As a popular saying goes, “Time is money.” But does time definitely mean money? In fact this is not the case.

   During the recent school holidays I was walking past a playground on my way to a meeting. The thing that _____ me was not the number of children _____ the fresh air on a pleasant Queensland winter day，but the number of older people _____ those children.

Sure，there were a few younger mums and dads，but there were _____ more“old folk”who I doubt were all grandparents. It is great that they are able to _____ quality time with their grandchildren. After all，we often hear people say that their _____  for retiring（退休）is that they can devote more time to their families. However，I _____ how many grandparents are spending their retirement years taking on the role of full-or part-time _____ of their grandchildren.

Retirement is a(n) _____ time. We are generally living much longer than our own grandparents did, but as we ______ we become more limited in our ability to pursue our own ______. However, what if your plans for pursuing some of these lifetime dreams are ______ out of a sense of ______ for your family?

So how can you keep a ______ balance between helping out your family and ______ your dreams altogether？I'm not sure where the answer lies，but having an open and honest ______ with your family should be at the top of the list. You need to nip any sense of duty in the bud（对……一开始即加以阻止）— and sooner ______ later.

By all means，help your family whenever you can. Everyone will ______ from it，and your grandchildren will get the rewards from staying with their ______. Do it because you want to，not because you feel you have to. ______ spare time for yourself to realize your dreams and ensure that nobody puts your retirement on hold.

   Driving home from work every day on a long winding country road, I passed a house where an elderly man sat on his front porch（走廊）.I had been _____ to him only when I first moved into my home.

For these past fifteen years, I have _____ my window, waved, and shouted, "Hi, Charlie." I felt _____ to greet him in this way because I couldn't _____ going through a day without hearing someone say my name. I felt he also needed to hear his name _____ by someone else.

I used to _____ at his wife, too, when she was out walking their dog. She was a（n）_____ woman in a long wool coat, whatever the _____. I didn't know her name, but I'd _____ and say "Hi, Grandma" and she'd smile and wave back.

But then came the day when she was not ______ walking their dog；instead, Charlie was doing so. I realized he was alone, and the desire to greet him grew ______. My window was rolled down before I came around the corner, and ______ he was not on the porch, I'd shout to him, hoping that in his ______ he'd hear me. As long as there was a ______ on in the house, I felt that he was all right.

But that day came when he had to sell his belongings; Charlie's pickup truck was for ______ on the front lawn. A few days later, a sign was ______, and I knew Charlie was gone. I still wave and ______, "Hi, Charlie" as I pass just as I did in the past. The house is dark now.

It is my ______ that all of us need to be greeted at least once a day and that we need to hear our names spoken aloud by another person, to know someone sees us and ______ the truth of our being. I believe it is our duty to greet each other each day, in this way to prove that ______.

   Two old beggars（乞丐）were sitting on a busy street corner of a big city. They watched _______ as a lot of people walked by without looking at them. Sometimes, a kind-hearted woman or a small child would _______ a few coins in the hats in front of them.

Today was not a _______ day for begging. The men were able to _______ enough for a big meal. As it was getting dark, they started to _______ their things.

Just as they were getting ready to leave, they _______ a man walking toward them. He was a _______ man—they could tell that from his fine clothes. The first beggar said to the second with _______, "He's coming our way！"The man stopped, _______ into his pocket and took something out. What looked like a piece of hard ________, wrapped（裹）in white paper, hit each of their waiting hats. The rich man turned and ________ his way.

"He could have easily left us a few ________ or a bill, but he laughed at us with a piece of rock candy, " said the first beggar. He looked at the offering ________. "There's no way we can ________ this-we have no teeth. "With these words, he picked up the thing and threw it away. Then he collected his things and ________.

The second beggar wanted to do the same, ________ a second thought made him change his ________. "I haven't had anything like this for ages, "he thought. " How ________ of that man to offer me something so sweet！" With that, he opened the white paper. To his ________ there was no hard rock candy inside. ________, a shiny white pearl（珍珠）worth thousands of dollars fell into his hand.