I sat down at my desk and tried to focus on my studies. In just seven more days, finals would be over and all the students in my college 1 would be leaving to   go home-2 me. I would be moving 3 to another dormitory for the Christmas break.

    I had no 4. I was a student from Pennsylvania attending college in Utah and my family of ten couldn't 5 to pay for my ticket home. The only 6 I was even able to attend college was that I had received several scholarships.

    I started at the white snow dancing through the air. This would be my 7 Christmas away from home. I felt so 8 that I could weep. 9 I swallowed down the ache that was rising in my throat, my phone rang suddenly. I reached over and picked it 10.

    “Hello?”

    “Hi, Teddi. This is Elsie.” What was my boss from high school grocery job 11 me for? “All the workers here 12 that you weren't able to make it home this year.13 we bought you a ticket. You're coming home!”

    I screamed.

    Fifteen minutes later I was off the14and jumping up and down for 15. Neighbors came over to see what the 16 was all about.

    “I'm going home for Christmas! My17 at my high school job bought me a ticket!” I told them.

    Christmas 18, I was awoken by laughs and screams of joy. The smell of roasting turkey and the wrapping paper（包装纸）that grew higher and higher filled me with love and 19. The kindness of some special fiends 20 me to have the best Christmas ever.

    I was standing in the checkout line behind a woman who looked to be in her 60s. When it was her turn to pay, the cashier(收银员) 1 her by name and asked her how she was doing. The woman looked down, shook her hand, and said, “Not so good. My husband just lost his job and my 2 son is up to his old tricks again. The truth is, I don't know how I'm going to 3 the holidays. ”Then she gave the cashier food stamps.

    My heart 4. I wanted to help but didn't know how. Should I offer to 5 her groceries or ask for her husband's situation?

    6 I walked into the parking lot, I spotted the woman returning her shopping cart. I remembered something in my purse that I thought might help her. It wasn't a handful of cash or an 7 of a job for her husband, but maybe it would make her life 8.

    My heart beat faster as I 9 the woman. “Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling a bit. “I couldn't help overhearing what you said to the cashier. It sounds like you're going through a really 10 time right now. I'm so sorry, but I'd like to give you something.”

    I took a small card out of my purse and 11 it to her.

    When the woman read the only two words on the card, she began to cry. And through her 12, she said, “You have no idea how much this 13 to me.”

    I was a little 14 by her reply. Having never done anything like this before, I didn't know what kind of 15 I might receive. All I could think to respond was, “Oh! Would it be OK to give you a 16?

    After we hugged 17, I walked back to my car and began to cry, too.

    The words on the card?

    “You Matter.”

    A few weeks earlier, a colleague gave a similar card as 18 for a project I was working on. When I read the card, I felt a 19 glow(光辉，喜悦)spread inside of me. Deeply touched, I came home and ordered my own box of You Matter cards and started 20 them.

    Last summer, I travelled to Meixian County with my friends. It is a small county at the foot of Taibai Mountain in Shanxi Province. We stayed there for one week and I1 my vacation because of the beautiful scenery at the top of the mountain.

    I will2forget the day when we climbed the main peak(山顶). The3in that area changes very quickly: it was sunny in the early morning when we set out,4it began to rain heavily when we were only halfway up.

    Soon, we were all5and some of us wanted to go home. They said, "There is nothing6here. We came to see the scenery,7the pouring rain!" However, the guide8, "Since we have got wet already, why not just go on with our journey？"

    So we carried on up the mountain and,9we even noticed, the rain stopped and the sun was smiling again. When we reached the top of the peak, the view was unique (独特的).

    Up there, it was bright and clear. The sky was10and the air was fresh. The gentle wind made us feel cool. All the clouds were just like waves in the ocean,11and falling under our feet. We could only see the peaks of mountains, as if they were12floating sparsely (稀疏的) in the ocean. It was a really magical experience.

    While we were enjoying the scene, the guide said13,"You see, I knew that there would be no rain above the clouds."

    It is14. While it may rain below the clouds, the sun is still there above them.

You will never see the sun15you don't try your best to climb to the top of the mountain. If we had stopped and gone home when the rain was very heavy, we would never have seen the beautiful scenery16the clouds. I think this is also true in17.

    As the song says, "You won't see the rainbow unless you have gone through the thunder and storm." I think in the18, whenever I have any difficulties in my life, I will remember the19from the top of Taibai Mountain and the20which touched my heart deeply: There is no rain above the clouds.

    It wasn't that I was embarrassed because my husband was out of work. It's just that we were 1 people and didn't share our 2 much with others. So when he lost his job, we just acted like nothing had changed and no one seemed to 3 .

    It didn't take long before my friends found out that my husband 4 a lot more. When asked about it, I told my good friend and neighbour Tammy the 5 and I said we were still looking. She then told me that her husband had also been hunting for 6 all over town because his company was closing down. I was 7 .We constantly did things together, yet I hadn't found any sign of their 8 .

    After knowing what they were 9 , I wanted to help them even though we didn't have much ourselves. So, I became a 10 shopper. I looked for discount offers everywhere, and when I finished my 11 , I would offer to buy things for Tammy at the 12 price. It seems like our money goes even further because we are willing to 13 .

    It goes the other way too. Tammy and her husband have given us enough wood to 14 our house this winter. It has been a huge 15 , reducing our gas bill to almost nothing. There are other 16 of helping each other. I teach Tammy how to make bread; she 17 my kids when I go to job interviews...and the 18 goes on.

    I don't have much to give, but I can give of myself. I can have 19 , love and hope, and the more I give these away, the more I 20 .

The Parents' Lifesaving Touch

    On March 25, 2010, Kate and David heard the words every parent feels frightened of: Their newborn wasn't going to make it. Their twins—a girl and a boy—were born two minutes apart and 14 weeks premature(早产的), 1 just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no 2. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he'd stopped breathing. The baby had just minutes to 3.

    "I saw him gasp(喘息) weakly, but the doctor said it was no 4," Kate told the Daily Mail five years later. "I know it sounds stupid, 5 if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn't going to give up 6."

    In an effort to cherish(珍惜) her last moments with the tiny boy, Kate asked to 7 him. The couple knew this was likely a 8.

    Kate removed the hospital blanket 9 the boy, whom the couple had already 10 Jamie, and ordered David to take his shirt off and 11 her and the boy in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible in their arms and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his 12. They also talked to him.

    "We were trying to entice(说服) him to stay," Kate told the Daily Mail. "We explained his name and 13 he had a twin who he had to look out for and how hard we had tried to 14 him."

    Then something completely 15 happened. Jamie started 16 again. Finally, he reached for his father's finger.

    The couple's lost boy had made it.

    "We're the 17 people in the world," David said.

    Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and 18. The parents only recently told the kids the story of their 19. "Emily burst into tears," Kate told the Daily Mail. "She was really upset, and she kept hugging Jamie. This whole 20 makes you cherish them more."

    There came a time in my life when my learning curve (曲线) became very steep. I learned so much in such a 1 time that I was reading two grades ahead of my 2 class. At school I was continuously 3 with lectures, because I had already done 4.

    And 5 my knowledge increased, so did my arrogance (傲慢). I started getting into 6 debates with my teachers. I knew more than them, and I was eager to show it at every 7 I got. That was until Mrs T 8. She was new to our school, and a perfect 9 for me. I tried one of my tricks on her in front of the whole class. She didn't scold me. She just 10.

    At the end of the class, she 11 me aside and said the following words:

    "I know that there is an unspoken 12 that a teacher is supposed to be more 13 than the student. We both know that is 14. I know for a fact that you know much more than me. And I won't insult you by pretending otherwise. But remember this. Knowledge is supposed to give you 15, not pride. Today you are the smartest person in the room; tomorrow you won't be. There will always be someone much 16, much more diligent than you. And when that happens, all the pride in the world wouldn't be enough to 17 you from downfall. Everything that you have learnt will be for nothing if you don't learn the 18 of humility."

    Today, I 19 remember her words. I 20 myself of them daily.