It was my sister Sandra's first Christmas without her husband. Last Thursday, she was in the store 1  for an ideal card for her two sons and daughter. Time passed by quickly as she 2the many choices. She wanted a card that sent something 3to each of them, as she knew they would have a(n)  4  place in their heart this holiday season.

        Finally, she found the one that expressed the  5 feeling. 6 , a sharp pain pierced (穿透) her heart when she realized that the card was 7  “mom and dad”. She stood, holding it close for a long time, unable to move from the spot.  8 began to run over her cheeks.

       “Is there something I can do for you?” a 9  voice asked. She  10 to face a stranger, a woman. “Uh..oh...OH!” Sandra  11 , “I can't give this card to my children because…because my husband died and this is the12   card.”

        The stranger's face softened with  13  and love. She reached out and 14my sister into her arms, giving her unspoken 15  to cry in the protection of her embrace (拥抱). She 16  held my sister until her 17 returned.

        During her telling of this event I was feeling  18  that I hadn't been there. My sister needed me and a stranger had to do my 19  . “You know,” she went on, “a friend suggested that it was like meeting with an Angel.” My guilt 20   in an instant. My sister required an Angel, and I think that is exactly what she got.

    You've probably been asked what you would do if you found a leather wallet full of cash. Would you keep it. turn it in to the police or ask for a 1? Woralop, a homeless man from Thailand, only had 9 baht to his 2 when he found a leather wallet 3 20,000 baht and several credit cards in it.

    It was more than4 to buy him food and even a place to stay for weeks.5 he didn't think about keeping the wallet. He ran after the owner to 6 it, after seeing him dropping it 7 He wasn't able to run fast enough to 8 the man, so he went straight to the nearest police station to 9 it over.

    The owner, Niity, hadn't even 10 he had lost the expensive wallet when the police called to tell him they had it. When he learned that a homeless man had turned it in and saw that all the money and credit cards still11 inside, he was more than totally12 The owner admitted that if he had no money he probably would have kept it. What a(n)13 person Woralop was!

    14 he initially offered Woralop a 2,000 baht reward, Niity later decided to also 15 the man a job at his factory in Bangkok. As a matter of fact, Woralop was more than happy to 16 it. It comes with a 11,000 baht 17 and good accommodation.

    Tarika has already started posting 18of Woralop at his new job on social media. His photos show that Woralop is such a good example that being kind really does19. When you're kind to others, others are20 kind to you.

    Many years ago, Dad worked as a farmhand （农场工人）. At that time, he had a horse. Every Saturday he1to the town after dinner and spent a few hours on social2 with other farmhands, such as drinking, chatting, and playing cards in the café. On Saturday evenings, the café was 3 because many farmhands were there. Before midnight Dad returned home on his horse, quite satisfied with his4 In his words, he5 thought of changing his job.

    At the age of 31, Dad married my mother who was a schoolteacher. In the following spring I came6 into the world. Life became hard, so my mother felt7 She told Dad that they must make a8

    My mother had 9of how some famous persons, especially Thomas Edison who was born in a poor family, fought against fate and achieved greatness and 10And she 11 that I would some day become a great leader 12 men or cities and Dad should be a successful businessman. So she 13Dad to give up his job as a farmhand, sell his horse and 14a small business of his own. And I went to high school and college. She even sent me abroad for 15 education when I graduated from college. Under the drive of my mother's hope, Dad and I16what we have today. Dad runs a big international 17and I am a successful lawyer18great fame in my country,19not a leader as my mother expected.

    Dad said, without my mother, we wouldn't be what we are today; at least, he would remain a farmhand.20 he got a lesson of life —sometimes we really need drive from outside.

    One day, a well-known speaker was invited to give a lecture to an audience of 200. He started his lecture by1a $ 20 bill. He looked around the room, and asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”2 started going up.

    He said, “I am going to 3 this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He crumpled up (揉皱) the 20-dollar bill. He then asked, “Who 4 wants it?” Still the hands were 5 in the air.

    “Well”, he replied,“6I do this ?” And he dropped it on the 7 and started to step on it with his shoes. He picked it up. Now it was crumpled and 8.

    “Now, who wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

    “My friends, we have all learned a very 9 lesson. No matter what I did to the 10, you still want it because it doesn't decrease in 11. It is still worth $20, with 12 we can buy what we need.

    Many times in our lives, we are 13, and trampled（踩）underfoot by the decision we 14 and the circumstances that come our way. We feel 15we were worthless. But no matter what has happened or what may happen to us, you will never 16 your value. Dirty or clean, you are still priceless to those who do love you. The worth of our lives is determined not by 17we do or who we know, but by who we are. You are18. Don't ever forget it.”

    If you 19 this lesson in mind, it will help you to 20 again when you fall. Each time it makes you grow much stronger.

A Good Man

    It's a late Saturday afternoon in early March, and I am sweating in search of the only gift my son wants from Los Angeles: a 1 to the homes of the stars such as Brad Pitt and Jet Li.

    A cheerful taxi driver says, “No problem. Map sellers are everywhere!” When the taxi stops, a fellow 2 with a thin folded sheet and says: “Ten dollars.”

    Ten dollars! With absolute 3I inform him, “That's too much.” The map man leaves. I begin walking, certain I'll find a (an)4 star map soon.

    I am 5. There's hardly anybody on the street. There don't seem to be many real stores, just cars and bars. No maps. No stars. Blocks pass. The sun begins to sink. At the edge of West Hollywood6fellow wanders ahead, selling star maps to some teenage girls.

    Ten dollars7. Forget it. My son will 8.

    That night, I call my wife. “Did you get one of those maps to the stars? He's been talking about 9else.”

    This10is hard to ignore. It's late. At all-night markets: no maps. I head back to the hotel. Morning is coming. There will be one last11. After I check out, I take a taxi. But at nine in the morning, map sellers are 12 to be found.

    “You know,” says the driver, “The guys with the maps just aren't up yet!” He's right.

    “Forget it. Let's go to the airport.”

    “Well,” says the driver, “I could 13 you one if you like.”

    Sure. Trust this guy? I might as well throw cash onto the freeway. But exiting the taxi, I14 my last chance. I hand him $13 and my business card. Three weeks pass. I've15 on the star map. My son has stopped mentioning it.

    Then one afternoon, sticking out from under piles of flyers, there it is: a big white envelope. There is a small note. I can hardly read it16 I make out a few phrases一“forgive17 “taxi's been down” and, finally, “here's map for your son.” There's no return address. It's signed, “kind regards, M.”

    I hold the note in my hand18 what my son said to me when I got back from Los Angeles.

    “Did you meet any 19 Dad?” he asked.

Now I know what to tell him.

    “Yes, I did. I met a guy named M.”

    If you never 20 anybody, you'll never find the good guys.

    The late Booth Tarkington always said, “I could take anything that life could force upon me except one thing: blindness. I could never 1 that.”

    One day, when he was along in his sixties, Tarkington 2 down at the carpet on the floor. The colors were not clear, so he went to a 3, and he soon learned the truth: he was losing his sight. What he4 most had come on him. And 5 did Tarkington react to it? To his amazement, he felt quite 6. When total darkness closed in, Tarkington even said, “I found I could take the 7 of my eyesight, just as a man can 8 anything else. If I lost all five of my9, I know I could live on inside my mind. For it is in the mind we see, and in the mind we live, whether we know it or not.”

    To 10 his eyesight, Tarkington had to go through over twelve operations within one year. He knew he couldn't 11 it, so the only way to lessen his 12 was to accept. And when he had to have 13 operations, he tried to remember how fortunate he was. He said, “How wonderful it is that 14 now has the skill to operate on anything so 15 as the human eye!”

    A(n) 16 man would have been nervous if he had had to tolerate over twelve operations and 17 Yet, Tarkington said, “I wouldn't 18 this experience for a happier one.” It taught him 19. It taught him that nothing life could bring him was 20 his strength to tolerate.