My mother asked me to call my grandmother. What could we possibly have a 1about? Nothing! I just did what she told me and2called my grandmother.

    When she3the phone, I planned to have a small, 10-minute exchange.4, she invited me to lunch at her house so we could5together. Hesitantly, I agreed.

    After hanging up the phone, I immediately6agreeing to the lunch date on Saturday.

    Surprisingly, my Saturday morning wasn't 7. I found it was nice to see her. I forgot the time8her stories about her recent trip to Europe and her sewing class. I wasn't9that 60-year-old people had a social life. It turned out that her10wasn't as mundane（平凡的）as I thought. I was happy to have spent time with her. We planned to meet11at her house. My mom didn't have to12me any more.

    This time I didn't feel the gloom(忧郁).13I wanted to ask were building up in my mind: What was my grandfather like? What did you do at my age?

As we looked through pictures, I was14. I had never seen, nor imagined, my grandmother as a young girl. She reminded me of myself. I learned that as humans, we15human experiences, no matter what age.

    She told me about the time she and her friends went swimming in the lake late at night and the first time she met my16. "You would have adored him. He was the funniest man I'd ever met. "We sorted through three shoeboxes of photographs, each with a17story.

    Ever since that18phone call to my grandmother, we have talked at least once a week. I regret not calling her earlier. She has19me what can't be learned in a textbook: being open to new things, enjoying the simple things, and appreciating what life has given me. I have20a new perspective(视角) on life.

A welcome gift

    Dario and his mother loved their new apartment.  The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them 1 side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud 2filled the room and made them feel very happy.

    The next morning, 3,their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a 4 under their door during the night. One of their neighbours had written to complain（抱怨）about the sound of the piano. Dario's mother asked the building superintendent（管理员）if he knew anything about it.But he said that they were all 5 people and he couldn't imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning,

    Dario suggested that they write a letter to their 6 and apologize for their playing.

    “Maybe we could go and 7 everyone in person," his mother said.

    “What if we invited them to come here for a 8 instead?" Dario asked.

    They both loved the 9.Over the next few days, they 10invitations and prepared desserts for their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

    Finally, the day of the party 11. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to 12.One woman, Mrs Gilbert, 13 Dario's mother with a book of piano music by Chopin. “I heard you playing the other night,”she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed.

    I 14 that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note.I hope you don't think I disliked the playing.” Dario's mother smiled at Mrs Gilbert.“I think maybe we15 you an apology," she said.“I didn't 16how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.” “You play, you play!" Mrs Gilbert said.“I like what you play! Just not so loud at night." She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such 17 music.”

    “These songs are beautiful music," Dario's mother said. “We will be18to play them in the evening.” “And we won't play so loud or late!”Dario said. He was already looking forward to 19 the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother's face. It gave him a feeling of 20 and made him feel that they were home at last.

    Last week I stopped at a red light. To my left stood a young woman. She had a look of 1 on her face, ragged clothes, and a sign that 2, "Just need a little help. Thank you." I was 3 drawn to her. I had no cash in my 4. Instead, I gathered all the change I had in my car. I rolled my 5 down. "Hi. What's your name?" I asked. "Joyce," she 6with caution in her voice. "Hi, Joyce, I'm Kelley." I 7 my arm to give her a handshake. She unwillingly 8 my hand. "It's nice to meet you. I wish I had 9 to help you with but this is all I have right now." She pleasantly 10 her hands and 11 the coins. She started telling me how their house was burned down last year and they 12 everything. With no insurance and both losing their jobs, they were starting over.

    All week I drove by that place hoping to see Joyce and give her more. One week later, I was the first in 13 at the red light and as I 14 the light I smiled. There was Joyce. I asked her what her 15 were. She said that one of her relatives lived in Texas and 16 a few rental houses, and she had agreed to let them stay in one until they got 17. "I have a little something to help you 18 there," and I gave her a 20-dollar bill. "We all need a little help every now and then, don't we?" We both smiled and nodded in 19.

    Who knows if I'll ever see her again? But I know at that moment she smiled and she knew that things really were going to get better for her. And seeing her smile and the hope in her eyes is what I needed to 20 my trouble in life.

A Game of Light and Shade

    It was a sunny day. I had gone up and down the tower when, outside the door at the foot, a blind man came toward me. In a moment, he disappeared up the stairs. I looked at the sign that said "To the Tower", and decided to 1 him.

    I caught up with him in the ticket office. There I was 2 to see the attendant (工作人员) selling him a ticket as if he were any other visitor. Then, with the ticket in one hand and 3 the wall with the fingers of the other, the blind man reached the stairs 4 to the hallway.

    "That man is blind. What would a blind man climb up the tower for?" I said to the attendant, expecting him to show some 5, but he didn't answer.

    "Not the 6 certainly," I said. "Perhaps he wants to 7."

    I bought a ticket and 8 up the stairs. The man hadn't gone as far as I 9. A third of the way up the tower, I heard his 10. I slowed down and followed him at a little 11. He stopped from time to time. When he got to the balcony, I was a dozen steps 12. As I reached it, I saw him at the corner of the tower.

    At last, after ten minutes, I 13 him. "Excuse me," I said as politely as I could, "but I am curious to know 14 you came up."

    He smiled. "Coming up the stairs, you will notice how not just light but sun 15 into the tower through the narrow windows here and there, so that you can feel the 16—the cool stairs suddenly become quite warm—and how up here behind the wall there is 17, but as soon as going opposite a window you can find the sun. There is no 18 so good as this for feeling the difference between light and shade. It is not the first time I've come up."

    The blind man seemed quite 19 just like a child who was enjoying his favorite games. He told me the truth that blind men can also find the beauty in life 20 they cannot enjoy the sights of the world.

    I grew up in a West Virginia mining town in Fayette County. A man named John moved into our town from New Orleans. He was a(n) 1 man, who was at least 6 feet tall and weighed 245 pounds. He had 2 shoulders and truly fitted the V body type. He was really a man with 3and patience.

    John worked for some days, when there were no 4 and John was absolutely an admirable miner. However, when I was ten, the 5 day came. A terrible disaster 6. Timber crossbars(木材横木) were often used in mines to 7 the top. That day my father was working 8 John in the mine. A timber cracked somewhere and the loud cry of a man was 9. Hearing this, my dad and John rushed to the site of the 10. There some miners were trapped. They felt 11 and they sat depressed, either in shock or in prayer(祈祷).

    That's when John did it. He held the timber and applied all his 12 to it. Surprisingly, the blocking moved. Then John raised the timber while all the miners13, but in doing so, the wood was becoming further weakened and John himself was 14 below instead. My father and the other miners 15 started to work with their tools, desperately trying to 16 John, but the top fell and there was no 17 of reaching him. John was buried there forever.

    18 John, a small marble monument(纪念碑) was 19 in front of the entrance to the mine. The 20 had given up his life so that others could live. The monument is still there to this day.

    There was once a bridge which crossed a large river. During most of the1the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to2through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.

    A switchman sat in a small house on one side of the river where he3the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening4the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance and5sight of the trainlights. He stepped to the control and6until the train was within a prescribed(规定的) distance to turn the bridge into7,but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not8. If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble(摇晃) back and forth at the ends, causing the train to jump the9and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He10across the bridge to the other side of the river where he would have to hold the lever(控制杆) back11as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble(隆隆声) of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and12backward to apply his13to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.

    Then, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to14him. The man almost left his lever to run and seize his son and carry him to15. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a16to make his decision.

    The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even17of the tiny broken body, thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor did they notice the18figure of the sobbing man, still holding tightly the locking lever19after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife20their son had brutally died.