 I convinced her to sit down.

    I poured out a 10 from a medicine bottle. She hesitated, and then swallowed it down with a glass of water. We returned our 11 to the TV and soon she fell asleep. 15 minutes later, she woke from her nap, becoming 12. The rest of the family came in to greet her. She smiled at everyone, and made jokes, like a 13 person.

    My grandmother is14Alzheimer's（阿尔茨海默症）.One out of five people develops the15by age 80. Symptoms include forgetting words. They also16 to recognize friends and family members or perform17tasks like dressing themselves. As of today, Alzheimer's is too 18 to defeat, but there are treatments to alleviate（减轻）the symptoms.

    The disease affects both the19and the family members. It's20. But it's someone in love. We are willing to fight it with love, which is just as powerful.

    It was 1972, and I was in second grade. In the classroom the teacher, Ms. Boyette, was 1 aloud to us from Island of the Blue Dolphins. And we had just come to a part of the book where the main 2 was training a wild dog. I was listening, caught up in the 3 of all.

    Not far away from me, there seated a boy who always frightened or 4 others, so I was 5 of this boy. While Ms. Boyette was reading, I looked over at him, for he was someone I was in the 6 of keeping an eye on. I 7 that he was listening too, that he was engaged by the 8 , that he was leaning forward in his seat and listening with all his heart. I 9 at him, open-mouthed. I was 10 with a sudden knowledge that this boy was in fact just 11 me. He was a kid who liked a story. The boy must 12 my eyes on him, because he turned. Then something 13 happened. He smiled at me. 14, I smiled back, unafraid. We were two 15 smiling at each other.

    Why have I never forgotten this 16 moment? Why do I still 17 every detail of it? I think it's because that moment illustrates so beautifully the 18of reading out loud.

    It shows us into a safe room, where everyone involved, the reader and the listener, can have that chance to 19 each other. We humans long not just for the story, not just for the flow of language, but for the 20 that comes when words are read aloud.

    I had driven home to celebrate my 38th birthday with my mother. When I arrived, I found her 1 proudly at the kitchen table, a chocolate cake and two boxes wrapped orange ribbon (丝带)in front of her. "Happy birthday!" she said,2 at the boxes. "Open them."

    As she knows me 3 than anyone, she'd gotten me exactly what I wanted—running clothes. I 4 her and thanked her and proceeded (接着)to eat the cake.

    "Too many 5 ," I said, not really caring.

    You'll run them off tomorrow," Mom said.

Many adult children with a parent suffering from 6 memory will tell you there was one day that 7 to them that their relationship with their mother or father would be forever changed.

    For me that day8two weeks later, when I drove back for another short9. I came upon exactly the same 10 : my mom sitting at the kitchen table; a chocolate cake resting next to two 11 wrapped in curly ribbon. The ribbon was green this time. That was the only12"Happy birthday!" my mom said.

    I was totally 13 . What's going on?" I asked.

    Mom smiled. "Can't I celebrate my daughter's birthday?"

    This was no 14 . This was real life, and since my mother clearly only wanted to make me 15 , I pushed aside my fear and fulfilled my role as the 16 daughter. I hugged her, thanked her and 17 the clothes... I did not mention to her that we'd done all this two 18 ago.

    My house is her world now. My mother and I have the 19conversation roughly 10 times a day.20, I consider it a pleasure, because every minute is new for her.

    Long long time ago, in a small and distant 1, there was a place known2 the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and 3 to visit it. When he arrived, he 4 happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail 5 as fast as it could. To his great 6, he found himself staring at 1000 other 7 little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was 8 with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he 9 the House, he thought to himself: This is a10 place. I will come back and visit it often."

    In the same village, 11 little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, was determined to visit the house. He 12 climbed the stairs and 13 his head low as he looked into the door. 14 he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was 15 to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a terrible place, and I will 16 go back there again."

    All the faces in the world are 17. When you smile at the world the whole world will 18 at you, and vice verse (反之亦然). 19, it is you who can choose to be happy or to be upset. And what kinds of reflections (思考) do you see in the 20 of the people you meet?