I wandered in the park. The park bench was___21___ as I sat down to read beneath the long, straggly (蔓延的) branches of an old willow tree. I was disappointed by life with ___22___ reason to frown, for the world was intent on dragging me down.
___23___ that weren't enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of ___24___ approached me, all tired from play. He stood right before me and said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"
In his hand was a flower, and what a ___25___ sight, with its petals(花瓣) all worn --- not enough rain, or too little light. I faked a small ___26___, wanting him to take his dead flower and leave, and then ___27___.
But instead of leaving he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with surprise, "It surely smells pretty and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it; here, it's for you."
The weed before me was dying or dead. Not brilliant colors, orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must ___28___ it, or he might never leave. So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what Ineed."
But ___29___ him placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without ___30___ or plan. It was then that I noticed for the very first time, that young boy could not see: he was blind.
My ___31___ trembled, and tears shone like the sun as I ___32___ him for picking the very best one. "You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play, not ___33___ of the impact he'd had on my day.
I sat there and wondered how he ___34___ to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree. How did he ___35___ my difficult situation? ___36___ from his heart, he'd been blessed with true ___37___.
At last I could see, ___38___ the eyes of a blind child, the problem was not with the ___39___; the problem was me. And for all of those times I myself had been ___40___, I vowed(發(fā)誓) to see beauty, and appreciate every second that's mine.
I held that wilted(枯萎) flower up to my nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose and smiled as that young boy.

Doing community service work, I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless out in the streets. After that I went to a   16  shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.
I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to   17  . She wanted to help,    18  she made four or five dozen chocolate chip cookies for me to    19   and hand out to people. When getting to the homeless shelter I passed out the remaining meals. I had the containers with my   20  cookies in them and began to   21  , offering them to anyone near me.
I    22   an old gentleman and said, “Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me    23  in the eye and said, “What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I had, and his eyes    24   a little bit and he said, “No one has    25   called me sir.” He was completely taken aback.
It struck me. 
I explained I had been raised that    26   color and social status, everyone deserved     27   . It made me    28   to think that just because he was homeless, no one    29  him the honor. It broke my   30  , and I couldn’t help   31  cry. I just didn’t understand    32  no one ever called him sir? I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every    33  person deserves to be treated with dignity. Years later, I still carry that memory and the    34  it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can    35  make a difference in someone’s life.
How have you made a difference to others? How have others made a difference to you?

Last week I went to a supermarket. After I   36  the bill and was passing through the door, the alarm suddenly started to ring. Suddenly, a young guard ran toward me and ordered me to   37  him. I felt so upset and   38 . He took me to a small room, but I was   39  frightened that I stopped at the door. Finding me   40  to enter the room, he shouted that I had to go into the room.
He closed the door. I thought he was going to hurt me. Suddenly, a   41  voice said in my ear, “Take out the things you've stolen!” “I stole nothing.” I said. “Do as I tell you. If we find them, you’ll be in trouble.” “There is nothing.” I answered. “I didn't take anything.” I said, taking everything out of my pockets and bag.
  42  this point, a guard came in and asked a salesgirl to   43  me.   44 , they found nothing.
But they didn't believe that I hadn't stolen anything. So the young guard ordered me to pass through the door alarm again.
I was   45  when it rang again. I felt   46  and burst into tears. I didn't know how to prove   47  I was innocent.
They made me go into the small room again.
“Take out the stolen things quickly,   48  we will dial 110.” They said.
“OK, call the police. I’ m not afraid.” I said   49  .
Suddenly, they   50  their tone. After a while, a salesgirl asked me to raise my feet. I did   51   she had told me. There was a label (標(biāo)簽) on the bottom of my shoe. That was it! That was the   52  thing that had brought me such great trouble. But it  53  my innocence.
After that, they   54  to me in the small room. But they should have apologized   55  , shouldn't they? A lot of people were there when I was taken away. What did they think of me?

On the way to school, a little boy found a cocoon(繭) of a butterfly and watched it everyday. One day, it started to break through a small hole in the cocoon, but it  26 greatly. Finally, it seemed it couldn’t succeed.
The boy felt  27  for the butterfly because he knew it was going to die if it didn’t get out. So he ran into the house and got a pair of  28  and cut the cocoon a little. The butterfly came out and was free.
The only strange thing was that the butterfly has a swollen(腫脹的) body and dry  29  . The boy kept waiting for the swelling to go down and for the wings to grow, but  30 didn’t. The butterfly crawled（爬）around and unable to  31  and then it died an early death.
Therefore, he learnt that the butterfly was supposed to struggle to get out of the cocoon. In fact, the struggle to get out of the cocoon  32 the fluid(液) out of the body and it its wings.  33 the struggle, the butterfly couldn’t grow, and would   34  fly. By trying to help the butterfly, the boy  35  hurt it.

Cure for Sorrow
There is an old story telling about a woman whose only son died in an accident. In her   31 , she went to the wise man that is always   32  for his wisdom in her town and said, “What advice or what   33  ways do you have to bring my son back to life? I will   34  you with all I have if you can.”
Instead of sending her away or   35  with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard(芥末) seed from a home that has never   36  sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.” The woman went off at once in  37  of that magical mustard seed.
She came first to a splendid apartment,  38  at the door, and said in a  39  voice, “I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a(n)   40  that I want? It is very important to me.”
  41 , she didn’t get what she wanted, even without a single word of   42 . They told her that she had come to the wrong place. And they began to   43  all the tragic things that recently had happened to them.
The woman said to herself, “Who is better able to help these poor,    44  people than I, though I also have had misfortune of my own?” She   45  to comfort them till they   46 . Then she went on searching for a home that had never known sorrow. But   47  she turned up, in small cottages or in other places, she found one  48  after another of sadness and misfortune. She became so  49  in helping other people out of their sorrow that finally she forgot about her quest for the special mustard seed, in fact, never   50  that it had driven the sorrow out of her life.

Dash of Hope
"Dash" is a symbol which represents every day we've spent alive on earth. Therefore, how you spend your "dash" is important.
Recently I   36  about a little girl named Hope. After learning more about her life, I couldn't help but feel it was not by   37  , nor happenstance（意外事件）, that she had been named "Hope". The strong feeling of sympathy and generosity  38  in her young heart made a lasting impression on me and countless others.  39   I never had the opportunity to meet her, I wish I had. It seems as though she was wise beyond her tender years and very, very special.
Hope was a twelve-year-old girl who was   40  a "wish" in early December 2010 by the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation after being   41  that she had a rare type of bone cancer. However, when she found out that more than 150   42  in her area were waiting for their wishes to be achieved , she unselfishly used her wish to   43  that those children have their wishes granted. She also asked that it be done   44  January 16, 2011. Unfortunately, however, the organization informed her that her   45  request could not be granted as the funds were simply   46 . They calculated that they would need to raise more than one   47  dollars in thirty days in order to grant her wish. 48 , but not discouraged, she turned her disappointment into an enthusiasm that inspired caring   49  to take up helping grant the wishes of the other children, and eventually   50   as well. Newspaper columnists and reporters for radio and TV stations 51   the story of this caring young girl who had   52  the hearts of so many and as word spread, the community was challenged. Committees were fanned and schools, corporations and various organizations assisted in  53  money to help make Hope's dream come true.
Her efforts were not in vain as they continue to help others, not only   54  , but spiritually and emotionally as well. At the gathering to celebrate her life, "A Celebration of Hope" on January 16, 2011 , the   55  was made that they had indeed received donations totaling more than one million dollars. Her wish had been granted!

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would   16  the peace and quiet, watch the water rush   17  and listen to the singing of birds and the rustling of   18  in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees   19  under pressure from the wind and watch them   20  gracefully to their original position after the wind had   21  .
When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back to its original position, the word "resilience" comes to mind. When used in   22  to a person this word means the ability to readily   23  from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's   24  .
Have you ever felt like you are at your   25  point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.
During the   26  you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained,   27  exhausted and you most likely stood   28   physical symptoms.
Life is a   29  of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy   30   that take you close to your breaking point, bend,   31   don't break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.
A   32  of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal (考驗(yàn)). With   33   for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to   34  if the final result is worth having.
If life gets   35  and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break!

I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store. A nicely dressed little girl was  36  the teddy bears beside her father  37 she saw a little boy walk in and stop in front of the Pokémon toys. His jacket was obviously too small. He had money in his hand.   38 , it looked no more than five dollars at most. He was with his father as well, and  39 picking up the Pokémon video games. Each time he showed one to his father, his father  40  his head, “No”.
Rather  41 , the boy gave up the video games and chose a book of stickers  42 . After they walked away, the little girl ran over to the Pokémon video games. She excitedly picked up one  43  on top of the others, and ran toward the check-out. I picked up my purchases(購(gòu)買(mǎi)物) and  44 the girl and her father.
Then, much to the little girl’s  45 , the little boy and his father got in line  46 her and me. After the video was paid for and bagged, the little girl  47 it back to the cashier(收銀員) and  48   something to her. The cashier smiled and put the  49 under the counter(柜臺(tái)). I was putting things in my bag when the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier said, “  50 , you’re my hundredth customer today, and you win a prize!” and she handed the boy the Pokémon game. The boy could only  51  in disbelief. It was, he said,   52 what he had wanted! The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway, and I saw the biggest and  53 smile on that little girl I have ever seen in my life.
I suddenly understood that the world is not  54 into the strong who care and the  55 who are cared for. We must each in turn care and be cared.

The sun was shining when I got on No. 151 bus. We passengers sat jammed in heavy clothes. No one spoke. That’s one of the 36 rules. Although we see the same faces every day, we prefer to 37 behind our newspapers. People who sit so close together are using those thin sheets of newsprint to keep their 38.
As the bus came near the Mile, a 39 suddenly rang out, “40! This is your driver speaking.” We 41 the back of the driver’s head. “Put your papers down. All of you.” The 42 came down. “Now, turn and face the person next to you. Go 43.” 
Surprisingly we all did it. Still no one smiled. I faced an older woman, her head wrapped in a red scarf. I saw her 44 every day. Our eyes met. We waited for the next  45 from the driver. “Now repeat after me. Good morning, neighbor!”
Our voices were 46. For many of us, these were the 47 words we had spoken that day. But we said them together, like 48, to the strangers beside us. We couldn’t help 49. There was the feeling of relief(解脫) that we were not being robbed. Moreover, there was the sense of ice being 50. “Good morning, neighbor.” It was not so 51 after all. Some of us repeated it, others shook hands, and many laughed.
The bus driver said nothing more. He didn’t 52 to. Not a single newspaper went back up. I heard laughter, a warm sound I had 53 heard before in bus No. 151.
When I 54 my stop, I said goodbye to my seatmate, and then jumped off the bus. That day I was 55 off happily.

After 21 years of marriage，my wife wanted me to take another woman，my widowed mother, out to dinner and a movie．Due to the  31  of my work and my three children，I visited her only  32  ．That night I called inviting her to go out．Though a bit   33 ，she accepted it happily．
That Friday after work，I drove over to  34  her up．On reaching her house，I noticed that she seemed to be nervous about our 35 ．Wearing the dress she had worn to    36   her last wedding anniversary，she smiled like an angel．
We went to a  37  that，although not elegant，was very comfortable．After we sat down，I    38  my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me．A smile was on her lips．“I used to have to   39  the menu when you were smal1，”she said．“Then it’s time you relaxed and let me return the   40  ，”I responded．During the dinner，we had such a   41  conversation-all about each other’s life—that we 42 the movie．When back home, she said, “Pity we didn’t see the film．Yet I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me   43  you．” I agreed．
A few days later，Mother died of a massive heart attack．It   44  so suddenly that I had no  45  to do anything for her．some time later，I   46  an envelope of a copy of a restaurant receipt from where mother and I had   47  ．An attached note said，“I paid this   48   in advance．I wasn‘t sure whether I could be there；but nevertheless，I paid for two—one for you and the other for your wife．You’ll never know   49   that night meant for me．I love you, son．”
At that moment．I understood the importance of giving our loved ones the time they   50   because these things can never be put off till “some other time”．