Our church has a way of helping those who have_________difficulties without making the receiver feel shame or guilt. Money is dropped into a green box with_________only the name of the receiver on the envelope.

There came a time when my husband and I were among those who needed_________. Just as we reached the point of despair, our church_________us a large envelope that had been left in the green box. We were_________to receive a very big amount of money, enough to bring us through that hard time.

A year later, our seventeen-year-old son who_________from high school was applying for a student loan for college. It was then that we discovered his savings account was almost_________.To both of us, it was so_________. We had trusted him to put part of his wages from his part-time job into the bank towards his_________. From nine years old, he had worked very hard for his small earning. I asked him repeatedly to tell me what had happened__________. I was nearly mad. Where has all the money__________?

Finally, in tears, and with great reluctance (勉强), my son__________that the year before he had put his__________in the green box for his father and me during that toughest time. I stood there__________, tears filling my eyes. It had taken my son years to save that money. He had given it to us willingly__________telling us what he had done.

I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited．I was too ________ for that. At age eleven, the oldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my calm. I was in middle school after all. But every chance I got, when I was ________, I checked each present under the tree. I read every tag (标签) and ________ every package, guessing at the contents within. I had examined each gift so often that I could tell which present went to which person ________ looking at the tags.

It had been a(n) ________ year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and scattered presents, she would sigh and tell us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be disappointed.” Christmas had ________ a been a time for my parents to spoil (宠爱) us. In years past, the presents would occupy the living room. I had heard the phrase “giving is better than receiving”, but getting presents was the whole ________! It was the reason I couldn’t go to sleep on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, we eagerly waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and had to wait and ________ while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our ________.

“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a package. I looked at it, ________. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I ________ this one. It was for my mom!

It was a blow dryer. ________ this may seem only a simple gift, to me it was so much more. But, in my world, where receiving was more important than giving, my mom’s act of selflessness was difficult to ________. I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to do that.

I have always remembered that Christmas with affection. As an adult with children, I can now see my mom was finding an even greater ________ in her Christmas because giving truly is better than receiving. To me, My mom’s simple act ________ the world.

The hospital room was unusually quiet. It was a relief to spend some time alone, just the three of us-my husband, me and our daughter who was receiving treatment due to Down syndrome(唐氏综合征). “Water,” the 10-year-old said. Her dad ________ her a glass. Hannah ________ her head and flapped(扇动) her arms.

Communication wasn’t always ________ for Hannah, and she used body language to get her ________ across. I was afraid her flapping arms were a ________ of frustration(懊丧), but Hannah was in good spirits. The nurse came in to check Hannah and saw no cause for ________. Still, we could see that she had something ________ to say. This time we couldn’t ________ what it was.

Shortly afterwards we took Hannah home. A few weeks after the treatment, I took Hannah into the bathroom to wash her hair. “Water!” Hannah said. “That’s right.” I replied, reaching to turn on the tap. Hannah pointed to the wall behind me. I glanced up at the framed artwork hanging on the wall. The print ________ a little girl angel wading(淌水) in a calm lake. The tips of her wings took a dip, too. “Yes, there’s water in that picture, too,” I said. Hannah nodded but she wasn’t ________. She pointed to her arms

I replayed her ________ in my mind. She flapped her arms... as if she were flying? ________. I turned my head to look at the picture behind me. The angel, her wings dipping into the water...

“Wait, Hannah, are you ________ to tell me about an angel? Like the one in the water?” Hannah’s face lit up. She’d found the word she was looking for. She flapped her arms as she’d done at the ________. Then she held up two fingers. “Angels were around your hospital room? Two angels?” Hannah nodded ________, looking at me, one of her guardian angels.