That year I went to the college. On the first day of the term, I was so    (1)  that an old lady sat next to me. She was very old    (2)  she looked very active.

“Why are you in     (3)  at such an age, Rose？” I asked her.“I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have several children and travel，” she answered jokingly（开玩笑地） .I was    (4)  in what may have made her take on this challenge at her age.“In fact, I always dreamed of a colle   (5)  ge education and now I'm getting one！” she told me. Later, we became friends.

At the end of the term, we invited her to give a    (6)  to our class. I'll never forget what she said. She cleared her throat and  ： “W   (7)  e do not stop working because we are young; we grow old because we stop. Do you hope to stay young, be happy, and get     (8)  ？ Do you have a dream? I had a dream of going to college. It almost took me all my lifetime, but here I am. Never lose your dreams and never    (9)  .” We were all moved by Rose's words. And I still remember her words in all my life, so I continue my dreams and try     (10)  best to achieve them.

There is an old saying: “Take the time to stop and smell the flowers.” I think we should also take the time to   (1)   flowers.

My grandmother knew just   (2)   to do that. She grew flowers with earth, water and love, so her back garden was filled with beautiful flowers. She would smile when she saw the  (3)   shine down on them. In her front garden she planted flowers,     (4)   . You could see red, white, and yellow flowers in it. My mom and I used to walk    (5)   them and enjoy their smells. Beautiful butterflies flew down on them. Grandma also cared for the wild flowers. She would send  (6)   and my brother out to pick flowers and would then turn them into delicious wine.

Grandma not only planted flowers in the gardens    (7)    also planted flowers in our hearts. Her delicious dinners made with love encouraged us. Her sweet smile always made us   (8)   . Her hugs and kisses were the sunshine that kept our own love    (9)     day after day.

Take the time to plant a few flowers yourself today. Show your smiles, kindness and love. Plant your wishes, talents and pleasure. Make this    (10)   brighter and brighter with your sunshine.

Her small hand seemed lost in Grandma’s as they walked along the road leading back home.

“Shall we rest for a   (1)  ? It’s too hot!” the young girl said. “Let’s 　  (2)  　over there under the tree.” Grandma said. Resting under the tree, they　  (3)  a butterfly nearby. “Do butterflies feel hot?” she asked.

Grandma thought for a while and said, “I think they keep very 　  (4)  　.”

“I wish I were a butterfly,” the child said. Then she began to flap (拍动) her 　  (5)  　. “But that takes a lot of work!”

“You wish for a lot of things, child,” Grandma said.

“Yes, I do.” she said. “I wish I had 　  (6)  　I wanted.”

“Do you get all your wish for all the time?” Grandma asked.

“No, I wish for a lot　  (7)  　nothing happens,” she said. “How I wish that Johnny Jeffries would stay at home 　  (8)  　school!”

“What happened to him?” Grandma asked.

“Ah, his grandma died …” she stopped suddenly and　  (9)  　her grandma when her eyes were　  (10)  　with tears.

“Grandma,” she tried to finish. “I wish that you would never …” Grandma held her. She never said a word 　  (11)  　the young girl stopped. Then Grandma said with a smile, “Dear, sometimes in our life 　  (12)  　don’t come true, but it doesn’t mean life isn’t wonderful. If you want something, work for it and wish for it.”

“Then 　  (13)  　do I work to keep you around forever?” the young child asked.

“Keep loving me, and don’t waste time wishing.” They hugged　  (14)  　again and continued on the road towards home.

Life is a　  (15)  　that always leads home. Love it and work for it.

I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. That cold night, I was walking home after a tiring practice at the theatre. I was having  (1)  dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about  (2)  up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.

As I walked down  (3)  streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.

Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me. I  (4)  quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me  (5)  , so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk. And I wasnˈt cold or tired anymore. I ran back to  (6)  Iˈd heard the noise. Although I  (7)  the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.

I was about to give up the search when I heard the garbage truck (垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the  (8)  ," Alisa Camacho?" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? the door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye."Is this what youˈre looking for?" he asked,  (9)   up a small square shape. It was nearly 3 a.m. by the time I got into bed. I wouldnˈt get much sleep that night, but I had got my wallet back. I also had got back some  (10)  of city life. I realized that the city couldnˈt be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.

Time is very important in our lives. But it never had any importance in my life16             ​ I received a watch from my father that made me responsible(有责任). It 17              ​me the importance of time in my life.

I got this gift on a grey-sky day. I had to go to the 　18             ​ at 9: 00 a.m. to pick up（接）my uncle Ali and take him to my father’s house. However, I forgot it 　19             ​  I was playing with my friends. Later on that day, around 11: 00 a.m., I 　20             ​ my uncle, but I was late for him. He had got out of the plane and 　 21             ​  a taxi to my father’s house.

I　22             ​ my father’s house at 2:00 p.m. at the same day . My father looked at me angrily. I said “hi” to him and my 　23             ​ uncle. My father asked me to sit 　24             ​ him and handed me this watch which was a gift from 　25             ​ . It weighed 8 oz（盎司）and all of it was made of silver（银）. Then he said, “Essa, did you have fun 　26             ​ your friends today? What you did was not very nice and you should be sorry for your 　27             ​ .” I felt sorry and told my father that I wouldn’t do it again. Then he said, “This watch will be a reminder(提醒物) for you. I hope today you have learned something 　28             ​ .”

I learned a lesson from my father: to respect(尊重) time and 　29             ​ be late. The watch is important to me, not because of its   30             ​ , but because of the lesson that I learned from it.

How often do you let other people’s rude actions change your mood*? Do you let a bad driver or an impolite waiter make your day in a mess? However, the mark of your wise reply to the actions is howquicklyyou can come back to   (1)   to them. Sixteen years ago, I learned this   (2)   at the back of a taxi in New York.

We were driving fast in the right lane* when suddenly, a black car jumpedout ofa parking space right to front of us.   (3)   taxi d river stepped on the brake* as hard as possible, and at thelastmoment our car   (4)   just one inch from the back of the other car.

I couldn’t   (5)   what happened next. The driver of the car turned his head around and startedshoutingbad  (6)  . But then here’s what really   (7)   me. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I said, “  (8)   did you just do that? This guy nearlykilledus!” He told me what I now remember “The Law of the Garbage* Truck.”

   He said, “Likegarbage trucks, many people run around full of garbage, full of anger, and full of regret.Astheir garbage increases more and more, they  (9)   a place to pour it. They’ll pour it on you  (10)   you let them. So when someone wants to pour it on you, don’t feel hurt. Just smile, wave, and move on. You will be   (11)   .”

  I started thinking: how   (12)   do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and   (13)   it to other people? Then I knew clearly what I should do.

I began to see Garbage Trucks. I see the   (14)   moodpeople are carrying. I see them coming to pour it. And   (15)  my taxi driver, I don’t feel hurt. I just smile, wave, and move on.

One Friday night, a poor young man stood at a gate of the railway station, playing his violin. Many people put money into the hat  (1)   in front of him.

The next day,   (2)  young man came to the gate of the railway station again, and put his hat on the ground. But  (3)  what he always did in the past days, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it on the ground. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat  (4)  mistake. Please come soon, Mr. Sand.” After about half an hour, a middle-aged man ran to the young man  (5)  and said “It’s you! You do come here. I know that you’re an honest man and will certainly  (6)  here. ” The young man asked “Are you Mr. George Sang? Did you lose  (7)  ?” “A lottery(奖券) ticket,” answered the middle-aged man. The young man   (8)   a lottery ticket and gave it to the man.

The prize of the lottery ticket   (9)  $ 500, 000. Yesterday when the middle-aged man knew he  (10)  , he was very happy. He took out 50 dollars and put it in the hat. However, the lottery ticket was also  (11)    in.

Later, someone asked the young man, “You  (12)  the violin in the railway station every day to make money.  (13)   you just take the prize of the lottery ticket for yourself?” The young man said, “Although 1 don’t have much money, I live  (14)  . But if I lose  (15)  . I won’t be happy forever.”

Friends are very important in our lives . No one can live a completely lonely life . Without other people , life will become empty and sad. So we   (1)   need to have friends. How do you make friends with others ?

    For some of us ,   (2)   making friends is not difficult ,feeling shy , we may not want to the first move . It is also difficult at times to   (3)   the friends we already have.

   There are many books about friendship , but Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People is the   (4)   . This “how to” book about getting along with other people became a best seller . It was   (5)   twenty-eight languages. Here is the list of advice from his book:

 1， Be friendly and polite.

    Always greet with a smile . Begin   (6)   “Excuse me” or “Would you please” when you want to ask somebody. After asking , remember to say  “  (7)   ” and try to be as helpful as you can.

2， Go out of your way to be nice .

    Find some time to do special things for other people . Making some soup for a sick neighbor may seem like a little thing to   (8)   , but it will make your neighbor feel a lot better.

3， Remember   (9)   .

    They say that the sweetest music to a person’s ears is the sound of his or her own name.

4， Be open -minded.

    Try to understand other people’s ways and ideas and learn something from them.

5， Listen patiently .

    When someone is talking to you , look at him or her , listen carefully and say something   (10)  necessary.

  A young man was traveling down a street in his new car．Some    (1)  are  running on the street．As his car passed，a stone suddenly   (2)   to the carˈs door! The   (3)  driver then jumped out of the car，and caught the nearest kid，shouting，“Thatˈs a new car and you must pay a lot of   (4)   ．”The young boy was sorry．“I’m  sorry…I didnˈt know   (5)   else to do．”

    Then the boy pointed  (6)   a place and said．“It’s my brother，he fell out of his wheelchair and I canˈt 1ift  (7)   up．Heˈs hurt and heˈs  (8)   heavy for me．I just  wanted to get your attention．”Hearing the boyˈs words，the driver lifted the boy back into the   (9)  ．

    The young driver let them go without saying   (10)  ，he was thinking---Donˈt go through life so fast that someone has to throw a stone at you to get your attention !