Terror attacked the heart of the World War I soldier，as he saw his lifelong friend falling in the battle.Caught in a trench（战壕） with 1 gunfire whizzing（飕飕地移动）over his head，the soldier asked his 2 if he might go out into the “No Man's Land” between the trenches to bring his 3 partner back.

    “You can go，”said the officer，“but I don't think it will be worth it.Your friend is 4 dead and you may throw your own 5 away.”

    The officer's words didn't 6 to him，and the soldier went anyway. Surprisingly he 7 to reach his friend，lift him onto his 8 ， and bring him back to their own trench.As the two of them 9 in together to the bottom of the trench，the officer 10 the wounded soldier，and then looked kindly at his friend.

    “I told you it wouldn't be worth it，” he said.“Your friend is dead，and you are terribly wounded.”

“It was worth it，11 ， sir，” the soldier said.

    “What do you mean by 'worth it'?”12 the officer.“Your friend is dead!” “Yes sir，” the soldier answered.“But it was worth it because when I got to him，he was still 13 ， and I had the 14 of hearing him say，'Jim，I knew you'd come.'”

    Many a time in 15 ， whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on 16 you look at it.Take up all your 17 and do something your 18 tells you to do so that you may not 19 doing it later in life.May each and every one of you be blessed with the company of 20 friends.

Honest Thanks

    I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the notecard into the 1, sealed it and stuck the stamps on it, but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox I 2.

    The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via（通过）Facebook 3. She had inspired me to live a(n)4 life—for example, by5 more.

    Her volunteer efforts weren't 6—she wasn't building well in Uganda, but7she was doing small, local good deeds, such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do, too. She made me 8 I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her 9 positively influenced my life. I could have easily sent her an e-mail,10 that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank-you. That's why I ended up 11 the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox, unable to place the envelope inside. What was 12 me? Why was this so13 to do? I guess I felt strange because it wasn't like she was my best friend, I just knew her. “people don't 14 do this,” I thought to myself. However,15 thinking it over, I still felt a(n)16 to let her know how grateful I was. Finally, I put the envelope in the mailbox.

    Weeks later I received her reply, she was 17 a tough time and my letter meant the 18 to her. She didn't know she had such a(n)19 on others. Not only did this letter make her happy, but her response to it increased my20 of happiness. I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating（培养） gratitude is a great skill to practise. Life is too short not to do it.

    A month ago, my friend Nick and I experienced a(n) 1 event. It was the evening of the fourth day on our hitchhiking(搭便车) trip to Morocco. We were 2 on the side of a main road in the cold 3. It was nearly dark. To our 4, there wasn't a single bit of grass where we could put up our tent. Finally, we reached a small town after 5 for about an hour and a half.

    We found a bar where we thought we might be able to 6 ourselves first. Then we would 7 where we are going. We each bought a coffee, but the barman, José， brought over some bread 8. Full of thankfulness for his generosity(慷慨), we explained to him what we were doing. He showed much interest in our 9.

    Then, we asked José if we could 10 on his floor. We were very worried he would refuse. 11, he said yes! Thinking he lived upstairs, we waited for him to lock us in 12 he could be sure we didn't 13 anything. To our surprise, he gave us the keys! He showed us how the 14 worked, said goodnight and was off.

    We all stood in 15. In only a few hours we had gone from standing in the cold rain to owning a 16 bar. All the fridges were 17 and there was a fair amount of money on the sideboard. We were amazed at how much he 18 us. Then it was a good night's sleep. The next morning, he 19 and we let him into his own bar. 20, he gave us a free meal, and then we were on our way.

    Carl Kenton is a wealthy businessman. Five years ago, after returning from abroad to his motherland, he 1 his small company. Speaking of success, Glen often tells us a story about his 2 expensive “school” fee. He always owes his success to it.

    At that time, Glen, who already got a PhD degree, decided to return to the homeland, starting a company. Before 3 , he bought a Rolex watch with the 4 made through years of work after school and the scholarships. At the airport he had to accept the routine customs check. The watch on his wrist was also demanded to be 5 down for inspection. Glen knew that carrying the 6 goods out had to pay the tax and he worried about paying 7 for his watch. So when he was checked, he told a lie that his watch was a 8 fake (假货). When he was 9 of his “smarts”, immediately, 10 the presence of Glen, the officers hit the watch, which 11 nearly 100,000, into pieces at hearing Glen's words. Glen was 12. Before he understood why, he was taken to the office to be examined 13. For many times of entry-exit 14, he knew that only those people in the “blacklist” would “enjoy” this special treatment. The officers looked over everything carefully in the box and 15 him no matter what time of entry and exit he must accept the check and if 16 reusing and carrying fake and shoddy goods, he would be charged according to law! Suddenly, his face turned red, and he had nothing in mind after 17 the plane for long.

    After returning to the homeland, he often told the story to his family and his employees, too. He said that this made a deep 18 on him because the additional high “school” fee that he had ever paid made him realize the value of 19, which he would 20 as the secret of his success forever.

    A businessman was deep in debt and could see no way out. He sat on the park chair, with 1 in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from 2.

    Suddenly an old man appeared before him and was willing to 3 him help. He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, "4 me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared as 5 as he had come.

    The businessman saw a check for $500, 000 in his hand, which was 6 by John D. Rockefeller, one of the 7 men in the world! "I can remove my money worries 8!" he realized. But the man decided to put the check in his safe, 9 it might give him the strength to find out a way to save his business. With a renewed 10 attitude, he thought of some new business ideas which soon led to his success in several big 11. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making 12 once again.

    Exactly one year 13, he returned to the park with the check. At the time they have agreed on, the old man 14, too. But just as the man was about to hand back the check and share his 15 story, a nurse came running up and 16 the old man. She said the old man was always 17 from the rest room and telling people he was John D. Rockefeller. Then she led the old man away 18 the arm hurriedly.

    The man just stood there, 19. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money 20 his self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

Some dreams take longer to come true than others, but with the help of 21st-century social media and her great-grandson, at the age of 110, one British woman is 1 hers at long last.

At the end of World War I, Amy Hawkins was a 7-year-old child who loved nothing more than to 2. As a teen, Hawkins set her 3 on becoming an entertainer. Hawkins was on her way, touring the country with a dance troupe (歌舞团) — until her ambition was 4 by her mom, who didn't see it as a respectable 5 for a young lady.

All these years later, the 110-year-old lady lives at home in Monmouth, South Wales, surrounded by her loved ones. The four-generation family unit includes her granddaughter, Hannah Freeman, and Freeman's 14-year-old son, Sacha. Even though she's no longer doing it 6, Hawkins has never stopped singing.

"She's like a clock, once you wind her up she won't stop," Freeman said in an interview. "She just keeps asking, 'Would you 7 another one?'."

On Hawkins' 110th birthday, Sacha 8 his great-gran singing one of her favorite WWI tunes. When Freeman jokingly suggested Sacha post it to TikTok, neither of them could have 9 the overwhelmingly positive response it would receive, reaching 100,000 views and a large number of emotional praises in just days.

Some journeys take longer than others. Sometimes, we're detoured (绕路) along the way. Dreams can and do come true every day. While it's been a long time coming, Amy Hawkins is 10 a whole new generation of fans.