When I was 16, I worked at a fast food restaurant. That was when I came across two new family ________.

One afternoon in the fall I happened to find a little cat crying outside. He got a little wet because of the morning rain. I picked him up into the kitchen, ________ him and fed him water and food. My boss was ________ when seeing a stray cat (流浪猫) in the kitchen and asked me to take him out immediately. I quickly got some towels and a box and made him a little ________ and put him in my car.

After work, I hurried to my car to ________ him. I found another cat scratching (抓擦) my car door to________her brother. So I picked her up too. I had to carry them into my house ________ because my mother didn’t ________ a cat. Our cat had died earlier that year and she was in ________ and determined that she would not keep any cats.

I ________ the two cats in my room for four days. One day my mother caught me feeding the cats. Seeing her, I was ________ but I told her I had no choice but to ________ them. I told her we could just keep the boy and find another ________ for the girl. She shouted at me that we couldn’t ________ them. I knew I had her ________.

My family had Penny and Rizzo for the next 15 years.

One day a man was employed to paint a boat. He brought paint and _______ and began to paint the boat as the owner wanted. While painting, he _______ there was a hole in the body of the boat and decided to repair it. When he finished painting, he received his _______ and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat visited the painter and _______ him with a cheque (支票), much higher than what he was paid for the painting work. The painter was   _______ .

"You've already paid me for painting the boat, sir!" he said.

"This is not for the paint job. It's for repairing the _______ in the boat. "

"Ah! But it was such a small service." the man said "Certainly it's not worth paying me such a high amount for something so _______ !”

"My dear friend," the owner said, "You don't understand. Let me tell you what _______ . When I asked you to paint the boat, I _______ to mention the hole. When the boat dried, my kids took it and ________ a fishing trip. They had a great time, not ________ that there was a hole there. I was not at home at the time. So when I returned and was told they had taken the boat, I was hopeless. Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning ________ from fishing.”

"Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole!" You now see what you did? You saved the life of my children! ________ , I am here to thank you!"

Each of us has a moral duty to offer help, wipe tears, listen carefully and repair all the "hole" we ________ in our life journey, because a small act will make a big ________ in the future.

Never Too Late to Be What You Want to Be

The first day of school our professor introduced a little old lady, Rose, to us.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave_________together and talk nonstop. I was always listening to this “time machine" as she_________her wisdom and experience with me.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to make a_________to our football team. I'll never forget what she taught us. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she _________her note card on the floor. A little_________she simply said, “I'm sorry. This whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back_______so let me just tell you what I know." As we laughed she_________her throat and began: “We do not stop playing_________we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying_________, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you____________your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are____________and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing____________. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full____________and don't do one productive thing, you will____________twenty years old. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but____________for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with____________."

At the year's end Rose____________the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died____________in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to____________the wonderful woman who taught____________that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.