After lunch, without permission from parents, the two boys set off to explore the part of the beach which lay beyond the headland(陆岬). They had persuaded their young sister to   (1)   , saying that the long walk would be too   (2)   for her. Once they had got in the headland, the beach reached away endlessly before them. It was like    (3)   a new world. There were damp, dark caves to _(4)   there were many   (4)   among the rocks, full of sea lives. Here and there along the beach were those   (5)   objects, washed up and   (6)  by the tide.(潮汐)

    The afternoon passed   (7)  The sun was already   (8)   when the boys reluctantly (恋恋不舍)   (9)  to make their   (10)   homewards. But long before they reached the headland, they could see that tide had come in so sudden that they were now   (11)  from either end of the beach. Their only chance of   (12)  was to find a way up the cliff(悬崖) nearby.

     They soon find a narrow path   (13)  the cliff top. But half way up their path was  (14)   by a large rock which they could not climb   (15)  . The two boys had to  (16)  at the top of their voices,  (17)   that someone might  (18)  over the top of the rock. Finally came their father and two policemen.   (19)   of them climbed down a rope which was lowered over the rock. The boys were then pulled to safety, and thus saved from spending a terrible night on the cliff.

A group of graduates got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­  (1)  about stress in work life.    (2)    his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned  (3)  a large pot of coffee and a variety of  (4)    —porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help
   (5)  to the coffee.
   When all the students had a cup of coffee  (6)   , the professor said, “If you   (7)  , all the nice-looking expensive cups have been   (8)    , leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is  (9)    for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and   (10)  .
It’s certain that the cup itself   (11)   no quality to the coffee.   (12)  it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides  (13)  we drink.
What all of you really  (14)  is coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the  (15)  cups…And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and  (16)   in society are the cups. They are just   (17)  to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define,   (18)  change the quality of life we live.  (19)   , by focusing only on the cup, we fail to  (20)  the coffee. Therefore, don’t let the cups drive you…have a good taste of the coffee instead.”

My wife and I separated in December. As you might expect, I had a very   (1)   December.

    My therapist(心理治疗师) gave me  (2)   totally unexpected. It was a small handmade Play-Doh heart. She  (3)  that it was not for me to keep, but only on   (4)  until I got my own heart. Then I   (5)   return it to her.

    After the session, I placed the heart carefully on the dash of my car and drove to   (6)  my daughter Juli-Ann, for this was the first night that she would be staying at my new home. As she got into the car, she was immediately  (7)  to the heart, picking it up,   (8)   it and asking me what it was.

    “It’s a present from my therapist to help me through this difficult time   (9)   it is not for me to keep, but only to have till I get my own heart,” I   (10)  . Juli-Ann made no  (11)   I wondered, at 11 years old, could she understand?

    Several  (12)   later, when my daughter was again at my home, she handed me her Valentine’s Day present for me: a small red box,   (13)  with a gold band.  (14)  Into the pretty little box. To my surprise, I pulled out a similar Play-Doh heart that she had made for me. I looked at her,   (15)  , wondering what it meant.

    Afterwards she slowly handed me a card. It was a(n)  (16)   Juli-Ann had written me the most   (17)  and loving words I had ever read. Tears flooded my eyes and my heart   (18)  open:

    For My Dad/Here is a heart/for you to keep/for the big leap/you’re trying to take/Have fun on your journey/It might be blurry/But when you get there/Learn to care

      (19)  all my material wealth, I   (20)  this as my most sacred treasure.

       A Heroic Driver

 Larry works with Transport Drivers. Inc. One morning in 2009. Larry was __  (1)  __ along 165 north after delivering to one of his  (2)  . suddenly, he saw a car with its bright lights on.  (3)   he got closer, he found  (4)   vehicle upside down on the road. One more look and he noticed  (5)   shooting out from under the  (6)   vehicle. Larry pulled over, set the brake and  (7)  the fire extinguisher (灭火器). Two good bursts from the extinguisher and the fire was put out.

The man who had his bright lights on   (8)   and told Larry he had   (9)   an emergency call. They   (10)   heard a woman’s voice coming from the wrecked (毁坏的) vehicle.   (11)  the vehicle, they saw that a woman was trying to get out of the broken window. They told her to stay   (12)   until the emergency personnel arrived,   (13)   she thought the car was going to   (14)  . Larry told her that he had already put out the fire and she should not move   (15)   she injured her neck.

Once fire and emergency people arrive, Larry and the other man   (16)   and let them go to work. Then, Larry asked the   (17)   if he was needed or   (18)   to go. They let him and the other man go.

One thing is   (19)  —Larry went above and beyond the call of duty by getting so close to the burning vehicle! His   (20)   most likely saved the woman’s life.

                             More Than I Had Dreamed Of

From the time I was seven, I had a dream of becoming a member of the Students Union. I always  (1)  my school leaders for taking responsibility for all of us. So I dreamed of being a leader. 

Years flew by, and soon I was able to participate in the elections,   (2)   I would win. But the reality struck that I hadn’t had a chance. I wasn’t pretty. Girls across the school hardly knew me. I just did not have what it   (3)   to win a school election. I was   (4)  . 

As I cried in my room that evening, I   (5)   took a deep breath and decided I wouldn’t stop dreaming. I decided that I would   (6)   elections again in my final year at school—and I would win. 

I recognized that my   (7)   had a lot of things in their favor. What were the   (8)   that would work in my favor? I had good grades, and I was friendly and helpful. And my biggest   (9)   was the faith I had. I would not allow my   (10)   appearance to hold me back from putting my best foot forward. That evening, I   (11)   my election plans a whole year in advance. 

I realized that girls would have to get to know me and recognize that I had the ability to   (12)  them. I loved making friends and I liked being helpful,   (13)    I decided that perhaps I could use these qualities to work to my advantage. In order to learn how to present a great election    (14)  , I also attended a course on effective public speaking. 

The day after the election, when the principal(校长) announced I won the second highest number of votes, the students   (15)  . That joy on the faces of all my friends showed me that my victory was   (16)  theirs.

Suddenly, I realized that I had   (17)   much more than I had dreamed of. I had made many new friends and had helped people   (18)   the way. I had won the   (19)   and love of my school-mates and they knew me as somebody who would stand by them. I was able to put a smile on their faces and   (20)   their day.  

I was at the grocery store one evening. I had finished shopping and was looking for a line to   (1)  . I chose a line where there was one woman ready to   (2)  , and another woman behind her who didn't have very much.

   As I was standing there waiting for my   (3)  , I looked at the woman carefully in front of me. She looked   (4)   she had just had some kind of medical treatment. Her   (5)   looked as if she had known a lot of pain and was   (6)   of everything. She had a backpack to carry her   (7)   in and she had bought everything that one would need to   (8)   oneself at home. She kept glancing at her groceries and kept   (9)   the money in her hand. I kept thinking to myself, "I wish I had   (10)   to pay for her groceries. What can I do to help her out?"

   To my   (11)  , as these thoughts were going enough, the woman ahead of her softly   (12)   to the woman who didn't look well, "Put your money   (13)  . This one is on me."

    The woman   (14)   her head a few times and the front woman kept   (15)   until it happened.

    I walked outside with the woman who didn't feel well. After   (16)   her groceries in her backpack, I introduced myself, told her the   (17)   I was heading in and asked if she would like a ride. She introduced herself and   (18)  . As she got out of my car she said to me, "God bless you." I just kept   (19)  , maybe I put it out there and I couldn't do the thing but someone else did,   (20)  , I was presented with some other ways to help her out—and that I could do!

I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in the US for 17 years, I had no   (1)   about my ability to hold their attention and to   (2)   on them my admiration for the literature（文学）of my mother tongue.

I was shocked when the monitor shouted, “  (3)  !” and the entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat   (4)   about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness（尴尬）was over, I quickly   (5)   my calmness and began what I thought was a fact – packed lecture, sure to gain their respect – perhaps   (6)   their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a (n)  (7)   of achievements.

My students   (8)   diaries. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually   (9)   by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said, “Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today.  (10)   her next lecture will be better.” Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a   (11)   subject. “Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework（哲学体系）of Western thought and laid the historical   (12)   for all the works we’ll study in class,” I complained. “How   (13)   they say I didn’t teach them anything?”

It was a long term, and it   (14)   became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as   (15)   of my students. I thought a teacher’s job was to raise   (16)   questions and provide enough background so that students could   (17)   their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide   (18)   information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference!

  (19)  , I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a   (20)   American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

In our discussion with people on how education can help them succeed in life, a woman remembered the first meeting of an introductory__  (1)  __course 20 years ago.

The professor __  (2)  __the lecture hall, placed upon his desk a large jar filled with dried beans（豆）, and invited the students to __  (3)  __how many beans the jar contained. After __  (4)  __shouts of wildly wrong guesses the professor smiled a thin, dry smile, announced the __  (5)  __ answer, and went on saying, ”You have just __  (6)  __an important lesson about science. That is: Never__  (7)  __ your own senses.” Twenty years later, the __  (8)  __could guess what the professor had in mind. He __  (9)  __himself,perhaps,as inviting his students to start an exciting __  (10)  __into an unknown world invisible（无形的）to the   (11)   ,which can be discovered only through scientific   (12)   .But the seventeen-year-old girl could not accept or even   (13)   the invitation. She was just   (14)   to understand the world. And she   (15)  that her firsthand experience could be true   (16)  .The professor, however, said that it was   (17)  .he was taking away her only   (18)  for knowing and was providing her with no substitute替代.“I remember feeling small and   (19)  ,”the women says,“and I did the only thing I could do. I   (20)   the course that afternoon, and I haven’t gone near science since.”