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. "

    “Daily Star, sir,” called Jason, carrying some newspapers under his arm. The little boy had been running up and down the street, but there were still twenty1left. His voice was almost gone and his heart was2. The shops would soon close, and all the people would go home. He would have to go home too, carrying the papers3money. He had hoped to sell more papers tonight to make more money to buy a4for his mother and some seeds for his bird. That was why he had bought the papers with all his money. He almost5as he thought of his failure to sell all his papers.

    “You don't know the6of selling papers. You must shout, “Hot news! Bomb bursting(炸弹爆炸)!” another newsboy Chad told Jason. “7 such news is not in the paper at all,” replied Jason. “Don't be so honest. Just run away quickly8they have time to see, and you'll9out the paper and get your money,” Chad said.

    It was a new10to Jason. He thought of his bird with no11and the cake he wanted to buy for his mother, but was12that he would not tell a lie. Though he was13a poor newsboy, he had been14some good qualities.

    The next afternoon Jason went to the office for his papers15. Several boys were crowding around Chad, who declared with a16smile that he had sold six dozen papers the day before. He added that Jason17money because he would not tell a lie. The boys18at Jason. “You wouldn't tell a lie yesterday, my boy?” A gentleman at the office came up and patted(轻拍) Jason's shoulder19, “You're just the boy I am looking for.” A week later Jason started his new20. He lost the sale of twenty papers because he would not tell a lie, but got a well-paid job because he told the truth.

    A 4-year old girl named Norah and her new friend Mr Dan have given us the glimmer of humanity we desperately need right now. A chance meeting in the grocery store pushes the 1 of depression aside and ends up changing a life.

    Norah' mother, Tara Wood, wrote on Facebook that her daughter seemed magnetically 2 to the man when they passed by him at the store. So much so that she stood up in the cart and waved 3, "Hi, old person! It's my birthday today! "

    The man's expression 4 and his face lit up when he realized she was speaking to him. "Well, hello, little lady! And how old are you today?" he asked.

    They 5 for a few seconds and it was super adorable. They continued on their way but a few minutes later, Norah asked if she could hug and take a 6 with the man, whom they now call "Mr Dan". They 7 together and then hugged each other like they were long lost friends.

    When she thanked Mr Dan, Wood received a 8 she wasn't expecting. He shed (流下) tears and said, "No, thank you. This has been the best day I've had in a long lime. You've made me so 9, Ms Norah."

    10 by the encounter. Wood later polled the photos on Facebook and that night received a private message from someone who 11 knows Mr Dan.

    It 12 his wife passed away earlier this year, leaving him in deep 13. The friend said she was sure Norah touched his heart, 14 the chance meeting was something he needed.

    Wood got Mr Dan's phone number and called him a few days laler. They met for lunch the following week and have seen each other on numerous occasions 15— even celebrating his 82nd birthday together.

    "You guys, I cannot 16 the friendship between Norah and Mr Dan. I 17 every time they're together — it's so pure, simple and perfect," Wood wrote.

    Hugs can be physical such as those 18 with an intimate partner, family member or friend; or they can be symbolic such as the 19 that someone needs a word of encouragement or a helping hand. Hugs can be the interweaving threads that 20 the fabric of our communities and our society. Hugs are so powerful that they can shake us to the core and wake up the humanity within.

Be a Traveler, not a Tourist

    Last summer, I had just enough money saved to buy a golden ticket—a 3-month train pass that would take me to the furthest reaches of Europe. Excited for my journey, I packed all the necessities —except the 1.

    While the convenience of the Internet was definitely a contributing factor to my 2 not to take with me the few expensive kilograms of out-of-date information, this was not the only reason why I decided to fly alone.

    To be honest, my main 3 with the guidebook is that I find it 4 the pleasure of a journey—like bossy aunt who is always telling you what to do, 5 she doesn't always know what is the best.

    Experience has taught me that there is an obvious 6 between a tourist and traveler.

    While waiting in a queue, I met a man who had a checklist. He showed me his list of “Top 20 Things To Do in Italy” and 7 off in a loud American accent that he'd seen everything Italy has to offer in just four days.

    The problem I had with this man's 8 to travelling was that he was too 9 information provided by his guidebook. He was lost in the 10 attractiveness of the “must-sees” and 11 to all the wonders and adventures that might happen during the 12 trip.

    So, 13 any guidebook, I traveled to Estonia, the tiny Baltic country bordering Russia. In the 14 of advance plans as guidebooks would suggest, I had no choice but to turn to some friendly faces for advice. I 15 myself first and then asked them what was happening around the town. When this 16 an invitation to a beautiful Estonian home by a river where I 17 a 110-degree wood-stove sauna, 18 picked forest-mushrooms and the good 19 of our five newfound Estonian friends, I was most glad that I had left my “bossy 20” at home.

    I had ever been invited to see a performance. That day I met a brave and talented boy I would never1. The young musician, Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes, was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair and began to play the2. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful3. He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more4. I was seeing something5in his face. It was something that I6can't explain. And his smile was magic!

    He was born with no7and a pair of paralyzed（瘫痪的）legs. As a child, he was fitted with man-made eyes and8in a wheelchair. Today, Patrick is a junior. His father9classes with him and he's made nearly all As.

    But more than his10musical talent, it was Patrick's "attitude of gratitude" that11my soul. On stage, between songs, he talked to the12about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, "God made me blind and unable to13. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability, the musical14I have and the great opportunity to meet new people."

    I15a quote, "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning to16in the rain!"

    I thought that's it! We all17adversity(不幸）in our life. However, it's not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and18in our lives. During19times, do we spend too much time we feeling sorry for ourselves, or can we, with gratitude,20how to dance in the rain?

When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboat man. We had temporary ambitions of other sorts, but they were only temporary.

My father was a justice of the peace, and I supposed he possessed the power of life and death over all men and could hang anybody that offended him. This was distinction enough for me as a general thing; but the desire to be a steamboat man kept intruding(闯入), nevertheless. One of our boys in town, who went away and was not heard of for a long time, turned up as an apprentice engineer on a steamboat. This thing shook the bottom out of all my Sunday-school teachings. That boy was notoriously worldly, and I was just the opposite. There was nothing generous about this fellow in his greatness. He would always manage to have a rust y nail to scrub while his boat stopped at our town, and he would sit on the inside guard and scrub it, where we could all see him. And wherever his boat was laid up he would come home and show off in the town in his blackest and greasiest clothes, so that nobody could help remembering that he was a steamboat man; and he used all sorts of steamboat technical terms in his talk, as if he were so used to them that he forgot common people could not understand them.

This creature's career could produce but one result, and it was speedily followed. Boy after boy managed to get on the river. Despite many choices, pilot was the grandest position of all. The pilot, even in those days of trivial wages, had a princely salary—from 150-250 dollars a month, and no board payment. But our parents would not let us and our worry was that the next year would find us hunting for jobs with low pay again. So by and by I ran away. I said I never would come home again till I was a pilot and could come in glory.