My husband Jeff and I moved into our new home in Scottsbluff last year just before Christmas. I did not have the1or energy to carry out my traditional Christmas decorating and baking activities. What was the point, anyway? It was going to be a 2istmas after all.

   3, the neighborly nature of west Nebraska residents started to trickle (陆续来临) in.

    There was a4on the door one evening. It was Jeff's new colleague, John Smith, and his wife, Phyllis. The Smiths had stopped by to5us to town with a loaf of homemade bread. They pointed out a6on the porch (门廊). Apparently the doorbell wasn't working in the cold snowy weather and we had7a visit from the Browns, our across-the-street neighbors, who brought us a Christmas card and more Christmas cookies.

  The8feelings brought by these thoughtful gestures lasted longer than the food.

  As Jeff and I were clearing pre-Christmas9from our driveway, Ernie Guzman came over from next door to 10us to dig out.

  Then, we received an invitation to11 a Christmas Eve meal with our neighbors, Ernie and Nancy Sommer, and their12 —a 90-year-old lady, who also had no family in the immediate area with whom to spend the holiday.

  Our Christmas Eve was quite merry, thanks to our13. Our Christmas morning14 was special, thanks to the Smiths' gift of bread. I was so15for these gestures of welcome, especially during the holidays.

  This year, we were again unable to be with our families for Christmas. The 16and work schedules just made things too difficult.17  that sense of Christmas isolation (孤立) all too well, we decided to try to round up some other folks who were18in the holidays.

  Lonely people are all around us, but most of us 19notice them. Just take a look around you. Sometimes, the smallest20gesture can make a world of difference.

    A Toronto man is offering a free round-the-world air to the right woman. But   1 apply. You must be named Elizabeth Gallahgher and have a Candian   2 .

    Jordan Axani, 28, said he and his then girlfriend, Elizabeth Gallagher, booked heavily discounted round-the-world air tickets in May, but their   3   ended and he did not want her ticket to   4    . The ticket had a strict no-transfer（不可转让）  5  , but since passport information was not required when    6  , any Canadian Elizabeth Gallagher can 7   it.

    “I just want to see the ticket go to good use and for someone to  8   a lot of joy,” said Axani. He posted his   9  on a social networking website, and received thousands of e-mails, including thirty from actual Elizabeth Gallagbers with the  10 passports, “More  11  , there are hundreds of Canadians who are interested in   12  their name to Elizabeth Gallagher,” Axani said. “It was absolutely out of   13  , thousands of e-mails, people around the world 14 their stories of travel.”

    Axani wrote in his post that he is not  15  anything in return and that the woman who uses the  16 ticket can choose to either travel with him or 17  the ticket and travel on her own.

    The  18  is scheduled to start on December 21 in New York City and continue on to Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok and New Delhi before 19  in Toronto on January 8. He said the  20  woman will be announced on the website and the trip will be shared online.

    In February of 2005, Phil Belfiore was teaching one of Robert Frost's poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” He liked it that he recorded it on his home answering machine, which would lead to one of the most unusual1of his life.

    When Phil returned from his vacation, he listened to his voice 2  One gentleman caller 3for dialing the wrong number. But, he added, he'd really 4the poem. Phil laughed and thought nothing more of it— 5the phone rang a few days later.

    Phil 6John's hollow voice immediately, who said sorry to7, but he was calling to hear the8again. The two men talked. It turned out that his brother's phone number was9from Phil's by one digit(数字), thus the wrong number. Before hanging up, Phil told John to 10anytime, whether to hear the poem or just to have a chat.

    That was 11 years ago. They've spoken on the phone a few times a month ever since. It is John who is 11the starter of most calls. However, Phil will ring if a long while has passed. Not 12  John has been in poor health. His special voice is just the 13of some heart trouble. They seem to always 14when there's been a big sports event. The man like to discuss 15most. John will also 16Phil on his life. Slowly, their conversations have grown much more 17  When asked what drew them together, Phil18that they were old friends. They planned to meet twice, but circumstances went19them. Their friendship is based on the simple act of picking up the phone. “My best friend is someone I've not yet met 20 ” says John. It's as simple as that.

    Until a few years ago, I had what most people would call a good life. I had a 1job that paid the bills; I had a good family that I was close to, and I had a place to live and money in the bank for trips and 2, and there was nothing much wrong in my life.3, I was bored.

    I wanted 4. I wanted to live brightly and loudly and make sharp memories instead of the 5 ones of everyday life. But I was 6. I've never had any7in myself. As a child, even buying something in a shop caused me a great deal of 8, and even though I did get better as I got older, I never really9 that childhood shyness.

    And I tried everything, like reading books about confidence. I took tiny steps leading to my goals. But none of them really10.

    So I 11 that the small steps weren't enough. I signed up for an internship（实习期）teaching English in Vietnam, an12 huge step, one that13 me as much as it excited me. And then the day came and I left my home and my loved one. I was alone in a country where the food was14 and the streets were dirty. I had no idea whether I would be able to 15everything this very strange environment would16 at me.

    I spent five months in Vietnam, teaching and exploring and laughing. I'd learned to 17 myself, my skills, my abilities and my decisions. I returned home 18, even to myself, let alone to others. The19 that had controlled my life and the self-doubt completely20.

    That one big chance changed everything for me, and in me.

    Todd Jones is a 15­year­old student from Washington, D.C. In a chat room called Webfriends, he started talking to someone 1 to be a 13­year­old junior high school student in Texas named Josh. For several weeks, they chatted online about their hobbies and quickly 2. Then Josh started telling Todd about his 3. He said that his father had lost his job and his grandmother was very ill. 4 money was urgently needed, he wondered if Todd could help. Feeling bad for his new friend, Todd transferred(转账) $50 to Josh's bank account.

    Two weeks later, Josh asked Todd for $50 to help pay for school supplies like notebooks. 5, Todd sent the money. Over the next month, Josh asked Todd for money five times, for a total of $300. Gradually, Todd was beginning to feel 6 of his chat room friend. He turned to Bob Howard, a cybercrime specialist at the police department. After some checking, Howard discovered that Todd's chat room friend was not 13­year­old Josh from Texas but 38­year­old David Klein from New York. As it 7, Klein had made friends with more than twenty middle school students in different chat rooms, using a different 8 each time. By claiming to be poor or ill, Klein had 9 more than $3, 000 from these students.

    Howard urges everyone to be 10 when they visit chat rooms: "Never send money to someone you meet online or meet online friends in person."

    I don't remember the day my mother saved my life. But for her, the 1 of that day is vivid. When she 2 those events, she's thirty five years old again and I am a tiny baby in her arms.

    It was early March, but the3 wind bit like it was the depths of December. My mother 4 the blanket even tighter around me as she hurried to the 5 door. I was two months old, and that was our third 6 to the doctor that week. Each time a different face said the same words. "It's 7. Just a simple cold, ma'am." That day was no different. My mother left, feeling 8, convinced there must be something wrong with my breathing. At home, she kept me closer than normal, 9 monitoring my breathing.

    When I woke up the next day, fighting for breath, her 10 were around me with quick sureness, and I was rushed to the 11. We flew past red 12. "Breathe, Alana! Breathe!" she cried out. We reached the hospital, and her arms were around me again. "This baby can't 13!" my mother shouted. Even as doctors 14 me, her arms never let me go.

    I have grown up in Mum's arms. Today I'm seventeen, and for most people that means the times for 15 are over. But when I'm applying for colleges, I 16 at the computer screen for hours. Suddenly, I feel 17, not knowing what to do. I realize that dependence is not a(n) 18. Instead, with someone by my side, I am much stronger than I will ever be 19. I may not remember the moment my mother saved my life so long ago. 20, looking back, I see that my mother saves my life every day.