I was sitting at the kitchen table finishing my morning meal. A little taste of autumn1had risen in my soul. The2 air and falling leaves all 3 the coming of the winter. I took my last drink of meal and carried my4 bowl over to the sink to clean it. My two cats sat on top of the kitchen counter,5 above them. I saw that they were both eyeing a tiny spider on a single web from the light above. Just as the spider came near,6cats were well prepared to catch and eat him. I quickly took a paper towel and 7 the little guy before he became a kitty 8I walked out of the back door to let him 9. As soon as I set him down he quickly crawled to 10on the wall. As I shut the door, I noticed something too. I was 11and my sadness was gone.

    Now I know a lot of people would be 12 about how saving the eight-legged animal could have 13my spirits, so quickly. After all, it was just a spider. As I thought about it, two sentences I had recently read 14me. The first was: “The only true thing is 15” The second was: “ Do everything out of love.” I realized then that no act of love is 16 I had only spared a spider to live another day, but it had 17my heart and improved my spirit.

    Make your life full of love. When you do so, you will18not only yourself, but others and this world. Your soul will 19 the cheers of other people.20 people's eyes every smile you share is a treasure, and every kind act you do is a triumph(胜利).

    My father and I are moving gracefully(优雅地) across the floor. Around and around we go, 1 and nodding to the other dancers. We are the best dancers on the floor, they tell us. My father holds my hand and smiles at me. All the years that I 2 to dance with him disappear now. And those 3 times come back.

    I remember when I was almost three and my father came home from work, he pulled me into his 4 and began to dance me around the table. We danced through the years. One night when I was fifteen, I was 5 in some painful feelings. My father asked me to dance with him. “Come on,” he said, “let's get the 6 on the run.” When I turned away from him, my father put his hand on my shoulder, and I 7 out of the chair shouting, “Don't touch me! I am sick and 8 of dancing with you!” I saw the 9 on his face, but words were out and I could not call them back. I ran to my room crying 10.

    We did not dance together after that night. My father waited up for me through my high school and college years when I danced my way out of his 11. Many years later, soon after his 12 picked up from a heart problem, my mother wrote that they had 13 a dance club. “You remember how your father loves to dance.” Yes, I remembered. My eyes filled up with 14. I knew he was waiting for a(an) 15 from me, but I could never find the right words.

As my parent's 50th wedding anniversary 16, I knew 17 I wanted to do was dance once more with my father. On the big day, in the party after the dinner, my parents danced around the room with the other dancers. I walked 18 the dancing people, looking directly into my father's eyes, “Excuse me, but I believe this is my dance.” My father stood 19. Our eyes met and traveled back to that night when I was fifteen. In a(an) 20 voice, I said, “Let's get the unhappiness on the run.” My father bowed(鞠躬) and said, “Oh, yes. I've been waiting for you.”

    Jean is a clever young woman who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a(n) 1 university and has everything that money can buy. Well, 2 everything. The only problem is that the people in Jean's family are so 3 that they can hardly find time to be with her.

    So Jean 4 a lot of her time on MSN. She likes being anonymous (匿名的), 5 to people who do not know about her famous family and her 6 life. She used the name Linda on MSN and has 7 a lot of friends who she contacts quite 8.

    Last year Jean made a very 9 friend on MSN. His name was David and he lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common 10 in rock music and modem dance. 11 it always took them hours to talk 12 on MSN and sometimes they even 13 the time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David 14 a picture of himself: a tall, good-looking young 15 with a big, happy smile. As 16 went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

    When Jean's father told her that he was going 17 a business trip to San Francisco, she asked her father to let her 18 with him, so that she could give David a 19 for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite 20 singer. But when Jean knocked on David's door in San Francisco, she found that the special friend she had been contacting was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim.

    It was the last day of the final examination in a large eastern university. On the steps of one building, a group of engineering seniors gathered, discussing the exam due to begin in a few 1. On their faces was confidence (自信). This was their last exam — then on to 2 and jobs.

    Some talked of jobs they already had; others talked of jobs they 3 get. With the certainty of four years of college, they felt ready and able to take 4 of the world.

    The coming exam, they knew, would be a(n) 5 task. The professor had said they could bring 6books or notes they wanted, requesting only that they did not 7 each other, during the test.

    8 they entered the classroom. The professor passed out the papers. And smiles 9 on the students' faces as they noted there were only five essay-type questions.

    Three hours had passed 10 the professor began to collect the papers. The students no longer looked confident. On their faces was a frightened expression. Papers in hand, no one spoke as the professor faced the class.

    He looked at the 11 faces before him, and then asked, "How many completed all five questions?"12 a hand was raised.

    "How many answered four?" Still no hands.

    "Three? Two?" The students moved restlessly in their seats.

    "One, then? Certainly somebody finished 13."But the class remained silent.

    The professor put down the papers. "That is exactly what I 14," he said. "I just want to impress upon you that, 15 you have completed four years of engineering, there are still many things about the 16you don't know. These questions you couldn't answer are relatively 17 in everyday practice." Then smiling, he added, "You will all 18 this course, but remember — even though you are now college graduates, your education has just 19."

    The years have 20 the name of this professor, but not the lesson he taught.

    A woman professor walked around in a classroom while she was teaching stress management to her students. 1 she raised a glass of water, 2 expected they would be asked the "half-empty or half-full" question.

    Instead, with a 3 on her face, she asked, “What's the 4 of this glass of water?”5 called out ranged from eight to twenty ounces (盎司).

    She 6 the students down and then replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter .It all 7 how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have a 8 in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb (麻木) and paralyzed (麻痹). In each 9, the weight of the glass of water doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the 10 it becomes. Do you know why?"

    All the students kept silent and listened carefully, lost in thought.

    She 11, "Our stresses and 12 in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing 13. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel 14—unable to do anything."

    It's important to 15 to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as possible, put all your burdens down. Don't 16 them through the evening and into the night Remember to put the glass down!

    More often than not life gets 17 when we think too much. And the moment you 18 your burden, you'll find yourself feeling so much more relaxed.

    So 19 wondering around and feeling sorry for yourself, start doing something about it. After all, life is too short to devote yourself to anything that makes you 20.

    Every year around this time kids perform in their holiday concert. For many schools it is the most well-attended 1 of the year. In years past, my daughter has joined her classmates in singing. This year was 2 though. She had a few 3 parts.

    My daughter was very 4 about earning these parts. Yet with her excitement also came some nervousness. She 5 practiced her lines until she knew them 6. And, each day her class would prepare for what was going to be a special 7.

    Each day she would tell us that she did well but that she was very 8. She was worried that people would 9 her if she made a mistake. 10, she was worried about speaking in front of over a thousand people.

    Then the 11 night came last week. We luckily got front row seats, which was great for 12.

    When the time had finally arrived for my daughter to recite her lines, she did it 13. But she thought she had made a mistake, and I could see that she was close to 14 when she had finished her first part. You can only imagine how 15 it was for me not to run up on stage and 16 her and tell how much I 17 her. What happened next was the reason she is now my 18.

    She went back up to the microphone two more times and spoke her lines perfectly. The 19 it took to do that was something I will never forget. I will not 20 myself in any situation as long as I remember the night my daughter showed me what real courage looked like.