Accept life as it is. I learned how to do it from my father.   (1)  , he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was   (2)   and ill.

My father was   (3)   a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness   (4)   all that away. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is   (5)  .One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started   (6)   about life, and I told them about one of my   (7)  . I said that we must very often give things up   (8)   we grow – our youth, our beauty, our friends – but it always   (9)   that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place.   Then suddenly my father   (10)   up. He said, “But, Peter, I gave up   (11)  ! What did I gain?” I thought and thought, but I couldn’t think of anything to say.   (12)  , he answered his own question: “I   (13)   the love of my family,” I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness.

I was also   (14)   by his words. After that, when I began to feel irritated (愤怒的) at someone, I   (15)   remember his words and become   (16)  . If he could take the place of his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be   (17)   to give up my small irritations. In this   (18)  , I learned the power of acceptance from my father.

Sometimes I   (19)   what other things I could have learned from him if I had listened more  carefully when I was a boy. For now, though, I am grateful for this one   (20)  .

I was on a bus one March evening. The driver didn’t   (1)    to start the bus soon because it was not yet   (2)   . A middle-aged woman got on. Tired and, she told her story    (3)   , not to anyone in particular. On her way to the station, half of her   (4)   was stolen. The other half was hidden under her blouse, so she   (5)    still had some left. A few minutes later, she stopped crying , but still looked   (6)   When all the seats were taken, the driver started the engine. The conductor began to collect fares (车费) When she came to an old man in worn-out clothes, he    (7)    that he had spent all his money when he had accidentally got on a wrong bus and now he was trying to go home . On hearing this, she ordered the old man to    (8)     the bus. The old man was almost in tears as he    (9)   her to let him take the bus home. The driver took the conductor’s side and repeated the conductor’s    (10)    . The woman was watching the incident.   (11)    the driver and the conductor raised their voices at the old man , she interfered (干预). “Stop   (12)   him ! Can’t you see he’s only trying to get home? ” “He doesn’t have any money!” the driver    (13)   . “Well, that’s no   (14)    to throw him off the bus,” she insisted. Then she reached inside her blouse, took out her     (15)    money, and handed it to the conductor. “Here’s his fare  and mine. Just stop giving him a    (16)    time.” All heads turned to the woman. “It’s only money, ” she shrugged (耸肩). She rode the way home    (17)    a happy smile, with the money she’d lost earlier   (18)   . On the road of life, the help of strangers can    (19)    our loads and lift our spirits. How much sweeter the    (20)   will be when we make it a little smoother for others!

Erik, an athletic child, lost his vision in his early teens. At first he ___41__ to use a walking stick or learn Braille(盲文), ___42____ he could do as well as any teenager. He finally came to ____43___ his disability, though. He couldn’t play the same ___44___ as he used to .But then he discovered wrestling(摔跤), a sport ___45___ sight wasn’t as important as touch and ____46___. Then, at 16, he discovered rock climbing was like wrestling in some ways. A wrestler and a rock climber ____47___ information through touch. Rock climbing ___48___ mountain climbing, the greatest challenge of his life.

Erik’s teammates say he isn’t different from a ___49___ mountaineer. The major difference is that he isn’t as thin as most climber. _50____, his strong upper body, flexibility and mental toughness(坚韧) make him a(n) __51___ climber. The only help for Erik’s blindness is to place ___52___ on his teammate’s jackets so that he can follow them ___53___.

Climbing Mount Everest(珠穆朗玛峰) was __54____ for every climber on every team. The __55___ to the mountain air for Erik was the same as it was for his teammates: ___56___ of oxygen(氧气) causes the heart to beat slower, and the brain doesn’t ___57___ as clearly as normal. In some ways, Erik had an advantage ___58_ his teammates: as they got near the top, the vision of all climbers was ___59__. So at a certain altitude(海拔), all his teammates were like Erik—nearly __60____.

To climb Mount Everest is an achievement for any athlete. Erik showed his disability wasn’t as important as his ability.

 She was a four-year-old girl with very fine golden hair when I first met her. She was carrying a bowl of soup. I was 29 at that time and   (1)   from the flu.

    Her mom and I had been friends for years.   (2)   that friendship grew into care, from care into   (3)   and marriage. Marriage brought the three of us together as a   (4)  . At first I was afraid to be a “stepfather”. Therefore, I tried not to come   (5)   my future daughter and her   (6)   father. I acted in that way in order to be liked. However,   (7)   she was growing up, I found it increasingly hard to   (8)   with her.

    Once her school required the parents to individually write an open and   (9)   letter to our children. I wrote a letter about a little golden-haired girl who had   (10)   me a bowl of soup when I needed   (11)  .

    A week later, all the parents   (12)   together with our children. The students were allowed to make a few statements. I was   (13)   to hear what my daughter would say.

Finally my daughter   (14)   make her way up to the microphone. She said something like others and then   (15)  , “At this very moment, I just want to say …I love you, Father.”

Immediately people around me started   (16)   at me. For a teenage girl to say   (17)   in front of so many people, “I love you,” took a great deal of courage.

Since then I have   (18)   to understand I didn’t need to have any   (19)   about being a stepfather. I can still   (20)   honest love with the same little girl I met so many years before － carrying a bowl full of what turned out to be kindness. I can also be friends with the girl － my dear daughter.

Janet glanced nervously at the clock on the kitchen wall. Five minutes before midnight.

“They should be home any time now,” she thought as she __41__ her first chocolate cake in her life. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly a proud __42__. The cake was … well, a mass. It tasted __43__, as if she had run out of sugar or something.

And in the __44__, a huge blender was filled with all the fixings for chocolate cake ---- including bowls, pans and utensils (器具). Another __45__.

But Janet wasn’t thinking about the mess. She had __46__ something. She was anxious for her parents to return home to say “Good __47__”. She turned off the kitchen lights and waited __48__ in the darkness.

Her parents entered quietly. Janet turned on the light __49__ and gestured grandly toward the kitchen table, where a slightly off-balance two-layer chocolate cake was waiting for their __50__.

But her mother’s eyes never made it all the way to the __51__. “Just look at this mess!” she __52__. “How many times have I talked to you about cleaning up after yourself?”

“But Mom, I was only…”

“Honey,” Janet’s father __53__ gently, “take a look at the table.”

“I know ---- it’s a mess,” his wife said __54__. “The whole kitchen is a disaster. I can’t __55__ to look at it.” She stormed up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Tears in eyes, Janet said to her father, “Mom never saw the __56__.”

__57__, Janet’s mother isn’t the only parent who has the __58__ to see the forest for the trees. As parents, we must never forget that we’re not just teaching __59__ ---- we’re teaching children. That means there are times when we __60__ need to see the mess in the kitchen.

And times when we only need to see the cake.

Accept life as it is. I learned how to do it from my father.   (1)   , he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was  (2)  and ill.

My father was  (3)  a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness  (4)  all that away. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is  (5)  . One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started  (6)  about life, and I told them about one of my  47  . I said that we must very often give things up  (7)  we grow --- our youth, our beauty, our friends --- but it always  (8)  that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father  (9)  up. He said, “But, Peter, I gave up  (10)  ! What did I gain?” I thought and thought, but I couldn’t think of anything to say.  52  , he answered his own question: “I  53   the love of my family,” I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness.

I was also  (11)  by his words. After that, when I began to feel angry at someone, I   (12)  remember his words and become  (13)  . If he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be  (14)  to give up my small anger. In this  (15)  , I learned the power of acceptance from my father.

Sometimes I  (16)  what other things I could have learned from him if I had listened more carefully when I was a boy. For now I am  (17)  for this one gift.