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.

    On a cold winter evening, I was walking home, tired and hungry, when suddenly came screams(呼喊声) from behind some tress.1 ， I slowed down to listen, and 2 that what I was hearing were the sounds of a fight. A woman was being3not far from where I stood.

    “Should I go to help her？” I thought. I was worried about my own 4 ， and I regretted having suddenly decided to take a new way home that night.“What if I am5too? Shouldn't I just6to the nearest phone and call the police？” But already the girl's7were growing weaker. I knew it was time for me to act fast because I could not8the life of this unknown woman，9 it meant risking my own life.

    I am not a 10 man. I didn't know where I found the11and physical strength(体力), but once I had finally12to help the girl, I became suddenly changed. I ran behind the bushes and 13the attacker off the woman. Struggling, we fell to the ground, where we fought for a few minutes 14the man jumped up and ran away.

    15 heavily，I stood up and came up to the girl, who was crying behind a tree. In the 16 ， I could not see her clearly, but I could certainly17her shock. Not wanting to frighten her any further, at first I spoke to her from a distance.

    “It's OK，” I said 18.“The man ran away. You're safe now.”There was a long stop and then I heard the words, said in both wonder and 19“Dad, is that you？” And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest 20 ， Katherine.

    When I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter, I witnessed a car accident. Someone and I1to get the elderly lady who2the accident out of the car. It was during the summer months and I was one of the few3staff on. I stayed with her4the ambulance came but I couldn't travel with her as there was no one else in my department to5the class.

    My mother-in-law,6years later, was collecting donations about a 10-minute walk from where the7occurred. She left calling cards saying she would be back to houses where no one was in. When she8to a house an elderly lady was really9of talking to her. She questioned my mother-in-law and asked if she had any10called Rose-Marie.

    The lady had made a11with my surname (姓) she had remembered from all those years ago and my mother-in-law' surname. The lady12the story to my mother-in-law and told her of my13. She also said she had tried to14me down and even put a notice in the petrol station nearby asking anyone who15me to get in touch with her! She had also been16about me as I was pregnant.

My mother-in-law was17to tell her my daughter was healthy and 10 years old. It is a really beautiful kindness to me to18remember me after all that time and to even remember my19. Her kindness touched me more than20could possibly touch her.

    Mr. West wanted to buy his wife a Christmas present, but he was always very 1, so he was never able to find time to go to the shops. At last, when it was the week 2Christmas, and the shops were very crowded, he decided that he could not 3 any longer. He worked in an office, and 4 had lunch in a restaurant, but one day he bought some sandwiches, ate them 5 and went out to a big shop near his 6during his lunch hour.

    The shop was full of women, who were also buying 7during their lunch hour. Mr. West stood 8at the edge of a crowd of 9 who were pushing forward to try to get to the people who were 10necklaces and earrings. He tried to move forwards slowly, taking his turn with the others, but more and more women were 11into the shop the whole time and pushing selfishly 12him. After half an hour, he was just as 13 from the people who were selling the necklaces as he had been when he came in, and his lunch hour was coming to 14, so he decided to change his 15of doing things: he put his head down, gave a sudden loud shout and started to 16 his way towards the 17 of the crowd as hard as he could. The women around him became very 18 when they saw what he was doing,  and began to scold(责备)him. "Why can't you behave like a 19?" they shouted.

    "Ladies," he answered them, "I have been behaving like a gentleman for the past half hour, and it has got me 20, so now I am starting to behave like a lady!"

    It was our first Thanksgiving in the new house and I wanted everything to be perfect. But my plan for everyone to do some preparation work had been1by my husband's business trip. Even worse, a project for me that week had2two days of planned vacation. By Wednesday, my task of a table with fresh flowers,3drinking glasses and various homemade desserts had already4, I just hoped that I'd find a clean tablecloth and eight5forks.

    In my perfect Thanksgiving, there wouldn't be any orange in my salad because It hadn't made the grocery list. There would be no perfect family photos to record that day because I hadn't got the broken camera6. Someone had brought home the wrong toilet paper, which was the last straw that made me7.

    I don't remember what my son asked me as he was doing some cleaning,8I do remember twisting into that mean-and-tight mom-face before making an9. This combination of noise and anger is a universal signal to kids everywhere that they might as well10me. But he didn't.

    Instead of disappearing from view, my second-grader turned11the cleaning machine and walked across the room to12me. He never said a word. He just13his arms around me, making me feel14of myself until today.

It turned out a(n)15Thanksgiving. The people I loved gathered around my table and dined just one choice of the pie. My dad used a mismatched fork without16. My daughter drew a picture of us where everyone smiled.

    My son took a(n)17to teach me that sometimes we need a hug most when we are18huggable. This is the best gift you can give: One size19all and no one ever minds if you20.

I went to a group activity, "Sensitivity Sunday", which was to make us more1the problems faced by disabled people. We were asked to "2 a disability" for several hours one Sunday. Some members, 3, chose to use wheelchairs. Others wore sound­blocking earplugs (耳塞) or blindfolds (眼罩).

Just sitting in the wheelchair was a4experience. I had never considered before how5it would be to use one. As soon as I sat down, my6 made the chair begin to roll. Its wheels were not7. Then I wondered where to put my   8. It took me quite a while to get the metal footrest into9. I took my first uneasy look at what was to be my only means of 10for several hours. For disabled people, "adopting a wheelchair" is not a temporary (临时的)    11.

I tried to find a12position and thought it might be restful, 13 kind of nice, to be14 around for a while. Looking around, I15 I would have to handle the thing myself! My hands started to ache as I16the heavy metal wheels. I came to know that controlling the17 of the wheelchair was not going to be a (n)18task.

My wheelchair experiment was soon 19. It made a deep impression on me. A few hours of "disability" gave me only a taste of the20, both physical and mental, that disabled people must overcome.