From a young age, I was taught to be kind to people around. My parents ____(1)____ explained to me the importance of giving generously to the less ____(2)____ So out of habit, whenever there is something I can ____(3)____, I give it to someone on the streets.

    Last week, as I left the house for work, I carried with me some ____(4)____ clothes, a handbag and some food to hand over to someone____(5)_____.

    As the car stopped at a traffic red light, I saw a girl of five or six asking for ____(6)____. I ____(7)____ her to come to me and quickly____(8)____ all the stuff I had into the handbag. As I started handing it over, she seemed ____(9)____ She looked up at me with a sweet smile on her face and asked what was in the ____(10)____. I told her there were some clothes and food for her.

    Once again she ____(11)____ me, "Can you give me some water?" It was then that I ____(12)____ her dry lips. It seemed that she had not had a ____(13)____ of water all day. I took out the water bottle that I always carry with me and ____(14)____ her to drink from it. She finished it quickly and gave me a heartwarming smile of ____(15)____.

    I was thankful that I could ____(16)____ what she really wished and realized once again that day that you don't necessarily have to make big ____(17)____ to help someone. And this incident, as well as a lot that followed,____(18)____ my belief in the simple acts of kindness and how they can make someone's day.

    The next time you want to do something ____(19)____ for someone, don't hold back, seizing the right ____(20)____, or it would be late. Go ahead and do it!

My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling   (1)   , but I always knew he was   (2)  . He never criticized us, but used   (3)  to bring out our best. He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don’t give them water, they die.” I   (4)   as a child I said something   (5)   about somebody, and my father said, “   (6)   time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best  (7)   people, I would get the best   (8)  . From then on I’ve always tried to   (9)   the principle in my life and later in running my company.

   Dad’s also always been very   (10)  . At 15, I started a magazine. It was   (11)   a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a  (12)   : stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.

   I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision,   (13)   any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad   (14)  me to go into law. And I’ve   (15)   regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist,   (16)   I didn’t pursue my   (17)   . You know what you want. Go fulfill (实现) it.”

How often one hears children wishing they were grown﹣ups and old people wishing they were young again．Each age has its pleasures and its pains，and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets．

Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult．If a child has good parents，he is fed，looked after and loved，whatever he may do．It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return．In addition，life is always presenting new things to the child﹣things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well﹣known．But a child has his parents．He is not so free to do what he wishes to do； he is continually being told not to do things or being punished for what he has done wrong．

When the young man starts to earn his own living，he can no longer expect others to pay for his food，his clothes，and his room，but has to work if he wants to live comfortably．If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child，he will go hungry．And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents，he may go to prison．If，however，he works hard，keeps out of trouble and has good health，he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society．

 I have always considered myself a positive thinker, an upbeat person and an optimist. I try to find the best in every situation. I’ve recently become aware of how two little words in my vocabulary have had a tremendous impact on people. I didn’t even realize it. 

  I’ve been listening to myself lately, and I don’t like the way I sound. As a veteran (资深的)teacher, I know that praise can be a huge motivational tool. I realize the importance of developing a child’s self-esteem. I generously sprinkle(洒) uplifting comments around my classroom like I am fertilizing flowers. Each new school year brings a garden variety of students, and they all blossom (开花)with praise and encouragement. I know how to thank my grown kids, my grandkids and my husband for a job well done. I toss praise to the unsuspecting if it appears someone needs a lift. I also yo-yo my positive comments right back when I use the word that makes my preschoolers giggle-BUT.    

When one of my students attempted to print her name, I oohed and ahhed. “Wow! That is a great A, and your letter, D is nice and tall, but your letter, E should be short; can you erase it and try to make it shorter?” I asked. She wasn’t crushed by my comment. She tried to live up to my expectation. I thought I was helping, preparing her for kindergarten, showing her the difference in size between upper case and lower case letters. I don’t believe that my comment would have any long term affect on her self-worth. I imagine though, if I’d substituted the word BUT with the word AND, she’d have been proud of her accomplishment instead of questioning the “right way” to print her name. I wish I had said, “I like your nice tall letters, AND I like how hard you are trying to make your letter E.”

My recently divorced daughter called to tell me about a house she was interested in. I listened to her. I applauded her for moving forward with her life, and I said, “Honey, I am glad that you’ve found something you like, but…” There, I did it again!” Don’t you think, with the gas prices, you might want to buy closer to your work?” As she told me all about the prospective house, I could hear the excitement and joy in her voice. The moment I spoke the word, BUT, it was as if I pricked (刺)a balloon with a needle. I could hear her slowly deflate. I sure wish I’d used the word AND. “Honey, I’m glad you found a house in your price range, AND I’m happy for you.” She knows I freely express my opinions, and I know she’s used to my mouth. I suspect that if I had leashed(管住) my tongue, her emotions wouldn’t have flip-flopped, and we’d have both hung up feeling better.

My dear husband helps around the house; he did the dishes, emptied the dishwasher, and folded the laundry. I was thrilled he had lightened my work load. I thanked him. I told him how wonderful he is, and I used that naughty word again. “BUT, why did you leave small pieces of bread all over the counter?” Why? Why? Why didn’t I say, “Thank you, AND I appreciate all you do around the house.”

I’ve been doing some self-reflecting. I’ve given up on losing those twenty pounds. I’ve decided a walk around the neighborhood is a good substitute for vigorous exercise. I’ve watched dust bunnies pile up under the sofa. I’ve prayed in the dark instead of at church more often than not. In other words, all those New Year’s resolutions (决心；决定)are now null and void. I lose a pound; I eat a chocolate; I gain a pound. The bar on my treadmill(跑步机) makes a nice rack for hanging laundry. I’ve attended church for grand children’s christenings, and I pass the sanctuary(圣殿) on my way to the church office. I vacuum on weekends. I figure if the dust bunnies don’t mind snuggling(躺着) for another day, I don’t care either.

My house isn’t spotless, my thighs are heavy, my soul, like my face could use some uplifting, but I have decided that I simply cannot keep all those resolutions I made on January 1st. I’m ready for some spring cleaning. I’m tossing those old resolutions out and I am making one, just one, which I intend to keep. I am going to refrain (忍住)from using the B word. I think I can do it, and I am going to give it my best. I know it will have a positive effect on others. BUT if I mess up, I will try again, and again, and again to remove that naughty little word from my vocabulary. I resolve to replace it with the word AND. This is a resolution I intend to keep!

From the window of my room, I could see a tall cotton-rose hibiscus. In spring, when green leaves was half  (1)  by mist, the  (2)  looked very fascinating dotted with red blossom. This inspiring  (3)  of mine often set my mind working. I gradually regarded it as my best friend.  (4)   , when I opened the window one morning, to my amazement, the tree was almost  (5)  recognition as a result of the storm the night before. Struck by the sight, I was  (6)  with a sadness at the thought "all the blossom is condemned to fall". I could not help  (7)  with emotion: the course of life never runs smooth, for there are so many ups and downs,  (8)  and tums. My life saw my beloved friends  (9)   one after another. Isn't it  (10)  to the tree shedding its flowers in the wind?

This event  (11)  as time went by. One day after I came home from the countryside, I found the room stuff（窒闷的）and  (12)  opened the window. Something outside caught my eye and  (13)  me.It was a plum tree all red with blossom set off  (14)  by the sunset. The surprise discovery overwhelmed me with pleasure. I wondered  (15)  I had no idea of some unbending life growing over the fallen petals（花瓣）when I was grieving for the hibiscus.

When the last withered（枯萎的）petal   (16)  all the joyful admiration for the hibiscus was  (17)  as if nothing was left, until the landscape was again filled with the red plum blossom to remind people of life's alternation and continuance. Can't it be said that life is actually a symphony,a  (18)  composition of loss and gain.

Standing by the window lost in thought for a long time, I realized that no  (19)  in the world remains unchanged. As long as you keep your heart bathed in the sun, every dawn will present a fine prospect for you to unfold and the world will always be about new  (20)  

Three of Facebook CEO's recent remarks and announcements caught my attention.

1，He added Ibn Khaldun's‘Muqaddimah' in his reading list.

2，He expressed his opinion in public about Ahmed Mohamed incident, the 14-year-old boy who was arrested for bringing his home-made clock to school because it was mistaken as someone else's by the teacher due to her prejudice.

3，His open letter to his newborn daughter in a Facebook post.

Here I would like to quote part of Mark Zuckerberg's letter:

“Dear Max,

Your mother and I don't yet have the words to describe the hope you give us for the future.Your new life is full of promise.

Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today. We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation.

As you begin the next generation of the Chan and Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (倡议）.Our first areas of focus will be personalized learning，curing diseases, connecting people and building strong communities.

We will give 99% of our Facebook shares — currently about $45 billion — to advance this mission. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others.

Max, we love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children. We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us. We can's wait to see what you bring to this world.

Love,

Mom and Dad”

It’s worth the read. I encourage all to read it, reflect on it, and ask ourselves about what contribution we can make for our children and grandchildren who will inherit the world that we are leaving behind.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

Two weeks earlier. my son . Ben ,had got in touch , he’d moved to England with his mum when he was three and it had been 13 years since I’d   (1)   seen him . So imagine my   (2)   when he emailed me saying he wanted to come to visit me.

I was   (3)   ! I arrived early at Byron Bay where we were supposed to   (4)   . The bay was   (5)   in sunshine, and there was a group of kayakers around 150m off the shore. Getting a little   (6)   .I realized one kayak（皮划艇）was in   (7)   . “Something’s not   (8)   !” I took off my T-shirt and   (9)   into the water. I saw there were two instructors on board and a man lying across the middle. He was   (10)   violently. Linking arms with one of the instructors . I helped   (11)   the young man out of the water. He was unconscious and as I looked at his face, something   (12)   to me. Those brown eyes were very   (13)   . “What’s his name ?” I asked the instructor. “Ben,” he replied, and immediately I   (14)   . That stranger was my son!

The instructors called for an ambulance.   (15)    ,after a brief stay in hospital, Ben was well enough to be allowed to     (16)     and later the family met up for dinner. We chatted about everything and then Ben     (17)     to me. “I just want to say thank you,” he said, “You     (18)    my life !”

I still can’t believe what a   (19)   it was. I’m just so glad I was there  (20)   to help my son.

At school, I was in the top set for maths. My teachers recommended that I study economics and statistics as my A-level subjects, but I had my mind set on a life fulfilled by the arts.

    In fact, I was a victim of a gender stereotype made stronger since birth, that men do science and maths and women do arts or languages. Computer science, technology and physics just did not figure in my teenage world view. Nobody popular in my school chose to study those subjects.

    Reality struck hard when I began attending job interviews and interviewers would say: “It’s great that you speak foreign languages, but what else do you do?” Nobody asked my friends who had studied science or technology those questions.

    A survey recently showed that three of the best-paid jobs for women are in the technology sector. It’s a sector that really can change the world. We must show girls that technology has an effect on every industry out there, from fashion to architecture to journalism. Anybody can learn to code and these days it’s as important as reading and writing. I’ve realized that at university I’d achieved the wrong kind of literacy. Not being able to code limit your impact on the world far more than an ignorance of great literature.

    Now I have a five-year-old daughter. I don’t want her to blindly follow gender roles the way I did. I want her to know the fact that a science or technical degree will not limit her creativity but expand it and broaden her horizons far more than my arts background could. I’m exposing her to Minecraft and apps, which help improve analytical thinking and problem solving skills. I’m hoping that my daughter will discover and accept her potentials in science and want to change the world.