I have a blind friend who lives in New York City.1we have never met face to face, we still 2each other frequently. She is a 3lady and has become like a sister to me. Her 4and enthusiastic letters always 5my spirits and the inspiring poems she shares with the world always bring a 6to my face. She is all the more 7due to the fact that she lost her 8halfway through her life. She had to 9her career and relearn to do everything that most of us take for granted. Many would have given up after such a 10but not her.11, she started a glorious new life full of award winning volunteer work. Her12are full of teaching English to new immigrants, giving comfort to 13hearts, writing, serving her religious community, and helping others in 14way she can.

    The light of my friend's example is a beacon (灯塔) that I try to15as well. Whenever I feel too16in my own life I look at the challenges that she has 17in hers. She may have lost her sight but she 18lost her soul. She knows that the eyes that really see are the eyes of the heart, and she does her best every day to follow the 19vision that they give to her. I am sure too that their eyes of the angels watching over her are always filled with tears of20and that their faces are always full of shining smile.

    Mike was cycling along a road in Canada's Yukon, halfway through a 2,750-mile bike tour to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. He was carrying a 30-pound camping bag,1 he wasn't moving very fast. Suddenly he heard loud breathing behind him. “Man, that's a big dog!” he thought. He looked to the side, but to his great 2 , he saw, that it wasn't a dog, but a wolf, running hard to 3  him.

    Mike's heart jumped. He reached for the 4 from his bag. With one hand on the handlebar, he 5  the spray. A bright red cloud 6 the wolf in time, and it fell back, shaking its head. But a minute later it was by his side again. He sprayed a second time, and the wolf fell back again, but only to quickly restart its 7 .

    The wolf was getting closer and closer, 8 a dozen yards away. Mike waved and yelled at passing motorists, but meanwhile 9  hard. He knew clearly that he must be 10not to slow down. Otherwise, he would become a 11 of the wolf.

    Paul and Becky were driving along the same road. From a distance, they spotted what they 12  was a dog running after a man on a bike. As they get  13, they realized it was a wolf.

Mike heard a car coming up behind him, and he slowed down. The car veered around the  14 , and then suddenly stopped in front of him. Mike15  off his bike and dashed for the back   16  of the car. It was locked. Paul quickly 17 the door so as to let Mike in, and the  18  man dived in, shutting the door behind him.

    It was quite a while 19 Mike became calm and cried out: “I thought I was going to die!” And Paul and Becky were 20  that they had given a helping hand to people in need.

    The life of George Washington was well-known for punctuality. For him, being on time was a way of showing  1 for others, and he  2 to be treated with the same level of respect  3.

    Once Washington asked a man to bring some  4 he was interested in buying at five in the morning.  5, the man arrived fifteen minutes late. Washington's groom（马夫）told the man that the general had been  6 there at five, but had now moved on to other business. Washington said that he wouldn't be able to  7 the horses again until the following week. The man left with his horses, feeling a deep sense of  8.

    When he told Congress（国会议员）that he'd meet with them at noon, he could almost always be found walking into the meeting room just as the clock was  9 twelve.

    Washington's punctuality extended to his 10 as well. He ate dinner each day at 11 four o'clock. When he 12 members of Congress to dine with him, and they 13 late, they were often  14 to find the president halfway done with his meal or even leaving the table. To his shocked, late  15 he would say, "We are punctual here. My cook never asks whether the guests have arrived, but whether the hour has  16."

    And when Washington's secretary arrived late for a meeting, and blamed his  17 for his lateness, Washington quietly replied, "Then you must get another watch, or I another  18."

    Washington, one of the most respected presidents in American history, is a good example to us all. Today, punctuality is still a(n) 19 part of the character of a nice person. So next time when you are struggling with arriving  20, think of these stories about the punctual president.

    A young girl is smiling at me from a picture frame on my desk as I write this. She is my child I 1 sponsored from the Philippines. Even though I have never met her in person, she has found a 2 place in my heart. It doesn't 3me much to help her, about a dollar a day.4, millions of people in this world live on less. The 5 that helping her gives me, however, is beyond 6. It connects me to her, to life,7 to love.

    I can still 8 the first time that I decided to help a child overseas. It was many years ago. I was only a teenager myself and had a little extra 9 each month. I didn't feel like 10 anything, though. We had 11 everything we had in a house fire a few years before.12 that had taught me a lot. I had learned that I didn't need a lot of “stuff” to be 13. I had also read a lot about the 14 of children in poor countries around the world. It seemed like a far better thing then to give what I could to help them. With my Mom's love and 15, I soon found a few organizations like Children International that were 16 others around the world. It felt so good being able to reach out and help another 17. It felt so good being able to make even one life better. I could feel the compassion and 18 growing within me and beginning to change me.

    Empathy (同情) does change us. It helps us to 19, to be kind, and to make this world a 20place.

    It was a Friday afternoon. An elderly lady was doing the 1 in a supermarket. When she returned to her2, she found four men in the act of 3 her car. So she 4 her shopping bags and took out her 5, screaming at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! 6 the car!"

    The four men didn't 7 for a second threat. They all got out immediately and 8 like mad.

    After she got into the 9 seat and prepared to drive away, she was 10 that she could not get her key into the ignition (点火开关). She 11 over and over again, and then she suddenly realized why, 12 she found that there was a football, a jacket and two packs of cigarettes in the front seat.

    A few minutes later, she saw her own car 13 four or five spaces farther down. She put her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her 14.

    The police officer to whom she told the story couldn't stop 15. He pointed to the other end of the corner, where four 16 men were reporting that their car was 17 by a mad, elderly woman 18 as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and 19 a large handgun. Not surprisingly, the elderly lady felt very sorry for what she had done, and 20to the four men.

The parents who adopted (收养) Bruce Hollywood encouraged him to find his Japanese birth mother. But he never became 1 until he had a heart attack, when he realized that he regretted never 2 with his birth mother.

No sooner had he recovered than he began 3 his birth mother. He called the Japanese Embassy (大使馆), but there was no 4 information, which made him really unhappy. Luckily, he met an army man on the plane 5. They had a casual 6. When Bruce mentioned his 7 search, the man 8 Bruce to give him all the information he had 9 and told him he would help him. 10 Bruce had a low expectation, he followed what the man said. Ten days later, he got an unexpected call.

The spokesperson said, "Bruce, we're happy to tell you that, we have found your mother. Because she doesn't speak English, you'd better find a 11." Finally, Bruce got to communicate with his birth mother, who was crying with 12. He learned that it was she who had given him the name Bruce. And he later 13 the restaurant his birth mother had owned for decades in Shizuoka, Japan and found out she had named it "Bruce".

Bruce couldn't 14 the moving words he heard when seeing his birth mother for the first time in 45 years. He learned that love could always stand the test of 15 and distance.