Ten years ago, I drove a cab for a living. One night at 2 ^: 30 a. m. , when I arrived at a building to collect a passenger, it was _____ except for a single light in a ground floor window.

I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute", answered a weak, elderly voice. After a long ________, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was _____ with cloth. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to ______ the woman. She took my arm and we walked ______ toward the cab.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address? and then asked, “Could you drive ____ downtown?" she said, m in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice(临终安养院). The doctor says I don't have very ______ I want to keep the city in mind.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once____as an elevator operator. We drove through the____where she and her husband had lived.

As the first hint of sun was____from the horizon, we drove in silence to the address she had given me—a low building. “How much should I _____ you?" she asked? reaching into her purse. “Nothing," I said. She kept thanking me for my kindness. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a _____ and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the ______ of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove _____, lost in thought.

What if that woman had gotten a(n)______ driver? On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

Have you ever had the experience of dining in the dark? Recently I ________ a friend to have dinner at a “dark restaurant”, where people eat in ________ darkness, served by blind staff. We wanted to better understand the experience of being blind, and we thought ________ might be the most difficult activity.

It was a ________ meal. Because we couldn’t see where anything was, my friend and I ________ glasses and dropped food. My sense of taste and smell became more ________, and I ate much more slowly, trying to ________ what I was eating. Pouring ________ was very difficult, plus I kept drinking from my friend’s glass.

After I ________ to pick up any food with a fork for five minutes, I decided to use my ________. I reached down, expecting rice and vegetables, but instead my hand ________ a bowl of warm, thick soup. “It’s best to use a spoon for this ________.” the waiter said to my ear, ________ but much too late. Even using a spoon, I spilled most of the soup on my shirt. I felt ________, even though no one could see me.

Our waiter ________ us to lift the plates and bowls close to our faces. Though I left the restaurant still feeling hungry I was much aware of the challenges that blind people face.

The Sweetest Thing

When I was ten, I was crazy about candy. Whenever in our small-town _____ with my mom, I would run my fingers through my favorite candy on the shelf.

Once there, thinking about all things sweet, I noticed a man a few feet away pushing buttons on the ATM machine. Dressed in a suit, he seemed to be late for something, _______ waiting for his cash to appear. The machine made a noise, and he immediately _______ a pile of bills and headed out. Curiously, I walked over to the ATM, where I started pressing the buttons as if knowing the _______.Then I looked into the bottom of the machine. There I saw it: a beautiful, crisp $20 bill! _______ I wanted to believe my magic made the cash appear, I knew the man in the suit must have left it behind.

I held the money in my hand, staring at the number “20” and feeling _______ than I ever had. I thought about slipping the money into my pocket. No one would know, but it didn’t feel _______. I knew it didn’t belong to me. I had to find its owner and give it back! So I told my mom what had happened. “We’ll look for him.” she said kindly. We rushed out and found him stepping into his car in the parking lot! We _______ him and asked whether he had left money at the cash machine.

“Let me _______,” he said, pulling out his wallet and bills. “Twenty, forty, eighty… Oh! You’ re right,” he said with surprise, “I’m ________ a $20 bill.”

“Here you go,” I said, smiling with pride, as if I was a(n) ________ who had solved a mystery. “Thank you so much,” he said, bending down and shaking my hand. My heart ________. Before saying goodbye, he asked my mom for my name and ________. “I want to send your daughter a thank-you card,” he said.

On my way home, my ________ was racing. Twenty dollars. What could I have done with it? I bet I could have bought a puppy or every single candy bar in town! But now ________ of that would happen. Yet I knew I had done the right thing.

A few weeks later, I got a box with a note. I ripped it open to find packages of candy.

“Dear Felice, Thank you very much for ________ my $20. You are a great girl, and I appreciate ________. I hope you enjoy this candy. Best Wishes, Tom.” Tom included his business card. It turned out he was vice-president for the candy company. The candy tasted sweet, each ________ reminding me that what I had done mattered. Although my honesty wouldn’t always be ________ with candy, it would make a difference to someone. And that was the ________ part of all.