Mary and I, together with our husbands, helped look after our neighbors' children this weekend. Our1have two children aged 3 and 6 and my husband and I chose the six-year-old child. What a pleasure! We 2last night with Mary who invited us to have dinner. They were looking after the 3-year-old boy for 3at their dining table.

    The 3-year-old child was 4his parents who were overseas for the weekend. When he saw his sister he5with tears flowing on his face. I had “Plan B” in the back of my head. When I saw that the child was6and my friends who were looking after him were also7 I offered to take both of them with us.

    I thought another 8for the night wasn't the best idea, so we 9made a decision to go back to our own house. Then I10the child's overnight bed11and we came back home together. I had a 12night as the boy was awake 5 times through the night, crying for his mommy, and it took a while to13him down.

    Mary and her 14came over this morning with their own children who are under 2 years old15I could have a short 16 At noon, they left, I had just got to get through the 17baths and dinner, and18their parents would be back.

    At night, both my husband and I were tired but we thought it was good to have “Plan B”, and how happy we were with such 19friends that invited us for dinner, and were thoughtful enough to20me a break this morning.

    While my father was an officer of the British army in South Africa, we lived in a two-storeyed house. One evening my father and sister and I were sitting together. He was 1 the window. I suddenly 2 that he was turning very pale. I sat 3 for I didn't want to 4 my sick sister. Soon father said in a 5voice, “Kate and Joan, a friend of mine 6 here to see me this evening, and I wish to be 7 him. Will you go up to your own room?” We obeyed, went to our room and closed the door.

    Soon I heard a8 like that of a door burst in, and then a climb of feet. They were hurrying 9 the narrow stairs. Fearing that there was10 near, I seized the pistol (手枪) on the table. Then I heard my father cry out, “For God's sake, child,11 the door.” I did so. To my scare, I saw,12 my father's shoulder; a gorilla (大猩猩), the worst enemy of the soldier in Europe, he was 13 my father. I raised the pistol and fired. The animal fell backwards with an/a 14 loud cry. Father took the still 15 pistol from my hand, and fired another shot, which killed the gorilla.

    It happened when father 16 us upstairs because he thought he would be able to 17the door-which was twenty feet away 18 the animal reached it. However, the gorilla was too 19and this was the cause of the 20 flight (escape) up the stairs.

    I was having a period of bad health. I had one operation after another. I was falling 1 faster than the doctors could put me back together. But I just couldn't bear the operation, the hospital stay, the long recovery and the physical therapy（康复治疗）. I told my doctor I was going to try 2 else.

    I'd discovered that walking gave me a little 3. So I started walking. The first day, my wife 4 off our steep Silver Lake hill to a flat street. She got me out of the car, and I walked about two blocks 5 asking to be taken home. The next day, I walked about four 6.

    Slowly, feeling a little 7 every day, I began to walk a mile or more. I even 8some hills to my route. I became interested in the network of public stairways around Silver Lake I made a 9 of it and walked every public staircase in Silver Lake. That went pretty well, so I 10 onto Echo Park. I was feeling better, so I kept going. The search finally 11 “Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles' a book 12 in the spring of 2010. By then, I had 13. I'd been walking at least an hour a day for three years. My life 14 returned to normal.

    In three years of walks, I've met dozens of people who'd had 15 experiences of rebirth or recovery. One man told me he'd lost 80 pounds walking the secret stairs and was dating for the first time in a decade. One woman told me she'd 16 knee operation. Another told me she'd been 17 to start ballroom dancing again.

    All I'd 18 from the walks was relief from pain. What I got was 19, community and a whole new experience of my city. Out of the car, on my feet and moving at walking pace, I 20 Los Angeles for the first time.

    While he was driving his Ford, he saw an old lady on the side of the road, who needed help. So he 1in front of her Mercedes and got out. He looked 2 and hungry. Even with the smile on his face, she was 3. Was he going to hurt her? He could see that she was frightened. He said, "I am here to 4 you, ma'am. By the way, my name is Bryan."

    Well, all she had was a flat tyre. Bryan crawled under the 5. Soon he changed the tyre. But he got dirty and his 6hurt.

    She couldn't thank him enough. She asked him how much she should 7him. He told her that if she 8 wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could 9 that person the help that he or she needed.

    The lady10 off. A few miles down the road she saw a small and shabby 11. She went in to eat. The waitress came over and smiled, 12 her a clean towel to wipe her wet hair.

    She noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕). When she finished her13and the waitress went to get 14 for her hundred-dollar bill, she slipped right out of the restaurant. When the waitress 15, she saw four $100 bills on the table.

    When she climbed into bed that night, she was still thinking about the16the lady had left to her. How could she have 17 how much they needed it?

    With the birth of the baby next month, it was going to be18. And she knew how worried her19was. As he lay sleeping next to her, she said in a low20, "Everything's going to be all right, Bryan."

    Chris Emch was a pretty unhappy guy. He 1 years working as a police officer. After a career-ending injury, he'd opened a shop in Thousands Oaks, California, but the 2 was struggling. And only months before a Scuba(潜水)trip, he'd been 3 with skin cancer and had endured a 4 divorce.

    In desperation, Chris Emch joined in a group Scuba trip to Indonesia. About 11 meters 5 water, he removed a borrowed earplug(耳塞), causing 6 to his ear drum. The injury forced Emch to 7 the Scuba trip. He 8 have packed up and gone home. Instead, the 41-year-old man decided to have a look around the 9 islands. So Emch hired a local 10 named Fritz to show him around. He was 11 by the local attractive sights and unique cultures. But 12 affected Emch most was his conversations with Fritz.

    Fritz earned about $140 a month, lived in a 13 house and took on odd jobs to provide for his wife and son. But Emch realized that Fritz was 14. Emch told Fritz that he wanted to see his family, so off they went to Fritz's home. Emch met Fritz's family members. He sipped sweet tea and chatted with them. They looked content though they were 15.

    "I had everything I could ever want and still 16 all the time," he said. "I realized how happy my life was and how 17 I was to have the life I had been given.

    "From that point on, Emch had a new 18 on life. "Things taste better and things smell better now," he said. He always tries to see the good 19 in people and he has become confident and cheerful again.

    "Travel truly 20 my life, and changed my outlook," he said. "Compared to who I was a year ago, some of my closest friends don't recognize who I am anymore."

    Two brothers, Ruby and Harry lived in Spain. They 1 for years to buy their mom a very special Christmas present this year: a BWM 3 Series.

    “Showing 2 to our beautiful Mum who's worked so hard to 3 us everything in life,” Ruby, 30, told the media. “Compared to the 4 she has made for us over the years, this is nothing.” He said the 5 had been in the works for years.

    “My mother wanted a BMW ten years ago, which we never 6,” he said. “We said that one day we would get her one and we 7 a little each week knowing one day we would be able to get her 8 car.”

    Ruby and his brother Harry saved for about five years 9 they bought the car. Their mother appears 10, saying “no” over and over again as the two brothers 11 her to the garage to have a look at a silver BMW.

    “She was just very surprised and couldn't 12it,” he said. “We were sure she 13 loved it.”

    They gave her the car as an early Christmas gift, but also as a 14 to say thank you. It will 15 their mom's current one.

    “She 16us two brothers and worked two jobs for most of her life to 17 us in school and give us everything we 18,” Ruby said. “We watched her go from her 19 job on Friday, get changed and 20 the weekend at a restaurant.”

    He added, “Maternal love is the most selfless love under the sun and we just thought it would be nice to show how grateful we are for everything and remind ourselves that thankfulness is a virtue.”