It had been a long time since I had been to Jacksonville, Florida. I had driven to town 1to find the old barber shop where my hair had been cut as a child. As I 2around, I was a little disappointed to see the old buildings had been3with new high-rise ones.

    After walking about a block I saw an open shoe store. Wondering whether I could get the 41walked in. As I stood talking to the salesman, the front door opened and a young man about twenty came into the store in a 5 “I need a new pair of shoes,” said the6As he turned the corner, I was 7to see that the young man had no legs.

    Seeing us 8 the young man said, “When I was a 9my parents used to buy me a new pair of shoes every year. That was such a wonderful feeling—10I have never forgotten.”

    Soon the salesman came with a large box. He put it down on the floor, took out a boot and handed it to the young man. Placing the boot 11his nose, the boy closed both eyes, and took a large breath. I did not know what to say as tears began to roll down his 12.

    Suddenly we heard the salesman shouting to an old man 13who looked in the window from time to time. The young man looked at the old man and then turned to me. “Would you walk out and see what14that fellow wears?” he 15.

    Wondering why, I 16walked to the front door, opened it and asked the old man to17“What size shoes do you wear?” the boy asked the man. “I don't know,” he replied, as he18his old tennis shoes. “I would say nine and a half,” I suggested. “What's your19hiking boot in nine and a half?” the boy asked the salesman. Within a minute. The salesman returned with a pair of hiking boots. The boy 20out, took the boot, placed it to his nose and took a large breath. Once again, tears came to his eyes. “Sir, would you mind trying on these boots?” the boy asked the old fellow.

    I was walking around in a Big Bazar store doing a shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy who couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, "I'm sorry, 1you don't have enough money to buy this doll." Then the little boy turned to me and asked, "Uncle, are you sure I don't have enough money?"

    I 2 his cash and replied, "You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear." The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked 3 him and I asked him 4 he wished to give this doll to. "It's the doll 5 my sister loved most and wanted so much. I wanted to gift her for her Birthday. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there." His eyes were so 6 while saying this.

    "My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister." My heart 7 stopped. The little boy 8 me and said, "I told daddy to tell mommy not to go 9. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall."

    Then he looked again at the 10with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly11 for my wallet and said to the boy. "Suppose we check again, just 12 you do have enough money for the doll?" I added some of my money to his, without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some13money.

    The little boy said, "Thank you God for giving me enough money! I asked last night God to 14 I had enough money to buy this doll. He heard me! I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't 15 to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. "

    I finished my shopping in a totally different 16from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, which mentioned a 17 man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a 18 state.

    The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is 19, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a 20 of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

    Once there was a very brilliant creative and learned man. He gained much 1 while traveling throughout the world. Unfortunately he lost his legs and left arm in a traffic accident, leaving only a finger and thumb on his right hand. He became so 2 that he was afraid he would spend his life 3 and would no longer be able to use his life in a(n)4 way.

    One day, he remembered how he had always loved getting 5. He realized that he still had partial 6 of his right hand and could write with 7. Then, he had an idea. "Why not write to other people who need encouragement?

    He 8 where he could find those who could be encouraged if they read his letters. He thought of people in 9. Many of them had hope of regaining their 10. Others would keep feeling depressed and remain put away for the rest of their lives. He decided that he must try to 11 them. So he wrote to a prison ministry about sending letters to the prisoners. The prison minister replied that writing to the prisoners would be 12. However, it would be against prison rules for the prisoners to write back.

    13 with the intention, the man began sending 14 messages of God's love, hope, strength, and encouragement. He wrote twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the 15. He poured his heart and soul into his words, 16 his experience, sense of humor, optimism, and faith.

    It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of any 17. Frequently, he felt discouraged, wondering if anyone 18 read his letters. However, this was his 19chance, so he determined to continue.

    At last, he received a letter from the prison officer, which said, "Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your letters are passed from cell (牢房) to cell until they almost fall to 20!"

    We all have unique experiences, abilities and talents. We can discover ways to reach others in need of encouragement and strength.

    A couple in ordinary clothes walked into the Harvard's outer office. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He will be busy all day," the secretary spoke 1, concluding that the couple had no 2 with Harvard from what they wore. "We'll 3," the lady replied.

    Four hours, the secretary 4 them, hoping that the couple would finally become 5 and go away. They didn't. And the secretary grew 6 and finally decided to disturb the president. Someone of his 7 obviously had no time to spend with nobodies, but he 8 people in such clothes filling in his outer office.

    The president, frozen-faced, walked 9 toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son that 10 Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard and was very happy here. But he was accidentally 11. And my husband and I would like to 12 a memorial (纪念物) to him somewhere on campus." The president wasn't 13; he was shocked, "Madam," he said 14. "We can't put up a statue for every person who studied in Harvard and died."

    "Oh, no." the lady 15 quickly, "In fact, we thought we would give a building to Harvard." The president 16 at the couple and then shouted, "A building! Do you know how much a building costs? The cost of the Harvard's buildings is over 7.5 million dollars."

    For a moment the lady was 17. The president was pleased. He could 18 them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly. "Is that all it costs to 19 a university?" Her husband nodded. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California, where they established the university 20 after them—a memorial to a son.

    Jadav Payeng, an Indian, has been planting a tree every day since he was just 16 years old. Now, almost 40 years later, he has created a1of 1,360 acres on what was once a2land.

    Growing up on Majuli, the world's largest river island, he once3hundreds of animals dying from drought among the4greenery on the island, so he was5to plant one tree every day.

    After almost four6of growth, his forest is now home to hundreds of elephants, tigers, deer and birds. Payeng says he has lost7of how many trees he has planted—but he8there are now thousands of trees providing9to the wildlife.

     "It's not as if I did it10," Payeng said. "You plant one or two trees, and they have to seed. And once they seed, the wind knows how to plant them, the birds here know how to11them, cows know, elephants12, and even the river knows. The entire13knows."

    Island locals used to call Payeng "crazy" for his14, but since he was accidentally15by a wandering wildlife journalist in 2007, the "Forest Man of India" has been16as a role model for protecting the environment.

    Payeng doesn't plan on17any time soon—he wants to continue planting trees "until his last18". He hopes to one day19the entire island with 5,000 acres of trees. "Nature is everything. It20me. It gives me power…As long as it survives, I survive."

We met Bailey 5 yeas ago. He was a standard poodle (髦毛小狗) born on Valentine's day in 2020, and came to us in a small blue box. His previous owner posted the news online and we adopted him. Our only request was that he behave calmly and be able to put up with the pushing and hugging of our eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. 

We were a sweet family: me, my husband, our children Angela and Tony. But for years. I'd felt that we wouldn't be truly whole if we didn't have a dog. Also, my husband worked for a commercial company and traveled around 200 days a year. and I knew that having a large animal sleeping by the door made me feel safer. 

The last piece of our purzle fell into place when we opened the box. With his dark hair and smart eyes, Bailey was beautiful. He was so small that he could fit in the palm of my hand, his big paws (爪子) resting at his sides. He was a little scared, too. As I pulled him close, I felt his heart racing, and 1 wondered if we had done the right thing by taking him away from his mother. But it was too late. Angela and Tony were already arguing about who would carry him and who had the right to bathe him. 

Over the following months, we spent countless hours watching Bailey play with his toys or roll around on the living room floor. Like most poodles, he was smart. He quickly mastered house-training and never chewed (咀) on our furniture or shoes. He considered himself one of us. 

One night we were sleeping in the bedroom when I heard some strange noise. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

At that time, Bailey ran towards me. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

A. I thought it was Bailey running and hitting something, so I kept lying in the bed and made an attempt to fall asleep again. However, the noise became louder and louder, which had already annoyed me. Quickly l got up from my bed. I opened the door and found Bailey running around the living room, trying to let all the things fall down. These abnormal behaviors really made me confused and a little afraid.

B. He firmly grabbed my trousers and pulled me to the kitchen. As I approached the kitchen could obviously smell a strong burning smell and immediately knew what had happened. When¹ aw the fierce fire in the kitchen, I dashed into my children's room like an arrow(前), waking them up at my maximum voice. Rushing out of the house together with my family. I called 911 and asked our neighbors for help at the same time. Fortunately both my family and my house were saved Thanks to our smart Bailey, we did escape from death.

C. Angela and Tony completed the delicious breakfast and they could not wait to bring it to me who slept in the room. Their father praised their hard-earned work with his thumb up, informing them that I was sleeping on the second floor. To my surprise, their hand-made food was so delicious that l would never forget it. Obviously. what they had done for me would be rooted in memory.

D. I nodded with a smile and encouraged the children to get started. Quickly. Angela volunteered to get the big box of com and prepared to make popcorn. At the same time, Tony. my smart boy. went to buy some paper bags. I ran to Bailey's home to invite him. Not surprisingly. Bailey was amazed at this great project and couldn't wait to come. To our delight, the popcorn they made looked great and tasted delicious. Finally. they packed the sweet popcorn in the paper bags together. Laughter and happiness filled this house.