It was my sister Sandra's first Christmas without her husband. Last Thursday, she was in the store 1  for an ideal card for her two sons and daughter. Time passed by quickly as she 2the many choices. She wanted a card that sent something 3to each of them, as she knew they would have a(n)  4  place in their heart this holiday season.

        Finally, she found the one that expressed the  5 feeling. 6 , a sharp pain pierced (穿透) her heart when she realized that the card was 7  “mom and dad”. She stood, holding it close for a long time, unable to move from the spot.  8 began to run over her cheeks.

       “Is there something I can do for you?” a 9  voice asked. She  10 to face a stranger, a woman. “Uh..oh...OH!” Sandra  11 , “I can't give this card to my children because…because my husband died and this is the12   card.”

        The stranger's face softened with  13  and love. She reached out and 14my sister into her arms, giving her unspoken 15  to cry in the protection of her embrace (拥抱). She 16  held my sister until her 17 returned.

        During her telling of this event I was feeling  18  that I hadn't been there. My sister needed me and a stranger had to do my 19  . “You know,” she went on, “a friend suggested that it was like meeting with an Angel.” My guilt 20   in an instant. My sister required an Angel, and I think that is exactly what she got.

The Homeless Hero

    For many, finding an unattended wallet filled with £400 in cash would be a source（来源）of temptation（诱惑）. But the 1 would no doubt be greater if you were living on the streets with little food and money. All of this makes the actions of the homeless Tom Smith 2 more remarkable.

    After spotting a 3 on the front seat inside a parked car with its window down, he stood guard in the rain for about two hours waiting for the 4 to return.

    After hours in the cold and wet, he 5  inside and pulled the wallet out hoping to find some ID so he could contact（联系）the driver, only to 6 it contained £400 in notes, with another £50 in spare change beside it.

    He then took the wallet to a nearby police station after 7 a note behind to let the owner know it was safe. When the car's owner John Anderson and his colleague Carol Lawrence returned to the car—which was itself worth £35, 000—in Glasgow city centre, they were 8 to find two policemen standing next to it. The policemen told them what Mr. Smith did and that the wallet was 9.

    The pair were later able to thank Mr. Smith for his 10.

    Mr. Anderson said：＂I couldn't believe that the guy never took a penny. To think he is sleeping on the streets tonight 11 he could have stolen the money and paid for a place to stay in. This guy has nothing and 12 he didn't take the wallet for himself；he thought about others 13. It's unbelievable. It just proves there are 14 guys out there.＂

    Mr. Smith's act 15 much of the public's attention. He also won praise from social media users after Mr. Anderson 16 about the act of kindness on Facebook.

    Now Mr. Anderson has set up an online campaign to 17 money for Mr. Smith and other homeless people in the area, which by yesterday had received ￡8,000. ＂I think the faith that everyone has shown 18 him has touched him. People have been approaching him in the street; he's had job 19 and all sorts,＂ Mr. Anderson commented.

    For Mr. Smith, this is a possible life-changing 20. The story once again tells us that one good turn deserves another.

    It was 12:45 p.m. on January 2, 2007. Fifty-year-old Wesley Autrey was 1 the train at a subway station in New York. His two daughters, aged four and six, were with him.

    2, a sick man fell on the platform (站台). The man, 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter, got up, but then 3 again — this time, onto the track between the two rails. A 4 was coming into the station. It was a(n) 5 moment. But Mr. Autrey wasn't afraid. He 6the man, and he looked at the 7 that the man was in. It was about half a meter deep. And he8, “The train is going to travel over this man. 9 he tries to get up, the train will 10him. But if he lies on the ground and doesn't 11, he'll be OK.” So he knew he had to 12. And there was no time to think carefully.

    He 13. Mr. Autrey lay on top of Mr. Hollopeter and kept him down on the ground. The train driver 14 them. He was afraid, but he couldn't 15 in time. Five subway cars traveled over the two men before the train stopped.

    The people on the platform were 16. When Mr. Autrey heard them screaming (尖叫), he shouted, “We're OK down here, but I have two daughters up there. Let them 17 their father's OK.” People on the platform clapped and 18. They were amazed at Mr. Autrey's 19. Subway workers helped the two men out. They had no serious injuries.

    Mr. Autrey said, “I didn't do anything special. I just saw someone who needed 20. I did what I thought was right.”

    As a child, I was very shy. I wanted to be 1, but lacked confidence. When I discovered 2, I found something I was good at. I began to be 3by my friends and this gave me the desire to climb harder and higher 4. I discovered that nothing was impossible if I could find the 5to try.

    Both individual determination and teamwork are 6to success when climbing. You need to rely on the 7of your team and share in the achievement. But personal focus and determination to keep 8despite any difficulty is an important 9to team success.

    My greatest achievement in climbing is being the first ever to 10the 5,000-foot Troll Wall in Norway, whose rock face is the 11and most vertical(垂直) in Europe. A stone which drops from the summit will touch nothing until it 12on the valley floor one mile below.

    13our climb, the experts in Europe had said it was 14to climb the Troll Wall. But with three companions, I decided to 15. It took ten days to make the climb and we slept on ledges(岩石架) no more than a foot wide. But I 16.

    Afterwards, I said to myself, “17I can do that, I can do anything.” Some years later, I succeeded in climbing Mount Everest-the highest mountain in the world.

    18to me is not hanging on a rope on the side of a mountain, but is just one field where adventurous people can constantly 19themselves. If we look at every day as an adventure, we can challenge ourselves and continue to grow throughout our 20. That is the final adventure.

    Experts say boredom is good for kids. It forces them to be creative, 1their imaginations, and helps them discover new things. A（n）2in point is 13-year-old Luke Thrill from Dubuque, Iowa.

    Luke was 3 of playing video games and riding his bike, so he decided to build a tiny house in his back yard instead. He made money from cutting lawns and4exchanged some services, such as gaining the help of an electrical engineer5 sweeping his garage. Luke also 6 spare materials from his grandmother's house and other 7 materials from his neighbors for some of the windows and the door.

    The 89-square-foot home cost $1, 500 to build and 818 months. Inside there's a kitchenette, a back sitting room, a table and a mounted（镶嵌的）TV, and an upstairs bedroom can be easily9by stairway.

    Although Luke did the10and learned how to do all the work, he had his father's 11 throughout the project. Greg Thrill was very happy that his son learned to stay on12and deal with grown-ups. 13, he had some simple rules when Luke14 the house: "You15the money. You build it. And you own it."

    Luke is now in love with16. He has a YouTube channel and hopes to 17other kids to start building. 18, he wants to build a bigger tiny house to live in, but for now, he19 in his new home a few nights a week, does homework there, and uses it to take a20from his twin brother.

    On a cold winter evening, I was walking home, tired and hungry, when suddenly came screams (呼喊声) from behind some tress. 1, I slowed down to listen, and2that what I was hearing were the sounds of a fight. A woman was being3not far from where I stood.

    "Should I go to help her?" I thought. I was worried about my own4, and I regretted having suddenly decided to take a new way home that night. "What if I'm5too? Shouldn't I just6to the nearest phone and call the police?" But already the girl's7were growing weaker. I knew it was time for me to act fast because I could not8to the life of this unknown woman, 9it meant risking my own life.

    I am not a10man. I didn't know where I found the11and physical strength (体力), but once I had finally12to help the girl, I became suddenly changed. I ran behind the bushes and13the attacker off the woman. Struggling, we fell to the ground, where we fought for a few minutes14the man jumped up and escaped.

    15heavily, I stood up and came up to the girl, who was crying behind a tree. In the16, I could not see her clearly, but I could certainly17her shock. Not wanting to frighten her any further, I at first spoke to her from a distance.

    "It's OK," I said18. "The man ran away. You're safe now. "There was a long stop and then I heard the words, said in both wonder and19. "Dad, is that you?" And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest20, Katherine.