Having said good-bye to his parents, Alvin, with his wife and one-year-old son, set off back home. Still1Alvin and Clare talked and laughed happily. And even little Alax2from time to time. The family were3their trip.

    But three hours later things began to 4. It was starting to snow. Alvin sped up the car,5to arrive home before dark. But it was too dangerous to drive fast now because it was snowing more and more heavily. So Alvin had to 6down. The snow on the 7was getting deeper and deeper until it was hard to 8on it. Their car slipped(滑落)off the highway and got caught in the deep snow and the engine refused to start again.

    “The snow doesn't seem to9. Shall we stay in the car waiting to be frozen(冻)to death or walk ahead 10the snow?”Alvin asked. Clare said she 11to walk. So they got out of the car with their Alex and began walking. But something 12was to come. Soon they lost their 13 and had to walk aimlessly(无目标的)on and on.

    Night came. They were not 14of the dark. But they feared that poor Alax would die of cold. However, their faith(坚信)to keep Alax 15filled them with courage, warmth and strength. They slept and rested in turn and then continued their 16. They had fallen down many times but each time true love encouraged them to rise to their 17again.

    One, two, three, …seven days passed. On the eighth day, 18 at last came from Alvin's parents, the police and local people. But the young 19had to have their feet cut off because of the bad frost-bites (冻伤). Fortunately, there was 20 seriously wrong with little Alax.

    One day, a well-known speaker was invited to give a lecture to an audience of 200. He started his lecture by1a $ 20 bill. He looked around the room, and asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”2started going up.

    He said, “I am going to3this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He crumpled up (揉皱) the 20-dollar bill. He then asked, “Who4wants it?” Still the hands were5in the air.

    “Well”, he replied,“6I do this ?” And he dropped it on the7and started to step on it with his shoes. He picked it up. Now it was crumpled and8

    “Now, who wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

    “My friends, we have all learned a very9lesson. No matter what I did to the10, you still want it because it doesn't decrease in11It is still worth $20, with12we can buy what we need.

    Many times in our lives, we are13, and trampled underfoot by the decision we14and the circumstances that come our way. We feel15we were worthless. But no matter what has happened or what may happen to us, you will never16your value. Dirty or clean, you are still priceless to those who do love you. The worth of our lives is determined not by17we do or who we know, but by who we are. You are18Don't ever forget it.”

    If you19this lesson in mind, it will help you to20again when you fall. Each time it makes you grow much stronger.

    I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people 1 I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a2person:

    I think my3started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my4, and be left alone. I thought I was smarter everyone else, so I hardly ever5to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really,6. It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So tried a(n)7. I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I8to help. That was really a big9for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of 10are still my best friends today.

    A bigger cause of my new11, however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer s disease became my12. Every time I came into her room, she was so13because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never14her, so I took her place. She let me15. That making others feel good make me feel good, too. When she died, I was 16, but I was very grateful to her.

    I think I am a much 17, person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not18these experiences. They have19e to care about other people more than about myself.20who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.

    One Friday afternoon in my first year of high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home. His name was Kyle. He seemed to be carrying all his books. Then some kids ran at him, 1 all his books out of his arms. His glasses went 2 and landed in the grass. My heart 3 to him, so I jogged over and handed him his 4. He thanked me with a big smile.

    Monday morning came and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books 5. I teased him, "Boy, you are gonna build some real 6 with this pile of books every day!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

    He turned out to be the best student of our class and had to make a 7 on the graduation day. As he stood on the stage, he 8 his throat, and began: "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it 9those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings…but mostly your friends… I am here to tell you that being a(n)10to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

    I just looked at my friend with 11 as he talked about the first day we met. He had planned to 12 himself. He had cleaned out his locker 13 his mom wouldn't have to do it later and carry his stuff home.

    He looked 14 at me and gave me a little smile. "15, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the 16."

    I heard the gasp (倒抽气) in the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us about his 17 moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me with that same 18 smile. Not until then did I realize the 19 of the smile. With one small action you can change a person's life. God puts us all in each other's lives to 20 one another in some way.

    I had reached the age of twenty-eight. Still, I1 whether the letter from my past would make it to me, all these years later. It was a2 writing task from when I was eighteen. The teacher collected our letters to our3 selves in self-addressed envelope with stamps and promised to4 them ten years later. But since so much time had passed, would he even5 ?

    Thinking back on the6 , I recalled giving my future self some advice. When you're eighteen Years old, twenty-eight seems like a7  age, but I wasn't feeling as mature as I believed my younger self had8 me to be.

    When the letter finally reached me, I opened it9 . It began, "How much do you bet this letter will never get to you? "It continued to greet me casually10 we were having an IM (instant messaging) chat. As a senior in high school, facing the11 SATS and college application, my eighteen-year-old self was so12 ! She was apparently not quite happy and hoped I wouldn't worry so much in the future, and that I wouldn't forget to be present and13 my life!

    14 to my belief, my eighteen-year-old self did not have any demands of me, or expectations I might have15 meet. Instead, she wrote, "I'll16 whatever you do. Even if you are not the one I'm imagining now, I'll support you, because maybe17 I'm imagining is someone else, but you're not someone else, you're me.

    I was18 , and tears welled up in my eyes at this19 through time. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best version of myself that I could be.20 , I came to realize what I would have accomplished in ten years would pale in comparison(相形见细)to how I'd feel and who I'd be.

The parents who adopted (收养) Bruce Hollywood encouraged him to find his Japanese birth mother. But he never became 1 until he had a heart attack, when he realized that he regretted never 2 with his birth mother.

No sooner had he recovered than he began 3 his birth mother. He called the Japanese Embassy (大使馆), but there was no 4 information, which made him really unhappy. Luckily, he met an army man on the plane 5. They had a casual 6. When Bruce mentioned his 7 search, the man 8 Bruce to give him all the information he had 9 and told him he would help him. 10 Bruce had a low expectation, he followed what the man said. Ten days later, he got an unexpected call.

The spokesperson said, "Bruce, we're happy to tell you that, we have found your mother. Because she doesn't speak English, you'd better find a 11." Finally, Bruce got to communicate with his birth mother, who was crying with 12. He learned that it was she who had given him the name Bruce. And he later 13 the restaurant his birth mother had owned for decades in Shizuoka, Japan and found out she had named it "Bruce".

Bruce couldn't 14 the moving words he heard when seeing his birth mother for the first time in 45 years. He learned that love could always stand the test of 15 and distance.