Years ago I was hiking (徒步旅行) in the Himalayas and had made the mistake of changing a large amount of cash into the local currency(货币). As I progressed throughout the villages of the Annapurnas, it soon became 1 that the people were too poor to  2 even the simplest 3 . They had nothing. This meant that I had this ridiculous wad(捆) of 4 in my pack and was a virtual walking 5 compared to the local people. I grew to 6 the stuff and it was 7 to have it in my possession. This led to a remarkable experience that 8 me deeply and its 9 has never left me.

    On this particular day I had become separated from my fellow hikers and found myself in a vast valley. As I made myself down, I noticed a young girl of around 13 10 some sheep. Like so many of the children of the amazing Nepalese people, she was very beautiful. I couldn't 11 looking at her and she looked at me. As I drew level with her she suddenly rushed 12 to me, and without a 13 , handed me a flower. Our eyes 14 for a tiny moment and then she ran away. The spirit in this angelic child had responded to something she saw in me and her first 15 was to find something to 16 . From the depths of her 17 , there was nothing she had- 18 a single flower. The 19 of my cash was never heavier than at this moment and I had just received one of the richest 20 I have ever had in my life.

    It was at a concert that I happened to find David. He was holding his head at a strange 1 as if he were staring down at something. Then the truth struck me. He was blind. The last thing he remembers 2 was his daughter being born. Then the world went 3.

Bad luck is no stranger to this 44-year-old man. His mother died of cancer, and his weak father had to 4 11-year-old David to the care of the state. Things seemed always to go from bad to 5. Two years ago, his beloved guide dog pulled him out of the 6 of a truck. David was not hurt. The dog 7 But David does not feel sorry for himself. "These are just little obstacles (障碍) you have to 8 in your life," he said. He has to make a daily two-hour trip to his working place—the X-ray department of an 9 room. It was a hard job to 10. Before he got it, David was determined to escape the workshop run by the Lighthouse, an organization 11 to help blind people. He wanted a job of developing X-ray film, something 12, not just he, must do in the dark, including people with 13 eyesight. The Lighthouse called many hospitals, with no result, 14 they offered to pay his first three months' salary.

    David works alone in a dark room that 15 chemicals. He cannot wear gloves. 16, he could not feel. Since this is an emergency room, lives can be 17 or out of danger. His directress says she trusts him 100 percent.  He makes $ 20 000 a year. But his motivation (动机) goes 18 money. "By working, I can actualize my own 19. That's the most important!" he said.

    What a shining example for us to 20!

    Have you ever imagined your future? I try to do this all the time. Most of us will follow in our 1 footsteps, by this I mean our adult lives will 2 resemble the lives we live as children, set by our parents' examples. Have you ever 3 and thought about this? What an awful job it must be to 4 a child properly! But, what happens to the children that live 5 drugs, alcohol and violence in their childhood? Where can they find good examples for themselves?

    I know of one place that is trying to 6 all children. It is the McDowell County D.A.R.E. program in McDowell County North Carolina. Our teachers carry on their shoulders the great 7 of teaching kids to just say NO to drugs, alcohol and violence. I am personally acquainted with 8 of these things, not because I have ever 9 them myself, but because of my dad. He drank, 10 drugs and smoked pot (抽大麻). When I was 7 my mom took me and my sister and 11. I wonder if my dad ever thought about the 12 and what this bad decision would lead to when he first started experimenting with drugs and pot at 13. He has been in jail, he can't get a decent job, and he lost his 13. These bad choices also caused him to hurt his children in horrible ways.

    I am 14 that I have at least one parent to help me make wise decisions, and to teach me right from wrong. I am also 15 that the D.A.R.E. program is taught in our schools. One of the most 16 things I learned from D.A.R.E. is that a person that has a parent with an addiction problem is more than twice as likely to become addicted themselves, as compared to a person that has no family history of drug 17. I have learned many things through this 18, especially about the consequences of our trying drugs. You could get arrested, hurt yourself or someone else, 19 your life by becoming an addict, or even die. All of these things are terrible, but I can't think of anything 20 as a parent than hurting our children and the people that love us. DRUGS DESTROY LIVES! I give the D.A.R.E. program two thumbs up, for all the good things being accomplished.

    Norman Cousins was a businessman from the United States who often traveled around the world on business. He enjoyed his 1 and traveling.

    Then, after returning to the United States from a 2 trip to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), Mr. Cousins got sick. Because he had pushed his body to the 3 of its strength on the trip, a change began to take place 4 him. The material between his bones became 5.

    In less than one week after his return, he could not 6. Every move that he 7 was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told him that they did not know how to cure Mr. Cousins' problem and he might never 8 his illness. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up 9.

    Mr. Cousins thought that 10 thoughts were causing bad chemical changes in his body. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. 11, he felt that happy thoughts or 12 might cure his illness.

    He began to 13 on himself while still in the hospital by watching funny shows on television. Mr. Cousins quickly found that 10 minutes of real laughter during the 14 gave him two hours of pain-free sleep at night.

    15 the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could 16 his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching funny shows on television, reading funny books, and sleeping 17 he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well 18 to take a vacation to Puerto Rico where he began running on the beach for 19.

    After a few months, Mr. Cousins returned to work. He had laughed himself back to 20.

    My car needed some mechanical work that I could not do myself. Since the garage I had been taking my car to had 1, my friend Dave gave me a recommendation: D's Auto Repair.

    I was pleasantly 2 to discover that the owner of D's was a mechanic who had worked on my car several years earlier. 3 he was an employee at a gas station near my house. I knew that his work was good.

    I 4 the paperwork for the repair and 5 while D took a phone call from another customer. As I sat there, I looked around the small office to keep myself 6 A framed newspaper article caught my attention. The headline 7: "Local Dairy Farmer Kills Whole Herd.” The article was about the 8 of a fifth-generation dairy farmer during the polluted milk scare in Michigan several years earlier. Dairy cows were becoming 9 a disease that was affecting the milk supply. The fifth-generation dairy farmer paid to have all of his cows 10. It was found that out of the entire herd, only a few were were infected. Because no one could 11 that the other cows were totally 12, he had the herd killed and buried to make consumers feel rest assured(放心). The farmer's insurance did not cover his 13 because the state had not issued a(n) 14 for him to get rid of the herd. Asked why he did it, the farmer replied "Because it was the right thing to do.

    I asked D why he 15 the article on the wall. I thought that he might be related to or 16 knew the farmer. He said he had never met the man, but that the farmer was a(n) 17 to him and set a standard for integrity(正直), trust and honesty. He said that is how he 18 his auto Repair business.

    I was now doubly 19 by both the farmer and D. The next year, 20 my recommendation, my son started a nine-month mechanics apprenticeship(学徒) at D's Auto repair.

    Axel Winch was born nearly 13 weeks prematurely (早产地). He 1 2 pounds, 12 ounces and had bleeding in his brain, vision and hearing 2. After a week in the 3 in Grand Junction, where parents Melissa and Adam Winch live, he 4 a life-threatening intestinal (肠道的) condition. Doctors 5 to airlift (空运) Axel and Melissa more than 200 miles to Children's Hospital in Aurora.

    His health remained 6 over the next few weeks as his lungs shut down. "There were many times we didn't think he was going to 7." Adam said. 8, support was on the way. Melissa, 39, is a police officer. The police department in Grand Junction 9 officers in Aurora. Soon, members of the Aurora police department 10 the hospital with offers of help. One brought them banana bread. A detective gave the 11 a place to stay.

    But then things got 12 again. After weeks of caring for Axel in Aurora, the couple had to briefly return to Grand Junction on two separate 13. First, their house had been under contract and they had to 14 in two days. The second time, Melissa's 15 had run out, so she had to return to work for a few days. They hated having to abandon their son, who had improved but was still facing 16 surgeries.

    "We were afraid he was going to die while we were gone," Adam says. Aurora police Mike set up a 17 for his officers to spend time with Axel—when his 18 couldn't he there. They 19 the parents photos of themselves asleep with Axel and updates from the nurses. After four months in the hospital, Axel was 20 enough to go home.