There is a well-known story about a farmer1 found an eagle(鹰) egg. The story reminds us of the importance of developing our full potential(潜力).

    One day, a hardworking 2 found an eagle's egg lying on the ground of his farm. He was in a hurry 3 he paid no attention to it and 4placed it together with all the chicken eggs. After several days, the egg hatched(孵化）and the little eagle 5 into the world.

    The eagle thought he was 6 same as the other chickens, 7 the eagle pecked(啄食）and dug for worms. He ran about and sometimes jumped around, flying a few 8 in the air like the chickens. Over the years, the eagle grew old and tired. One day he saw a splendid bird 9 overhead, and asked, “ 10 is that?” “That's the king of the 11— the bald eagle,” replied a chicken. “The sky is her home. We're chickens -- our home is 12 the farm.”

    And so the eagle lived and died 13 a chicken, for that's what he believed he was.

    Are you an eagle tha 14 like a chicken? 15 , many people have great talents bu 16 bring them to use. Actually, we 17 make our talents take off by developing our character strengths. Suppose there was a young man who 18 in the world. He asked questions about his environment, explored new neighborhoods where he lived, and soon he mentally mapped out the city he lived in. He used his curiosity to make the 19 of his talents for spatial(空间的）intelligence.

    When we use our character strengths, we will 20 that we are eagles.

    Many years ago,I was working as a psychologist at a children's institution in England.One day an adolescent boy1in my office.His headmaster had2him to me."David,"he wrote,"is very sad since both his parents died. He refuses to talk and I'm very3about him.Can you help?"

    How could I help him?There are human tragedies psychology doesn't have the4to.Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen5.

    The first two times we met,David didn't say a word.I6we play a game of chess the third time he came.He 7.After that we played chess every Wednesday afternoon in8.It's not easy to cheat in chess,9I made sure David won once or twice.It seemed as if he enjoyed my10.But why did he never talk with me?

    "Perhaps he11needs someone to share his pain with,"I12.Some months later,I sat staring at David's head, while he was bent13the chessboard.Suddenly,he looked up at me.

    "It's your14,"he said.

    After that day,David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club.He wrote me15a few times about how he would try to get into university.The letters16after some time.I knew he had really started to live a(n)17life.He needn't write me any more to tell me that.

    Maybe I gave David something.At least I18a lot from him.For example,David showed me19one—without any words—can reach out to another person.All it20is a hug,a shoulder to cry on,a friendly touch and an ear that listens.

    When Meghan died in a car accident at the age of sixteen, Colleen Keefe together with another friend wrote the following to remember her:

    When I heard the news of you 1 us so soon, all I could do was hug my blanket to me. On my way down to 2 your mom and dad, I realized I needed to give you a 3 of me. I could not cut out my heart, even though it is 4 at this time. So I give to you, my friend, a piece of my blanket in the 5 of a heart. Attached to it is a(n) 6 of the three of us—you, me and Shauna.

    Now, I have to 7 that this blanket was given to me by my grandfather, who is in heaven with you. He will 8 the blanket. He might not recognize my picture, as he has been gone for over fourteen years. But don't be 9--he's really a teddy bear. Give him a big hug and a kiss 10 me, and tell him I said to take care of you. He will 11.

    Now that we know you are being taken 12 of, we can move on with our lives. We found out that one who received your organ（器官）donation is doing 13. Even in your 14 you have helped others. We will be seeing your family soon, and staying in 15 with everyone.

    Good-bye, my friend, we16 you already. You will never be 17 from our thoughts. Give us a nudge（轻推）when we are heading in the 18 direction and, of course, keep “dancing”.

    Every time I 19 my blanket around me I will 20 your presence. Stay warm.

    After 22 years of marriage, I have discovered the secret to keep love alive in my relationship with my wife, Peggy. I started dating another woman.

One day Peggy said to me, "Life is too 1, you need to spend time with the people you love. You probably won't believe me, but I know you love her and I think that if the two of you spend more time together, it will make us2.

The "other" woman my wife was encouraging me to3is my mother, a 72-year-old widow who has lived alone since my father 4 20 years ago. Right after his death, I5 2,500 miles away to California and started my own life and career. When I moved back near my hometown six years ago, I promised myself that I would spend more time with mom. But with the 6of my job and three kids, I never got around to seeing her much 7family get-togethers and holidays.

    Mom was 8 and suspicious when I called and suggested the two of us go out to dinner and a movie.

    We didn't go anywhere 9, just a neighborhood place where we could talk. 10 her eyes now see only large shapes and shadows, I had to read the menu for both of us.

"I used to be the 11 when you were little," she said.

"Then it is time for you to relax and let me 12the favor," I said.

    We had a nice talk 13dinner, just catching up on each other's lives. We talked for so long that we 14 the movie.

"15was your date?" my wife asked when I got home that evening.

    Nice...nicer than I thought it would be,' I said.

    Mom and I get out for16a couple of times a month. Sometimes we take in a movie, but 17we talk. Through the talks, I know what it was like for her to work in a factory during the Second World War. I know how she met my father there, and know how they 18the difficult times. I can't get enough of these stories. They are 19 to me, a part of my history.

    Peggy was right. Dating another woman has20my marriage.

    Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new1in high school.

    2, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts(选拔赛) for cheerleaders(拉拉队队员). She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be3for her to be selected. Two hours later, the4read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart5as the list ended without her name. Feeling6, she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

    Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was7. She moved on to English and history, and was8to find that she didn't have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to9math for the time being.

    The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school10Mrs. Biden wasn't as11as Jenna. “I'm sorry, but we have enough12for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we'll talk then.” Jenna smiled13and left. “Why is high school so14?” she sighed.

    Later in15class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much16. By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she'd continue to try to17at her new school. She wasn't sure if she'd succeed, but she knew she had to18High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond19a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the20fish you can be.”

    One day, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day and I was feeling 1 . As I paid for the gas, the attendant said, “How do you feel?” That seemed like a 2 question, but I felt fine and told him so. “You don't look 3.” he replied and continued to tell me my skin appeared 4.

    By the time I left, I was a little 5 . About a block away, I 6 to the side of the road to look at my face 7 the mirror. Was everything all right? Had I picked up 8 rare disease? By the time I got home, I was beginning to feel a slight 9 somewhere in my body.

    The next time I went into that gas station, I 10 what had happened: The place had recently been painted a bright yellow, and the light reflecting off the walls made everyone inside 11 as though they were sick! That was the truth. 12 , I let that short conversation change my attitude for an entire day. His 13 observation affected the way I felt and acted.

    This experience made me think a lot. It is the same with life, in which attitude 14 . The way we look at life determines how we feel and how we 15. If we expect something to turn out 16 , it probably will. But the 17 also works in reverse. If we expect good things to happen, they 18 do. An optimistic attitude, I believe, is not a luxury but a(an) 19. So after that, I chose to highlight the 20 throughout the rest of my life.