Mark was walking home from school one day. He saw a boy in front of him. He had dropped all of his books and clothes he was _________. Mark helped the boy pick and offered to carry some _________ him.

The boy told Mark something about _________. His name was Bill. He loved video games, baseball and history, _________ he did badly in other _________ and he had just quarreled（吵架） with his parents. So he was really sad.

They arrived at Bill's _________. Bill invited Mark in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed _________ with a lot of laughs and some talk, and then Mark went home.

After that day, they continued to see each other at school, had lunch together once or twice a week, and then they both _________ Middle School. Three day _________ they left school, Bill asked Mark to have a talk with him.

Bill reminded（使想起） him of the day years ago when they __________ met. He asked Mark, “Do you still want to know __________ I was carrying so many things home that day? You see, I __________ all my things from school. I had taken some of my mother's sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we __________ some time together talking and laughing, I knew that if I had done that, I would have missed a __________ friend and so many good times. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my __________ that day, you did a lot more. You saved me life.”

Every little hello, every little smile, every helping hand can save a hurting heart.

It was the night before my composition was due (到期的), as I looked at the list of topics, “The Art of Eating Spaghetti (意大利面)” caught my eyes. The word “spaghetti” brought back the memory of an evening ________ at Uncle Allen’s in Belleville, when all of us were seated around the table and Aunt Pat served spaghetti for supper. Spaghetti was an exotic (外来的) treat in those days. Never had I eaten spaghetti, and ________ of the grown-ups had enough experience to be good at eating it themselves. What interesting discussions we had about the socially respectable method for moving spaghetti from plate to ________! I thought about writing about this for my composition, but I wanted to write it down simply for my own joy, not for Mr. Kevin, my composition teacher.

When I ________ writing that evening, the night was half gone and there was no time left to write a proper composition for Mr. Kevin. I had no ________ but to hand in my work the next morning. Two days passed before Mr. Kevin ________ the papers. He said, “Now, class, I want to read you a ________, The Art of Eating Spaghetti.”

My composition! He was reading my words out ________ to the whole class. Somebody started laughing, and then the whole class was ________ with enjoyment. I did my best not to show any sign of ________, but what I was feeling then was happiness, for my words had the power to make people laugh.