One random act of kindness can make someone's day, but a man in Florida knows a good 1 isn't a one-time thing.

    After spending three months in and out of the hospital with numerous health issues, Donald Austin had his 2 partially cut off. He was relieved to finally be able to go home after just four days recovering from the 3. When he reached his porch, though, the 4 disappeared.

Donald thought he'd be able to 5 up the steps to the front door on crutches (拐杖）, but he found he was too weak to keep his 6 He had to sit in the wheelchair, but the wheelchair was too heavy for his wife, Jennifer Austin, to lift up the steps, even when his mom pitched in. Donald ended up on the ground, the family feeling totally 7.

    Just then, a car caught the family's eye. It had driven past 8 was slowly circling back. The stranger, Steven Smith, 9 and asked if he could help. 10, the family watched Smith lift Donald inside and lay him 11 on a couch.

    But the good man knew there was 12 to do.

    Smith 13 this wasn't the only time Donald would need to climb those 14 ? So the next day，Smith came back and asked if he could build a ramp(坡道）in front of the house. With his dad and a couple more 15 , Smith set up a ramp 16 the steps to make the house 17 to the wheelchair. The act of kindness brought the family to18?

    “This stranger has saved the day for us 19 within 24 hours. He also 20 our spirits that had become increasingly dimmed over the difficult months,” Jennifer wrote on Facebook.

    Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned twelve, a bunch of white gardenia (栀子花) was delivered to my house. No card or note came with it.1to the flower shops were not helpful at all—it was a cash2.After a while I stopped trying to 3who the sender was and just delighted in the beauty and perfume of the white flowers in soft pink paper.

    But I never4 imagining who the sender might be. Some of my 5moments were spent daydreaming about it. My mother6to these imaginings. She would ask me whether there was someone for whom I had done a(n)7kindness and said that he/ she might be showing 8. Perhaps the neighbor I helped when she was9 a car full of groceries. Or maybe it was the old man10the street whose mail I helped to get during the 11so he wouldn't have to risk down his icy steps. As a young girl12 I tended to guess that it might be a boy who had noticed me a long time 13I didn't know him.

    One month before my high school graduation, my father died of a heart attack. My feelings ranged from grief to abandonment and fear. He was 14some of the most important events in my life. And I became completely15 in my upcoming dance in my graduation ceremony.

    The day before my father died, my mother and I had gone shopping for a dress. We'd found a splendid one, but it was the wrong size. When my father died, I16about the dress. My mother didn't. The day before the graduation ceremony, I found that beautiful dress, in the right size, on the sofa. I didn't17whether I had a new dress or not, but my mother did. She wanted her children to feel18and lovable, believing that there was a magic in the world and19in the face of hard times. In truth, Mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia—lovely20 and perfect with perhaps a bit of mystery.

    My mother passed away ten days after I was married. I was 22. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

All Quiet in a Darkened Library

    After my mother died, my father, who was 75 at the time, began to regularly visit the local library in Epping. He loved going there1 he enjoyed reading different kinds of books, especially reading the newspapers on Saturdays. The library had a small area, where the soft carpet, folding chairs and lap desks 2a comfortable space for independent reading. My dad would sit there for hours. This particular wintery Saturday, at about 12 noon, after being there for two hours, my dad 3 that it was very quiet and darker than usual. He looked around, realizing that all the staff had left and he had been 4locked in.

    My dad was a “panic merchant” at the best of times, so I can only 5 what he was like when this happened. The doors had been locked from the outside and he had no way 6 He must have felt completely at a 7 since he didn't know some 8 for handling this kind of crazy situation. My dad looked at the noticeboards to try to find a 9 phone number—a staff member or someone he could ring to help let him out—but without 10 So he rang the police station and they kindly got in touch with the head librarian.

    The head librarian immediately rang my dad back at the library, and 11that she would be soon there. She tried to 12 him and even explained how he could make a coffee if he wished. This was very nice, but my dad was in too much of a “13” to do so.

    Thankfully, the head librarian arrived 14 the hour and let my dad out. She apologized for the15it had caused my father and sent my father back home in person. We were very grateful, since she could easily have been16at having to come back to work. The next day my dad seemed to17 from this accident. He almost forgot all about the unpleasantness, and even found his experience quite 18.

    I guess the entire staff now makes extra sure that the library is 19 before they leave. What's more, my dad has learned an important lesson by himself—never again became quite so20in his reading.

    I think I will never forget the special day in November. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1 my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come 2 me. I saw worry and 3 on my father's face. Then the race began!

    For the first two and a half miles, I felt 4. I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled 5 and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the 6required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races，I didn't 7 out in the front. I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

    Then without warning，my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I 8 see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into 9 when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them 10 weight.

    I watched as runners rushed by me. 11 I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the 12 left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled (爬), inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both 13 and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep 14 until the very end.

    The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to 15 to. I whispered, “I' m so sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry I 16 you.” He looked at me, saying, “You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just 17. All that matters is that you did your best.”

    “But we worked so 18. What about our dream?” He reached over for my hand and said, “Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true?”

    It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a 19 path for my journey. I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a 20. What I realized, though, was that to him, I was the greatest prize he had ever won.

My Perfect Imperfect Life

    A few years ago, I was standing at the barre (扶手杠) waiting for my adult ballet class when I heard a voice behind me. "So, do you have this perfect life?"

    My first reaction was to1who was being asked such an odd question. Then I remembered there were only two of us in the room. When I turned2, the other woman was looking straight at me.

    I had no idea how to answer it. Was she3? Who has a perfect life? Sure, occasionally I did find the perfect dress or the perfect pair of shoes,4never would I use that word to describe anything about me or my life. I felt a twinge of guilt for somehow giving her that5.

    She watched me. I finally6to whisper a quick "No".

    By then, the teacher had entered the room and turned on the music to start class. With a sigh of7, I moved my feet into the best position. But as soon as my knees bent for our first pose, I realized my8had been disturbed. This woman's words wouldn't9echoing in my thoughts.

    I wanted to know how she came up with her very mistaken10. If she knew anything about my life, she never would have had the11to ask me that question.

    I did my best to do our floor exercises in front of the mirror. For a few moments, I didn't see the usual12of my older self attempting to use a beautiful art form to 13my gracefulness. I only saw the little girl whose father died when she was two, the child who walked home from elementary school every day to an empty house, who learned to sew her own clothes to14money.

    Perfect. My life had been far from it.

    When those memories15, I was left with a vision of the woman I had become, the woman16by all those things I considered imperfect. I now saw the woman who had learned to be self-reliant, who17her family and her friends, who didn't take life for granted. Was that the "perfect" this woman had detected?

    I still don't know, but I no longer feel18or feel like I must keep track of all the difficult times to prove my life isn't19. If ever again asked whether my life is perfect, I would have a different20. Because now I see that, despite all its imperfection, it is.

    Reggie couldn't hear a thing. He was a1boy, but he had been born deaf.  He was well-known to everyone in town, and they were all2him. Unfortunately, though, he3seemed to end up being treated differently from everyone else. Children worried they would4him, and that maybe because he wouldn't hear the ball being hit in his5. Adults acted like he was unable to6them, as though he was some kind of baby.

    His friend Michael didn't like this. He decided that things had to be7. Michael's father was the town's mayor(市长)  and Michael8to convince him that this year, in honor of Reggie, they should offer one day as a 9to deaf people. During that whole day everyone would have to wear earplugs(耳塞).

    People liked the10. The day became known as The Day of Silence, and when it arrived, everyone stuck plugs in their11, in a spirit of great fun. That morning was filled with12and laughter. But, as the hours passed, people became more and more aware of how13life was when they couldn't hear anything.

    On that day nobody was thinking of Reggie as just a14person. This meant he could be15just like any other boy, and people saw a whole new side of16. Not only that, but Reggie had a bright and sharp mind. On that day, using his usual17, Reggie was the one who could communicate best with everyone. This meant that people paid more attention to what he was saying, and they were18by his intelligence and his ability to find solutions to almost any problem.  They19that he had always been like that, and that in normal life all Reggie needed was a little more time than others to20. That was the only difference.