An American skydiver has survived a 7, 600-meter jump from an airplane, although he did not use a parachute(降落伞). Luke Aikins dropped into a huge safety net on Saturday after falling for about two minutes over the desert in California. Aikins reached a speed of 193 kilometers per hour during the jump. He fell safe into a net. Cranes(起重机) 【小题1】(hold) the net about 65 meters over the desert floor. The 42-year-old husband and father has jumped out of planes thousands of times, but never once 【小题2】 he left a plane without a parachute. Aikins said he was nervous before this jump. “We’re talking about jumping without a parachute,” he told reporters. "I take that very 【小题3】 (serious). It’s not a joke.” Aikins prepared for two years 【小题4】(make) the jump. Three skydivers with parachutes made the jump with him. They recorded the event with a video and carried the 【小题5】 (equip) that Aikins needed, like an oxygen mask. Aikins rolled in the air just moments before he hit the net so as to land on his back. The sky-diver did not move for several seconds as the net was lowered to the ground. Then, Aikins stood, waved his arms and hugged his wife.

Last week, I was invited to a doctor’s meeting at the Rush Hospital. In one of the rooms a patient, who was an old man, got up from his bed and moved slowly towards me. I could see that he hadn’t a long time to live, but he came up to me, and placed his right foot close to mine on the floor. He compared his to mine and watched 【小题1】(intent). “Frank!” I cried in surprise, but he tried to smile, all the time keeping his foot close to mine.

My thoughts raced back to more than thirty years ago. My memory was 【小题2】(associate) with the dark days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The scene was an air-raid shelter(防空洞), in which about a hundred people slept every night.【小题3】 we had to stay there was to make sure of our safety. That was the reason. Among them were Mrs. West and her son Frank. Why Frank interested me was 【小题4】 he was not normal. He had never been normal, ever since he was born. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had less of a mind than a baby had. Mrs. West, then 75, was a strong, able woman, as she had to be of course, because Frank relied 【小题5】 her completely. 【小题6】(raise) her disabled son was no easy job. She was a representative of a kind and she devoted 【小题7】 (she) to looking after him.

One night a policeman came into our shelter and told Mrs. West that her house 【小题8】(destroy) already. That wasn’t quite true. Though 【小题9】(damage) badly, their house could still be used because the Wests went on living there for quite some time. But they certainly lost nearly everything they owned. The 【小题10】(restore) of the buildings needed a lot of time.

I stood beside Frank and measured my right foot against his. They were about the same size. That night then, I took a spare pair of shoes to the shelter for Frank. As soon as he saw me, he came running—and placed his right foot against mine. After that, he always greeted me in the same way.

Kate got into a panic when her car ran out of gas on a highway one night six weeks ago, “I thought I could make it all the way home, but 【小题1】 (obvious) was wrong,” Kate recalled. “I drove to the side of the road and got out,【小题2】 (plan) to walk to the nearest gas station. That’s when I met Johnny, a homeless man sitting nearby. Johnny stopped me. Concerned about my 【小题3】 (safe), he told me to get back in the car and lock the doors. I obeyed. A few minutes later, he came back with a gas can that he bought with his last $20.”

“【小题4】 was crazy that he should use all his money on someone he didn’t even know,” Kate added. 【小题5】 (repay) Johnny, Kate returned many times and gave him some money, food and clothes. But she wanted to do more【小题6】 this man. “Johnny is generous indeed,” said Kate. “He’s got such positive energy, 【小题7】 he’s in that situation.”

【小题8】 (touch) by Johnny’s selflessness, Kate is now raising money online for him. “To my great joy, donations keep pouring in,” said Kate. “So far, over $100,000 【小题9】 (collect). He’s indeed a good guy and deserves everything 【小题10】 is coming to him.”