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 high school started, Becky and I became best friends. We 1 many interests and quickly became inseparable. When high school ended, we both cried because we would attend different colleges in the fall.

    Our first term of university life was 2. We had a huge telephone bill and our e-mails were incredibly long. In the second term, l found some new friends wih whom I felt very3. These were friends with whom I could be myself and 4 out my feelings. I was eager to share my new friends with Becky.

    When Becky finally visited me at my school, we were excited. She brought a toy bear as a present and told me about her college life. However, something unexpected happened when I 5 her to my new friends. Her eyes grew dark and l could see the 6 within them. My new friends tried to share their friendship, but Becky seemed 7 to accept it. I didn't understand why the people l loved most couldn't love each other.

    Becky left. I knew she was not happy. I thought long about what had happened. After many unanswered questions, I understood that she was 8. She saw me with my new friends and regretted that we longer shared the same experience. She saw all the fun l was having 9 her and wished she could be a part of it. She wished she could be in their 10.

    I wrote a letter to Becky11 she's always my best friends. I told her everyone had friends from home and friends from school, and all the friends were indeed life's greatest 12. Becky wrote me back soon. She was in 13 and felt sorry about what she had done.

    I think Becky and I both learn an important lesson from it. 14 can influence our friendship and change the experience we've shared. We are now walking on two different paths of life while new friends are special and exciting, old friends are always there,15 to share their heart and soul, no matter how far apart.

Honest Thanks

    I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the notecard into the 1, sealed it and stuck the stamps on it, but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox I 2.

    The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via（通过）Facebook 3. She had inspired me to live a(n)4 life—for example, by5 more.

    Her volunteer efforts weren't 6—she wasn't building well in Uganda, but7she was doing small, local good deeds, such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do, too. She made me 8 I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her 9 positively influenced my life. I could have easily sent her an e-mail,10 that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank-you. That's why I ended up 11 the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox, unable to place the envelope inside. What was 12 me? Why was this so13 to do? I guess I felt strange because it wasn't like she was my best friend, I just knew her. “people don't 14 do this,” I thought to myself. However,15 thinking it over, I still felt a(n)16 to let her know how grateful I was. Finally, I put the envelope in the mailbox.

    Weeks later I received her reply, she was 17 a tough time and my letter meant the 18 to her. She didn't know she had such a(n)19 on others. Not only did this letter make her happy, but her response to it increased my20 of happiness. I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating（培养） gratitude is a great skill to practise. Life is too short not to do it.

    One afternoon, my son Adam asked me, “Are all people the same even if they are different in color?”

    I thought for a minute, and then I said, “I'll explain,1you can just wait until we make a quick2at the grocery store. I have something3to show you. ”

    At the grocery store, we4some apples—red, green and yellow ones. Back home. I told Adam, “It's time to5your question.” I put one apple of each6on the table. Then I looked at Adam, who had a7look on his face.

    “People are like apples. They come in all8colors, shapes and sizes. On the9, some of the apples may not10look as delicious as the others.” As I was talking, Adam was11each one carefully.

    Then, I took each of the apples and peeled (削皮) them,12them back on the table, but13a different place.

    “Okay, Adam, tell me which is which”

    He said, “I14tell. They all look the same now.” “Take a bite of15. See if that helps you16which one is which. ”

    He took17, and then a huge smile came across his face. “People are18like apples! They are all different, but once you19the outside, they're pretty much the same on the inside.”

    He totally20it. I didn't need to say or do anything else.

    If you have been to Harbin in winter, but didn't have a 1 to see people do winter-swimming, I am sure you will feel it's a(n) 2. Can you imagine swimming in a river with the temperature being about 10 degrees below zero? This would be 3 to the people from the South. If you were on the Songhuajiang River, you could not help 4 those brave swimmers.

    I felt greatly excited as well as 5 when I first saw the winter-swimming, though it was very cold that day, the swimmers were only wearing 6 clothes, while all the people watching were having heavy clothes covering all their bodies with only two 7 visible. I had thought that the river was warm, but it 8 much cold when I dipped my hand into the river water. What excited me most was the way they 9 into the river from the high ice-platform and the styles in which they swam, 10 butterfly-stroke and back-stroke.

    My uncle has been 11 about winter-swimming for several years. Now he is a member of the Winter Swimming Club. Once I asked him, “Aren't you afraid of cold? Have you got a 12 from it?” Smiling, he said, “13 we have a strong will, we can surely overcome any 14 and difficulties. I haven't got a cold at all. On the contrary, I have become 15 than I was before “That's true, he 16 suffer from bronchitis. However, since he began to like swimming, he has been fully 17 from the disease.

    Today, more and more people are 18 joining in the winter-swimming, including women and children. This activity shows the great 19 and strong will of the people in Harbin which I think is just what we 20 in our work and study as well.

    In the palace of Rubyland there was a thief. No one knew who it was, but the only thing known about him was that he1 in the palace.

    The King decided to 2 who it was, and he asked for help from a wise dwarf who was famed for his 3. The dwarf spent some days there, watching and listening, until there was another 4 —another ruby(红宝石)was stolen. The next day after breakfast the wise dwarf made all the 5 inhabitants meet up together in the same room. The dwarf 6them all one by one.

    But suddenly, one of the 7 began coughing and crying, writhing and crying, and finally he 8 to the floor. The dwarf explained that the food they had just eaten was 9, and the only antidote(解药) for this poison was hidden inside the ruby that had been stolen the 10 night. And he expected that only the thief would be able to 11 himself, because the poison was 12 quick working.

    Gradually the coughs and groans spread around the whole room, and 13 took hold of all present. All except one person. A footman quickly 14 over to where he had hidden the ruby, from where he took the ruby, opened it and 15the strange liquid inside to save his own life.

In fact, the gardener was one of the dwarf's 16, and the poison was just a kind of potion(药水)prepared by the dwarf which could cause a few 17 pains for a short while. Then the footman was 18 by the guards and taken immediately to court.

    The King, grateful, generously rewarded the dwarf. When he asked the dwarf what his 19 was, the dwarf smiled and said: "I only try to get the person 20 the truth to reveal that truth. Anyone can deceive everyone, but no one can deceive themselves."