Bobby was getting   cold  in the snow. His shoes had a few holes and did a poor job of keeping out the  1  . He had been out for about an hour already,  2  he could not hit an idea for his mother' s Christmas gift.

Ever since his father died three years ago, the family had 3 . His mother's small wage could 4 make ends meet. What the family lacked in 5 they made up for in love. Bobby' s sisters, clever with hands, had already 6 beautiful gifts for their mother. But Bobby had nothing.

      Standing up, Bobby walked to the street. It wasn't  7  without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to. He walked from shop to shop. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of 8   .

     It was getting dark and Bobby turned to walk home when  9  his eyes caught something shining on the ground. He reached down and10   a shiny dime(a coin of ten cents).Never before has anyone felt so  11  as Bobby felt at that moment.

 12 spread throughout his body. 13   his new found treasure, he walked into a nearby store. His 14  quickly turned cold when knowing he could buy nothing with only a dime.

      Then he went into a flower shop. Bobby handed the dime and asked 15  he could buy one flower for his mother. Looking at Bobby and his dime, the shopkeeper  16  for a second and asked Bobby to wait there. Then he went in. Few minutes later, the shopkeeper came out with a bunch of beautiful red roses. Bobby' s heart 17   as the shopkeeper placed the roses gently into a beautiful box. He had only a dime !

         "That will be ten cents, young man,” the shop owner said. 18  Bobby gave the man his coin in disbelief. Could this be true?   19  the boy' s mind, the shopkeeper added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale. Would you like them?"

       This time Bobby didn't 20  . Walking out of the door, Bobby heard the shopkeeper say, "Merry Christmas, son. "

    When our restaurant business failed，we headed north in a camping truck to Texas，hoping to have a “fresh start”.

    At the 1 of Palo Duro Canyon (峡谷）State Park，I 2 a job advertisement hiring park hosts. The position offered a 3 ，permanent campsite in the park, and 4, the hosts served as a link between the park's guests and the rangers (护林人). It was the perfect solution: a rent-free place to reorganize our lives. We entered the park and I made an 5 for the following day.

    The park was 6 , so it took us some time to find an available site. That evening, as we finished our dinner, my wife saw two large skunks (臭鼠由）walking toward our table. We 7 climbed onto the table and, for the next four hours, waited for them to 8 our camp.

    Having survived that night, we were 9 that everything else would be all right. The next day we met with the people who ran the park. They explained our 10 and gave us a beautiful campsite.

    That evening, 11 , we learned about the canyon 12. They were strong and cold, rocking our little camping truck violently，and we lay 13 in the dark until the winds died away.14 the weeks that followed, we learned to survive in our truck and 15 the little money my wife 16 by substitute teaching. Building a successful business and then losing it had left very little time for building a successful 17For a time after our business18I thought I might lose my family as well.

    Living in the tiny 19with no television, we sat close together reading and talking. One evening, standing under a jeweled sky，I found myself 20for all the hardships. We had walked the trails and climbed the canyon walls. We had become a family!

    One evening after reading a story entitled "A Lady",I began to recall an important moment in my life.It was simple but so precious that it has1inside my mind for years.

    It was a very cold winter evening when a friend of mine got seriously2and was rushed to Westchester Medical Center,where she stayed unconscious for quite a while.Finally she was3.A friend and I decided to4 her,so we bought some flowers and were on our way.After quickly parking the car and signing in,we reached her 5but only a few minutes were6with her.Pretty soon after our7we were asked to leave by the nurses.

    We headed out to the car8did we know that we had to pay for parking.We had no money aside from a spare dollar or two9from our lunch money that day.We had no idea what to do,so I10to pay with whatever money we had,11of course,I was way off.

    A very sweet-hearted woman cleared her throat and said "Excuse me" in order to catch my12.She handed me a $20 bill.I13that she should give me her14and address and I will15pay her back.She refused.I thanked her for her16and told her how much it was appreciated.she turned to me and17with one sentence,“Thank you;being able to help you makes me happy,too.”Her words were so unusual that I was very18to hear that.

    What she did might be considered a small act of19but it is something I will never forget because it taught me that helping others could20both the givers and the receivers.

    Two old beggars (乞丐) were sitting on a busy street corner of a big city. They watched 1 as a lot of people walked by without looking at them. Sometimes, a kind-hearted woman or a small child would 2 a few coins in the hats in front of them.

    Today was not a 3 day for begging. The men were able to 4 enough for a big meal. As it was getting dark, they started to 5 their things.

    Just as they were getting ready to leave, they 6 a man walking toward them. He was a 7 man they could tell that from his fine clothes. The first beggar said to the second with 8 , “He's coming our way!” The man stopped, 9 into his pocket and took something out. What looked like a piece of hard 10 , wrapped (包裹) in white paper, hit each of their waiting hats. The rich man turned and 11 his way.

    “He could have easily left us a few 12 or a bill, but he laughed at us with a piece of rock candy,” said the first beggar. He looked at the offering 13 .“There's no way we can 14 this — we have no teeth.” With these words, he picked up the thing and threw it away. Then he collected his things and 15 .

    The second beggar wanted to do the same, 16 a second thought made him change his 17 .“I haven't had anything like this for ages,” he thought. “How 18 of that man to offer me something so sweet!” With that, he opened the white paper. To his 19 , there was no hard rock candy inside. 20 , a shiny white pearl (珍珠) worth thousands of dollars fell into his hand.

    Cheques have largely replaced money as a means of exchange, for they are widely accepted everywhere. Though this is very 1 for both buyers and sellers, it should not be forgotten that cheques are not real money: They are quite 2 in themselves. A shopkeeper always faces a certain 3 when he accepts a cheque and he is quite within his rights if, on occasion, he 4 to do so.

    People don't always 5 this and are shocked if their good 6 is called into question. An old and very wealthy friend of mine told me that he had ever had an extremely 7 experience. He went to a famous jewelry shop which kept a large stock of precious stones and asked to see some necklaces. After examining carefully, he 8 to buy a particularly fine diamond necklace and asked if he could pay by cheque. The assistant said that this was quite in order, but the moment my friend 9 his name, he was invited into the manager's office.

    The manager was polite, and he explained that someone with exactly the same name had 10 them with a worthless cheque not long ago. My friend got very 11 when he heard this and said that he would buy a 12 somewhere else. When he got up to leave, the manager told him that the police would arrive at any moment and that he had better stay there 13 he wanted to get into serious trouble. Sure enough, the police arrived soon afterwards. They politely 14 to my friend for the inconvenience, but explained that a person who had used the same name as his was 15 for a number of recent robberies. Then the police asked my friend to 16 a note which had been used by the thief in several shops. The note read: "I have a gun in my pocket. Ask 17 questions and give me all the money in the safe." 18, my friend's handwriting was quite unlike the thief's. He was not only 19 to go without further 20, but to take the diamond necklace with him.

Hawthorne worked as a clerk in a small company. He suffered a heavy blow when he lost his job. His boss had spoken 1, "Your services are no longer needed." Hawthorne left the building filled with despair. By the time he reached home, he was in deep 2. When he entered his house, he blurted out(脱口而出)to his wife Sophia, "I lost my job. I am a complete failure." A tense silence followed. 3, a smile crept across Sophia's face. "What great news!" she responded, "Now you can write the book you have always wanted to write."

"But I have no job and no prospect of a job," he objected completely without hope. "If I 4 to be an author, then what will we 5? Where will the money come from?"

Sophia took her husband by the hand and 6 him to the kitchen. Opening a drawer, she took out a box that was full of 7. "Where on earth did you get this?" Hawthorne asked. "To whom does it 8?"

"It's ours!" Sophia replied. "I always knew that one day you would become a great writer 9 you were given the chance. From the money you gave me for housekeeping every week, I have 10 as much as I could so you would have your chance. Now there is enough to 11 us a whole year. "

What a(n) 12! What a wife! The 13 husband did concentrate on writing that year, and the novel he wrote became a literary masterpiece. The book is The Scarlet Letter. Sophia had an even greater 14,—she turned Nathaniel Hawthorne from a poor clerk into a world famous 15.