A week before Halloween, my babysitter called and canceled. So I had to drive to my medical appointment with my daughters on my own. I knew that emergencies do ________, and I told my babysitter that I completely ________ her. But what was actually going through my mind were feelings of ________ and self-pity.

When we sat in a crowded waiting room of the hospital, it was pretty peaceful until my youngest daughter walked up to a complete ________ and said, “Tweet.” This was how she said “Trick or Treat”, having been ________ previously from her elder sisters. The woman, who was in a wheelchair and accompanied by her caregiver, knew ________ what my daughter meant. She told her caregiver to take her over to the vending machine(自动售货机)and ________ enough money to give each of my girls a ________. This caring act started a ________ on the vending machine. Soon, everyone had a candy bar or bag of chips ready for trick-or-treating. The nurses ________ to find three plastic bags for my daughters to ________ their treasures.

Everyone was smiling and laughing and my daughters were ________ at their good fortune. The ________ in that room touched me to my very core. Here were these people, facing who-knows-what ________ difficulties, and they only thought of giving three little girls some Halloween fun. It was a lesson for me about how good, kind and ________ people are.

Sometimes, it is the smallest acts of kindness that are the most memorable. It was several years ago that this particular event ______ .

My children and I were almost finishing the ______ for Kathy’s birthday celebration. At one store we had ______ a colorful balloon with Kathy’s ______ character on it. We had to make one more stop at another store to ______ our purchases (购买的东西). I sent my older daughter and her little brother out to our car ______ my other daughter, Kathy, and I were waiting at the cashier (收银) line. A very short time ______ , they both came running back into the store and were ______ that Kathy’s birthday balloon had escaped. I was tired from ______ , but I told them we would get Kathy another ______ , sending them back to the car. I ______ for our purchases all the while trying to think of the most ______ place to buy one.

As Kathy and I ______ our car a lady with a kind face came up to us. Pressing some folded ______ in my hand, she ______ that she had seen what had happened and did not want my children to be sad about the ______ of the balloon. I thanked her for her ______ and tried to give her the money back. She was most __ , saying “I love children and I like to see them be happy.”

I was very ______ , not by the money, but by this lovely lady's act of kindness and generosity (慷慨). Her kindness made Kathy’s birthday even more ______ . I truly believe that dear lady is one of God’s earthly angels.

Hundreds of years ago, in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of South America, tortoises wandered_____________on the Galapagos Islands._____________, all that changed when people first arrived in 1535. There were no_____________on their ships, which meant_____________food was always a problem for the sailors on board. The giant tortoises provided an easy_______________________to this problem.

The tortoises faced other problems, too. The first__________________arrived, bringing pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. All of these animals_____________life of the tortoises, and even_____________ thousands of baby tortoises each year. Within a few years, it was hard to find any tortoise eggs.

By the early 1900s, people began to_____________whether the last of the tortoises could_____________. But no one seemed to care enough to do anything about the problem. More and more tortoises__________________, even though sailors no longer needed them for food. For another 50 years, this situation continued.

Finally, in the 1950s, scientists_____________that something must be done. They began to_____________as many cats, dogs and other animals as they could from the islands. Next, they tried to make sure more baby tortoises would be born. To do this, they started looking for_____________ tortoise eggs. They__________________the eggs and put them in_____________containers. Both the eggs and tortoises were____________________________so that the scientists knew exactly which kinds of tortoises they had and which__________________they came from. Once the tortoises were old and big enough to take care of themselves, the scientists took them back to their islands and set them__________________. This slow, hard work continues until today, and, thanks to it, the number of tortoises is now_____________every year.