I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. I remember many of them, from the tape recorder I _____ from my dad in 1975 to the black guitar my wife gave me several years ago. The best gift I ever received was presented to me by a _____. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him for less than 60 _____. His Christmas present to me changed the way I thought about _____ and about Christmas.

It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local _____. They had advertised a kind of _____ for children that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle, _____ his employees to cut the shrink-wrap off the box. After a while the whistle was blown. It was like _____ a bucket of bait (鱼饵) into a tank of sharks. I knew this was going to happen.

As the bikes began to _____ decrease in number, I saw my opportunity to wrap my ______ around the corner of one of the boxes. I ______ one box and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I ______ to see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. I felt somewhat ______. Obviously, tattoos (文身) were his hobby.

I started to ______ the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then ______ it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, ______, and said, “Merry Christmas.” My wife and I went to the ______, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas ______ I had ever received. I will never forget the ______ of a stranger and the gentleness of a human heart in a ______ act.

   One year after Tom was born, his parents had a car accident. They never _____. Tom's 85-year-old grandmother was too _____ to take care of him. As a result he was put up for adoption（领养）. He was adopted by a middle-aged couple who had no _____ of their own. They were not rich and received little education, but they were _____ people.

As Tom grew up, he _____ a lot of problems at school. He didn't learn _____ and had trouble in reading. His _____ sometimes laughed at him. What they said made Tom _____.

As he couldn't _____ the other students at school, he dropped out of school and came back home. But he didn't stop learning. He had big dreams. Though he didn't learn fast he kept ______ himself at home.

After many years of learning at home, he ______ overcame his difficulties. Today he is a very ______ speaker and author. While he was at school, his self-esteem（自尊）and ______ were low because of others' making fun of him. It took him many ______ to realize his dreams.

When listening to his videos and tapes, we can feel his confidence. He tells his ______ and how he overcame the challenges in his life. He has a very ______ sentence, "You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present situation ______ you change. "

For those who have low self-confidence, I suggest you ______ reading about Tom's world. Many people have so much potential（潜能）to be discovered. If you have a dream, then start today to ______ yourself towards it. If someone like Tom who has ______ in learning can make such achievements, why can't you succeed？

This morning, I was jogging in the park where I caught sight of a wallet on a bench. Clear, someone had left it there by an accident. I picked it up and checked the contents. Inside them, I found some money and a card with a phone number. Believing that the owner would be worrying, I immediately tried the number. A man answers it in an anxious voice. Heard that I had his wallet, he sighed with relief and told me he would return right away. Ten minute later, the man arrived. After confirming (确认) he was the owner, I handed the wallet back him. With his thumb up, he expressed his gratitude to me repeatedly. Seeing the smile in his face, I felt happy that I was able to help.

   I now remember the day as if it were just yesterday. It was the early morning hours and I had _____ to my dad several hours before. We hung up the phone and I _____ my night time routine, getting my daughter ready for _____ and doing the same for myself. I went to sleep that night and the phone rang around 1:30 a.m. I saw that it was my brother _____ I thought he had probably been drunk so I hung _____ up. My brother gets drunk and calls me _____ Then the phone rang again and I answered. He asked me if I knew what was _____ because our cousin had called him and told him to call our aunt because she _____ to talk to him. She said there was no _____ at my parents’ house. At that point I started to ______ but I had to stay strong for my brother. I called the hospital and I asked if they had a ______ by the name of Ray Green. They said yes and nothing else. My mother called me back after a few minutes and told me that my father had ______.

I’m still so lost that sometimes I pick up the ______ to call my dad and then I remember he’s not there for me to make a phone call to. ______, I see something that would have made him ______ and I laugh twice for him too. My mother is so much ______ than I am. She is back at work and going on with her life and I’ve done the ______ but not like her. I know she ______ my father dearly but she is strong and keeps on so that everybody else can ______ her lead. So that is what I’m trying to do: stay strong and keep my ______ up.

Challenges of life are of great important in our growth. It reminds me of my days which I joined in the military training after I entered senior high school. It was the first time I have lived away from my home, so I found difficult to fit in. And the training officer was strict on me. I once thought I couldn’t stick to the end. But final, I made it. The training made it much easy for me to adapt to my future life. And the difficulties I came across have now became a precious memory in my life.

In a short, it’s better to learning to regard the challenges of life as the stepping stone to future success and make the best of them.