Lita CabEllut is one of Spain's most successful artists, “My 1 was like that of thousands of street kids around the world.” says Lita. She used to 2 the streets of Barcelona with other homeless children and 3 in the open air.

    Lita was 4 in a village in Aragon, north-east Spain, in 1961.While she was a baby, her mother 5 Barcelona. She was left with her grandmother—but 6 she spent most of her time out on the 7 .

8 , she says that “art was there because art is 9 around us”, but she didn't think about it in a 10 sense —she was focused on 11 .

    Lita's grandmother 12 when she was about 10 years old and she 13 a Barcelona orphanage（孤儿院）before being 14 by “a beautiful Catalan family” two years later.

She didn't 15 much about them, except that they 16 her to art. They took her to Madrid's Prado museum, and showed Goya's works to her. Her adopted family 17 Lita to keep painting—they 18 paid for private teachers to make up for 19 time. She slowly made progress at school, started to listen to the “voice of art” and 20 to study hard.

    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 no1about my ability to hold their attention and to2on 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 4about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness（尴尬）was over, I quickly 5my calmness and began what I thought was a fact –packed lecture, sure to gain their respect – perhaps6their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a (n)7of accomplishment (成就).

    My students 8 diaries. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 9by 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 11subject. ―Didn't I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework （哲学体系） of Western thought and laid the historical12for all the works we'll study in class, I complained. How13they say I didn't teach them anything? It was a long term, and it14became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as 15of my students. I thought a teacher's job was to raise 16questions and provide enough background so that students could 17their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher's job was to provide 18information 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 a20American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

    I was walking in a park on a cool autumn morning. The view was charming and a pleasant breeze(微风)was kissing my face1.

    Then I saw a mother and her little baby. The mother wore2clothes that seemed to be found in a dustbin—how easy it is for fortunate people to 3away things they don't need, and they do this 4thinking of the unfortunate! She was holding her baby, protecting her from the morning 5and expecting some money from strangers so that she could 6food for both of them. It isn't an uncommon7as we see these things every day. But they sometimes can_8us strongly. It was then that I realized how9I had been in my whole life for living a rich life.

    Then a man 10some money and food to the mother, and as she took them, her face was11as if she had been the happiest person in the world. And why not, she could now 12her baby at least for the day.

    Actually happiness doesn't 13luck, your financial or your physical conditions, but only on yourself. It is just a 14in your hands. If you choose to be happy,15 can stop you from it. The mother was happy just16she got food for her baby. Back home, I decided to first be happy and then do the rest of my work. It was17than I thought it would be.

    How18it is that one observation cam change your life! Life has a lot to offer if you observe very19One who observes can 20real happiness.

    “I have a letter for you,” my friend Kirsten told me on the phone. “I think it's from your mother.” I was 1 since my mother had been 2 for seven years.

    A few weeks later Kirsten handed me the 3 dated Aug. 30, 2002. Around then I was preparing for my pilot course's final exam at the 4 school. The students finished the training on5 days.

    I was the first to6. My mother's letter 7after I left. Kirsten picked it up from my mail-box, to keep8 she next saw me9 a few days later, when it was her turn to leave, she 10the letter among the piles of papers she11 packed into boxes. It12there for a decade, during which my mother died. In 2013, when Kirsten 13 some dusty belongings from her flying school days, she 14the letter.

    It's been two years since Kirsten gave me the letter which I've carried on my long flights. But I haven't15 it yet. When I told some friends this, they 16their heads. They said they wouldn't have been able to wait a second. Of course, I17How could I not? -about her 18 in the envelope. Surely, I think, she had written to wish me luck, ask about my life and tell me the news from 19to make me at ease. However, for now it's20 to look at her handwriting on the envelope, and to remember that until I open it, I know I'll hear from her once more.

    Here is a story. A young man while walking in the desert1a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so2, he filled his leather canteen so that he could bring some back to a tribal（部落）3 who had been his teacher.

    After a four-day4 he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled 5 and thanked his student sincerely for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a 6 heart.

    Later, the teacher let another student 7 the water. He spat(吐) it out, saying it was 8. It obviously had become smelly because of the old leather 9.

    The student asked his teacher, "Master, the water was smelly. Why did you 10 to like it?" The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the 11.The water was 12 the container for an act of loving-kindness and 13 could be sweeter."

    I think we understand this 14 best when we receive gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a post card or a birthday cake, the natural and 15 response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea 16 the gift.

    Gratitude(感恩) doesn't always come naturally.17, most children and many adults value only the thing given 18 the feeling included in it. We should 19 ourselves and teach our children about the beauty of feelings and expressions of gratitude.20, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

    At the age of 60, my father was hit by a car when he walked to a nearby supermarket to buy vegetables. After 1 for two months in hospital, he finally woke up. His waking up 2all our family. 3, he didn't know any of us. Doctors said his brain was hurt so 4 that he had lost all his memory. And his mental age(心理年龄) was only five. We were sorry to hear about the bad news.

    Since I was his only child, it was my 5 to look after him. He forgot6 everything, but he did remember he liked sweets. I used the sweets as a way of 7 bad behaviors. I would gave him one sweet 8he didn't sit on the ground, a second for stopping painting on the wall, and another for not trying to put clothes on the dog.

Dad became the 9 child in town. He climbed up the tree to catch a bird and couldn't get down after it 10 away. He broke my window with a ball and 11 our telephone in water like washing clothes. When I told him he was doing 12 things, he would answer smilingly, "I like that!" My son, then aged five, and two eight-year-old daughters, welcomed their 13 playmate. He would happily make them real cigarettes, 14 his sweets with them, and carry them high in the apple tree to15 apples.

    It is eight years since the 16. Dad has accepted the fact that he is the 17 of his three playmates but not a brother. He has also accepted that they grow taller but his 18 stays the same. Though it is still 19 to take care of him, he brings us a lot of fun. In some way I think it is a(n) 20 thing to look after dad like looking after a child. How many people can have the chance to care for a child-like parent?