The cowboy without a horse

    A cowboy rode into a town and stopped at a cafe for a drink. When he finished his drink, he 1 his horse was stolen(偷窃). He went back into the caf6.held his gun up into the air and fired a shot(开枪)  2 even looking. "Which one of you 3 my horse?" he shouted loudly.

    4 answered. "Alright," the cowboy said, "I'm going to have 5 beer, and if my horse isn't back outside by the time I finish, I'm going to do 6 I did in Texas! And I don't like to have to do it. "

      Some of the people in the town were very 7. After the cowboy had one more beer, he walked outside His horse was back! He   8 his horse and started to ride off.

    The waiter went  9 the café in a hurry and asked, "Tell us, 10 you go, what happened in Texas?" The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."

    An officer(军官) is at a bus stop．He wants to take a1to see his girlfriend. He wants to tell her the2of his bus's arrive(到达)，so she can meet3at the stop on time. He wants to4her on a pay phone,5 he doesn't have a coin (硬币) for the phone．He wants someone to6him．

    A soldier(士兵) is near the stop. The omcer7over to the soldier and asks, "Do you have any coins8the phone?"

    "Let me have a look." says the soldier. "I'll see if(是否) I can help you."

    "Don't you know9 to speak to an officer?''says the officer. "Now let's start again．Do you have any coins…?"

    "No, sir."says the soldier10.

    It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any 1 in the house. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper and wrote on it, "Please 2  my dog half a pound (磅) of meat." Then she gave the paper to 3 dog and said, "Take this to the butcher (肉贩), and he'll give you what you want."

    The dog ran to the butcher's with the piece of paper. The butcher read the paper 4 and recognized (辨别出) that it was really the woman's handwriting (笔迹). So he did as he was asked to. The dog was very 5 and ate the meat up at once.

    At noon, the dog came to the butcher's again with a piece of paper. 6 reading the paper, the butcher gave it half a pound of meat once more.

    The next day, the dog came again at noon. And as usual, it 7 a piece of paper. This time, the butcher gave it its meat without looking at the paper.

    The dog came again at four o' clock. And the same thing 8 once again. It came for the third time at six o' clock. The butcher felt a little surprised. He said, "This is a small dog. 9 does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?"

Looking at the piece of paper, he 10 that there were not any words on it!

    Ray had a wonderful family and lived very happily. He had four grandchildren, and they all came to see him1their holidays. One day, Ray was preparing to welcome them as usual: cleaning the house and cooking delicious food. 2he was working, he lost his favorite watch which was a3from his deceased(已故的)wife. Ray loved the watch very much, and he was very sad.

    When his grandchildren arrived, they 4him they would find the watch. One granddaughter asked, "Grandpa, where did you see the watch last5it went missing?”

    Ray replied, "Maybe in the barn(谷仓)!"The children searched there for more than two hour 6could not find it.

    One of his grandsons wanted to search the barn 7, and Ray asked why he was going there. The little boy didn't explain but asked 8not to follow him. A moment later, he rushed back to his grandfather, "I found it!" he shouted. Ray was 9and asked how he made it. The little boy replied, 'I stood in the barn10making any noise, and tried my best to keep silent. After a few 11, I heard the sound of tick tick. At last, I 12the watch from the hay(干草). "After hearing his words, Ray hugged. The little boy and13him very much.

    The story tells us if we 14calm(冷静的), we can fired a solution. This shows the power of 15.

    I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a boxcar in a freight yard in Atlantic City, and1on my head. Now, I am 32. I can vaguely remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again But a disaster can do strange things to people.

    At the time, I was bewildered and afraid, but I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me, a potential, which I didn't see. And they made me want to fight it out with2

    The hardest3I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker for the rest of my life. When I say believe in myself, I am not talking about 4 the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is5of it, but I mean something bigger than that: a confidence that I am a real,6person; that somewhere there is a special place7I can make myself fit. It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to8the most elementary things.

    I can still remember once, when a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me, and I was9

    "I can't use this," I said.

    "Take it with you," he urged me "and roll it around."

    The words10in my head: "Roll it around, roll it around" By rolling the ball, I could11where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought12: playing baseball.

    At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind, I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it groundball.

    All my life. I have13ahead of me a series of goals, and then tried to reach them one at a time I would14sometimes anyway, but on the average, I made progress.

    I believe in life now. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me more15what I had left.

    I put my bag in the luggage area, and sat down in my seat. Just before taking off, a line of soldiers came and filled the 1 seats.

    After flying 2 about an hour, it was announced lunches were available for $5. As I 3 for my wallet to buy one, I heard the soldier ask his partner 4 he planned to buy lunch. "No, the lunch seems too expensive. I'll 5 till we get to Chicago. " His friend agreed.

    I looked around at the other soldiers. 6 were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane, and handed the flight attendant a $50 bill. "Take a lunch to all those 7,"    After eating, I went to the restroom. A man stopped me. "I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this. " He 8 me $25.

Soon after I returned to my 9. I saw  the Flight Captain coming down the aisle （过道）. When he got to my row, he stopped and said, "I want to 10 your hand. I was a soldier. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of 11 I never forgot. " I was embarrassed when applause （掌声）was heard from all of the passengers.

    Later, a man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake 12. He left another $ 25 in my hand.

    When we landed in Chicago, I 13my bag. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me and put something in my pocket. 14$25.

    Upon entering the terminal, I gave $75 to the soldiers. "It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You. " I said. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them some 15. It seemed so little.