It began a year ago, around Christmas. Every time I drove down our street, I _________ an old man sitting in his front yard. He was usually smoking or drinking, and looking rather unhappy.

One day, while I was driving past him with my _________, I decided to wave at him with a lot of excitement. At the beginning, when he noticed me waving at him, he looked a bit _________. Then, I saw his hand go up and he waved back.

“________ did you wave at him?” my daughter asked.

I told her it’s just an act of ________ that doesn’t cost anything. It gives both him and me a feeling of joy. My daughter replied that she felt a bit uncomfortable to wave to a _________, but next time she would try it as well.

We liked close to the old man,_________ we saw him rather often. Whenever we drove by, both of us would start waving at him and, pretty soon, the old man started _________ at everyone who passed by his house.

One time, my daughter’s friend came to visit and she told my daughter that she saw this strange old man near our home wave at her very ________. She mentioned that she waved back, although she didn’t know ________, and it felt really good.

As soon as my daughter heard this, she told her friend the _______ of how all the waving began. Her friend answered: “Tell your mom that’s really cool!”

Other friends gave similar _________. This taught my daughter that an act of kindness can be natural and ________, if you really want to do it. It showed us how giving happiness can do good to _________ the giver and the receiver.

Moved by the old man’s actions, we’re planning to give our waving neighbor a thank-you card to express our thanks for his exciting waves. We are really thankful for him ________ his simple joy with all who pass by his house.

There was a man who was going through hard times. He went bankrupt(破产) in business. Although he worked hard, failure was all that he had seen. After he tried again and again, he left everything behind and went into a ______. In the forest, he met an old man who had lived there for a long time. He ______ his story with the old man. “Can you give me one good reason not to ______?” He asked the old man.

“Look,” the old man said, pointing to two ______. “Do you see that fern(蕨类植物) and bamboo there?”

“Yes,” the man answered.

“When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds(种子), I took very good care of ______. Within a short period of time, the fern ______ grew from the earth,” the old man went on.

“I watered and took care of the bamboo seed for years, ______ it didn’t sprout(发芽). There was no sign of growth. But I did not give up and went on ______ it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.”

“The little bamboo tree had been growing underground for the past ______ years, in the fifth year and beyond, it developed a root system(根系) strong enough for its ground growth. If it hadn’t done this, it would not be as strong as it is now. So you know, all the time you were trying, you were actually growing ______ roots,” the old man said.

Last summer, I took part in a project named “black life”. During it, we were asked to _________ what it was like to be blind at home! “It will be _________. I know my house so well.” I said to myself. But I could not be more wrong.

I took out my red scarf and covered my eye. Suddenly, everything went _________.

The challenge began! I was _________ and wanted some water from the kitchen. “There are so many things _________ the way. I have to be really careful.” I thought. But just a few _________ later, BAM! I rubbed (按摩) my sore head and kept feeling my way towards the kitchen. Then BOOM! I _________ over a stool (凳子) and fell hard. It hurt, and I was thinking of _________. “No way! I can’t let a little thing like this stop me.” I told myself. I got up and finally made it to the kitchen.

The next _________: finding a cup. I carefully reached for it in the cupboard, trying not to break anything. Just then, my sister _________, “Dinner’s ready!” In a panic (慌张), CRASH! I knocked down some dishes.

_________, I found my metal (金属的) cup and went to pour some water. Since it was made of metal, I didn’t have to _________ about breaking it. I walked confidently…and then I tripped and dropped the cup. Oh no! I couldn’t see it anywhere. I crawled (爬) around on the floor, _________ for the cup, but it was gone. Tired and upset, I went back to bed and accidentally fell off the side!

Being _________ is hard! I’m so lucky to have my _________ and everything I can do with it. I’ll never take these gifts for granted again.