I was wandering around to look for a cafe where I could sit and have something to drink on a cold day. When

    I saw one, I walked in, sat at a round table and asked for a coffee.

    While I was waiting for my 1 I realized that there were other people in the place2 I sensed loneliness. I saw their 3 but I couldn't feel their souls. That was because their souls 4 to the “Net”, instead of them.

    I stood up and walked 5 the tables. I asked a man a couple of times what his name was. “I'm Steve,” he 6 answered. “I can't talk with you I'm 7” he said.

    I was amazed to find he was 8online with somebody and, at the same time, he was 9 a computer game—Winner winner chicken dinner. I tried again to10 with him, but not a 11 came out of his mouth. I12 his shoulder, but there was no reaction. I was getting 13. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to 14“Leave me alone!”

    I was 15 I wanted to look and see if all those people in the cafe were looking at me, so I 16 head, but there was nobody interested in what was happening. 17 was using the computers.

    At the moment, I 18 all of the people there were more interested in having the relationship with the computer, 19 Steve. I wouldn't want to imagine the future of the human beings if they 20 sharing their lives with machines instead of with people.

    My son has been in hospital again, this time with an emergency admission. He was 1 in an ambulance from our local health centre to the children's hospital.

    In this country, all ambulances are 2 and manned by firemen and it was no 3 this time. While one fireman drove, the other was in the 4 with me and my son. He started 5 my son as soon as he was carried in, 6 him whether he'd prefer English or Portuguese.

    When my son 7 either of them, the fireman requested speaking English so that my son could 8 it with him. Of course, that gave him plenty of 9 to draw my son's attention to offering “tuition (学费)”—It was just a joke. The 10 of them chatted for the full hour. 11, he had been assigned the task of keeping my boy 12. He did so so skillfully that our son didn't 13 that I was tearing along with lights flashing.

    Actually, the back of an ambulance is a 14 place for me, and then I got sick and had to 15 the window a little. It was cold, so this absolutely wonderful guy took his own jacket off and 16 it around our son's head and neck

    These excellent guys 17 with us during check-in procedure, and finally 18 when I made sure that my husband was on his way in the car.

    I can't be 19 enough to the firemen. They're our firemen, and they are all 20, of course.

    It was 11 a.m. on October 8, 2018, when I set out on the 12-mile bike ride home from work along the Connecticut shoreline. The sun was brilliant 1 the blue sky, and the leaves were starting to change colors. It was a(n) 2 time for me.

    I love my job as a program manager at Peace Jam. My husband Sean, a mail carrier, was 3 with his work, so I'd made plans with a friend for a long ride later that afternoon.4 I settled into the right-hand lane of a busy avenue, a truck turned in my direction from a side street. He slowed at the corner. But for some reason, he suddenly 5 speed. There is nothing I could do but scream.6, the huge truck knocked me down onto my left side. I felt my leg cracking, but I still 7 my head just enough to see something sticking out from my leg. The skin had been 8 right off most of the lower half of my body. There wasn't any 9 flesh to see. People came rushing from all 10 and aided me. The doctors arrived and rolled my body onto a backboard. I was sent 11 to the emergency room, where, for the next eight hours, I kept dying. During this period, I was in and out of surgery several times. Sometimes I was unconscious, but other times I existed in a 12 that has no easy comparison. What 13 me out of my fear was remembering a speech by Nobel Prize Jody Williams. "Emotion without action is irrelevant".

    I thought of all the people who had saved my life. The strangers who ran to my side after the truck hit me; the 14 who brought me back from death more than once; the staff at Gaylord who were 15 to help me walk again and relearn basic tasks. And then there were the strangers who had donated their life-giving blood. Suddenly I felt a need to do something to 16 them. I may not have been able to walk yet, but I 17 organize a cycling tour to raise money for disabled athletes. I 18 raising more than ＄10.000. Then, I turned inward, concentrating on my own recovery.

    My injury also made me 19 just how lucky I am. In the darkest moments of being 20 in the coma（昏迷）their voice constantly comforts me. To this day, I am gratitude in motion with each step.

    Years ago, when I arrived to speak at a high school in Louisiana, I heard a lot about a student called Wild Man. Long-haired, plate-throwing…Teachers and students thought 1 of him. Unlike Wild Man, there was a student who had been a 2 to everyone. Zachary was a kid who helped with all the games and dances. But he had a 3, and for years Zach had been in a wheelchair (轮椅) controlled by 4, moving from class to class.

    A month before I arrived, Zach's condition got worse and he 5 an electric wheelchair to stay at school. 6 it, he would have to leave school.

    It turned out that Zach couldn't 7 the new electric chair, so his only 8 was to check out. When the day of Zach's 9 came, all the teachers and students got together in a hall. Zach 10 it was his last day at school.

    The student president was introduced and he then 11 everyone when he introduced Wild Man. Without saying a word, Wild Man 12 Zach and brought him to the center of the stage (舞台). Wild Man then 13 himself and disappeared backstage. Seconds later, he reappeared driving a new and shiny electric wheelchair. After 14 Zach in the chair, he showed Zach how to use it and let Zach 15 around the stage. With tears streaming from their faces, two thousand teachers and students 16 and clapped for five minutes.

    Were they just 17 Zach and the fact that he could now 18 in their school? No, they were also cheering for Wild Man, who got Zach a new 19 by collecting money from his friends.

    So, it's 20: we shouldn't judge (评判) a book by its cover.

It's my dream. I'm nine years old now, but have been1competitively since I was six. I love it, because it makes me feel good. I have a lot of2to use up and I can do it by just moving my legs.

One recent Sunday morning, my mum drove me to a 5 km race in Minnesota.

The starting line was3because there was also a 10 km race. That morning, I was running confidently and feeling4. At one point, I came to a5in the course. A woman who was directing us6the route I thought I was meant to take and told me to go the other way. I was confused, but I had to follow her7.

After a while I saw route directions for a 10 km race. I was worried, thinking I was8, but had to keep going. My body started to get 9. I said to myself, "You're almost there. Just keep10."

11I saw the finish line. I couldn't believe it. I didn't even know I was running a 10 km and I had12it. I didn't do this on purpose. It was a

13. I felt happy and proud. It was my first time running such a(n) 14 .

It has made me want to do more 10 km races. I hope my story 15 other people to run, too.

This wasn't the way I wanted to see Rome. Sure, it felt  1 to spend Christmas there and stand in awe of the city's attractions. But life wasn't meant to turn out like this. 

I was supposed to go to Rome with my mom back in 

2012. However, life had different  2 . A week before our trip, I got a stomach infection, a condition that required a week of  3 . What's worse, my mom  4 a cough, which later proved a stage-four cancer. 

My mom spent the final months of her life5 the terrible disease though it was a losing 6 . After she passed away, I 7 a trip to Rome. And 8 , you never get used to a world that mom isn't a part of. You just deal with it because you don't really have a  9 . 

I spent two weeks doing all the things we had wanted to do. Maybe she wasn't physically there, but I  10 her presence every minute. Her presence also11 me that life isn't about the things we buy or the money that we have. It's about making 12 with the people we love. They never really 13 us since they are constantly influencing our lives in  14 ways. 

After my trip to Rome, 15 knew that my mom would always be there because she had forever changed my life in the best possible way.