Although traditional pet stores are somewhere you buy a(n) _________ to be your friend at home, there’s a new kind of pet store _________ you spend some quality time with the animals and just walk away, without taking _________. What really _________ is the experience.

I visited one of these stores in the Sanlitun area in Beijing. I was targeting call ducks, which are _________ for their cute looks and, of course, their high _________, each of them can _________ cost a few thousand yuan. Since I was not planning to spend so much on a duck, _________ them in one of these—what I’d call “mini-zoos”—seemed to be the _________ option.

There were a __________ of five call ducks at the store—among other animals—and we __________ a good three hours with them. We got to learn much about them.

Call ducks are not easy to get along with, so playing with them would include a lot of running from our side and quacking (呱呱叫) from theirs. Also, don’t expect them to be house-trained, one of the ducks actually pooped (排便) while __________ on my leg. But none of these little incidents reduced the __________ of holding them in my hands and touching their full chests. It was like the whole world’s joy was in my hands, for those call ducks are fun and __________—something I would hardly ever expect from work.

That’s the __________ of animals: You don’t have own them—simply spending time with them is enough.

When I was just out of college, I managed to get my dream job as a trader in New York City on the floor of the American Stock (股票) Exchange. Though it was a proud________, the job was simply too physically________. I must stand in a crowd every day, which often________me in a mindset (心态) that held me back.

Manhattan is a walking town and it’s difficult to________when you have a disability. Taxis are expensive and riding the subway________dozens of steep steps to get below________. This left me only one________— the bus.

One night, after the________for my job, I was aching with my self-pity________it started to rain on my walk to the bus stop. I became more and more________without an umbrella, thinking I’d never________it in this city and telling myself, “this city is just too hard” and “maybe it is just not possible for a guy like me”.

And then, I________the most beautiful, short moment. A couple came rolling by on roller skates, hand________hand as they skated what seemed like the tango (探戈). They were all wet but they saw the________as an opportunity and romance.

I suddenly became________for waiting in the rain because I would have missed this beauty________if I had been in a taxi or on the subway. This, although________, was an important moment on my journey to discovering the________of achieving health and happiness. When I change my mindset,________for a moment, to what is possible and work to get rid of the self-limiting beliefs that________my daily actions, I will be on the road to a healthier, happier life.

When you walk through the doors of Morton Plant Hospital on an early Tuesday afternoon,you’ll be greeted by the comforting voice of Mary Ellen Owens.

Owens, who is now 98, started _______at the hospital after her husband died nearly 20 years ago. “ My husband was a ( n) _______here, off and on for about six weeks over four years, ” she _______. “ Everyone at the hospital had been so good to us when he was sick. ” To show her _______, Owens wanted to give back in a big way. “ I don’ t have several million dollars, but I can give my _______, ” she said.

Owens is approaching 7, 000 hours in volunteer time. “ I used to give three days a week,”she said. “ Now I’ m _______. So I don’ t get around as much as I _______, so I only give one day a week. ”

To get to her weekly four-hour _______, Owens receives a ride from a volunteer who she now calls her friend. “ Every _______, Richard picks me up from my home and brings me here, ”she said. “ I don’ t believe people of my age should be ___________. ”

In her younger years, Owens used to walk up and down the fashion runways in New York City and Richmond, Virginia. She also had a( n) __________to be in the 1939 film classic Gone with the Wind. Because she had other work at the time, however, Owens _________to turn it down.

“ What I didn’ t do in my life is more __________ than what I’ ve done” , she laughs. __________ she’ s in her golden years, Owens plans to continue to live her life with __________by greeting each patient with a smile.