My husband and I had been short of money lately. That, _______ with the fact that he was anxious about being in public, meant we hadn’t been able to _______ outside for a while. Things were finally beginning to _______. So we decided to go to a pizza house that I had been wanting to _______ for a long time.

Once we saw the _______ we knew we could only afford a small pizza so we would have enough money left to _______ the waiter. Before long our 4-slice pie arrived. My husband offered to serve me a slice, only to _______ it onto the floor. He felt embarrassed and got angry with himself. I tried hard to _______ him.

Noticing this, the manager came over and _______ cleared up the mess. Then he apologized that the oven (烤箱) was already being __________, or he would bring another __________ to us.

__________ our meal, the manager returned to thank us for being there. Then he gave us 2 coupons (优惠券) and invited us to dine in his pizza house __________. Wow! We were totally surprised. How kind he was! He could have been annoyed when he saw the __________ we made so close to closing time. He could have been __________ at my husband’s carelessness. __________, he chose to do all he could to make sure we left with a __________. To some people it may seem __________ because he was just doing his job. But to us it meant the world! Our __________ treat of enjoying a night out was made so much more pleasant by the __________ he offered us. Thank you, kind sir, for choosing to shine your light on us!

When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me stories. I’d like to _______ with you one of my favorites.

Once, there was a young boy. He was very _______ because he couldn’t keep his friends. He asked his father why this was so. His father _______ replied, “Son, each time you say or do something that_______one of your friends, hammer (锤) a piece of wood into the _______ .” The curious boy did as he was told and soon he made fence (篱笆) out of the wood.

“Father!” he cried, “I can’t get out! I am blocked by this fence!”

“Well, Son, each time you say something _________to a friend, you can take one piece of wood out.”

The boy _______this, too. On the first day he took out one piece of wood and on the second day he took out another two. On the third day he took out some more. Finally he had _______all of the wood. “But Father!” he cried again, “Look at the _______in the ground! They are big and dark! Oh, how ugly!”

“Son,” his father said, “this is why you aren’t able to ________ your friends. Remember: when you hurt someone’s feeling, no matter what you do to ________ up for it, there will always be a scar (伤痕) in his________.”

From that day on, the boy was very________of his words and actions and he never hurt his friends’ feelings again.

I always keep this story close to my heart. It has________me lot. I am always careful not to hurt any of my friends because they are people that I wouldn’t want to________.

I was getting ready to head to my daughter’s college to bring her home for Christmas. The   _____ was falling heavily and the land was silvered. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy drive.

Usually a three-hour round   ____ , but I knew it was going to be a lot ______ today as I slowed my car to   _____ the slippery roads. Once I was on the road, _____ , conditioh9 only worsened. I   _____ slowed down but four-wheel trucks sped past me   _____ huge showers of slush (融雪) onto my windshield. During the last twenty miles I suddenly found myself behind a very   ______ winter driver. _____ driving slow and adjusting, when he hit a slippery spot he braked hard and turned sharply all over the road. I had to   _____ hard myself to keep from hitting him but unfortunately slid into a ditch (沟).

I tried pulling out again and again but could only hear   _____ tires. I was half-way out in the road and a truck sped by me, missing the car by inches. I looked about the car   ____    and miraculously the car started to move,   ___    it was almost being pushed out of the ditch. From the driving mirror I spotted a   _____ , covered with snow, ____    my car as hard as possible. When I     ____ my hand to greet him with gratitude, he   _____ signed me good luck, getting on his car.

Just as a famous writer Henry   ____    it, “He who walks in love may wander far. Yet God will bring him   _____ the blessed are.” Wherever you go then and however   _____ your journeys may be, always remember that you are watched over by people with a love more powerful and more beautiful than you can ever imagine.