Blind people can read. They do so by running their fingers along a line of raised points or dots on paper. Of course, they first have to learn the code（代码）. Here are some examples of it. One dot stands for the letter “A”. Two dots side by side mean “C”. Four dots arranged to look like a box（：：） stand for the letter “G”. By placing the dots in special patterns, all the letters of the alphabet can be formed.

This code was made up by a Frenchman called Louis Braille. Though he could see at birth, he became sightless when he was only three. Braille was cutting leather in his father’s shop. His knife slipped and cut his eye. Infection（感染）spread to both eyes, and he became blind.

At 10, he was placed in a home for the blind. But young Braille had great talent. He became a skilled musician and soon got a job as a church organist（风琴弹奏者）in Paris.

Because he had talent and was quick, he became a teacher at a school for the blind. While there, he heard that a captain had sent messages to his soldiers that they could read at night without light. His messages were in the simple form of raised dots and dashes. This was the clue Braille needed. At the age of 15, he worked out his own six-dot code. Each group of dots is called a cell. The cells are three dots high and two dots wide. For the rest of his life, Braille taught his young flock to read both written and musical works using his code.

For the last 17 years of his life, Braille was ill with tuberculosis. He died at the age of 43.

When Elizabeth married Joseph Fry, it seemed as if her life would be 【小题1】 (comfort) and peaceful. However, Elizabeth was not content with her easy life. One day Elizabeth Fry visited 【小题2】 prison. At first the prison officers did not want her to visit the women prisoners because they feared the prisoners would attack her, but Elizabeth was not afraid. She found that the prisoners behaved 【小题3】 (bad) because they were being treated like animals. So the first thing that Elizabeth 【小题4】 (do) was provide food, clean clothes and straw for beds. Her 【小题5】 (kind) helped her gain the friendship of the prisoners. Later Elizabeth 【小题6】 (ask) by the government to see the leaders of Britain to discuss how 【小题7】 (improve) the conditions for prisoners. Of course she did not do all the work 【小题8】 her own. Other women helped her and went around the country, 【小题9】 (raise) money for her work. Some people did not like her ideas and quarreled with her. Other people said she enjoyed being famous too much. However, her husband, Joseph, supported and encouraged her, so she continued working to help improve the lives of prisoners 【小题10】 she died.

   Today, I was phoning at an ATM that was situated inside a gas station. The security guard who was an old man _______ reminded me that I could not use my cell phone there and that it was _______. When I came outside, he smiled at me and I had a strong wish to _______ him.

At first, I felt a little sympathetic (同情的). In my _______, he seemed like a poor, elderly man who was still working. He was _______ at first and just talked about his family in a small voice. When he talked about his _______, he was happy. He told me that she always _______ him, even though she was married herself. Then he _______ his son, who “has a heart of gold”. He also told me I had better _______ some money for my old age, and I thanked him for his ________.

________ we spoke, he opened up quite a bit. He told me about his limited income and how the family were still ________ in spite of all the difficulties. I had nothing to give except ________. I thought about ________ him money, but it didn’t feel quite right. In our conversation , it was ________ that he wanted my time, not my money. I did not want to take away his ________ by giving him money.

By the time the conversation ________, I was close to tears. Ordinary people — when given the opportunity to ________ their story — are real gems (难能可贵的人). Sometimes, time and ________ are the best gifts you can give. That thought made me ________ listening to this old man.

   A couple of weeks back，my friend had a yard sale（庭院拍卖会）.She ___________ to sell some of our stuff for us. I thought it would be a good chance to ___________ my 7-year-old son's room and sell some toys that he no longer _______.We agreed that whatever we sold in toys would be his ______.

The night before the sale，we loaded up the ___________ with toys and a little bike that he was now ___________tall for. He had taken the bike for a final spin（高速旋转）___________we left home but ___________ put it on the truck for the sale. This little bike had at least two ___________owners that we knew of. It was not in the best ____________ and it certainly was not shiny new but it was still a bike，and the tires were still good.

We put a price of $ 10 on it but it didn't ____________.So，after the sale was ____________，my friend put it on the sidewalk with a sign that ____________"FREE BIKE". Within five minutes her doorbell rang. A little boy was standing there. His English was not very good but he asked if the bike was really ____________.She said yes and told him that he could have it for nothing. He smiled，jumped on the bike and ____________ away.

Later that evening when I told my son how much money he had ____________ at the yard sale, he was very excited. The next day we were going to take the money to the bank. He asked about a few of his things, ____________ if they had been sold. When he asked about the bike, I told him about the little boy and that he made a big ____________because he got the bike for free. The smiles on my son's face were truly ____________, much more than when I told him how much he had made. He was so excited to hear that someone else would get good ____________out of that little bike.