In the week before Christmas, one Delta airlines pilot gave a sad Arizona family a gift that no one else could.

    Father of three, Jay short died after a 1with lung cancer Dec, 16^th. Three days later, his family was attempting to 2to Tennessee for the funeral scheduled for the next morning. But a 90-munite 3at the Phoenix airport 4them only seven minutes to make their connecting flight in Minnesota. “This was our 5chance to say goodbye to my dad, and if we hadn't 6the flight, we would have missed the 7.” Jay's daughter said. But when they arrived at the gate, the last plane of the day to Memphis was 8away from the gate.

    “My son was 9his arms and pleading with the pilot through the floor-to ceiling windows.” said Marcia, “I was 10 and comforting my girls who were also in tears when the phone rang, 11us that the pilot was returning to the gate to let us 12the plane .” Captain Adam Cohen saw the 13on their faces through the gate's windows and decided to turn the plane around. Airline experts pointed out Cohen could have 14gotten into trouble for the 15decision, but Delta 16the move instead. “This is 17we'll take with us, knowing we made a 18.” confirmed Adam.

    This story is an 19that we can bring humanity back to society. Show care and it may 20you how far that you go.

    It is a story that happened several years ago but it has always stayed with me since then. On my way back home from work every day, there was 1 a homeless man standing by the road. His 2 had a sparkle and they were what struck me the most about him. His eyes, I thought, 3 the man in general. He always waved at every 4, and he was smiling and even dancing sometimes. It seemed that he was always 5.

Every day after work I would 6 to gather any spare change to give to him 7 I saw him. I'd quickly 8 my car window and give him the coins. 9 the red light would be on for a minute and we would ask each other about our day. His 10 would be always the same, "I'm blessed!"

    It amazed me that even in his situation of being 11 he was so positive, and his answer would always12 me of my happiness.

    Then one day I 13 my job. How could I continue my life? I was 14 on my way home. I didn't remember to look for my spare change and keep it 15 like I usually did.

When I saw the homeless man that day, he set his eyes on me while still 16 and waving at others. When I was waiting for the red light to 17, the man walked to my car and said with a big smile, "Today I will 18 you a dollar." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill. I was moved and burst into tears.

    That day, I 19 that no matter what material things are taken from you, 20 can take away your choice to be joyful. So every time I'm faced with challenges, I think of the homeless man's valuable lesson and remember that I am blessed.

    It was January 2000, and I had just finished the final term of my year abroad in Auckland, New Zealand. Warm feelings and happy thoughts1 into my mind. I began thinking about the 2 I was due to take with my friends over the summer, across New Zealand.

    I went shopping for gifts to take back to my family in Malaysia. Then I made my way home. I have always been very careful of3 safety. But, for some reason, on that day I quickly ran across the 4 without looking. At that moment, a 5 turned the corner. I was in the driver's6 spot so he did not see me, nor I him. I was hit by the minibus and was 7 under its wheels.

    When opening my8, I learned that it took 15 minutes to. 9 me from the wheels. A(n)10 team from a local hospital had to lift the minibus off me with their hands.  A tourist in the crowd had come to help, holding my hand and 11 me in the ambulance(救护车). When I arrived at the hospital, 12told me my injuries were life-threatening. They also told me there was a13 chance I could never walk again.

    However, although I14a lot, I was not paralyzed(瘫瘓的). It took me six months to15. I was sad to miss out on the trip across New Zealand but my friends comforted me a lot. 16I was able to attend my graduation, crossing the stage with walking sticks; it didn't matter, because I was just happy to be17. The accident changed my18; it made me think about the terrible things that could have happened. It regularly19me to step back and think twice about my problems, to be20for the second chance I got at life.

A Story on an Island

    A ship was lost at sea and the only survivor was washed up on a small, inhabited (无人居住的) island. He prayed 1 for God to rescue him and for hours he just 2 at the horizon (地平线), waiting for a heaven-sent 3 but it never came.

    Then he decided to do something. 4 tired and upset, he 5 some branches and dry grass. Hours of hard work paid off and a little shelter was built. The "Robinson Crusoe" began his life on the island. Believe it or not, a couple of days going by, he 6 and it seemed not that hard.

    But then one day, after 7 for food, he arrived home to find his little shelter in flames and the 8 rolling up to the sky.

    The 9 had happened: everything was lost.

    "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried with 10 and anger.

    Early the next day, 11, he was awakened by the 12 of a ship that was coming near to the island. It had come to rescue him!

    "13 did you know that I was here?" he asked one of his rescuers.

    "We saw your smoke 14", they replied.

    It is easy to get 15 when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose 16, because God is at work in our lives, 17 when we are in pains and sufferings.

    Remember, next time your little 18 is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that calls 19 the grace of God. For all the negative (消极的) things we have to say to ourselves, God has a/an 20 answer for it.

    Mia nervously extended her small hand towards the miniature（纤小的）horse in front or her. As her palm gently touched its soft nose, she looked at me happily. Her bright blue eyes 1 with joy.

    For children with 2, actions such as making friends and joining in activities can be3. As the leader of the Miniature Horse Project, I 4 to disabled children in my community and 5 them to join this project. Once a child joins, I 6 instruct them how to feed and care for the miniature horses. Not only does this 7 disabled children with a fun activity, but my instruction also allows them to build much more 8 at school or when they are making friends.

    I have taught many disabled children, but Mia is 9to me. What she suffers makes her feel hard to 10. Due to this, she hardly spoke at the beginning of our training, 11 just watched nervously as 1 explained basic horse care to her. Her mother told me that Mia had 12 behavior at school: she was shy, and watched her classmates play instead of joining them.

    I worked to help Mia 13 her shyness. Although she was nervous, I had her feed and clean the miniature horses 14. Then I asked her to 15 the horses with me around the farm and to smile at everyone she 16. Soon, she became active and 17 in caring for the horses without my help. She now loves to play with her classmates.

    However, I did not just influence Mia, and she 18 me as well. She showed me that any 19 can be overcome with dedication(热忱). Each time I see Mia, she hugs me 20. Although she cannot say it, her happy face and bright eyes tell me, "Thank you."

I went to a group activity, "Sensitivity Sunday", which was to make us more1the problems faced by disabled people. We were asked to "2 a disability" for several hours one Sunday. Some members, 3, chose to use wheelchairs. Others wore sound­blocking earplugs (耳塞) or blindfolds (眼罩).

Just sitting in the wheelchair was a4experience. I had never considered before how5it would be to use one. As soon as I sat down, my6 made the chair begin to roll. Its wheels were not7. Then I wondered where to put my8. It took me quite a while to get the metal footrest into9. I took my first uneasy look at what was to be my only means of 10for several hours. For disabled people, "adopting a wheelchair" is not a temporary (临时的)11.

I tried to find a12position and thought it might be restful, 13 kind of nice, to be14 around for a while. Looking around, I15 I would have to handle the thing myself！My hands started to ache as I16the heavy metal wheels. I came to know that controlling the17 of the wheelchair was not going to be a (n)18task.

My wheelchair experiment was soon 19. It made a deep impression on me. A few hours of "disability" gave me only a taste of the20, both physical and mental, that disabled people must overcome.