It was Christmas Eve. When everyone went to bed, Bunny couldn't fall asleep. He still couldn't think of what he wanted as a special Christmas present. He wondered how Santa — Father Christmas would know what to bring him if he didn't know himself.

    As he was sitting up in bed, Bunny heard a big noise on the roof and a sound downstairs. It was Santa Claus, he realized. Bunny jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to the stairs. He hoped to take a look at the old m an before Santa left for his next stop.

    By the time Bunny was at the bottom of the stairs, everything was silent again. Lots of presents were put under the Christmas tree, but Santa was gone. A little disappointed(失望的), Bunny turned to climb back upstairs when he heard a cry.

    “Hello,” said Bunny. “Is somebody there?”

    He was answered by another cry. Bunny looked around the big pile of presents to see what was making the noise. Right under the tree was a funny looking brown animal with big feet and sad eyes. It also had antlers(鹿角) on its head. Bunny almost mistook it for a dog.

  “Are you a reindeer（驯鹿）?” asked Bunny.

  “Yes,” replied the brown animal with antlers. “My name is Ralph.”

  “And you were pulling Santa's sled(雪橇)?”

   “I was until I got air-sick,” replied Ralph. “Santa had to leave me here and go on with the other seven reindeer.”

   “Isn't it a bit unusual for a reindeer to get air-sick? I mean, isn't flying what reindeer are famous for?”

   “Not me, I'm afraid. It makes me frightened. I always feel sick when it comes to flying,” replied Ralph. “But everyone wanted me to pull Santa's sled, so when it was my turn I gave it a try. I'm afraid I just wasn't cut out for the job. Now I'm trapped here and I don't know how to get back to the North Pole .”

“Well, if you like, you can stay with us as a friend,” said Bunny. As he made the offer, Bunny suddenly realized the special present he wanted from Santa was a new friend!

    Mr. Grey was the manager of a small office in London. He lived in the country, and went to work by train. He liked walking from the station to his office if it wasn't raining, because it gave him some exercise.

    One morning he was walking along the street when a stranger stopped him and said to him, "You may not remember me, sir, but seven years ago I came to London without any money in my pockets. I stopped you in this street and asked you to lend me some money and you lent me￡5, because you said you were always ready to take a chance (机会) to give a man a start on the way to success."

    Mr. Grey thought for a few minutes and then said, "Yes, I remember you. Go on with your story!"

"Well," answered the stranger, "would you like to take another chance?"

Anna Brown is a painter. She is always ready to 1 others. Once, she knew that there were lots of children with illnesses in her town and their families were in need of money. Anna 2 to see what she could do for them. It was 3 for her to give them a lot of money, so she had to think of another way.

She wanted to make full use of her love of 4 . She started making and selling beautiful cards to 5 money for the children. The cards were all handmade and it would take her a long time to make them. So Anna had another 6 . She started asking friends to come to her house to work with her. They all agreed to help. They worked together 7 every weekend. They were glad to be able to show kindness in this way.

But the materials (原料) are 8 . To make money without spending money, Anna 9 paper, paints and other things from her neighbors (邻居). She sold the 10 for three dollars each in an art market. Anna and her friends got lots of money for the poor kids and more and more people joined them.

Some people like to collect stamps. Others prefer posters or coins. But Pinky Bhutia is different. She collects children. In her mountain village, in Sikkim, she is known as the wonderful young woman who adopts (领养) all the children she can. 

Pinky was 14 when she adopted her first child, a Nepali baby girl, whose patents died. Pinky's parents did not mind. Pinky left school and started working full time because she had a baby to feed. Today, she has twelve adopted children, and two sons from her marriage. 

Pinky is about 30 years old and she comes from a common family. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn't give her a second look. She lives in a brown mud-washed（泥刷的） house. There is a vegetable garden outside. Red hens with noisy chicks run all over the garden looking for food.

If you ask her why she provides a home to so many kids, she smiles shyly. But her eyes are serious. "I know what it is to be poor and hungry. "As a child, her only dream was to eat a full meal, and her favorite amusement was watching people with shoes and imagining what it felt like. By adopting poor and homeless children she is making sure that they never feel that hopeless. 

Pinky feels very proud when she sees her children happy and bright, Her oldest baby, Aarita Rai, is now 20 years old. Then, there is 19-year-old Nimbe who came to Pinky because her mother was unable to look after her. She started to work in a government office two years ago. 10-year-old Bhim and 14-year-old Kumar came to Pinky five years ago, after their father died. They started living on a patch of land given by Pinky and grew vegetables for sale.

"I like children. It's not one more mouth to feed but one more soul saved, "Pinky says.