As my husband, Doug, stood on the busy New York city street trying to stop a taxi, I tried to protect my daughter from the cold December wind and rain. I put my head down to kiss her tiny face.

    1and wet, my husband gave up his attempt to flag down a taxi. I knew the2. Just after her first birthday, we were told our daughter Katie has a3 brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept4. We knew Katie was running out of 5It had taken months before we finally had a name for the 6 but we were told only a few of specialists in the world knew how to7 it. Now, as we finally found a brilliant doctor to8 our girl, we were in a strange 9in the cold rain.

    Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, “Pardon me? May I offer you a(n)10?” Before we could say anything, she continued, “It's really no11 for me. Just get in.”It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent, which 12 me up like hot soup. We simply said, “Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital,  please,” as we got in her car for the ride.

    “Are you going 13 the baby?”she asked us. I nodded my head, holding back my.14. At the hospital, we 15her a dozen times for the ride. As the woman hugged me, I16her face was wet with tears. She promised to17 for us before she left.

    After three more visits to New York and two more 18 operations, Erica is cured. But the19 of the Irish Angel still rang as a constant reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our20 days.

    There is a fine line between a parent who is active and open-minded and one that doesn't know when to let go. As my daughter, Nicole, prepares to leave home for college, I'm discovering how hard it is to stay on the 1 side of this line. One day, it was time to prepare for dinner. When I held 2 the apron strings (围裙带) connecting us, Nicole, eager to 3 independence, tried to loosen my grasp (掌控). What resulted was a (an) 4 mother-daughter, push-me, pull-you kind of tango.

    For the past two years, it's gone like this:

    Mother's question: “Have you thought of taking an advanced class (大学预备课程) so that you can earn college credit (学分)?”

    Daughter's 5: “No, I'm not interested in that.”

…

    Two months ago, she was 6 into a great university. However, I was still the mother having a 7 time letting go. The night before the introductory meeting of the university, I had read the course catalog (目录) carefully and 8 the courses which I thought looked good. We met on the campus the next afternoon, and Nicole's face 9with excitement. “I have had all my timetables of courses ready,” she said. “Already?” I was astonished, 10 she should have discussed it with me. I examined what he chose. Nicole hadn't taken a (an) 11 one of the courses I had suggested. Every course she had chosen 12 suited her interests. Just then I saw a mature, strong young woman with a 13 mind and the ability to shape her future. She no longer needed her mother 14 every decision she made. I felt proud, though still a bit 15.

    I 16 the lessons carefully. Nicole has struggled to learn over the past 18 years the following things: 17, sympathy, and hard work. There have been a few holes along the way. 18, she is well-equipped and eager to 19 the future. The next step, I recognized, was mine to take: giving my daughter and myself the 20 we both needed.

    "How dare you!" My anger finally burst out when my son 1 to go to the piano classes for the third time that day. He rolled his eyes at me, which made me even 2. I completely lost my 3 and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Enough! You are not my boy anymore!" He didn't 4 or talk back to me. He responded in 5 with a look of helplessness that I had never seen before. He used to cry violently and beg me to 6 him. The innocence shining in his big eyes would 7 that hot-tempered beast in me away in the end. 8, this time…

    Did what he had done really make me 9? No. Did such anger come entirely from his improper 10? No. Had I ever given it a chance to listen to and 11 him? No. My demanding job, my 12 housework, my kid's cry for company..., all formed a minefield and all that was needed to 13 it up was a fuse (导火索). My son was the 14.

    The rest of the day, he 15 an outdoor walk, a ride in the park and even his favorite games and just wanted to be alone. I could 16 the greatest sorrow and the most true innocence in his eyes. After admitting my own fault, I held this tiny trembling creature 17 in my arms, tears swelling in my eyes.

    For those who believe "Sticks and stones may break the bone, but 18 can never hurt anyone", I have a piece of heartfelt advice. Do not try this most powerful weapon 19 the people you love. It is 20 enough to cut the deepest into a soul.

    When I was 13 years old, I stopped speaking. I'm still not exactly sure 1. I think I felt that words got me into trouble. The boys in my class were always 2 me, telling me to shut up. One day, I 3 into uncontrollable sobs behind the sports hall.

    So throughout my 4, I was silent dealing with the wider world only in whispers and shrugs. My isolation(孤立）led to indescribable 5 that nothing could relieve. I couldn't 6 or socialize. Then, at 15, a psychologist saw 7 in me She said I was in intelligent but 8, and needed to change schools for a fresh start.

    My parents sent me to a different comprehensive. I knew no one and I had the chance to 9 myself. Cheered by the psychologist's 10 in me, I worked hard and became a swot(刻苦学习的人). As a result, my parents were 11. Finally at 20, I was referred to a psychiatrist and he diagnosed me with a mild form of autism(自闭症). It was such a(n) 12 to know what was happening that I cried on the bus on the way home.

    It took a further five years to 13 again, a decision that was as much a surprise to me as it was to everyone else. I 14 myself hard, becoming more confident. Gradually, I 15 my speech. I definitely get more than usual pleasure from the use of 16. It's still such a fresh experience for me 17 different words—ones that can sound so complex, and carry so much 18.

    When I think of what I have 19, I feel like crying, but I don't 20it up anymore. Instead, I enjoy talking about it.

    Nobody can inspire us like great teachers. They show us things about ourselves we can't see. They see 1 in us that others, including ourselves can't or won't see. 2 they give us the courage to find our own way and enough 3 to show us that what we feel 4 is anything but that.

    When Bill Gates 5 Seattle's View Ridge Elementary School, he was a really unattractive and shy fourth grader. 6 a kindly librarian named Blanche Caffiere, he was 7 to come into his own in a way that would one day 8 the world forever. Gates sets the stage for this tale like this:

    "When I first met Mrs Caffiere, she was the elegant and engaging school 9, and I was a shy fourth grader. I was 10 trying to go unnoticed, because I had some big shortcomings, like terrible handwriting…and I was trying to hide the 11 that I liked to read - something that was cool for girls but not for boys… Mrs Caffiere took me under her wing."

    He was grateful to Mrs Caffiere for helping him become less 12 , which resulted from the true spirit of 13 teaching. First she encouraged Gates' enthusiasm for 14 by helping him explore it through the use of introspective (内省的) questions, 15 what he liked to read and why. Next, she would go out of her 16 to source books that were 17 more interesting and challenging for him. Finally, 18 he'd read them, she would sit down with him and ask him if he liked what he had read, and more 19 what he'd learned and why. "She basically 20 what I had to say." Gates recalled.

The very unusual series of events finished as Sondrup was heading home from an extended work shift. She had just completed her fourth continuous night shift, and 1 was coming over her. Little did she know that July 26, 2023, would become a day unforgettable in her 2 .

While driving home, Sondrup 3 a truck had overturned on State Route 143 near Sky Harbour, with a man 4 inside. Despite her tiredness, she made an inspiration—of-the-moment decision to help.

"It's 5 , but there were so many reasons that led me to that fine moment," recalled Sondrup. "6 , I wouldn't have been there."

Under what she described as a turn of fate (命运), Sondrup 7 , joined by a couple of other individuals who happened to be passing by. With unquestionable timing, no other cars were on the road, allowing her to cross over safely and reach the 8 scene.

Sondrup courageously 9 under the truck to check the injured man. In an act of 10 , she used a bystander's belt as a makeshi ft tourniquet (止血带) to stop the bleeding. Months have passed since that fateful day, and on October 18, the Phoenix Fire Department 11 Sondrup for her life-saving actions.

"I really feel that my guiding 12 led me to that very moment," she told Fox 10Phoenix. "I'm not without imperfections, but I believe that at that 13 moment, I received a guiding premonition (预感)."

 The man Sondrup rescued recently reached out to express his 14 for the second chance at life. "I wish him nothing but the best," Sondrup said. "I hope he experiences a new 15 and a future filled with success."