One day when I was 13, my family was working in the fields to clear away old brush when somehow the electric fence sparked(冒火星) and1a fire. We didn't see the fire2it had blocked the way to the only gate. I3to jump over the fence to safety but the fire was all around us. I could only watch in4as the flames continued to rise. Little did I know that my father had once been a(an)5and knew what to do.6with only a pump sprayer, buckets, and his boots, he7down to the nearby pond, filled the buckets and the sprayer, and began spraying the8while my older brother threw water with the buckets. Soon the wind9 however, and with the Fire Department too far away to arrive in time, my father began to stomp(踩灭) out the flames as he moved to the10 so that my family was able to move inch by inch toward the gate.11he arrived at the gate, he jumped into the truck, rolled up the windows, and drove12the fire. Then the fire was put out, and my mother was looking at my father with her13eyes.

    After that, my father began telling us about his days as a firelighter, and my brother and I became14 asking him what other jobs he had done before he15 Well, it turned out that he had done just about16except brain surgery!

    He had been in the military as a carpenter, carpet layer, and electrician, and had built B2 bombers before being poisoned in an accident that had17him to retire. My father has a blood disorder as a result of that18 but that hasn't stopped him from being a full-time electrician.

    To all those people whose fathers have worked in the military and in other dangerous jobs, be19of them, and remember that some day their20might save your life.

    There is something graceful about a well-made hurricane lamp, especially the antique ones. Mom had affection for them.

    I can remember 1 through countless flea markets for hurricane lamps, which are 2 to keep their light lit through the 3 of moments. Mom tried hard to buy the lamps in 4, as her favorite of all the lamps had no mate.

    The spring after Mom's first 5 with cancer, we went to a local craft fair to pass the time, to keep 6. We were still waiting to hear from the doctors on the 7 of her follow-up tests.8 to search something for my mom, I bounded ahead of her and baby brother as they 9 along the tables. I didn't 10 far before something caught my eye. Standing proud on the display table sat a lamp.

I was excited, as I 11 back through the crowd to my mom. "Mom! You have to see something!" I shouted. "12. I think I'm going to get these lamps. What do you think?" She 13 so I could see them but I didn't even look at them. "You've got to see what I found first," I 14 her through the fair. When she saw the lamp, she picked up the lamp 15, running her fingers over the bowl, over the hurricane glass, and 16 it closely. "See this?" She pointed at a very small mark in the glass. "The one at home has the same mark." She smiled. It was the first time I had seen her 17 smile since the doctors first found the cancer.

    When the lamp 18 in our house, next to its mate, she cried. She went to light the lamps and sit on their glow until she could sleep. Years later, I understood her 19 for those lamps, through the darkest moments of her life. Mom was my hurricane lamp. She was inextinguishable (永不熄灭的) — through the darkest moments. She lit my way without 20. She still does.

    Many years ago at Christmas time I parked my car in the town centre on my way to the post office to post my Christmas cards. It was the last posting day for Christmas cards if they were to be 1 before Christmas.2 I came out of the car park I saw a boy who was 3 and holding his fight hand side. I 4 some bigger boys had perhaps bullied him and he was in 5. I had to go to his aid and see if I could 6.

    He told me that his sister who was a 7 had bought him a Christmas present. It was a mobile phone. He only had it days when he 8 it and cracked the screen! That's 9 he was holding his right hand side of his body—his mobile phone was in the upper right hand pocket of his coat. The little guy was extremely 10, tears rolling down his face as he told all this to me. My heart 11 for him. It was clear he 12 his present and knew that this was a lot of money for his 13 to spend on him, for nurses didn't make much money. He'd been to a phone shop and they'd told him it would be￡80 to get a new 14.

    I had to help, though I was 15 to make ends meet myself. I searched my purse and gave the boy the only￡20 I could find and made some 16 as to why I could only give him so little. I didn't want him to know it was all I had until pay day. I could not 17 pay for his phone to be repaired but I hope the 18 he received from a stranger was 19 that stayed with him when he became a man.

The Christmas cards not getting posted somehow didn't seem 20; greater issues had been addressed with a kindness stamp.

    Valerie was very worried about her dad. For some time now she had noticed he was1his hair. One day, she asked him, "Daddy, every day you have less hair, 2 is that?" Her father smiled and said, “It's the hair thief. He visits my 3during the night when I' m asleep. One by one he pulls out my hair, and there's no way to 4 him.”

    This worried Valerie, but she was 5to help her dad. That night she stayed6as long as she could. When she was 7 her dad and mom had fallen asleep, she took a hammer and went to their bedroom slowly and8.She didn't want the hair thief to 9 her. When she arrived at her father's side, she carefully inspected her father's head in order to catch the hair thief as soon as he 10 . Before long, she saw a shadow on her father's head and she11 it with the hammer

    Her father 12 a loud cry and got out of bed at once. He turned the 13on, and trembling with14, he saw Valerie waving her hammer in the air. Daddy. I 15got him. But it looks like he 16! "said Valerie. Meanwhile the mother17She burst into 18when she knew what had happened

    So Valerie's father had to explain that the hair thief didn't exist, and that losing hair is something that just happens naturally to most fathers. Valerie still 19 about her daddy, but she no longer waited for the hair thief. 20, she bought her father a very nice sleeping hat.

    During my second year at the city college, I was told that the education department was offering a "free" course, called Thinking Chess, for three credits. I 1the idea of taking the class because, after all, who doesn't want to 2 a few dollars? More than that, I'd always wanted to learn chess. And, even if I weren't 3enough about free credits, news about our 4was appealing enough to me. He was an international grandmaster, which 5 I would be learning from one of the game's 6. I could hardly wait to 7him.

    Maurice Ashley was kind and smart, a former graduate returning to teach, and this 8was no game for him: he meant business. In his introduction, he made it 9that our credits would be hard-earned. In order to 10the class, among other criteria, we had to write a paper on how we plan to 11what we would learn in class to our future professions and, 12, to our lives. I managed to get an A in that 13and learned life lessons that have served me well beyond the 14.

    Ten years after my chess class with Ashley, I'm still putting to use what he 15me: “The absolute most important 16that you learn when you play chess is how to make good 17. On every single move you have to 18a situation, process what your opponent(对手）is doing and 19the best move from among all your options." These words still ring true today in my 20as a journalist.