One day I was riding on a crowded bus downtown to go to work when it rained suddenly. The windows of the bus were soon 1  and we couldn't see the outside. Everyone was in low spirits. I was sitting next to a man in a business suit and I paid little attention 2  we both got off at the same stop and walked to the same news-stand(报刊亭) to get a morning 3 .

    The man   4  the stand was obviously having a bad day. He was  5  and unsmiling as we bought our papers, which only  6 more gloom (郁闷) to my day. The businessman   7  my eyes and smiled brightly,  8  the news-stand owner for the paper and for being open on such a morning to 9 we were able to get our papers.

    As we went away, I asked this man why he was so  10  to the newsman when he didn't respond to his  11 of thanks and friendliness.The businessman smiled at me and said, “Why would I let someone else 12  what I say and what I feel?”

    We then  13 to go to our own work places. To this day, I still don't know who that businessman was, or where he worked.  14 , I know nothing about him. He appeared briefly in my life and disappeared just as 15  . But I've never forgotten the words he said and his   16   which seemed like a ray of light on a gloomy day.

    That was a good 25 years   17  , but the effect this had on my life has lasted. I have learnt that we cannot control people and   18  we are in, but we can always control our19 to them. That is, it is within our control and our 20 to make such positive decisions and thus to make a positive difference.

    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.

    A few weeks ago I was at the comer store, and there stood an old lady in front of me in line. She seemed very 1 when the cashier asked her to pay $ 38.00. She had about $ 5.00 in her wallet, and she began to 2. The cashier became very 3, telling her that she cannot buy these 4 because she didn't have enough money. So, I told the cashier not to 5 it, and that I would 6 the difference. The cashier gave me a funny look,7 I really felt for this woman.

    Anyway, I paid for my groceries and 8 the store. When I got outside, I saw the lady standing there. I asked her what was 9. She said that she could not remember where she lived, and she began to cry again. I said some names of the 10 around the area but she had no clue (线索). Just then, a car 11and a woman jumped out of the car. It was this lady's daughter. I 12 that her mother couldn't find her way home. The daughter told me that she had Alzheimer's disease (阿尔茨海默病) and that she had been 13 off a lot lately. Then the daughter14 that her mother had 3 - bags of groceries and wondered 15 she got the money to pay for them. I was not 16 if I should tell her that I paid for them, but I did.

The daughter wanted to pay me back, but I 17. The daughter said “Thank you” and I said “Good bye”.

    I felt so 18and happy right through the day, because making others feel 19 makes me feel good. I know that if this 20 happened again, I would do the same thing.

    For a long time, I thought a present and a gift were no different. I grew up in a household where presents 1 special occasions, say there were always presents for Christmas and our birthdays.

    So when I married Gary who did not give presents on a 2 basis, I had to make an adjustment. Gary did not wholly avoid gift­giving, though. 3 noticing how many hours I spend on the 4, he brought home a shoulder pad (垫肩) for the telephone receiver. But mostly, he 5 holidays, let alone shop for earrings to 6to me showing his affection.

    I tried to change him 7. I bought books for his birthdays and knitted him hats and sweaters for Christmas. 8 I began to tell him what I wanted, giving9instructions, but got nowhere.

    Last year when the snowstorm 10our town and he was on business, I used his present road scraper(铲土机)to11both our drive and our neighbors, thinking how12earnings would have been. Gary had wisely chosen not the thing I 13, but the thing that he knew I would need.

    I 14began to understand the difference between a present and a gift. A present is just a thing. But a gift is broader and often cannot be 15, It is a small act of kindness, the 16 to bend to another's needs, the sacrifice of time and effort. 17 is a gift. Any expression of it, freely given, is a (n)18 from the heart that is immeasurably better than a present.

    My insistence on presents must have seemed to Gary a lack of 19 for the gifts he had be giving all along, but he never stopped giving them.

    Gary will be home this Christmas, but I don't 20 a present. I already have the greatest gift.

    It was an extraordinarily busy time of year. I felt some 1 to head straight home after a long meeting. So I headed to the 2 nearby for some therapeutic (治疗性的)hiking. As I reached the top and admired the view, my unclear mind 3. Re-energized, I knew that I could deal with the     4 that waited for me upon my 5. When I arrived back in the office the next day, I was full of energy, and finished my work 6.

    It was almost 20 years ago that I learned how 7 it is for me to carve out time to escape to the wild. I had finished my Ph.D.8 soil and water conservation in Honduras, but I wasn't sure what 9 I wanted to have. So, I decided to act on a dream I had been nursing for a few years,10 my mom showed me a magazine article about a man who had 11 around America. I figured that I could 12 cycling with research for a book on American agriculture while I worked out my next career step.

    So I did it. During the cycling 13, I found the clearness I needed to 14 my next career move. Talking with farmers I met along the way, I learned that their biggest 15 was selling their produce. I decided to broaden my 16 from land management to improving farmers' access to markets. My 17 interest led to working for a nongovernmental organization and I did eventually 18 a book on. American agriculture.

    The 19 is to find your source of inspiration and make good use of it. For me, I always get nourishment(营养)from being 20 in the outdoors.

As an only child, Nicole Renae often felt lonely in her youth. But that all changed when she turned ten. For her birthday, Renae's grandmother 1 her with an adorable gray 2 named Chloe.

From the very start, the two were 3 . "She was my best friend," Renae said. Every ounce of love Renae gave, the little dog returned tenfold.

But when Renae was 14, her father 4 a new job that came with a shocking warning: He'd be working at home, and the house needed to 5 noise disturbance.

"Chloe was very noisy," Renae said. "I was just a kid, so I didn't have any 6 in the matter. I didn't want to 7 my dog. I just felt so sick and 8 about it. With no easier option, the family sent Chloe to a humane society.

9 , Renae grew up, got married, and had a child of her own. But her family didn't feel quite complete. Remembering the 10 that having a dog had brought her as a kid, Renae wanted her daughter to 11 the same. She had it in her mind that she would 12 a puppy, but then one day she saw a post on a social media platform about a 13 dog that needed a new home. The dog in the photograph looked a lot like Chloe —she was even named Chloe. In an instant it was 14 : She would adopt this older dog.

When she met Chloe, the dog seemed so familiar. And Chloe appeared to feel the same 15 about Renae. Soon Renae cried with excitement because she felt so lucky to have Chloe again.