阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A Heroic Driver

        Larry works with Transport Drivers. Inc. One morning in 2009. Larry was 1

along 165 north after delivering to one of his    2   . suddenly, he saw a car with its bright lights on.   3    he got closer, he found 4   vehicle upside down on the road. One more look and he noticed  5 shooting out from under the 6   vehicle. Larry pulled over, set the brake and   7  the fire extinguisher (灭火器). Two good bursts from the extinguisher and the fire was put out.

The man who had his bright lights on 8 and told Larry he had 9 an emergency call. They 10 heard a woman's voice coming from the wrecked (毁坏的) vehicle. 11 the vehicle, they saw that a woman was trying to get out of the broken window. They told her to stay 12 until the emergency personnel arrived, 13 she thought the car was going to 14 . Larry told her that he had already put out the fire and she should not move 15 she injured her neck.

      Once fire and emergency people arrive, Larry and the other man   16    and let them go to work. Then, Larry asked the    17   if he was needed or  18   to go. They let him and the other man go.

One thing is 19 —Larry went above and beyond the call of duty by getting so close to the burning vehicle! His 20 most likely saved the woman's life.

Forever friendship

    Twenty-one years ago，my husband gave me Sam，an eight-week-old dog，to help me ease(减轻；缓解) the loss of our daughter. Later my husband and I moved from New York to New Jersey where our neighbor，whose cat had 1had kittens，asked us if we would like one. We were afraid that Sam would not be2 ， but we made up our3to take a kitten.

    We picked a little，gray，playful cat. She 4around running after imaginary mice and squirrels and jumped from table to chair very 5 ， so we named her Lightning(闪电)．

    At6 ， Sam and Lightning were not close to each other. But slowly，as the days went on，Lightning started 7Sam. They slept together，ate together and played together. When I took 8one out of the house，the other was always 9by the door when we returned. That was the10they lived for years.

    Then，without any11 ， Sam suddenly died of a weak heart. This time，there was no Sam for Lightning to greet and no way to 12why she would never see her friend again.

    In the13that followed，Lightning seemed heartbroken. She could not14me in words that she was 15 ， but I could see the pain and 16in her eyes whenever anyone opened the front door. The weeks17by，and the cat's sorrow seemed to be lifting(消失). One day as I walked into our living room，I18 to have a look at the floor next to our sofa 19we had a sculptured replica(雕塑复制品)of Sam that we had bought a few years before. Lying next to the statue(雕塑)，one arm wrapped around the statue's neck，was Lightning，sleeping with her best20.

    Just before Christmas, my daughter Katie and I went over to my dad's place to decorate. While we worked on the tree, grand babies Decie and Johnny 1their great-grandfather Papa Cox. Their laughter and2arguments must have reminded Papa of the past days when my brother and I were just their 3because I saw a twinkle in his 80-year-old eyes.

    Hanging the 4decorations on Papa's tree, I couldn't help gently touching the very oldest of the glass balls. Those I made sure to5from the uppermost branches, safely out of reach of tiny hands. When the tree was beautifully dressed and glowing, we bid my dad goodbye with lots of hugs and kisses and6for home. Later that night, in the quiet darkness, I pulled my 7up close and lay down to rest and remember.

    The Christmas I turned 16, while decorating the tree with Mama, I 8dropped and broke a decoration. The old glass ball was blue and its surface began to fall9 it had been on our tree for as long as I could remember.10 I bent to pick up the broken pieces and was surprised to find a tiny sheet of paper among the pieces. Unfolding it, I recognized my father's penciled writing. Lifting my eyes, I saw my mother's 11expression.

    “Your daddy wrote that and12it in that blue ball during our first Christmas together, just before you were born,” she said with a smile. I wouldn't have believed it13the proof there in my hands. The daddy I knew always looked upon getting the tree decorated as a chore he wanted 14part in. In fact, sometimes he could be a bit of a lazy and mean man around the holidays! And yet this bit of15paper proved that long ago my daddy had done something apparently romantic at Christmas.

    Carefully laying the note aside, I cleaned up the broken pieces, wishing I could somehow16the pieces. “ It's OK , ” Mama said , encouraging me with a hug. “Just pick out another of the17ones and folded the note back inside.”

    18 as we celebrate the holidays without Mama, who we lost to cancer, my19becomes more bitter. Each year as I decorate Papa's tree, I relive the moment I shared with her that winter afternoon and tears of a sadness welled out.

    As I carefully handle those old decorations, I love knowing that one holds a 20between Papa and Mama—one that was obvious to all who knew them. The note inside one of those old glass balls on Papa's tree holds the heart of my parents' marriage in three little words: “I love you.”

    The king's Elephant-keeper had a Dog, who often went into the house where the king's Elephant lived. At first the Dog went there to get the 1 that was left after the Elephant had 2eating. Day after day they became great 3. The Elephant began to share his food with the Dog, and they 4 and played together.

    One day a 5 saw the Dog. He loved the Dog, so he 6the Dog and took him away from the Elephant-keeper. The Elephant 7 the Dog and did not want to eat. The next 8, the king knew it. He sent his servant to find out why the Elephant was 9 in that way.

    The servant went to 10 the Elephant-keeper, "Why does the Elephant look so 11?" The keeper answered, "There was a Dog who was the Elephant's friend but he 12 yesterday."

    "Do you know 13 he is now?" asked the servant.

    "No, I do not," said the keeper.

    Then the servant went back to the king and said, "The Elephant is not sick, but he is 14 without his friend, the Dog. A farmer took him away, but nobody knows where the farmer 15."

    "Well," said the king, "I'll send 16 all over the country, asking the farmer to turn him 17. I'll give him as much money as he paid for the Dog."

    When the farmer 18 this, he turned him loose. The Dog ran back as 19 as he could. The Elephant was so 20 to see the Dog that he picked him up and put him on his head.

    All the rest of their lives the Elephant and the Dog lived together.

    I was a single(单身的) parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight, but I 1 to make ends meet(收支平衡), and if not a lot, 2 we had enough. Not knowing we were poor, my kids just thought I was 3. I've always been glad about that.

    It was Christmas time, and although there wasn't 4 for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with a family party. But the big 5for the kids was the fun of Christmas 6. They planned weeks ahead of time, asking 7 what they wanted for Christmas. 8, I had saved $120 for gifts to be shared by all five of us.

    The big day 9. I gave each kid a twenty-dollar bill and 10 them to look for 11 of about four dollars each. Then everyone went away excitedly. We had two hours to shop and 12 back at the “Santa's Workshop”.

    Driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, 13 my youngest daughter, Ginger, who was unusually 14. She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies —fifty-cent candies! I was very doubtful but I didn't say anything 15 we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door. This is what she told me:

    “I was looking 16 thinking of what to buy when I 17 to read the little cards on the “Giving Trees”. One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she 18 for Christmas was a doll. So I took the card off the tree and 19 the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn't have anything.”

    I never felt so 20 as I did that day.

    One sunny afternoon, a seven-year-old girl went for a walk. She crossed a large area of grassland into the woods 1 she realized that she was lost.

    Sitting on a rock and 2 what to do, she began crying. After a while, She 3 to walk along a wide path lined with tall trees and thick bushes. 4 it was getting dark, she saw a small, dark wooden house. She opened the door and 5 stepped in. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and she ran out of the door and back to the 6 . Cold and tired, she fell asleep near a 7.

    The girl's parents were out and her dog, Laddy, was at home. Laddy 8 that his mistress was in danger. He jumped 9 a window, breaking the glass. He looked in the fields. But he couldn't find his mistress anywhere. However, from the ground came a10 scent (气味) as he lowered his head. He 11 the scent and walked across the grassland. Barking 12 into the air, the dog 13 through the woods until he found the 14. But the girl was not there, so he headed back to the woods. Much to his 15, he saw his mistress' blue shirt in the distance. He 16 over some bushes and saw the little stream, where the girl was 17.

    When she opened her eyes and18her dog standing beside her, the girl said, "you19me, Laddy," and she kissed him several times. Seeing their daughter and dog coming back, the parents burst into tears of 20. That night Laddy had a hero's supper: a huge meal of steak.