I lay there buried alive under our house when the bomb hit our city. The great 1 started by the bomb came nearer and nearer to us as workers tried to 2 us. “Hurry! ” they cried to one another as the flames(火焰) came nearer. At last they reached us and 3 me and my mother out from under everything 4 the flames reached us .

    Later, as I thought of the pilot of the plane that 5 the bomb on our city, I cried, “I hate him. I hate him.” The people with marked faces from the 6 of the bomb made me cry, “I hate him.” I saw people suffering a terrible, 7  death. Again and again I cried as I saw these people, “I hate him!”

    Some time later, that man appeared in a meeting I 8 . As I looked at him, I 9 him very much. Then I listened to what he told us of his 10 the day when he dropped the bomb on our city. I heard him say, “When I flew over the city 11  we dropped the bomb, I cried, 'Oh, God ,what have I 12 '.” I could see that he found it 13 to speak of that day.

As this happened I suddenly 14 my hatred (仇恨) of him was 15. It only made me unhappy also. As I did this, it was as if a heavy load (负担)16my shoulders. Then I decided to 17 him. I did so and my life was 18.

    I now help those who suffer from 19 other people. I try to help them to 20  everyone, as I am now able to do.

    A Race Against Death

    It was a cold January in 1925 in Nome, Alaska. The town was cut off from the rest of the world due to heavy snow.

    On the 20th of that month, Dr. Welch 1 a sick boy, Billy, and knew he had diphtheria, a deadly infectious(传染的) disease mainly affecting children. The children of Nome would be 2 if it struck the town. Dr. Welch needed medicine as soon as possible to stop other kids from getting sick3 the closest supply was over 1,000 miles away, in Anchorage.

    How could the medicine get to Nome? The town's 4 was already full of ice, so it couldn't come by ship. Cars and horses couldn't travel on the 5 roads. Jet airplanes and big trucks didn't exist yet.

    6 January 26, Billy and three other children had died. Twenty more were 7 Nome's town officials came up with a(n)8. They would have the medicine sent by9 from Anchorage to Nenana. From there, dogsled(狗拉雪橇) drivers—known as “mushers”—would 10 it to Nome in a relay(接力).

    The race began on January 27. The first musher, Shannon, picked up the medicine from the train at Nenana and rode all night.11 he handed the medicine to the next musher, Shannon's face was black from the extreme cold.

On January 31, a musher named Seppala had to12 a frozen body of water called Norton Sound. It was the most13 part of the journey. Norton Sound was covered with ice, which could sometimes break up without warning. If that happened, Seppala might fall into the icy water below. He would14 and so would the sick children of Nome. But Seppala made it across.

    A huge snowstorm hit on February 1. A musher named Kaasen had to brave this storm. At one point, huge piles of snow blocked his15 He had to leave the trail (雪橇痕迹)to get around them. Conditions were so bad that it was impossible for him to 16 the trail again. The only hope was Balto, Kaasen's lead dog. Balto put his nose to the ground,17 to find the smell of other dogs that had traveled on the trail. If Balto failed, it would mean disaster for Nome. The minutes passed by. Suddenly, Balto began to 18 He had found the trail.

    At 5:30 am on February 2, Kaasen and his dog 19 in Nome. Within minutes, Dr. Welch had the medicine. He quickly gave it to the sick children. All of them recovered.

Nome had been20

    From the first week of high school, my best friend, Trisha, was always going out with the popular girls. 1 I thought, “It's okay; she's just making new friends.” But soon I realized that Trisha wasn't interested in me anymore. I'd 2 my best friend. It really hurt.

    One day, I told Trisha that we should 3 pretending（假装）to be friends when we really weren't anymore. I wasn't trying to make her mad, 4 she was. After that, Trisha started talking about me behind my back, telling people that I was 5. Some of our friends 6 with her. I felt like she was taking them away from me.

    The more I thought about it, the 7 I got. Finally, I 8 a picture of Trisha and drew lines on her face. I wrote, “I 9 this person” across the bottom. And then I did something I'll always 10: I put it on a website I thought was 11. I thought people would see it, and it felt good to vent（发泄）.

    A week later, Trisha's mom saw the 12. She called my mom, who made me take it off the website right away. However, it was already too 13. Lots of people had seen it, and I was in a lot of 14.

    That whole day, I felt 15. I had to say sorry to Trisha face to face. She said she accepted my apology, but I felt she was16 angry with me.

    Posting that picture was one of the worst 17 I've ever made. I realize now I could have found a much better way to deal with my 18. If I'd just told Trisha how much I 19 her, maybe things would have turned out20. It's too late for me to change things, but I hope you'll learn from my mistake.

    When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, Reader's Digest wrote about impressive rescues. The spirit of serving can be incredibly 1 Here is a story from Annalysa Longworth, a survivor of Hurricane Maria, in her own 2.

    “The total 36 hours of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was 3 the scariest event we've ever gone through. Our house sits on the north-west coast of Rincón. In the 4, over 100 mph winds changed direction causing a great amount of water flooding our 5. The only place left dry and safe was our kitchen floor, where we were 6 to ride out the rest of the storm. It has been 50 days since the 7, and we are still without power and water. During our regular afternoon showers, we are glad to 8 rainwater but are quickly reminded of the people living without roofs, and how 9 it must be for them. Our emotions are consistently in a state of 10.

    Recently, our good friends told us about a video interview they were doing with Watts of Love, a solar light company. The company generously gave us a headlamp for our personal 11 and a box with 50 headlamps to distribute throughout our town. Rincón was completely blacked out so making a simple walk through a parking lot to our car is 12. We used to rush to get things done before 13, but now I continue daily chores in the dark. What 14 our lives most was being able to share this gift with others. We 15 the lamps house by house to the people in the mountains who needed them most, as even batteries and candles are 16 there. Even though 17 have come slowly, people have been out of work and can't afford to 18 their electric bill. I'll always be 19 to Watts of Love for allowing us to pay it forward and be witnesses to the smiles that 20 can bring.”

    “This Friday we'll have the yearly Egg Drop Challenge,” said our science teacher, Mr. baker. “You can work alone or with a partner.”

   My friend, Cassie, and I smiled at each other. We always worked on projects 1.

The2of the challenge was simple—to build a protective container to keep an egg from breaking when 3the stadium wall.

   I made my sandwich that afternoon while waiting for Cassie.4the butter-cream gave me an idea.

    “I have a brilliant design for our5container!” I said when Cassie arrived. “We can 6the egg with some butter-cream. ”

    “Why not put the egg in a basket with a parachute (降落伞)7?” Cassie rolled her eyes. “The parachute is better than that stupid idea.”

   I couldn't believe it. Of course, we'd had our little 8in the past, but she'd never called any of my ideas “9” before.

    “Then I'll build mine and you build yours!”

    10words had been out, our friendship was challenged.

   When Friday finally arrived, I had to11Cassie's Egg Force One looked pretty good.12, my Egg--cellent Egg Cream didn't look quite scientific. We kids carried our containers up three stadium steps and dropped them over the side wall. Those whose eggs broke were out; those whose eggs survived 13three more steps and dropped them again. This would go on till the last egg broke.

    After four rounds, only Cassie and I were 14. I let go of my box. I heard someone say “ew” after seconds. Had my egg broken? I raced down the 15. The side walk was dotted with egg shells from those16drops. Finally I found my little Egg--cellent Egg Cream.

    “That looks like egg drop soup, Laura,” Cassie said. She was holding her Egg Force One. My17raced. Had she won? I looked at her basket.18.

    “My egg bounced(弹起)19, ”she explained, pointing to a broken shell.

    “A tie,”Mr. Baker said.

    Cassie looked at me, and her glare 20. I laughed. She smiled…

When I was a child my father taught me five words that I've used all my life — in my acting career, as a mother, in my business activities. If I 1 that I was afraid of the dark, or if I seemed worried about meeting new people, Dad would say, "Stand porter to your 2 . "

A porter is a gatekeeper who stands at a door letting people in or out. Dad would get me to picture myself stopping 3 things — such as fear — at the door, 4 saying "Come in" to faith, love and self-assurance.

As an actress, before I went on camera, I'd make sure anxiety stayed out and confidence in my ability came in. As a mother, when I was anxious about my children, I would try not to let worry in but would 5 my mind with trust in them.

Of course, there were always times I'd 6 those words.

In 1972 my husband, Fillmore Crank, and I opened the doors to our own 7 in North Hollywood. This was a new business venture for us, and it was a lot more 8 and complicated than we had 9 .

We were on call 24 hours a day. Something was always going 10 . Electricity went on the blink (失灵), food wasn't enough, employees called in sick. Once, a flu epidemic suddenly left us with no maids. Fillmore gave me a choice: scrub (擦洗) floors or do the laundry. For 10 days I folded enough sheets to 11 the whole state of California.

Then there was the 12 crisis. The price of gasoline doubled, and tourism in California 13 . How could we fill our beds? What if we kept losing money? What if we failed? Fear and worry were sneaking in. But I caught them just 14 I stood porter.

I stood in the door of my mind and sent fear packing.

These days at the hotel, whenever fear tries to 15 , I just smile and point to the sign that reads "No Vacancy".