How old was I? I can't remember. Maybe I was only 10. It was the first 1 without my father because he was away for something. He left me to fill that sad place in my mother's heart. It was the Christmas when I stopped being a 2 and tried to play Father Christmas myself. I really wanted to make it happy and bright again. It was the Christmas of the 3.
Mom first saw the coat at Tobias, a nice 4 shop in our town's little shopping mall. It was dark green. And it was a 5, heavy, wool dress coat. Mom pulled it out from the rack(架) and held it up. “Long enough,” she said in a low voice and 6.
“I need a new coat,” Mom smiled before the mirror. She looked good on any clothes, 7 this coat suited her much better. She looked at the 8, then hung the coat back on the rack, standing there once more to 9
Eighty-seven dollars. But I decided to buy it for her. As we moved on 10 the mall, I found some excuse to return and asked one of the Tobias ladies to 11 the coat.
I helped clean every yard(庭院) in our neighbourhood—some yards twice, and soon I got the coat. The store ladies helped me put it in their biggest 12 with bright blue paper and thick silver ribbon(丝带). I don't remember 13 I got it home, but I can still feel the wonderful 14 and pride that filled me. I would imagine the big space which the box would take up under our tree. Here it was—joy, peace and15 —all in the box, waiting for Mom's surprise

    Susie Sunbeam was not her real name. It was Susan Brown. But everyone called 1 Sunbeam, because she had such a sweet, smiling face. She 2 took brightness with her wherever she went. Her grandfather first gave her this 3, and it seemed to fit the little girl so 4 that soon it took the place of her own.

    Even when Susie was a baby, she laughed and smiled from morning till night. No one ever heard her cry unless she was 5 or hurt. When she had learnt to 6, she loved to go around the house and get things for her mother. 7, she helped her as much as she could.

She loved 8. She would sit by her mother's side for an hour at a time, and ask her many questions. At other times, she would take a new book and read quietly. Susie was always pleasant in her play with other children. She never used a(n) 9 word , but tried to do whatever would make her playmates happy.

    One day, a(n) 10 little girl with an old torn dress passed by. Susie heard some children teasing and laughing at her. She at once ran out to the gate, and asked the little girl to come 11.

    “What are you crying for?” Susie asked. “Because they all 12 at me.” she said.

    Then Susie took the little girl into the house. She 13 the little girl with kind words, and she gave her one of her own best dresses and a good pair of shoes. This brought real 14 to the poor child, and she thought that Sunbeam was the 15 name for Susan Brown.

    I was always 1 and had too many things to do. Whenever my daughter caused me to change my plans, I thought to myself, “We don't have time 2 this.” So the two words I always said to her were: 3.

    The other day, the two of us rode to a 4 near our home. After shopping I bought her an ice cream, and she sat down 5 a table happily admiring the ice cream in her hand. Suddenly a 6 look appeared on her face. “Do I have to eat it up in a hurry, Mum?”

    I nearly cried when hearing this—the pains of a hurried life influenced(影响) my poor girl so deeply! As she looked at me waiting to know if she could 7 her time. I knew I had to make a 8. I thought of the times when I rushed (催促) my child through life, I began 9 what really matters in life….

    “You don't have to 10. Just enjoy it.” I said gently. Her whole face brightened and her shoulders 11. We sat side by side talking about things that interested us.

    When she got to the last bite (一口), she held it out to me, “ I 12 the last bite for you, Mum,” she said 13. As the icy taste put out my thirst, I realized I just got the present of a lifetime. I14 my child a little time… and in return, she gave me her last bite and reminded(提醒) me that things taste sweeter and love is easier to get when you stop rushing 15 life.

    An airplane pilot felt sorry for his hungry passengers, so he bought 1all pizzas. The pilot, Gerhard Bradner, works for Frontier Airlines. His 2 was from Washington D.C. to Denver, but it had to be 3 because of bad weather. He felt hungry and thought he would order a pizza from Domino's Pizza restaurant near the airport. Then he thought his 157 passengers would also be 4 , so he ordered 50 family-sized pizzas. He paid out of his own pocket, 5 the owner of the airline said he could give Mr. Bradner the money for the 6 . He announced on board, "Ladies and gentlemen, Frontier Airlines is known for being one of the 7 airlines in the US, but your captain is not cheap. I just 8 pizzas for the whole plane."

    Mr. Bradner said his airline is like a big 9 and his passengers were part of that family. That was why he wanted to buy everyone a pizza. He also 10 reporters that he knew other pilots who had 11 food for passengers. Frontier Airlines said in a report, "Yes, the pilot did buy pizzas for the 12 . It is important to note that this isn't the first time one of our pilots has gone above and beyond the call of duty to 13 care for our customers." Bradner even got off the plane and went to meet the pizza delivery kid at the security area and helped 14 the pizza back to the plane. The manager of the Domino's Pizza said he was 15 when he took the order and the caller told him that I need to feed my whole plane.

    Mr. Read works in a big shop. He's very 1 and always gets to the office on time. The 2 is satisfied with (对……满意) him and pays him more. One evening he was very tired, and as soon as he had 3, he put his watch on the table and went to bed. Little Mable, one of his daughters, came in and 4 something there. She dropped the watch to the floor. She picked it up and 5 quickly. The next morning he got up on time. After breakfast he had a look at his watch and began to 6 newspapers. When he got to his office, it was half past eight. He was 7 for the first time! At that moment he found something was wrong with his watch. He had to ask someone to 8 it.

This morning Mr. Read was going to take a train to London. But he 9 it because his watch was slow again. He was very surprised and said, "It was all right yesterday, but why is it 10 now?"

    "Last night I found it was dirty," said Little Mable. "I had to wash it for you!"