A lady wanted a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had liked a beautiful 1, and knowing her husband could 2 it, she told him that was all she wanted. On the morning of the 3, her husband told her how 4 he was to have such a good wife, and how much he loved her. He 5 her a beautiful gift package. She opened it and 6 a Bible. 7, she raised her voice and said to her husband, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” She was so 8 that she left him.

    Many years passed and the lady was very 9 in business. She owned two large companies. She 10 her husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to 11 him. But before she could, she 12 a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions to her. She needed to come back and 13 things.

    When she arrived at his house, sadness 14 her heart. She saw the still new 15, just as she had left it years before. With 16, she opened it and began to turn the pages. A ring 17 from the Bible to the floor and a 18 could be seen. She picked it up and found it was the ring she wanted in those days. And on the card was the date of her birth, and the words “LOVE U ALWAYS”.

    19 your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it's because it is better packaged the way it is! Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things! The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched for they must be felt with the 20.

    When I was 12, I really liked snowmobiles. My brother Cody and I 1 together all the time. One 2 day, my cousin, Brittany, was here, and we decided to ride our really old, yet fun snowmobile. My mom was 3 about it at first but thought that we were4careful. So we went out just as usual and my brother carefully checked everything we 5before we rode. We got on: my brother in front,6 then my cousin Brittany and I in the 7 We were riding around in the back of the woods on the edge (边缘) of the field. Our faces were 8and became red,9we didn't care .We were having tons of 10! We had gone around the woods three times when we were coming to the edge that 11 the gravel road (碎石路). There was a driveway there and then a field across the road.

    I 12 my cousin shouting, “Faster! Faster! Cody! Go faster!” As she was shouting. I was 13 the gravel road in front of us. It was coming closer and closer but we still moved with a 14 speed. Just then. I knew something was 15 I looked up at my brother and could feel he was 16 starting to worry. We went through the driveway and I watched as we sped across the road. Then, BOOM! We hit the ditch (沟) and flew through the17for a short second and then hit the ground like a18 that had just fallen from the sky. At this point, there was nothing we could do. The snowmobile tipped and we all 19. We all felt frightened.20 we didn't have any serious problems.

    A wealthy old lady decides to travel to Africa, taking her faithful (忠诚的) old dog Cuddles along for company. One day, the dog starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that he's 1 Wandering about, he notices a2heading in his direction with the intention of eating him for lunch. The old dog thinks, “Oh, oh! I'm in deep3now!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he4settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the5leopard.

    Just as the leopard is about to6 the old dog exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I7if there are any more around here?” Hearing this, the young leopard stops his attack in mid-strike, a look of8comes over him and he runs back into the trees. “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close! That dog nearly9me!”

    Meanwhile, a monkey who had been10the whole scene from a nearby tree decides that he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for11from the leopard. So off he goes … but the old dog sees him12the leopard and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, and explains that the dog is13and strikes a deal with the leopard.

    The young leopard is angry about being14and says, “Here, monkey, jump on my back and see what's going to happen to that15dog!”

    The old dog sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?” But instead of16 the dog sits down with his back to his attackers17he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to18 the old dog says: “Where's that darn monkey? I19 him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”

    Life is not about holding all the good cards, but in20those that you hold well.

    My mother seemed to be able to make dolls (洋娃娃) out of anything. She made some dolls for me and my two elder sisters. I 1 playing with them, but still, secretly, I hoped for a store-bought 2like the one our rich cousin had. Her doll 3 open and close its blue glass eyes and even say "Mamma". I 4 stopped admiring it and hoping to have one.

    However, my dream 5came true when I was six. One day my father came back from his business trip with three 6 dolls! They were much smaller than our cousin's doll and their eyes were just painted ones, but I did not 7 such differences. They were 8 "store-bought" dolls. We each chose one and I named 9 Misako.

    Soon my sisters and I became devoted 10. Our "children" kept us 11 all day. We gave them a bath, 12 them, brushed their hair, took them out for a walk and put them to bed. Several months later, they got more like real children — their 13 and bodies became dirtier; their dresses got stained; their hair less smooth.

    But, by then, 14 interests seemed to have moved into 15 toys. Their dolls were abandoned (被抛弃) and in bad condition. One had 16 one of her arms, and 17 was one-legged. "You can 18 them if you want," my sisters said to me. Thus, I had 19 dolls. They were more or less handicapped (残疾) and they often looked at me as if they needed me to 20 them. I enjoyed this feeling of being needed — being the only one in the world who could protect them with a lot of love. Indeed, they made the rest of my childhood days very happy.

    Nick was not the kind of boy I had expected to spend my summer with. I was hoping to have a1the summer before my busy senior year, but my mother asked me to do her a2. One of her colleagues needed a full-time3. "You planned to volunteer at the local hospital, why not volunteer to4Nick instead?" Then she told me that this six-year-old boy was not a5 child.

    Nick was a lovely little boy who suffered from many disorders. Normal day-care centers would not6him. As a baby, he had serious ear infections which left him with equilibrium(平衡) problems.

    He couldn't7or run properly. I was8if I was to take the job when my mother9.

    "Don't you want to be a nurse in the future? I doubt if you even have the10."

    Then I told her I was11for the job.

    The day started at 7:00 a.m. Nick was my wake-up call! With so much energy and very little 12, he was quite a mix.

    At the park, when he saw all the other children play on the jungle gym and swings(秋千), the boy's face 13up—How he wished he belonged to the group of his age! You would think it would be 14to get a child to go down a slide. Believe me, it wasn't! It took time, a lot of time. But with patience and support. Nick took one step up the slide each day. We worked together to face his 15and gradually he got closer to taking the slide of his life.

    Halfway through the summer, he16it to the top of the slide. With my arms holding him tightly, we flew down the slide! I waited for his17. After realizing that he was safe and sound, he gave me a big18and asked, "May I go down again, alone?"

    I had never been happier in my life when I saw this little child climb the ladder and enjoy what other children19for granted.

    This20child taught me that being a nurse means respect, kindness and patience.