One cold Friday the bus was about to come in around 15 minutes. Most of the time I am OK waiting but not this day. So I went to the nearby store and bought something 1 to drink and then came back. A high school girl was there, waiting for the bus, too. She looked 2 and she was shivering（颤抖）because of the cold. I gave her one of the cocoa cans I bought and we had a little3.

    She said that she was quite nervous, being afraid that she would fail her exam in a week. I told her a few encouraging words 4 some funny jokes to make her relax. She seemed to be happy again. She thanked me and told me she wished to see me again. I 5 and thanked her, nodding yes. The bus arrived and I had to 6 in a hurry.

    We may 7 see each other again. But I'm thankful to her for saying “Wish I could meet you again”. It's not easy to say these words. It 8 a strong will and courage to accept an offer from a stranger. In today's world, people are 9 with people they aren't familiar with most of the time. What's more, they seldom trust each other.

    That young girl helped me more than I could have helped her. She touched my heart with a 10 to send wishes of good luck and love to those who are full of emotions and fears.

    The whole school was talking about the coming trip at a winter camp. And everyone was 1, except me.

    "I'll hate it," I told my parents. "I'll get homesick (想家的). I'll look stupid at winter sports, and everyone will 2 me. "

    "You might be surprised, Bree," said Mom. "The only way to find out is to 3."

    "It's what growing up is all about," Dad added.

    When 4 the camp, we were asked to share one 5.

    "I'm afraid I'll be homesick," someone said.

    I wasn't the only one?! I began to 6. After lunch, we were asked to ski (滑雪) down to the field. I skied 7, but I still hit a piece of ice and 8.

    "Ha! Ha!" Behind me, somebody started laughing. I 9 to see who was making fun of me. To my 10, I saw a girl in the same awkward (尴尬的) position I was in. "I thought I'd be bad at this, 11 I'm worse than I expected!" she said.

    12, I started laughing too. After being so 13 of falling, it was a comfort not to fear it anymore.

    At dinnertime, I was so happy to be talking about interesting things that I 14 to feel homesick.

    The next day, I was 15 to try ski jumping first, even though I didn't want to. But when my feet left the ground, I felt I was 16 and it was wonderful.

    Maybe Dad was right when he said "You might 17 it if you give it a chance!"

    Maybe the kind of 18 Mom and Dad were talking about had more to do with my outlook (态度）than my looks. We all 19 fitting in and failing when we try 20 things. Sometimes you've got to fall on your face to discover how much you've got in common.

    Chris Emch was a pretty unhappy guy. He 1 years working as a police officer. After a career-ending injury, he'd opened a shop in Thousands Oaks, California, but the 2 was struggling. And only months before a Scuba(潜水)trip, he'd been 3 with skin cancer and had endured a 4 divorce.

    In desperation, Chris Emch joined in a group Scuba trip to Indonesia. About 11 meters 5 water, he removed a borrowed earplug(耳塞), causing 6 to his ear drum. The injury forced Emch to 7 the Scuba trip. He 8 have packed up and gone home. Instead, the 41-year-old man decided to have a look around the 9 islands. So Emch hired a local 10 named Fritz to show him around. He was 11 by the local attractive sights and unique cultures. But 12 affected Emch most was his conversations with Fritz.

    Fritz earned about $140 a month, lived in a 13 house and took on odd jobs to provide for his wife and son. But Emch realized that Fritz was 14. Emch told Fritz that he wanted to see his family, so off they went to Fritz's home. Emch met Fritz's family members. He sipped sweet tea and chatted with them. They looked content though they were 15.

    "I had everything I could ever want and still 16 all the time," he said. "I realized how happy my life was and how 17 I was to have the life I had been given.

    "From that point on, Emch had a new 18 on life. "Things taste better and things smell better now," he said. He always tries to see the good 19 in people and he has become confident and cheerful again.

    "Travel truly 20 my life, and changed my outlook," he said. "Compared to who I was a year ago, some of my closest friends don't recognize who I am anymore."

    Danielle was living in a new city with no local bank of her own. She desperately needed to 1 a bank to cash her paycheck. For more than two weeks, she made 2 one after another but in vain. How could she continue to 3 herself and her two children as a single mother?

    Taking a break from her 4, Danielle decided to attend a meeting at the local women's resource center. The women there had been a strong source of encouragement since she fled her home 5 for her safety. Sitting next to Danielle, Amy began to share the details of her 6 situation. She was just days away from 7 her home and her car. Her phone and electric services were both scheduled to be 8. Her husband had gambled away their money. She had nothing left. Nothing!

    As Amy described the degree of the situation, Danielle 9 God's soft whisper in her heart: “After the meeting, give Amy twenty dollars.” Danielle immediately thought, “But I can't lonely have forty dollars.” She heard the 10 again. Danielle knew she needed to follow. When the meeting 11, she reached in to her purse and 12 handed twenty dollars to Amy. Knowing Danielle's situation, Amy was 13 to accept it at first. But as a crowd of women 14 to give Amy hugs of support, Danielle told her that God wanted her to have it. Then Danielle left.

    Now with just twenty dollars left in her wallet, Danielle decided to 15 cashing her pay check at just one more bank before heading home. 16 she expected the rejection she had received at so many other banks, she was 17 filled with renewed confidence and optimism. Hopefully, she walked in to the bank next to the women's center. Moments later, the bank 18 her pay check with no questions asked. Wearing a big smile, Danielle returned home.

    As for Danielle, it has been three years since that day. Realizing true hope has no 19, she continues to be 20 for the life time supply that she received for just twenty dollars.

    Last summer, I had just enough money saved to buy a golden ticket—a 3-month train pass that would take me to the furthest reaches of Europe. Excited for my journey, I 1 all the necessary stuff-2 the guidebook.

    While the 3 of the Internet was definitely a 4 factor to my decision, this was not the only reason I decided to fly 5.

    To be honest, I find the guidebook6 a journey﹣like a bossy aunt who is always telling you what to do,7 she doesn't always know what's best.8 has taught me that there is a clear 9 between a tourist and a traveler.

    While waiting in a queue to see Michelangelo's Statue of David in Florence, I met a man who showed me his 10 of "Top 20 Things to do in Italy" and told us 11 that he'd "seen" everything Italy has to 12 in just four days.

    The problem I had with this man's way of 13 was that he was too focused on 14 the boxes provided by his guidebook. He was 15 in the so﹣called "must﹣sees" and blind to all that was happening somewhere else.

    So, guidebook﹣less as we were, my companion and I traveled to Estonia. Arriving for no good reason, we had no option but to 16 some friendly faces for advice. We 17 ourselves and asked them what was happening around town. When this resulted in an 18 to a beautiful Estonian home by a river where we enjoyed a 110﹣degree wood﹣stove sauna（桑拿）,19 picked forest﹣mushrooms and the good 20 of our five new﹣found Estonian friends, we sure were glad we had left our bossy aunt at home.

71-year-old, Helen Lloyd Jones from Cardiff recently completed her first marathon and is encouraging others of her age to take up the challenge. "Do it. We only live once," she said after the event.

Helen took up running in her 50's while working as a teacher. After jogging alongside one of her students during a sports day race, Helen said, "I felt terrible, absolutely terrible. It was a wakeup call and I started to practise jogging."

Helen started attending her local parkrun, but decided she needed a bigger challenge to keep her motivated. Once the idea of running 26.2 came into her head, she was decided, and set her sights on running a larger race, using the support of the crowds to get her round.

Helen didn't tell her husband for the first five months of her training as she knew he'd be worried about the toll the distance might have on her, saying g afterwards, "The difference between the man who waved me goodbye and the smiling man who greeted me when I returned was a reflection of how much he had been worrying. But he is very proud of me."

At 71, Helen explains how she didn't do her training "by the book". After trying to do a long run, a speed run and a hill run each week, she soon found her body was not able to recover fast enough between sessions. Instead, she chose one long run a week with her local running club Pegasus and friend Sally, so she could feel confident with the distance. 

A proud grandmother, Helen is I now taking her grandchildren to parkruns and junior parkruns. She hopes that they will remember running with their grandmother when they grow up. Are there more marathons in her future? "I said I would only do the one, but have a feeling that if I got a place in London or New York... I might change my mind."