In 1898 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,ooo people in less than four minutes. In the middle of complete damage and disorder, a father rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be,  26  that the building was  2 7.
After the unforgettably shock, he 28  the promise he had made to his son: “ No matter  29 happens, I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to 30 his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his 31  to his son. He rushed there and started 32 the ruins.
As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived , 33 : “It’s too late ! They are all dead! 34  , face reality; there’s nothing you can do!” To each parent he responded with 35 : “Are you going to help me now? ”No one helped. And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone.
Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know 36 : “Is my boy 37 or he is dead?” He dug for eight hours … 12 hours…36 hours…then , in  38  hour , he pulled back a large stone and heard his son’s 39 . He screamed his son’s name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told other kids not to worry.  I told them that if you were alive, you 40 me and 41 you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad!”
“What’s going on in there? ”the father asked
“There are 14 of  us  42 43  33,Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you are here. When the building collapsed, it made  44  , and it saved us.”
“Come out , boy!”
“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, 45 I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”

Most people in the world like to enjoy nature. Travel is one of the most popular ways. Nowadays modern transportation can take people everywhere. But people who lived before the 1880s probably would not travel very far. They would not have time to travel far from their work. Anyone who travelled  36  would usually walk or ride a horse. But in Germany a man named Karl Benz had an idea that  37  the world in a dramatic way. In 1885, he made  38  . His car had three wheels,  39  most cars today. The car could only go  40  16 kilometres an hour.
At around the same time, the man  41  his first car in Detroit, America is called Henry Ford. Detroit is now still famous all over the world as the centre of American car-making.
Cars were very few and only  42  people could buy them.  43  , in England cars were thought to be  44  at that time, so for a few years someone  45  walk in front of every car  46  a red flag! This was to make sure that the car did not go too fast and hurt  47  .
In the 1910s, Henry Ford had  48  a better kind of car called the Model T Ford and he built a  49  where the cars could be made  50  . In this way the car could be made  51  and the cost was less and more and more people could  52  them. But there was still a problem  53  all the cars were black. That was because it was 54  to produce cars that were all the same color. Now, of course, you can buy cars in all  55  .

When I was a young student, a Chinese teacher told us, “If you make one close friend in school, you will be most fortunate. A true friend is someone who stays with you for life.”   36   tells us that he was right. Good friendship is just not easily   37 . It is possible that we simply do not stay in one place long enough for   38  friendship to   39 .
However, there can be   40  disagreement on the need for each of us to think carefully about the kind of friendship we want. To most of us, friendships are considered very important, but we need to have clear in our   41   the kinds of friendship we want. Are they to be close or   42   at arm’s length? Do we want to   43  ourselves or do we want to walk on the surface? For some people, many friendships on the surface are   44  enough—and that’s all right. But at some point we need to   45   that our expectations are the same as our friends’ expectations. The sharing of   46  experience   47  our tears as well as our dark dreams is the surest way to deepen friendships. But it   48  be undertaken（进行）slowly and carried on only if there are   49  of interest and action in return.
What are some of the   50  of friendship? The greatest is the attraction to expect too much too soon. Deep relationships   51  time. Another “major difficulty” is the selfishness to think one “possesses” the other, including his time and attention. Similarly, friendships   52  actions in return. In   53  words, you must give as much as you take.
Finally there is a question of taking care of. Unless you spend   54  time together, talking on the phone, writing letters, doing things together, friendships will die   55 .?

About ten years ago, I was on a plane going west, and a young woman boarded and sat across the aisle (过道) from me. I ___41____ her for two reasons. She was very attractive, and she was holding a teddy bear about half her ____42____. I teased her by asking if she had a ___43___ for the bear. She laughed and said no.
About halfway through the flight she ___44____ over and told me she was going to Tucson to enter rehab (进行康复治疗). She ___45___ to share her life story with me. She had been working as a dancer in a nightclub. That ___46____ had led her down a dark ____47____ to drugs and alcohol. As I listened to her story. I was ____48____ at all she had gone through. I listened to all she shared and told her I was sure she was going to ____49___ it. At the end of the flight, she ___50____ me for listening to her.
A few years later, I got a ___51____ in the mail saying, “Wow, it’s been years since we met on that plane. It is ___52____ how you touched my life.” She went on to tell me that she had ____53____ to stay away from drugs, and had been working for a radio station. She felt she had achieved things she could not have ____54___ that day on the plane. We agreed to set up a time to get ___55___.
When I saw her, she was ____56____ the attractive young woman I remembered. She told me that that little ___57___ we had had turned her life around. She had boarded the plane ___58___ anything would work in her life, and my affirmation (肯定) of her as a person and of her ___59___ had given her the last bit of ___60___ she needed to work through her problems.
The young woman taught me it’s never too late to make a new start in life.

Spend a pound to win a penny
Some people were steaming peas under a tree in order to make a meal for their horses. Up in the branches sat a monkey,  36 what they were doing.
"Aha" thought the monkey. “I spot my  37 !” So when the men had finished steaming the peas and 38 for a moment to look after the horses,  39 ,the monkey let himself down from the tree. He snatched (抓) the peas and filled his  40 and both hands as full as they could 41 . Then he climbed up the tree and sat there, eating happily.
Suddenly one pea fell.
"Oh dear! Oh my pea!" cried the monkey. The other peas  42 to drop out of his mouth. He 43 his hands in despair(绝望地), and the peas fell out of his hands too, but he took no  44 . All he thought of was that one pea was gone,__45__ he climbed down the trunk to hunt for his lost pea on the ground. At this time, the men came back. When they saw a monkey  46 with their pots, they all  47 their arms and shouted, "Shoo! Shoo!" Then they picked up stones and began to 48 the monkey with them. The monkey was so 49 that he gave one jump to the nearest 50 , and swung himself up to the top of the tree.
"After all," said he to himself, “it was  51 one pea.” But he ought to have thought of that 52 ,for now all the other peas had gone too.
That day the monkey had to content himself with the 53 of boiled peas for dinner, and I hope the 54 taught him not to be so 55 in future.

I was in a department store with my mom, aunt, and my sister a few days ago.  16 , I am one of those people who do not like to go shopping with my family. However, I decided this time to 17 them.
My aunt and I were 18 for some things to buy for our family when I noticed two 19 on the side. One of them had a little girl sitting on it with her 20 nearby and the other one was 21 . So, I decided to sit down. While I was 22  my own thing there, I 23 that the family were not in front of the  24  anymore. I saw the girl 25 and look around for her family. She came back and I saw her in 26, crying.
I knew that she 27 her family and was all by herself . Now, I am sure that almost everybody has been lost in a department store or 28 big before and we all know that feeling. 29 I went up to her and asked what was 30 and in between tears she told me she was lost. I 31 her a smile card I just bought. You should have seen the 32 on her face when she read it. Then I went up to customer service center and 33 them what happened. People there promised to 34 her. After I left, the little girl’s parents went there and I could see them looking around for the person who had found their daughter and given her the35. Little did they know it was a regular teenager who did it.

My first job was at a local restaurant, where I worked for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially from a fellow   36 .
Helen was in her 30s and had extraordinary（非凡的） self-confidence, something I was really  37 . I looked up to Helen  38  she was doing what she loved—  39 people better. She always made everyone, customers and co-workers（同事）  40 and feel good.
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my  41 customers was Fred Hasbrook. He always ate an omelet, and when I saw him _42 , I tried to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
Thanks to the new found confidence I  43 __from Helen, I dreamed of having my own  __44 . But when I called my parents to ask for a loan（贷款）, they said, “We just don’t have the money.”
The next day, Fred saw me and asked, “What’s   45  ? You’re not smiling today.” I  46__my dream with him and said, “Fred, I know I can do more if somebody  47 just have faith in(信任）me.”
Before long he handed me checks  48 __$50,000—along with a note that I have to this day. It reads, “The only collateral（抵押品）on this loan is my trust in your  49 as a person. Good people with a dream should have   50  __to make that dream come true.”
I took the checks to Merrill Lynch, where the money was provided for me. I  51 working at the restaurant, making  52 for the restaurant I would open. My plans soured（破灭）, and I lost the  53 .
Later I decided to apply for a job at Merill Lynch. Even though I had no experience, I was__54 and ended up becoming a pretty good agent.   55 ，I paid back Fred the $50,000, plus 14-percent annual interest. Five years later, I was able to open my own firm.

One cold rainy evening last October, as a medical student, I was in a hospital, gathering data
for my graduation paper.
Holding a patient questionnaire   34  some simple yes-or-no questions, I walked towards a 43-year-old patient who lay in bed alone. I was worried whether she would approve of my demands at such a late hour.   35 , she treated it with consideration. Soon I finished and prepared to leave.   36  I could stand up, she spoke up in a weak voice asking where I was from and why I was working so late in the evening.
Then she started talking about herself as well as her   37 , "My husband died about a year ago,   38  me the only breadwinner of my family. My pay as a cleaner is   39  enough for me and my three kids. I don't know what my children would be if something bad happened to me."
I didn't know what to say. I desperately tried to remember the lessons from a communication skills class I had taken years earlier, but my mind was  40.
Without realizing it, I had begun   41  her hand. Now that I didn't have anything to say, I just sat quietly while she talked. That's when it occurred to me that she was not expecting any 42 from me. She   43  wanted me to listen. All 1 did was nod my head as a way of showing my 44.
The conversation went on for about 20 minutes. Finally, she stopped talking. "I'm very sorry for keeping you here to listen to my problems, but I feel   45  now. I had no one to   46 out my problems to. Thank you so much, doctor."
Sometimes patients do not need expensive medicine or advanced technology.   47 , they just need someone with the   48  to lend an ear and spare a little of their time. For me, that is one of the best things a doctor can do for a patient, doesn't it?

Forty years ago Sadie left her drunk and violent husband. Needing shelter（住所）for herself and her young son, she took a job as a doorkeeper in a housing project for ___36___people. It meant she could live “on site” in one of the ___37___.
Eventually, she got to know the residents（居民）. One resident, Archie, didn't have a family of his own, ___38___his nephew’s wife and her naughty kids would drop in from time to time. They were there to help the old guy.    
Sadie helped care for Archie as he ___39___illness and it was she who called the ___40___who diagnosed（诊断） his deadly cancer.
___41___time passing, Sadie’s son ___42___up, got married and settled several hundred miles away. Sadie ___43___and moved into a nice little house of her own. To ___44___the loneliness, she took in a series of ___45___over the years.
A heavy fall of snow came a year and a half ago. She was pleased when a neighbor ___46___to walk her current dog, Muffin, until the weather improved. Each day he would ___47___a while talking to her, making sure she was okay, and ___48___if she needed anything.
Although she had known him for a long time, Sadie ___49___thought to wonder what his last name was. This morning she asked. His surname was the same ___50___old Archie’s. It brought back a memory and she talked about the ___51___. She told him about working at the old residents’ flats and was ___52___to discover the man who had been “caring” for her for the past year and a half had been one of the little kids who used to run ___53___on his way to visit “Uncle Archie”.
She had cared for his family, now he was caring for her. ___54___of them knew it until that moment but they were living proof of the old saying,  “What goes around comes around, ” and the ___55___of kindness will not be broken.

Once there was a very brilliant, creative and learned man. He gained much ____36_____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 ____37_____ that he was afraid he would spend his life _____38_____ and would no longer be able to use his life in a(n) ____39_____way.
One day, he remembered how he had always loved getting ____40_____. He realized that he still had partial ____41_____ of his right hand and could write with  ____42_____. Then, he had an idea. “Why not write to other people who need encouragement?”
He ___43___ where he could find those who could be encouraged if they read his letters. He thought of people in ____44___. Many of them had hope of regaining their ____45___ . Others would keep feeling depressed and remain put away for the rest of their lives. He decided that he must try to __46____ 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  ____47____. However, it would be against prison rules for the prisoners to write back.
____48_____with the intention, the man began sending   49   messages of God’s love, hope, strength, and encouragement. He wrote twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the ___50____. He poured his heart and soul into his words,  ___51_____ his experience, sense of humor, optimism, and faith.
It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of any ___52___. Frequently, he felt discouraged, wondering if anyone  ___53____read his letters. However, this was his ___54____chance，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 ____55___!”
We all have unique experiences, abilities and talents. We can discover ways to reach others in need of encouragement and strength.