Forever friendship

    Twenty-one years ago，my husband gave me Sam，an eight-week-old dog，to help me ease(减轻；缓解) the loss of our daughter. Later my husband and I moved from New York to New Jersey where our neighbor，whose cat had 1had kittens，asked us if we would like one. We were afraid that Sam would not be2 ， but we made up our3to take a kitten.

    We picked a little，gray，playful cat. She 4around running after imaginary mice and squirrels and jumped from table to chair very 5 ， so we named her Lightning(闪电)．

    At6 ， Sam and Lightning were not close to each other. But slowly，as the days went on，Lightning started 7Sam. They slept together，ate together and played together. When I took 8one out of the house，the other was always 9by the door when we returned. That was the10they lived for years.

    Then，without any11 ， Sam suddenly died of a weak heart. This time，there was no Sam for Lightning to greet and no way to 12why she would never see her friend again.

    In the13that followed，Lightning seemed heartbroken. She could not14me in words that she was 15 ， but I could see the pain and 16in her eyes whenever anyone opened the front door. The weeks17by，and the cat's sorrow seemed to be lifting(消失). One day as I walked into our living room，I18 to have a look at the floor next to our sofa 19we had a sculptured replica(雕塑复制品)of Sam that we had bought a few years before. Lying next to the statue(雕塑)，one arm wrapped around the statue's neck，was Lightning，sleeping with her best20.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

    On that particular day after I finished giving my training course, I took a flight home. Upon1the plane, I noticed a boy who was around eight years old, sitting in the window seat2 mine. Trying my best to be 3, I said “hello” and introduced myself, and he told me his name was Bradley. We started a4 and within minutes, he took me into his confidence, saying, “This is the first time I have ever been on a plane. I'm a little bit 5.” I managed to 6 him.

    As we ascended (上升), he looked out of the window and started describing excitedly everything he was 7. Then he told me he needed to go to the bathroom, 8 I stood up to let him out into the aisle. It was then that I noticed the brace (支柱) on his legs. Bradley, 9made his way down to the bathroom and back. Sitting back down, he 10, “I have muscular dystrophy(肌肉萎缩症), and so does my sister, who's in a 11 now.”

    As we descended (下降), he looked over, smiled, and spoke in a low, almost 12 voice, “You know, I was really13 about who would sit beside me on the plane. I was afraid it would be someone who didn't want to 14 with me. I'm so 15 I sat beside you.”

    16 the whole experience later that night, I was reminded of the17 of being open to the moment. Now when 18 get(s) rough, I look out of the window, try to see what images the clouds are painting in the sky, 19remember Bradley, the beautiful child who taught me that 20.

    An accidental injury taught me how to deal with my siblings (兄弟姐妹).

On a typical autumn 1 the eight people of our afterschool carpool (拼车)  2into a car built for seven. My brother teased me the entire way home. Hearing the 3 in the back of the car, my mother dropped us off first.

    As we4 the car, I ran after my little brother, planning on getting back at him. Because of my 5backpack, uncomfortable shoes, and terrible sense of balance, I fell on the hard pavement.6 whole carpool rushed to my aid. They lifted my weighty backpack,7 my fallen items, and helped me stand up. With tears in my eyes, I dragged myself into the 8

     “You realize I will 9you for chasing your brother after this, “my mom said to me in her most 10 voice. She would have been more 11 but she obviously didn't know how much I was12 I complained to her the pain I was feeling in my right13Then we went to the clinic where the bone doctor concluded that I had a 14 break in my right elbow.

    I got15 at school the next day because friends surrounded me carefully. But breaking my arm had more 16 than benefits. I was 17 to write with my left hand. I had to wrap my arm in a garbage bag before 18 and I had to go to the health centre instead of PE.

    19 it was an awful week, I think I deserved it20 plotting revenge (报复) against my brother. Since then, there hasn't been anything disharmonious among our siblings.

    Alice was very worried about her dad. For some time now she had noticed he was 1 his hair. One day, she asked him, “Daddy, every day you have less hair.2 is that?” Her father smiled and said, “It's the hair thief. He visits my head during the night when I'm 3. One by one he 4 out my hair, as much as he likes.”

    This worried Alice but she was 5 to help her father. That very night she stayed 6 as long as she could. When she was 7 her dad and mom had fallen asleep, she took a hammer and went straight to their bedroom. She walked carefully in order not to make any 8. She didn't want the hair thief to hear her. Then she began carefully 9 her father's head. When she arrived at her father's side, she began looking at his head,10to catch the hair thief as soon as he appeared. Before long, she saw a shadow on it and 11 all her strength, she swung the hammer down.

    Thwack! Her father 12a loud cry. The lump(肿块) on his head was big and growing.13 with shock, he turned the light on and saw Alice waving her hammer in the 14 with her hands. “Daddy, I 15 got him. I thought I 16 him, but it looks like he escaped!” said Alice. At the same time, the mother woke up. She 17laughing when she knew what had happened.

    So Alice's father had to 18to her that the hair thief didn't exist, and that losing hair is something that just happens 19 to most daddies. And Alice still worried about her daddy, but she no longer waited for the hair thief.20 , she bought her daddy a very nice sleeping hat.

    Ever since an accident put him in a wheelchair, Dan has had one dream:1.

    That is why he was 2 to learn about a piece of research that could possibly lead to his 3. But there are two 4. First, the research may take years before it becomes a treatment. And the second is the most 5 of all considerations: money.6by love for Dan, friends worked hard through a series of 7 to raise 20,000 pounds for his future surgery. Dan felt he could really start looking forward to the day when he could turn his 8 into a reality.

Then he 9 Brecon, a 5-year-old who 10 from cerebral palsy (脑瘫). Dan read about a new surgical operation that could 11 the little boy to walk unaided. But the surgery would 12 more than 60,000 pounds — money Brecon's parents were having a 13 time raising.

    Dan said, “I'm in pretty much the 14 condition, but it appears that Brecon can 15 walk if he gets his surgery, and I can't right now. So I thought I might as well pass the money on to him. I'm 16 to everyone who has helped me out, but this boy needs it 17 I do at the moment.”

    And so he took this dream out of the bank and 18 it over to Brecon's parents, telling them, “It would make me very happy to see the 19 made to Brecon's life.”

    “I wanted to help someone whose life could get better,” he said. “If I can help someone to walk, I will. Even if it means 20 a dream to do it.”

    One day a father and his teenager son were out together at a shopping mall. The son wanted to buy a new pair of 1at the sports store.

    2they were making their way through the crowded food store, a young woman holding a number of bags 3and the contents of several of them spilled across the floor. The son stepped around the woman and continued with the flow only to 4 that his father wasn't next to him. Looking around he5his father bending down and helping the woman 6the spilled items.

    Feeling a bit bad he hadn't thought to stop and help, he simply stood and 7 from the distance. He was 8 when his father handed the woman her things and she simply took them away without9 him and said “I can do it myself!” when his father returned, the son expressed his10at how impolite the woman had been.

    In the sports store the son was so11 about the incident that he spent most of the time complaining. They soon left without the shoes.

    Later at 12,the son told his mother the story, 13 her to be just as angry as he was at the woman's 14. His mother looked at her husband 15enjoying his meal and said, “Son, your father left that woman behind hours ago. Why are you 16 with her?”

    When we hold onto （保持）17 feelings, we will get stuck in the past and 18 to move forward. One of the best things you can do to stay happy is to19 to let things go. It is okay to show anger and unhappiness. 20, don't let them affect you and how you see the world.