One school day Alice returned home very late. With a quarrel in view. I was surprised to see Alice was  3.

“I hope I did the right thing, Mom,”“Alice said. I saw a cat, all bloody but alive. I 4it to the vet's(宠物医院), and was asked to make payment 5. As I couldn't reach anyone at the phone number on the cat's tag(标牌), I had to pay the bill.”

In the following days, the owner still couldn't be 6. Alice paid the vet to continue treatment. I grew 7: what if the family had simply left the cat behind?

         A week went by. A woman called to speak to Alice.

         “She is at school,” I said.

         “You have a 8 daughter,” she said, apparently in tears.

Her family had just returned from abroad, and got a (n) 9 from the vet. Their cat was recovering, thanks to Alice's 10. “We can't wait to hug Cuddles again,” she sobbed.

          Upon her return home, Alice was filled with 11 at the news. So was I. I learned through another woman's eyes that my daughter was still a good person despite her 12 teenage years. Her warm heart would surely guide her in the right direction.

A lot of people admired our neighbor. One day a delivery truck unloaded a large 1 system at their house. And the kids discussed the new sound equipment my neighbor had just bought. Meantime, we were living in a house decorated 2 and dressing our kids in second-hand clothes. We lived a 3 life. 

My poor mother-in-law, in town for a visit, got to hear my complaints that night. "I feel so 4 sometimes," I told her, as we 5 the table after dinner. "I know we're doing the right thing, living frugally (节俭的), saving money, but it feels so hard. There're so many things I'd like to 6 , so many things I'd like to do, but we just can't."

She 7 as she folded a cloth napkin in silence. Then she turned to me and said, "When you make a comparison between yourself and others, it's easy to 8 what you don't have. But there's one thing you two do that many other couples may 9 to do. You two often go out together and take time to focus on your 10 . And that's a very important thing."

I stopped wiping the table and 11 for a minute. I thought of the movie my husband and I had seen a week earlier. I 12 the bike rides, the hikes and the picnics. Most of all, I remembered how 13 we were together, even after twenty years. How many people can say that? 

I looked around my home in a new 14 . Our refrigerator was too small for a family of six, but it was 15 filled with delicious food. Our kitchen was small and we had no big TV, but we're happy! And that's enough! 

Cruz Genet,11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn't agree. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? So on a 1 January evening last year, the two friends ventured onto the 2 pond near their homes, to get a better look. First they tossed a rock onto the ice to3 it. Then they stepped on it. 4 the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, then…FOOMP. He crashed through the 5 frozen surface." There was no sound, no crack," he recalled,"I just fell through instantly". Cruz 6 to help his panicked friend. FOOMP— the pond 7 him too.

 The boys were up to their necks in icy water and quickly losing feeling in their limbs. Any chance of their 8 themselves was slipping away. Cruz was sure he was going to die. Anthony's older sister was nearby and started screaming for help.

 John Lavin, a9 driving nearby on his way home, heard her. He quickly 10 . Seeing the boys, he grabbed a nearby buoy (救生圈), 11 off his shoes, and ran into the cold water, chopping(劈) his way through the ice with his free 12 .

 Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and pulled them back to land. When in hospital, doctors discovered that their five- minute 13 in the water had lowered their body 14 nearly ten degrees.

 Fortunately, the boys have fully recovered, though they are still a little awestruck by their 15 neighbor." Just to think," says Cruz," If he weren't there, we could have died."