I was so proud of my nine-year-old daughter, Emily!1 to buy a mountain bike, she'd been saving her pocket money all year, as well as doing small jobs to2 extra money.
By Thanksgiving, she had collected only $49. I said, "You can pick one from my bicycle3 .""Thanks, Daddy. But your bikes are so 4 ."She was right. All my bikes for girls were 1980s models, not the kind a kid today would likely5 .
As Christmas6 near, Emily and I went bike shopping. As we left one store, she7 a Salvation Army(救世军) volunteer standing next to a big pot. "Can we give them something, Daddy?" she asked. "Sorry, Em, I'm out of8 ."
Throughout December, Emily9 to work hard. Then one day, she made a surprising10 ."You know all the money I've been saving?" she said, paused for a while, and then said, "I'm going to give it all to the poor people." So one cold morning before Christmas, Emily handed her total savings of $69 to a volunteer who was really very thankful.
11 by Emily's selflessness, I decided to 12 one my old bicycles to a car dealer who was collecting used bikes for poor children.13 I selected a shiny model from my collection, however, it seemed as if a14 bike took on a glow(发光). Should I contribute two? No! One would be enough! But I still couldn't15 the feeling that I should give another bike. Later, when I16 the bikes, the car dealer(车商) said," You're making two kids very happy, sir. Here are your tickets. For each bicycle we receive from the17 people, we're giving away one chance to18 a girls' mountain bike."
Why wasn't I surprised when that second ticket proved to be the winner? I like to think it was a way of19 a little girl for a sacrifice beyond her years—while giving her dad a20 in the process.