It was a Sunday morning. I got out of bed as quick as a bunny _____ it was the final of my soccer tournament. I got _____, ate the breakfast my mom had made for me and headed to the car. On my way, I wondered what it would be like to _____ the shiny gold medal in my hands. As I got closer, I saw my team _____ on the field, so once I finally got there, I started rushing towards them.

When the _____ was about to begin, I was already sweating like a pig because it was so _____. When both teams were on the field, the referee blew the whistle which was a _____ of the start of the game. As my teammates passed the _____ down the field, I heard the cheers from the parents in the bleachers (露天看台) _____. The score was zero to zero at half-time and I had a rest by drinking water to get ready for the second half. We ______ the second half but still couldn’t put the ball in the net. The game score was ______ at the end of the second half which meant that we had to go to extra time. Towards the end of extra time, the other team’s defender ______ one of my teammates, which ______ a free kick (任意球). I went up to take the kick. I shook with ______ as the ball went out of the net. It was the end of ______ time, which meant that we had to go to penalties (点球).

I went up to take the first penalty. I was ______ I would miss again, but once I ______ it, I was relaxed as I made it in the top left corner. The final ______ was 4-3 on penalties but we ______. After they gave me the silver medal, I went home and was happy that it was all over and that second place wasn’t that ______.

   Mrs. Green told her pupils to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful. She thought what these little children in a worsening neighborhood had to be _____ for. Most of the _____ drew pictures of turkeys or Thanksgiving tables full of everything _____ to eat. That was what they believed was _____ from them.

What made Mrs. Green _____ was David’s picture. David was so disappointed and _____ in his own world as other students went outside for break. David’s drawing was _____ this: A hand. Whose hand? The class were strongly attracted by his _____. “I think it must be the _____ of the cook ______ our food,” said one student.

“A hand of a ______,” said another, “because he raises the turkeys.”

“It looks more like a policeman’s, and he ______ us.” “I think,” Lucy said ______, “it is ______ to be all the hands that help us, but David could only draw one of them.”

Mrs. Green had almost forgotten David in her ______ of finding the class so responsive (积极的). Having the others working on another project, she bent over his ______ and asked whose hand it was.

David whispered, “It’s yours, Mrs. Green.”

Then Mrs. Green ______ she had taken David by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But what surprised her was that it should have ______ so much to David…

Perhaps, she thought this was her Thanksgiving, and everybody’s Thanksgiving — not the things ______ to people, but the ______ that others give something to people.

   The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has welcomed home two paintings by the Dutch master, more than 14 years after they were ripped (扯) off the museum’s wall in a nighttime theft. Museum director Axel Rueger called their return “one of the most special days in the history of the museum”. The paintings were discovered last year by Italian police while they were searching an Italian criminals’ farmhouse near Naples for evidence of drug dealing. They were in a box and hidden behind a wall in a toilet when they were found.

The paintings were considered among the artworks most searched for in the world. After years in darkness, they can now shine again. They are back on display at the museum before being taken to the conservation studio for repair. Fortunately, they suffered surprisingly little damage as thieves who had climbed up a ladder and broken a window to get into the museum in 2004 ripped them out of their frames.

“It is not only a surprise that the works have been recovered but it’s even more surprising they are in relatively unharmed condition,” Rueger said.

The museum director was on vacation when the call came last year from Italian authorities who believed they had recovered the paintings. He didn’t celebrate right away. He’d had calls like this before.

“I was hopeful but also a little hesitant. Over these years, we had so many occasions when people phoned us, contacted us, claiming that they knew something about the whereabouts (下落) of the works and each time it was false, the trace went cold,” he said. “So… the way has been full of disappointment.” But museum experts sent to Italy to check the authenticity (真实性) of the works quickly turned Ruegers doubts into delight.

Rueger said the paintings are now back at the museum, which is home to dozens of works by Van Gogh. “I’m very confident that everything is safe in the museum from now on,” he said.

   A young Los Angeles actor in need of a second job to pay his bills has come up with a brilliant way to supplement his income — people walking.

Chuck McCarthy originally considered becoming a dog walker to earn some extra cash, but soon realized that the job requires more than walking dogs on a leash. However, walking people doesn’t require much when they are out on walks. Chuck realized there would be money to be made if he walks people around Los Angeles instead.

It might sound like a joke, but The People Walker, as he calls himself, is very serious about his new job. For $7 per mile, he offers to walk with clients around L. A., listening to their problems or simply making conversations and offering them a sense of security. At 6 feet, 2 inches, and with a bulky figure and bushy beard, Chuck doesn’t look like the kind of guy you’d want to mess with.

Chuck’s services are aimed at people who need a motivational boost to go walking, those who don’t feel safe walking alone in some areas, and those who are afraid that people might see them walking by themselves and think that they have no friends. “I wear my The People Walker shirt upon request and on the first walk with a new client, so he can be 100% sure it’s me,” McCarthy says. However, he admits some people are a bit uncomfortable with this policy, as they don’t necessarily want everyone to know that they’re being walked.

So far, Chuck McCarthy has already had another five people walkers employed, covering various areas, like downtown L. A., Hollywood, Eagle Rock, or Fairfax County. Once he posted signs around the city, his phone started ringing and clients began rolling in. And with all the free publicity he has been getting in the press lately, more requests are coming.

While he hopes that his acting career will take off soon, Chuck is very happy with his people walking business. After all, it’s literally a walk in the park and it pays the bills.