A five-year-old boy saved his mum’s life! A woman has spoken of her _________ at discovering the boy outside her house _________ his baby sister in his arms and saying his mum had died.

Jessica Penoyer opened the door to _________ Salvatore, who had picked up his two-month-old sister and _________ his way out of their home after his mum had a seizure (发病) in the shower.

Salvatore had _________ a chair to the garage door so he could climb up and push open the switch and _________ said he fell off it once before his second attempt was successful.

When the door _________, he wrapped his baby sister in a blanket and went to the neighbour’s house to seek _________ .

In a 911 call _________, Penoyer can be heard telling emergency services: “My neighbour’s son just came to my house and said that his mum was __________ in the shower. He’s standing there and he’s clutching (抱) something and I thought it was a __________.”

Penoyer __________ thought five-year-old Salvatore was telling her his dog had died but he __________ her, saying, “No, my mum died in the shower. Can you __________ us?”

Emergency services rushed to the house following her __________ and found Salvatore’s mother, Kaitlyn, had suffered a seizure and fallen while showering—but she was still __________ .

Kaitlyn said, “Honestly, he __________ my life, because I was under the __________ and if he wouldn’t have got help, I don’t know, I would have drowned. My son has been worried and asks me, probably, a billion times if I’m going to have another seizure and die. Every day is a __________ for us.”

Brave Salvatore has since been recognised as an “honorary firefighter” after his __________ saved his mum’s life.

In 1992, Jeff Balch’s mom died of cancer, at the age of 60. She _________ on a weekend, and that Monday was rubbish pick-up day.

Balch was at his mom’s home, doing some yard work, when the young man who worked as their _________ collector came up the driveway. The man _________ and said, “Hey, how’s Ms. Balch doing?”

Balch took a _________. He hadn’t yet told a stranger about his mom. And he said, “Well, she was very sick, and I’m afraid she died a couple of days ago.” On hearing this, the man felt very _________, He stammered (结结巴巴地说), “I’m so sorry.” And he _________ his eyes and hurried away.

Balch remembers looking down as well, his eyes filled with tears. When he looked up, he saw that the man was _________ by two other rubbish collectors, and now they were walking towards him, across the _________.

The oldest man in the group said, “We just want you to know your mom was the _________ person. She always brought us water to drink when we were working and __________ us in need.”

Today, Balch sometimes __________ of those three men, who went out of their way to say something kind about his mom. Balch says he can’t be __________ like his mom as he talks to rubbish collectors. But he does try to treat them the way the __________ treated him and he will pass on his mother’s __________. “It’s all about realizing the humanity (仁慈) in everyone we’re dealing with,” Balch said. “And that was the rubbish collectors’ __________ to me, which was to humanize (使人性化) at that moment.”

“I just can’t help thinking that it isn’t fair to Tara,” sighed my mother last week, for no obvious _________ . I knew what she meant. In fact, I sort of feel it, too, _________ it’s almost impossible to explain. Two words perhaps can help sum it up: _________ child.

Two years ago, the situation was _________ . We had two babies: Ruby, the older one, and Tara, the younger who was playful and cute. Even at five years old, Tara still felt like our baby. But then we had Orla. Ruby, aged seven at the time, became the eldest of three, but Tara lost her place as the baby, along with all its advantages. Now she is sandwiched between an outgoing elder sister and a cute little one.

Somehow, life can just seem _________ for Tara. Bedtime is a good example. Nine-year-old Ruby likes lots of _________ and some time on her own in bed, listening to her iPod, reading and playing. That’s easily arranged. Orla likes to be hugged as she goes to sleep. _________ , Tara would really like someone to lie with her, _________ her day and her book. Sometimes I’ll walk out of Orla’s room at 10 pm after falling asleep beside her, to find Tara _________ , still waiting for my hug. She also gets signed up for the __________ after-school clubs as her elder sister although I know she isn’t interested in them.

Of the three, Tara is the most likely to wander around alone, saying, “It’s not __________ .” And quite often she has a point. The middle child often has to watch the elder sibling leading the way, getting all that __________ of the first-born. The youngest has the benefit of being the baby. So what __________ does the middle child play?

I can __________ see the situation in Tara. She is the one who gets herself up and dressed every morning, who brushes her hair and her teeth, packs her bag for school and __________ me about all the things I’ve probably forgotten.