A boy from a farmer's family stopped from school due to poverty, and went back farming to1the family. When he grew up to 19 years old, his father died. After that, all the family2 him including his mother and grandma in sickness.

    At first, he 3a pool and wanted to feed fish. But others told him it couldn't be used to feed fish, but only to grow crops. What he could do was to cover the pool and thereafter he became a  4.

    Then he heard raising chickens was a way of making money.  He borrowed some money from relatives and  5  chickens.  6  a flood attacked the town, and after that all the chickens got sick and        almost  7. His mother could hardly 8  it and died in the gloom.

    He 9the businesses of making wine, fishing or even digging embrasures (炮眼) on the cliff for others.

    When he was 35, he had no wife, no money, but only lived in a house made from earth which would 10in any storm. But he still wanted to 11 . He borrowed some money to buy a truck. But when he   drove it on the road after a short while, he had an  12  and broke his leg. He became crippled. Everyone said he was  13 .

    But later he became a boss, who owned a capital of 200 million. Now lots of people know his past and his business experiences. A journalist made a(n) 14with him.

    “Why do you  15after so many failures?”

    He was sitting in front of a broad table and just had finished a cup of water. Then he held the16cup in hand and asked, “If I loose my hand, what will happen to this cup?”

    “Broken!” answered the journalist.

    He 17his hand and the cup fell to the floor, with a bang sound, but not 18.

    “Even if ten people were there they would believe it was broken. But, it isn't a(n)  19cup. It is made of  20.”

    I sat down at my desk and tried to focus on my studies. In just seven more days, finals would be over and all the students in my college 1 would be leaving to   go home-2 me. I would be moving 3 to another dormitory for the Christmas break.

    I had no 4. I was a student from Pennsylvania attending college in Utah and my family of ten couldn't 5 to pay for my ticket home. The only 6 I was even able to attend college was that I had received several scholarships.

    I started at the white snow dancing through the air. This would be my 7 Christmas away from home. I felt so 8 that I could weep. 9 I swallowed down the ache that was rising in my throat, my phone rang suddenly. I reached over and picked it 10.

    “Hello?”

    “Hi, Teddi. This is Elsie.” What was my boss from high school grocery job 11 me for? “All the workers here 12 that you weren't able to make it home this year.13 we bought you a ticket. You're coming home!”

    I screamed.

    Fifteen minutes later I was off the14and jumping up and down for 15. Neighbors came over to see what the 16 was all about.

    “I'm going home for Christmas! My17 at my high school job bought me a ticket!” I told them.

    Christmas 18, I was awoken by laughs and screams of joy. The smell of roasting turkey and the wrapping paper（包装纸）that grew higher and higher filled me with love and 19. The kindness of some special fiends 20 me to have the best Christmas ever.

    This happened just a few minutes ago and I wanted to share. It was not a huge deal but put a smile on my face and made me feel very 1.

    I headed to the local store, which was also 2 as a petrol station. As I entered, I noticed that all the pumps (油泵) didn't work. I thought they had just run out of 3.

    The local store was being 4 tonight, somewhat different from usual. I grabbed a few bits and pieces and headed to the checkout. After 5 chatting with the shop assistant, I 6 that earlier that day there was something wrong with the fuse (保险丝), which 7 the electric system in the entire store. Pumps and refrigeration out of action, no online payments.

    I went to pay but the card reader didn't even try. I tried again, same deal.8 I was holding up the line so I put aside the things I 9 and told the cashier (收银员) I was heading outside to their ATM.

    I headed out, but the ATM was also out of 10. I went back in and while dealing with the next customer, the cashier 11 and spotted me. I told him the ATM was out and suggested running home to 12 some cash. At that moment, a man after me insisted on 13 the cost of my things. It wasn't a large amount,14£5，but made a great 15. It was a lovely thing for him to help others in16. He said it was nice to 17someone out and it 18 me having to run back home and back to the shop and back home again.

    19 many twists and turns exist in the world, there will always be gifts in your life. Enjoy the gifts, and 20 the gifts.

    All of us in Monte Vista Christian School know we'll one day have graduation photos for the yearbook taken. As the time 1, the girls start to have a 2 about what they'll wear and where to take the photos, while the boys 3 hardly talk about it. As for me, I 4 for my photos to be taken by the sea.

    When I arrived there, I met my photographer, Annie. She asked me to make some poses and I 5 her advice. After that, I asked if she could make me look 6 by taking photos in a different way, 7 I'm less than 1.6 meters tall. To my 8 she responded, "I will make no 9 to make you look like someone you're not. You look good in your own way." She 10 that she wouldn't try to edit the photos either.

    I was shocked by what she said. Girls always 11 to look perfect by using different visual angles. When you go to a photo studio, photographers always try to hide your 12 by telling you to stand in a certain way. And picture editors can easily 13 your look by making you appear any you want to. 14, that's not the case here. Seeing I was 15, Annie explained: "Everyone has his uniqueness. You need to 16 your own beauty. You cannot live in a world of 17 photos."

    It was the first time that I had met a photographer who doesn't 18 photos at all. After the shoot, I saw the photos — they are 19 special and natural. But what's even more special are Annie's 20, which will always stay in my heart.

Be a Traveler, not a Tourist

    Last summer, I had just enough money saved to buy a golden ticket—a 3-month train pass that would take me to the furthest reaches of Europe. Excited for my journey, I packed all the necessities —except the 1.

    While the convenience of the Internet was definitely a contributing factor to my 2 not to take with me the few expensive kilograms of out-of-date information, this was not the only reason why I decided to fly alone.

    To be honest, my main 3 with the guidebook is that I find it 4 the pleasure of a journey—like bossy aunt who is always telling you what to do, 5 she doesn't always know what is the best.

    Experience has taught me that there is an obvious 6 between a tourist and traveler.

    While waiting in a queue, I met a man who had a checklist. He showed me his list of "Top 20 Things To Do in Italy" and 7 off in a loud American accent that he'd seen everything Italy has to offer in just four days.

    The problem I had with this man's 8 to travelling was that he was too 9 information provided by his guidebook. He was lost in the 10 attractiveness of the "must-sees" and 11 to all the wonders and adventures that might happen during the 12 trip.

    So, 13 any guidebook, I traveled to Estonia, the tiny Baltic country bordering Russia. In the 14 of advance plans as guidebooks would suggest, I had no choice but to turn to some friendly faces for advice. I 15 myself first and then asked them what was happening around the town. When this 16 an invitation to a beautiful Estonian home by a river where I  17 a 110-degree wood-stove sauna(桑拿浴), 18 picked forest-mushrooms and the good 19 of our five newly-found Estonian friends, I was most glad that I had left my "bossy 20" at home.

They talk about the straw that broke the camel's back, but really it should be the password that wiped out my memory bank. 

I was going along fine -with instant recall of my bank PIN (密码)，my mobile phone number and the date of my cousin's birthday before I downloaded a gas station payment app for its new customer discount. It asked me to create a password. When I typed in "gas 1", it was rejected for not being complex enough. I tried again: "IHateHearlessOilCompanies@". But that was too long and didn't include "at least one number". But here is the thing: as soon as 1 added the fresh password into my memory, I instantly forgot all the others. My brain had hit its limit for passwords. I now know nothing. 

I had entered some passwords in a notebook. Of course, I didn't write down the actual passwords, in case it fell into the wrong hands. Instead, I masked them in a way that only a family member could figure them out. For example, I combined my bank PIN with our postal code, then added it to a list of phone numbers. It would fool even Albert Einstein.

Maybe we need a system like the one we use to remember people's names. You know, you form an association between a person's characteristics and their name by whispering "Skinny George, Skinny George" in heart after meeting them. The risk is that, upon seeing him, you'll burst out the phrase. "Skinny George" might not mind, but it's possible "Boring Betty" will. As for remembering passwords as you change them, you could simply use the first and last letters of your favorite singer's greatest hits, together with the year of their release.

Maybe I'll try that one out- -but only after describing the system in the notebook. Then I'll hide it in a place so secret that I'll never remember where it is.