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The first time I remember noticing the crossing guard was when he waved to me as I drove my son to school. He___1___ me with a puzzle ---- all because he waved to me like someone does on seeing a close friend. A big,_____2____ smile accompanied his wave. For the next few days I tried to ____3____ his face to see if I knew him. I didn’t. Perhaps he had mistaken me for someone else. By the time I contented myself with the ____4_____ that he and I were strangers, we were greeting each other warmly every morning like old friends.

    Then one day the ___5_____ was solved. As I approached the school he was standing in the middle of the road _____6_____ his stop sign. I was in line behind four cars. Once the kids had reached the safety of the sidewalk, he lowered his sign and let the cars through. To the first he waved and ____7____ in just the same way he had done to me over the last few days. The kids already had the window down and were happily waving their reply. The second car got the same greeting from the crossing guard, and the driver, a stiff-looking(表情刻板的) businessman, gave a brief, almost awkward wave back. Each following car of kids on their way to school ___8_______ more heartily.