I have always believed that “Any man can be a father, but it 1 someone special to be a dad.” This is true. Since the2 of my son, Joshua, things have changed a lot in my life, but the3 have been good! My wife and I have been through many4 moments which have made both of us stronger.

    My son was born 5 a serious breathing problem and he couldn't keep his medicine down. He was put on several different medications, 6he did not get any better. My wife and I were both told many times by people that Joshua 7he was born early; he had not8 much weight since he was born.

    As time progressed his regular doctor advised my wife and me 9 Dr. Eid, a specialist in Louisville. He was 10by my son's condition and so we were sent to Louisville's Children's Hospital. Joshua 11many different checkups. The 12spent there was very demanding for my wife and me. But we did make it13. Our son Joshua was diagnosed (诊断) with asthma (哮喘), and with acid reflux syndrome (酸回流综合症). After the treatment, his14 began to improve slowly.

    Joshua is 1 year and 1 month old now and his progress has been15 he is up to 27 pounds now. I keep telling my wife that if he keeps16 like this he might become a football 17someday. There is a 18 that has helped me get through these troublesome times, “Problems will either 19you or break you.” When you think the20hours are upon you, remember the dawn is just in sight.

    When I was growing up,I was ashamed to be seen with my father.He was severely disabled and very1. When we would walk together,he put his hand on my arm for2,and people would stare.I would be afraid of the unwanted3.If he ever noticed or was bothered,he never let4his feelings.It was5to coordinate（使协调）our steps,and because of that,we didn't6much as we went along.But as we started out,he always said,“You set the 7.I will try to follow you.”Our usual walk was to or from the subway,which was8he got to work. He went to work,despite sickness or bad weather.He almost never missed a day,and would9it to the office even if others could not.

    He never talked about himself as an object of10.Nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or 11. What he looked for12others was a “good heart”,and if he found one,the13was good enough for him.Now that I am older,I believe that is a proper14by which to judge people,though I15don't know exactly what a “good heart” is.

    He has been gone many years now,16I think of him often.I wonder if he17I was unwilling to be seen with him during our18.If he did,I am sorry for my feeling19to be with him in public and how I regretted it.I think of him when I complain about trifles（琐事）,when I am envious of another's good fortune,and when I don't have a “good heart”.

    At such times I put my hand on his arm to20my balance,and say,“You set the pace,and I will try to follow you.”

    A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not 1 them. She said, "I don't think I know you, but you must be 2. Please come in and have something to eat." "Is the man of the house home?" they asked. "No," she said, "he's out." "Then we cannot come in," they 3.

    In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what 4. "Go to tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited them in. "We do not go into the house 5," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained, "His name is 6,"pointing to one of his friends ,and then pointed to another one and said, "He is Success ,and I am Love. " Then he added, "Now go in and 7 with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

    The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!" he said, "8 that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him 9 and fill our home with wealth!" His wife 10. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their daughter was 11 from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion, "Wouldn't it not be 12 to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

    "Let us hear our daughter's 13," said the husband to his wife . "Go out and invite Love to be our guest." The woman went out and asked the 14 old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our 15." Love got up and started walking 16 the house. The other two also got up and 17 him.

    18, the lady asked Wealth and Success, "I only invited Love, why are you coming in?" The old men replied together, "If you had invited Wealth 19 Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. 20 there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!"

    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!"

    Recently I understood the true meaning of love. The1was Kane, my neighbor Joline's two-year-old son.

    Kane was born with a physical problem on his2. And I witnessed the3that Kane's physical shortcomings had on his family. I also witnessed much more than that. I saw a4family that embraced (拥抱) this special child. A family that wouldn't allow Kane to know he was5. Joline had constructed a small cart just a few inches off the floor for his son to6. Kane used his hands to move about, and the cart7him to "go to" any place just as everyone else was able to do. Kane was not just a member of the family, but the8of the family.

    With a wide smile, it was easy to see that even at the age of two, Kane liked to9with people very much. With wisdom of an individual, this boy even10the most complex of human emotions. Later I came to11that this child was sent to help some of us who weren't just getting what love was all about.

    Kane demanded attention,12not because of his mobility (移动能力) challenges or other apparent shortcomings. In his mind, he had no13or shortcomings. The14was that he received attention because he was alive and real and had so much to offer.

    Kane15me in a deep way. His ability to refuse to be different has16me. Kane was and is17lots of warm and powerful energy to me. From him and his family I learnt the18: love surpasses (超越) all things. I can only imagine that as the parent of a child like Kane one might be filled with19. But I believe that having a child like Kane is actually a(n)20. The parents of such special babies are angels too, just as the babies are.

We met Bailey 5 yeas ago. He was a standard poodle (髦毛小狗) born on Valentine's day in 2020, and came to us in a small blue box. His previous owner posted the news online and we adopted him. Our only request was that he behave calmly and be able to put up with the pushing and hugging of our eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. 

We were a sweet family: me, my husband, our children Angela and Tony. But for years. I'd felt that we wouldn't be truly whole if we didn't have a dog. Also, my husband worked for a commercial company and traveled around 200 days a year. and I knew that having a large animal sleeping by the door made me feel safer. 

The last piece of our purzle fell into place when we opened the box. With his dark hair and smart eyes, Bailey was beautiful. He was so small that he could fit in the palm of my hand, his big paws (爪子) resting at his sides. He was a little scared, too. As I pulled him close, I felt his heart racing, and 1 wondered if we had done the right thing by taking him away from his mother. But it was too late. Angela and Tony were already arguing about who would carry him and who had the right to bathe him. 

Over the following months, we spent countless hours watching Bailey play with his toys or roll around on the living room floor. Like most poodles, he was smart. He quickly mastered house-training and never chewed (咀) on our furniture or shoes. He considered himself one of us. 

One night we were sleeping in the bedroom when I heard some strange noise. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

At that time, Bailey ran towards me. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

A. I thought it was Bailey running and hitting something, so I kept lying in the bed and made an attempt to fall asleep again. However, the noise became louder and louder, which had already annoyed me. Quickly l got up from my bed. I opened the door and found Bailey running around the living room, trying to let all the things fall down. These abnormal behaviors really made me confused and a little afraid.

B. He firmly grabbed my trousers and pulled me to the kitchen. As I approached the kitchen could obviously smell a strong burning smell and immediately knew what had happened. When¹ aw the fierce fire in the kitchen, I dashed into my children's room like an arrow(前), waking them up at my maximum voice. Rushing out of the house together with my family. I called 911 and asked our neighbors for help at the same time. Fortunately both my family and my house were saved Thanks to our smart Bailey, we did escape from death.

C. Angela and Tony completed the delicious breakfast and they could not wait to bring it to me who slept in the room. Their father praised their hard-earned work with his thumb up, informing them that I was sleeping on the second floor. To my surprise, their hand-made food was so delicious that l would never forget it. Obviously. what they had done for me would be rooted in memory.

D. I nodded with a smile and encouraged the children to get started. Quickly. Angela volunteered to get the big box of com and prepared to make popcorn. At the same time, Tony. my smart boy. went to buy some paper bags. I ran to Bailey's home to invite him. Not surprisingly. Bailey was amazed at this great project and couldn't wait to come. To our delight, the popcorn they made looked great and tasted delicious. Finally. they packed the sweet popcorn in the paper bags together. Laughter and happiness filled this house.