It was Easter 1990．and my family was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Solomon Islands for my sister's wedding．

   I was traveling with my husband，my four-year-old son and my daughter，who was nearly two．We’d been   (1)   it was very hot in the Solomons，so we’d   (2)    lots of light cotton clothes and were wearing the same as it was summer．The only problem was that we had to catch an overnight bus that   (3)   at midnight for the airport so we could make our early morning   (4)    to Honiara．It was cold on the bus! My husband and I were snuggling(依偎)our children as best we could，trying to keep them   (5)   ．The bus stopped many times as passengers got on and off，and we didn’t take much   (6)  ．The little ones were   (7)  ，unable to sleep for the biting cold．Then at one stop，an old lady came forward from the back of the bus and paused by our seat．I sat forward to see what she wanted and she   (8)   out a small knee rug(毛毯)．My little girl reached   (9)   for it and pulled it tight   (10)    her．The lady said she’d made the rug herself and，seeing that we were cold，she wanted us to use it．After she went back to her seat，our now-warm children   (11)  off，and they slept snugly all the way to the airport．Just a stop or two   (12)   we arrived，the rug lady made her way to the door to get off．I tried to   (13)   the children to return her blanket，but she protested．“No，”she said，“  (14)  it．I can always make another one!”

   Over the years，that little blanket became a   (15)   to me and to my children of the kindness of strangers．I told the story to the children over and over and hung the rug on the end of my daughter’s bed so we would see it often．That rug was handmade with the colors carefully chosen．Yet its maker   (16)   with it to keep my family warm for a night．If ever people were bad or   (17)   ，it served as a   (18)   that there is goodness in the world．

   I am forever   (19)  ，not just for the warmth that night，but for the lifelong reminder of the   (20)   of people．That blanket has warmed my life．

That was my first ballet performance and I was the lead role. A huge black curtain   (1)  me from the crowd. My heart raced so rapidly that it would _（2） out of my chest. A rush of   (2)   shot through my body when the music began and I took my   (3)   at the center of the stage. I pushed off the floor as hard as I could and  (4)   into the air. Then I started to come  (5)  for my landing, preparing to jump again, and yet my foot   (6)  .I fell, face-first. For a moment I couldn’t  (7)  , wondering if I should go on.   (8)  , trained for thousands of hours for twelve years, my muscles ignored the  (9)   of my mind and I  (10)  myself back on my feet.I finished the part and left the stage. Bending over a table, I tried to  (11)  tears.I didn’t want to go back to finish the last twenty minutes. I didn’t   (12)  the lead role.

Then came my teacher.“The   (13)  thing on stage is to fall. You’ve gotten it，so what’s left to  (14)  ? Just go and give it all.”Her words   (15)  me. Minutes later, I went back on stage and completely let go of  (16)  . I just danced,letting the music guide me through the movement.

Now, as a Principal Dancer, I often think about that performance. We fall when we try our hardest. There is no   (17)  ，only pride. Falling is   (18)  and sometimes it is easier just to stay on the  (19)  . But if we never get up,we never experience what it is like to fly.

         As a child, I was afraid of everything. At the age of 8,I even became   41  of getting Halloween candy.   42    on October 31,my twin brother and I went out and   43  to every house in the neighborhood. Most of the houses only had a few steps to the door. It was easy. However, when we   44  one of the bigger houses with 10 tall steps   45  to the front door, which were known to have the best candy, my fear   46   me. My brother was already up the stairs, while I stood   47   at the bottom.

        It was   48  that I’d be able to climb all that way, for I was afraid that I might fall over in the dark and  49   my bag of candy. I might   50   my clothes on something. I wanted the candy, but there was no  51  I would go up those stairs to get it. I failed. I lost more than just candy. I lost my   52  .

        Fear of the unknown  53  me for a long time. After six years in nursing, I was   54  with the career I had chosen. I faced a   55  :step out into the unknown or  56   the rest of my life at the bottom of those steps, never  57  the best candy.

         Finally, with only $100 inmy savings account, I started my own business. Whenever I would lose a client(客户),the old fear   58   . However, I’d tasted the candy, and now I don’t   59   when I face difficulties. I believe that, though   60  t hings can happen when we step out, worse things happen when we don’t.

One night, when I was eight , my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. “Sweetie, my company wants to 41 me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling that you’ve done    42  and allowing you to skip a grade(跳级), but you’ll have to   43  your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?” She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was puzzled. The question kept me 44 for the rest of the night I had said “yes” but for the first time, I realized the 45  decisions adults had to make.

  For almost four years, my mother would call us from Brazil every day. Every evening I’d   46  wait for the phone to ring and then tell her every detail of my day. A phone call, however, could never replace her   47 and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

  During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large 48 apartment, I became 49 how lonely my mother must have been in Brazil herself. It was then 50 I started to appreciate the tough choices she had to make on   51  family and work. 52 difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn’t know whether you make the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with passion and a   53 attitude.

  Back home , I 54 myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she  55  to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be   56 . I learn how to take care of myself and set high but achievable 57 .My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the    58  has really taught me. Sacrifices 59 in the end. The separation between us has proved to be a   60 for me.

Money was a struggle when I was growing up during the 1930s and ‘40s, in Chicago, and __(1)__ such as roller skates(溜冰鞋) were luxuries my widowed mother could __(2)__ afford.

__(3)__, hard life made me quite resourceful（足智多谋）. A __(4)__ childhood activity during those years was roller-skating on the city’s __(5)__ macadam-paved streets, and the lack of proper skates __(6)__ stopped me from joining in the __(7)__.

I had a good friend who often __(8)__ her skates with me. We invented a __(9)__ that needed only one pair of skates: We each __(10)__ one skate and pushed scooter-style (滑板车一样地) with the other foot __(11)__ we got up to a good speed. Then, __(12)__ on one leg, we skated down the street. We got to be pretty good at this and decided to __(13)__ our skills on a long , steep(陡峭的) driveway at the end of the street. My friend went __(14)__. Balanced on one foot, she sped down the incline(斜坡) right into the garage door and __(15)__ her arm. I decided not to try my luck.

One evening the following summer, I was at the bus stop __(16)__, waiting for my mother to come home from work. I __(17)__ walking home with her every evening. Even before she got off the bus, I saw the __(18)__ in her arm. I could __(19)__ it was a pair of new roller skates. I was so __(20)__that I almost forgot to wave to the bus driver.

As Mother stepped off the bus, she handed me the box. After kissing and hugging her, I sat down on the sidewalk and immediately put on my shiny new skates. Oh, how I would now!

I skated everywhere that summer, to the grocery store and the bakery. In the fall, I skated to school.

I live in a big city with a lot of homeless people. Luckily there’re small ways of helping them and you needn’t have a lot of　____　. One way to help is to buy their monthly magazine. _____ doing this one day, I got to ___ a young homeless man. He was often ____ the magazine at the trainstation.Hewas a poor farmer from another country. After a while, I discovered that his____ was close to mine. It ____ that we were born in the same month.

    I met him last year ____ after his birthday, and after congratulating(祝贺) him, without ____，I asked if he had had a good day. He ___ and said that he hadn’t really celebrated. I felt so ____. I just couldn’t bear the thought of(不敢想) this nice, young man being ____ on his 25th birthday with no presents, no cake, nothing! So I went home and looked in my yarn(纱线) basket. ___ for me, I had enough yarn ___. I set to work and knitted(编织) a ___for the young man. The yarn had become a little dirty ____I didn’t knit very often. Then I washed the yarn so the scarf would be ___ when he got it.

   I met him on my own birthday as I was going shopping. I had ____ to meet him so I had ____ the scarf and a piece of my own birthday ____ around with me. He was very happy with these gifts and so was I. The ____ in his eyes was the best present he could have given me!

When I entered the classroom, our teacher announced we were going to have a math test. I took a look at the   (1)   full of what looked like hieroglyphs(象形文字) to me and began to  37  . I did the best that I could, and then left my   (2)   to put my paper in a pile(摞) on the front desk with a(n)   (3)  .

I returned to my seat and then an idea came to my mind. I   (4)   where the teacher was before I made my   (5)  . She was walking in the   (6)   of the room with her back turned. I left my seat and went back to the pile of test papers already handed   (7)   and when I picked up my paper I also   (8)   the paper right below it before returning to my seat. When I looked at the   (9)   paper I had taken, I discovered it was the work of the   (10)   girl in our class,   I copied her answers to my paper.

       The next day the teacher handed back our papers turning them facedown on everyone’s desks. When I   (11)   my paper over, I was   (12)   to see an “F” on it. After class I went to the girl whose answers I had   (13)   and said to her, “That math test was difficult. I   (14)   it. I guess we need to study more.” Her   (15)   was, “Not me, I got ever y question   (16)   and got an A.”

The teacher knew it. She never blamed me in front of the class and   (17)   me to keep my dignity(尊严). I made a   (18)   to myself never ever to cheat again. I would remember to always be   (19)  in the things I do. I never forgot that teacher who failed me when, really, I had failed myself.

My class and I visited Chris Care Center in Phoenix, Arizona to comfort the old people who needed a little cheering up during the holiday season.

The first two  (1)  there were for persons requiring help in taking care of themselves. We sang  (2)  for them. They loved our sweet songs and the flowers that we left with them.

As we were  (3)  on the third floor for old people with Alzheimer (老年痴呆症), most of them   (4)  off at the walls or floor. However, one lady  (5)  my eye. She was sitting by the door, in a wheelchair, singing songs to herself. They weren’t the songs that we were singing, at least they didn’t    (6)    like that. As we got   (7)   with each festive song, she did as well. The louder we got, the louder she got.   (8)    she was singing, she was also    (9)   out to us with her hands and body. I knew that I should have gone over to her, but I thought that my    (10)  were to my students. People who worked at the care center could    (11)    to her, I thought. Just when I stopped feeling   (12)   about not giving her the attention she needed, one of my students, Justin, showed me what the holiday season is really about.

Justin also   (13)   the same lady. The difference between us is that he  (14)  on her needs, but I didn’t. During the last song, “Silent Night,” Justin walked over to her and held her hand. He looked this aged lady in her   (15)   and with his actions said, “You are important, and I will take my  (16)   to let you know that.”

This tired, elderly lady stopped singing and held his hand. Then she touched his cheek with  (17)  hand. Tears began to fall down her face. No   (18)   can completely describe that touching moment...

It  (19)   a boy to teach me, a man, about kindness and love. Justin’s example of a complete, selfless attitude toward another was a   (20)   that I will never forget. He was the teacher that day, and I consider myself  lucky to have witnessed his lesson.         

  The year I went away to college was a very difficult transition(过渡期)for me.   　41　   is probably true with many people, I got quite homesick and   　42　   thought about going home.

Although the   　43　   time for many students is getting    　44   from home, my mailbox was frequently   　45  . One day when I went to the mailbox, there was a postcard   　46　   out at me. I sat down to read it,   　47   a note from someone back home.  　48　   I became increasingly puzzled as   　49   postcard were like this: It was a full news report about a woman named Mabel and her newborn baby. I took the card back to my room and   　50　   about it.

   Several days later I   　51　   another postcard, this one   　52　   news about Maybelline, Mabel’s cousin. Soon after, another card arrived and then another,   　53　   full of news of different people. I began to   　54　   look forward to the next one,   　55to see what this author would come up with 　56  . I was never  　57　   .

Finally, the cards   　58　   coming, right about the time I had begun to feel   　59　   about college life. They had been such a happy distraction (调剂) that, I have 　60　all the postcards and still bring them out to read whenever I need a life.

   The writer Devin with his friend Johnson went to his favourite news-stand. Johnson  41　the salesman selling the newspapers gently, but in return he received poor　42　. The salesman never even looked up at his customer when he　43　the late-night edition. Accepting the　44　, Johnson politely smiled and wished the salesman a pleasant weekend. The salesman made an unclear sound and seemed　45　that the two men had completed their business. As the two friends walked down the street, Devin asked, “Does he always treat you so　46　?”

   “Yes,　47　, he does,” Johnson responded. “And are you always so　48　and friendly to him?” “Yes, I am!” Johnson　49　as they turned a corner. “Why are you so nice when he is so unfriendly to you?” Johnson　50　, “Because I don’t want him to decide how I am going to　51　.”

   Who　52　how you are going to act? Is it your circumstances or the difficult people in your life that determine your　53　? When we allow our conflicts to　54　us, we behave as if getting rid of our difficulties is our only priority.　55　, it doesn’t really matter how we treat one another. For example, we’ll say, “This　56　is causing me problems right now so I don’t care about exercising　57　, self-control, and loving kindness. Instead, I want to let him know how　58　I am because of his action.”

   We forget our difficulties will eventually weaken. But the way we handle conflicts will influence our　59　for a long time. Will you only respond to the momentary crisis or will you be more concerned about the　60　of what kind of person you are becoming? Who decides how you will behave when the pressure is on?