When Dave was eighteen, he bought a second-hand car for ￡200 so that he could travel to and from work more 1 than by bus. It worked quite well for a few years, but then it got so old, and it was costing him2 much in repairs that he decided that he had better3 it.

    He asked among his friends to see if anyone was particularly4 to buy a cheap car, but they all knew that it was falling to pieces, so 5_of them had any desire to buy it.

    Dave's friend Sam saw that he was 6 when they met one evening, and said, “What's 7, Dave?” Dave told him and Sam answered, “Well, what about advertising it in the paper? You may8 more for it that way than the cost of the advertisement!” Thinking that Sam's 9was sensible, he put an advertisement in an evening paper, which read: “For sale: small car,10very little petrol, only two owners. Bargain at ￡50.”

    For two days after the advertisement first appeared, there was no 11. But then on Saturday evening a man rang up and said he would like to 12 him about the car. “All right,” Dave said, feeling happy. He asked the man whether ten o'clock the next morning would be 13or not. “Fine,” the man said. “And I'll 14 my wife. We intend to go for a ride in it to 15 it.”

    The next morning, at ten quarter, Dave parked the car in the square outside his front door,16 to wait there for the person who had 17 his advertisement. Even Dave had to 18 that the car really looked like a wreck (残骸). Then soon after he had got the car as 19 as it could be, a police car stopped just behind him and a policeman got out. He looked at Dave's car and then said, “Have you reported this 20 to us yet, sir?”

    I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn't like attention drawn to myself.And1otherwise assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher,I always2to sit at the back of the classroom.

    All this3after I joined a sports team.It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team.At first I thought it was a crazy4because I didn't have a good sense of balance,nor did I have the5to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me.But for the teacher who kept insisting on my "6for it",I wouldn't have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts（选拔）was only the7of it!When I first started8the practice sessions,I didn't even know the rules of the game,much9what I was doing.Sometimes I'd get10and take a shot at the wrong direction which made me feel really stupid.11,I wasn't the only one "new" at the game,so I decided to12on learning the game,do my best at each practice session,and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn't 13"just yet".

    I practiced and practiced.Soon I knew the14and the "moves".Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive15in me was winning over my lack of confidence.With time,I learned how to play and made friends in the16—friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player.I never had so much fun!

    With my17self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates.I have gone from "18" in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself,19raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn't and not 100 percent20I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

    When I was just out of college,I managed to get my dream job as a trader in New York City on the floor of the American Stock（股票）exchange.

    Though it was a proud1,the job was simply too physically2—I must stand in a crowd every day,which often3me in a mindset（心态）that held me back.

    Manhattan is a walking town and it's difficult to4when you have a disability.Taxis are expensive and riding the subway5dozens of steep steps to get below6.This left me only one7—the bus.

    One night,after the8for my job,I was aching with self-pity9it started to rain on my walk to the bus stop.I became more and more10without an umbrella,thinking I'd never11it in this city.Telling myself,"this city is just too hard" and "maybe it is just not possible for a guy like me".

    And then,I12the most beautiful,short moment.A couple came rolling by on roller skates,hand13hand as they skated what seemed like the tango.They were all wet but they saw the14as an opportunity and romance.

    I suddenly became grateful for waiting in the rain because I15have missed this beauty16if I had been in a taxi or on the subway.This,although17,was an important moment on my journey to discovering the18of achieving health and happiness.When I change my mindset,19for a moment,to what is possible and work to get rid of the self-limiting beliefs that20my daily actions,I will be on the road to a healthier,happier life.

    A man died and was on his way to another1, either the Heaven or the Hell. He saw an extremely2palace half way and the owner of the palace3him to stay and live in the palace.

    The man said, "I have been working4during my life and now I just want to eat and sleep5any work."

    The owner of the palace said, "6, there is nowhere else better than here for you. There are a wealth of7in my palace and you can eat whatever you want without anyone8you. 9, there is10that needs to be done by you." Then, the man settled down in the palace.

    At the beginning, the man felt very11at the rotation（轮流）of eating and sleeping. But12, he felt a bit lonely and empty. So he went to the owner and complained, "It is13to live by just eating and sleeping every day. Now I show no14in this kind of life any more. Could you help me find a15?"

    The owner replied, "16, there is no job here at all."

    After another several months, the man could not17the present life and went to the owner18, "I really could not stand this sort of life any more. If you do not offer me a job, I would19to go to the Hell instead of living here."

    The owner of the palace smiled contemptuously（轻蔑地）, "Do you think it is the Heaven here? It is20the Hell!"

    As a banker, Chip Paillex had never planted so much until he moved to rural Pittstown, New Jersey, seven years ago. 1by farms, he quickly became interested in growing and rented a 30-by-30-foot land. One weekend, he 2tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant—enough to feed his family for the summer.

He ended up with so much 3that he couldn't give it away. Thus he founded a local food 4, and by the time he delivered his last5, he had 6120 pounds of fresh vegetables.

    The following year, with a handful of 7from his church and a memorable name “America's Grow-a-Row”, Paillex planted,8,and harvested 2,500 pounds of vegetables, all of which he donated to food banks. Later he had more volunteers, rented more land and donated more vegetables.

    Paillex also 9 local school kids. On a 10Friday morning in May, 40 third and fifth graders trooped onto a freshly plowed field, each 11with a spade. Squatting or kneeling in teams of two, they loosened the dirt, then carefully12the plants .Several rows later, they eagerly lined up to seed corn under a hot mid-morning sun. Nobody 13.

    “The 14makes kids know there are people 15, says Paillex, “and it plants the seed for giving back. When they become tomorrow's 16, it will be much more possible for them to 17 their coworkers and employees to get 18 in something like this.

    “Paillex makes people want to 19,” says Colleen Duerr, a mother of two who has signed on as an 20“Grow-a-Row” member. “And families love this. Pallex has given us a way to raise our kids with a giving heart.”

In early November in 2023, a diver, swimming off the coast of Sardinia, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} （notice）pieces of metal on the ocean floor. He called the authorities and more divers were sent to look. The pieces turned out to be ancient Roman coins. The coins mostly lay {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （bury）in sand and seagrass not far from the coast. It is said that more than 30, 000 coins have been found, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} are close to 2, 000 years old. Experts call this a major historical discovery.