The spirits of giving

    Two weeks before Christmas, two girls were walking down the street, laughing on some ice that remained from a recent snow. Merrily they shared what they hoped to 1from Christmas.

    They stopped to talk to an old man named Harry, who was on his knees2weeds around a large oak tree. He wore a pair of 3garden gloves. His fingers were sticking out of the ends, blue from the4.

    Harry told them he was getting the yard in 5as a Christmas gift for his mother, who had died several years before. He said with his eyes 6with tears,"My mother was all I had. She loved her7and her trees, so I do this for her at Christmas."

    His words8the girls and soon they were down on their hands and knees helping him 9around the trees. When they were finished, Harry pressed a quarter into each of their hands and said, "I wish I could 10 you more, but it's all I've got right now."

    The girls had often passed his house, and as they 11 on they remembered that the house was always12. No decorations to add cheerfulness were anywhere in sight. Harry sat behind curtain windows, looking 13.

    The quarter in one little girl's palm(手心) seemed to burn a hole of guilt 14 they walked on. The next day she called her friend and they 15 to put their quarters in a jar marked "Harry's Christmas Present". Then they began to seek out small jobs to16more. Every nickel, dime and quarter they earned went into the jar.

    Two days before Christmas, they had enough money to buy new 17and a card. Christmas Eve found them18Harry's doorstep singing carols(圣诞颂歌). When Harry opened the door, they presented him with the gloves wrapped in pretty paper and a19pumpkin pie a mother had just baked. With 20hands he tore open the paper from the gloves, and then to their surprise, he held them to his face and wept.

    I was at the post office early that morning, hoping to be in and out in a short while. Yet, I1myself standing in a queue that went all the way into the hallway. I had never seen so many people there on a weekday. It seemed someone might have made an announcement, welcoming customers to carry as many2as they could and bring them in when I needed to have my own package3.The queue moved very slowly. My patience ran out and I got 4.The longer it took, the angrier I became. When I got to the counter finally, I finished my5 quickly and briefly, and then walked past the queue that was now extending past the front door.

"Excuse me," I said, trying not to be too pushy. Several people had to move6to make room for me to get to the 7.

    I stepped out, complaining about the8conditions. Thinking I was going to be late for my dentist appointment, I headed into the parking lot.

    A woman was coming across the lot in my9She was walking with determination, and each step sounded very heavy. I 10that she looked as if she could breathe fire. It stopped me in my tracks. I11myself and it wasn't pretty. Had I looked like that? Her body language said that she was having a12day. My anger melted away. I wished I could wrap her in a hug but I was a 13.So I did what I could in a minute14she hurried past me—I smiled. In a second everything changed. She was astonished, then somewhat15.Then her face softened and her shoulders16I saw her take a deep breath. Her pace slowed and she smiled back at me as we passed each other.

    I continued to smile all the way to my17Wow, it's amazing what a simple smile can do.

    From then on, I became aware of people's18and my own, the way we show our feelings. Now I use that 19 every day to let it20me that when facing the world, I can try a smile.

    Alia Baker is a librarian in Iraq. Her library used to be a 1 place for all who loved books and liked to share knowledge. They 2 various matters all over the world. When the war was near, Alia was 3 that the fires of war would destroy the books, which are more 4 to her than mountain of gold. The books are in every language－new books, ancient books, 5 a book on the history of Iraq that is seven hundred years old.

    She had asked the government for 6 to move the books to a. 7place, but they refused. So Alia took matters into her own hands. 8, she brought books home every night, 9 her car late after work. Her friends came to 10 her when the war broke out. Anis who owned a restaurant 11 to hide some books. All through the 12. Alia, Anis, his brothers and neighbors took the books from the library, 13 them over the seven-foot wall and 14 them in the restaurant. The books stayed hidden as the war 15. Then nine days later, a fire burned the 16 to the ground.

    One day, the bombing stopped and the17 left. But the war was not over yet. Alia knew that if the books were to be safe, they must be 18 again while the city was 19. So she hired a truck to bring all the books to the houses of friends in the suburbs（郊区）. Now Alia waited for the war to end and 20 peace and a new library.

    University was a new experience for me. I had grown up in a small seaside town in the south of England, and suddenly I was 1 together with people of my age from all over the country. People were speaking in 2 that I had only ever heard on TV, and sometimes using words that I had 3 heard before.

    I had only been at university for about a week when I 4 David Pitman, from Blackburn in the north of England. We 5 that we both played tennis, and arranged to meet up one afternoon for a 6.

    I went to the sports hall at the time we'd 7, and went into the changing rooms. David was already there, and I could see that he wasn't very 8. He was searching anxiously for something inside his bag. He looked up at me as I 9.

    “I've 10 my keks,” he said. “You haven't got any, have you?” 11 I had no idea what he was talking about. Tennis balls? Shorts? Trainers? What? I said: “Sorry?” David repeated: “Have you got any 12 keks with you?”

    Of course, I could have asked him what the word meant, 13 I was too embarrassed (尴尬的) and didn't want to offend (冒犯) him. David saw the 14 on my face, and said: “You know — keks. Shorts. Tennis shorts.”

    Now I 15, and luckily, I did have some 16 in my bag. I lent them to him, we 17, and he won. Then we went to get a 18. The woman at the canteen asked me what I wanted. “I'd like a Black Beauty, please,” I said. (Where I 19, that's cola and ice cream.) “What on earth is that?” said the woman. I 20 knew how she felt.

    Several years ago I started riding a bike. At first, I thought it was only a 1 ride. But as I built up strength, my friends encouraged me to try some longer 2. The first one to come along was a 150-mile journey, an event held every year that 3 money to fight cancer.

    When I signed my name, the 4 seemed great — to support a worthy cause while going for the 5 — and I trained with great excitement. But as the time for the ride approached, my 6 gained ground over my endurance(耐力). I didn't really want to 7 all those miles for two days straight.

    The ride began on a Sunday morning in the Georgia countryside, 8 for the first few hours I felt wonderful. This was just the 9 I had imagined, and my spirits were 10 . But by the end of the day, I felt tired. I was sure I'd have to 11 .

    As I topped the hill, the nice sunset 12 me going for a few minutes more. Then in the distance, I 13 a lone rider riding very slowly. I 14 that the person looked different in some way, but I couldn't tell why. I managed to 15 . There she was, riding slowly but steadily, with a 16 smile on her face — and she had only one leg.

    My focus 17 at that moment. I'd been doubting my body for a whole day. But now I knew — it wasn't the body, but the 18 that would help me reach my goal.

    It rained all the second day. I 19 saw the one-legged biker again, but I pushed on without complaining. And at the end of the day, still feeling 20 , I completed the 150th mile.