Ten years ago, I moved to Chicago. 【小题1】 (be) new to the area, I had few friends and 【小题2】 (rare) went out to parties. But a month later, I was invited to a party at which I met an elderly couple.

The wife told me 【小题3】 worried she was about her husband, who was waiting for a heart operation. At that time I 【小题4】 (work) as a researcher in 【小题5】 same hospital where the husband would be going for his operation, so I told her to set down my phone number and call me 【小题6】 (let) me know when he was there. She phoned a few weeks later as expected and told me that her husband 【小题7】 (admit) to the hospital and he was still waiting. I told her that I would go and check on him every day when I was at work. Weeks turned into 【小题8】 (month) and it just became my habit to see them and keep track of how things were going before, during and after the heart operation.

As time went by, it seemed like I became part of the family. Even after the husband returned from the hospital, we still often visited each other on holidays. Now, ten years later, I had a happy 【小题9】 (marry) and I had my own family.

Since our parents don’t live close by, this couple has become my son’s “local” grandparents. My wife and I ofen feel very thankful to have this couple 【小题10】 our “local” parents!

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering 【小题1】 a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion (传输) from her five-year-old brother, 【小题2】 had amazingly survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies (抗体) needed to beat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked 【小题3】 boy if he would be willing 【小题4】(give) his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before making a 【小题5】(decide) and saying, “Yes, please do it if it will save Liza.”

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, 【小题6】(see) the color returning to her 【小题7】(cheek). Then his smile faded and his face 【小题8】(grow) pale. He looked up at the doctor and asked in a frightened voice, “Will I start to die right away?” Being young, the boy didn’t understand the doctor 【小题9】(correct), he thought he was going to have to give 【小题10】(she) all his blood.

One summer afternoon, a group of recent college graduates decided to visit their favorite professor at his home. The grads 【小题1】(be) out of school for about a year and they were each making their attempt into the so-called “real world” and dealing with all of the frustrations and 【小题2】 (confuse) that come with it.

Over the course of the afternoon,the grads complained 【小题3】 their professor about how difficult life was after school. They complained about the long hours, the 【小题4】 (demand) bosses, the competitive job market, and 【小题5】 all of them seemed to talk about or care about was money, money, money. 

After a while, the professor got up and made some coffee. He got out six cups, one for each student. Three of them were cheap disposable cups and the other three 【小题6】 (make) of his nicest porcelain. He then invited everyone to get up and help 【小题7】 (they).

Within seconds the 【小题8】 (argue) had already begun. “Wait,why do you get that cup?” “No,let me have it. I drove here.” “No way, I got here first; go get your own.” The students laughed and 【小题9】 (gentle) chided each other over who got to drink what out of what. A silent competition among friends.

When the kids finally sat back down the professor smiled and said, “You see? This is your problem. You are all arguing over who gets to drink out of the nice cups when all you really wanted was 【小题10】coffee.”