A Different View

   At age 14, 15   and 16 , the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us. My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection.

  In high school, we joined the gymnastics team, and our   (1)   became even more important to us. We had no fat, only muscle. On the weekends, we would go to the beach,     (2)   of our flat stomachs.

  One summer day, all my friends were at my house    (3)  . At one point, I was running back to the pool. I    (4)   on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung (蛰) me. I instantly started to feel    (5)  . That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen. I couldn’t walk. I could barely     (6)  .

  When my foot started to go numb, everyone became more      (7)   . My foot was not getting enough blood. I had to go to the    (8)   , and my leg hurt as if it were badly broken. I couldn’t move. All I could do was to think about how soft my middle was becoming. That   (9)   me more than any concern over my leg.

  That would all    (10)    when I heard the doctors mention possibly cutting off my foot. It was still not getting the     (11)  supply it needed. The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.

  Never before did I have such great    (12)   for my foot. And walking seemed like a    (13)   from the gods. Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about    (14)   and who was wearing what. More and more I expected visits from other kids in the hospital, who were quickly becoming my friends.

  One girl came to visit me    (15)  . Every time she came, she brought flowers. She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and    (16)   the other patients.

She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking. I would not have given this girl a second   (17)  before. I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her   (18)  .

  Finally, I was improving and soon I went home. My leg was still swollen,  (19)   I was walking, and I had my foot! When I would go back to the hospital, I often saw my friend. She was still visiting people and    (20)  good cheer. I thought if ever there was an angel on this earth, it had to be her.

  I will never forget that night, when I pulled into my driveway after a busy day of school and baby-sitting. I still 1         to write a physics paper, which must be handed in the next day. There were many things on my mind. At that time I was having many problems with my family and friends,2         I was in a very bad mood (心情). And I was unhappy with 3         and the way that my life was going. A major 4        I was struggling with was drug (毒品) use. For two years I had been smoking marijuana (大麻) and got used to it, 5        could not stop. I did not let drugs affect my grades or personality, but it made a (n) 6         in how I thought about myself. I had always been a good kid and still tried to be, but drugs brought me 7        . I frequently thought about 8        drugs were not something I wanted as part of my life. I wanted to 9        but I was frightened to make it.

   I looked up at the sky as I got out of my 10         . The moon gave off tiny beams of light. The sky was a dark, ink-black colour 11           millions of stars. I stood outside in the cool fall air for what seemed a long time of heaven and 12        . The joy that I had not 13        for ages came upon me. I closed my eyes to decide if this dream could be 14        . I slowly opened my eyes and caught a shooting

star (流星) flying over treetops. Tears fell from my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. I had 15         the true beauty of nature. Those

few 16         helped me find the 17        to change.

It is not easy to make the decision to stop using drugs. It is even harder to stop 18        . Giving it up has given me hope and a reason to be 19        myself. It has helped me grow 20         and more mature.

About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago street. He was   (1)   a bit too fast in his 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old. He was watching for   (2)   running out from between parked cars.

  (3)   his car passed, no child ran out, but a brick sailed out and it knocked into the Jagˈs   (4)   side door! Josh jumped out of the car, seized the kid and pushed him up against a   (5)   car. He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about? Thatˈs my new Jag. The brick is going to   (6)   you a lot of money.”

“Please, mister, Iˈm sorry! I didnˈt know what else to do!”  (7)   the youngster. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” Tears were rolling down the boyˈs   (8)   as he pointed around the parked car. “Itˈs my   (9)  , Mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb (路边) and   (10)   out of his wheelchair and I canˈt lift him up.”  (11)  , the boy asked the businessman, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? Heˈs hurt and heˈs   (12)   heavy for me.”

  (18)   the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so   (19)   that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his   (20)  .

Jane’s mother worked on the farm from dawn till dark, which just could make ends meet. To make Jane live a   (1)   life, Mother was very careful about spending money.   (2)  , Jane didn’t understand her. Every day Mother was busy with her   (3)   while Jane was studying at school, so they had little time to enjoy themselves.

One day, Mother realized Jane was unhappy and even   (4)   to her, so she decided to go   (5)   with Jane to make Jane happy.

On Sunday morning they went happily to the snowfield. Since they were   (6)   in white clothes, the manager advised them to buy ski clothes. He said   (7)   there was an accident, they might be easily   (8)   in their ski clothes. Mother couldn’t   (9)   them, so she refused.

Then they went skiing in their white clothes. They were skiing happily on the   (10)   when suddenly the snowfield began to   (11)  . It was the snowslide(雪崩). They ran a long way and   (12)   the snowslide finally, but they couldn’t find their way. Later, a helicopter was flying above,   (13)   people on it couldn’t see or hear them. Jane was   (14)   because she had hurt her head seriously and   (15)   dropped on the snow. Just then an idea struck Mother. She pierced(刺破)her wrist   (16)   and then bright red blood dropped down on the snowfield. A red SOS was on the snow. At last Jane   (17)  , but Mother died.

Every time I   (18)   the blood dropping onto the snowfield, I feel   (19)  . I believe anyone who hears the tragedy will   (20)   Mother for her selfless love to her daughter.

The rays of the sunlight shone on my grandmotherˈs face. For just a moment she closed her eyes as if   (1)    the sunlight to warm her entire body. When oneˈs   (2)   is approaching its end. I    (3)  that all the bitterness and the boring moments will become meaningless.

My grandmother opened her eyes    (4)   , saying, " Donˈt live your life without living it. I worked too hard. I    (5)  many things because I was trying to make a   (6)  tomorrow for my family. What good is a tomorrow if you   (7)  missing today?"

   She closed her eyes once more as if allowing what she said to marinate (浸泡) within me. I realized that she was    (8)  her life as if she were a bystander. I knew that when my grandmother spoke those words to me, she was feeling  (9)  . Though we cannot change the past, we can   (10)  the future.

   As a college graduate, I knew my grandmother was showing me yet another   (11)  tool to add to my defense against this sometimes harsh world.

   That night, I slept the soundest sleep I ever had. A sense of   (12)   fell over me that I hadnˈt felt in along while. My    (13)   ,cares and concerns seemed weightless and were   (14)  by the words of my grandmother: " Donˈt live your life without living it. "

   I was   (15)  woken out of a sound sleep by my mother. Before she muttered the words through sobs and    (16)  ,  I knew why she was  

  (17)   me.

   Later that morning as I sat at the kitchen table, a single tear ran down my face. Through the window, a ray of sunlight   (18)    me inside out. I knew it was a hug from my grandmother. And I knew that for the rest of my life her    (19)   would reverberate (回响) in my thoughts. She had given me the best      (20)    I had ever had.

 It was just at about 6 o'clock in the morning that I got to the hospital kitchen. "Hi, I'm Kate." I tried to sound cheerful, although I already knew that it was ___(1)___ to work with Rose.

   Rose, a middle－aged woman, stopped what she was doing and ____(2)____ me over her glasses. I could tell from her expression that she wasn't ____(3)___ to see a student worker.

   "What do you want me to do? ____(4)____ the coffee?" Rose ____(5)____ and went away. I filled the pot with cold water and began making coffee when Rose suddenly ____(6)____ and took over, "That's not the _____(7)___ to make coffee." I was ____(8)___ as I just followed the steps our supervisor (视导员) showed us.

   _(9)______ I did pleased her. All morning her eyes missed nothing and her words ___(10)___ me. Totally tired, I came home late that afternoon. Fighting back _(11)_____, I thought of my situation alone in my room. Should I see if my supervisor would change my _(12)___? But I didn't want to ____(13)____. Then I had the answer — I needed to ___(14)__ her.

   Working with Rose the next morning, I (15)_ her sharp words and did things in her way as much as possible. Things began to (16)___  over the next few days. She became __(17)__ to me. As I worked with this ___(18)___ woman, I listened to her — something no one else had done.

   I never __(19)____ Rose again after that summer, but I still remember her. That summer I learned a ____(20)__ that love is the best way to turn an enemy into a friend.

    I was having lunch at a restaurant when a pretty girl walked in and sat down at a table waiting for her friend. It didn’t long before I saw she was trying to stay hidden from other people’s stares and my sank.

Have you ever been caught in difficulties? Remember that self-confidence is   (1)   than a knife. You can use it to   (2)   a challenge. Read the short story below to   (3)  the power of self-confidence.

A man was trying to find his way    (4)   a dark cave with a light of hope from a lantern(灯笼). Finally, he could see some sunlight in the cave, which made him   (5)   . But as he drew closer, he was   (6)   to see a big rock standing before him.

He pushed the rock, but it stood there firmly without   (7)   even a little. He tried again, but it prevented him from    (8)   the place. The man felt   (9)   being swallowed by a whale that was waiting to enjoy its supper. He sat    (10)   the big rock in the mouth of the dark cave looking back on his adventure. He had overcome many difficulties and   (11)   he would overcome this one, too.

   (13)   in pushing the huge rock.

The rock moved a little, which encouraged him to work   (14)  . Thanks to all his efforts, slowly the rock made  (15)   for him. He walked along the bright and ever green path before him----with   (16)  

We all may meet  (17)   in our life. Some people don’t believe they can overcome them and choose to   (18)   , but some choose to face them with confidence. Those who give up will   (19)   succeed. Only those who face difficulties with confidence will    (20)    their ways and succeed in life in the end.

Jerry was my schoolmate in high school. One day, I saw him walking home from school with all his ____  (1)  ____ I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books for the weekend? He must really be ____  (2)  ____"

   After a while, I saw several kids running toward him, ____  (3)  ____ all his books out of his arms and he fell down in the dirt. His glasses went ____  (4)  ____ and landed in the grass.

   My ____  (5)  ____ went out to him. So, I ran over to him. ____  (6)  ____ I handed him his glasses, he looked at me and said, "Hey, thanks!"

   I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it ____  (7)  ____, he lived near me. We talked all the way home. Over the next four years, Jerry and I became best friends.

   Jerry was the ____  (8)  ____ student of our class, one of those guys that really found ____  (9)  ____ during high school. Therefore he had the honor to prepare a ____  (10)  ____ speech. On the graduation day, I could see that he was ____  (11)  ____. So, I patted him on the hack and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be ____  (12)  ____!" He looked at me and smiled.

   He cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to ____  (13)  ____ those who helped you make it through those ____  (14)  ____ years. Your parents, your teachers...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best ____  (15)  ____ you can give him."

   I just looked at my friend with ____  (16)  ____ as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend and was carrying his books home. "____  (17)  ____, nothing happened. My friend ____  (18)  ____ me from doing the unspeakable(不能说出来的).

   Not until that moment did I realize that you should never underestimate(低估) the ____  (19)  ____ of your actions. With one small gesture you can ____  (20)  ____ a person's life. For better or for worse.