Little John invited his mother to attend his school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's 1 , she said she would go. This 2 be the first time that his classmates and teacher 3 his mother and he felt  4of her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar that 5 nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to 6 why or how she got the scar.

    At the meeting, the people were7by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother 8 the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed and 9 himself from everyone. He did, however, get within 10 of a conversation between his mother and his teacher.

    The teacher asked 11 , “How did you get the scar on your face?”

    The mother replied, “ 12 my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. Everyone was 13 afraid to go in because the fire was 14 , so I went in. As I was running toward his bed, I saw a long piece of wood coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked 15 but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She 16 the burned side of her face. “This scar will be 17 , but to this day, I have never 18what I did.”

    At this point, the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He held her in his arms and felt a great 19 of the sacrifice（牺牲） that his mother had made for him. He held her hand 20 for the rest of the day.

    I grew up in a small town. There was a man named Joe, who was uneducated and couldn't talk1. He was good natured but not very smart,2every one teased him.

    One day when was sitting on the porch, he came walking by, I was about 12 and thought it would make me 3grown up to play jokes on him as some 4did.

    He asked what I was doing, I told him that my father had 5his job and that we were short of money. I could see my friends nearby6so I went on with the7.From his8 expression, I'm convinced that I had fooled him 9.

    I knew he lived a 10life with low income, so it was funny when he asked11we needed anything. I told him that we didn't know if we would have enough to12he replied "you poor thing. "

    That night I heard the door13softly. I thought it was the wind whipping against the door, so I 14it. The next morning I found a small box of food outside my house, I knew it was from Bob. I looked into the box of canned food with15in my eyes. I felt ashamed for taking advantage of his 16towards me, I 17the whole story to my father and said I wanted to return the box. My father scolded me and 18that I keep the box; otherwise it would hurt Joe's feelings.

    Although the good was not19 I knew Joe gave the best he had. I did not20the gift.

My Perfect Imperfect Life

    A few years ago, I was standing at the barre (扶手杠) waiting for my adult ballet class when I heard a voice behind me. "So, do you have this perfect life?"

    My first reaction was to1who was being asked such an odd question. Then I remembered there were only two of us in the room. When I turned2, the other woman was looking straight at me.

    I had no idea how to answer it. Was she3? Who has a perfect life? Sure, occasionally I did find the perfect dress or the perfect pair of shoes,4never would I use that word to describe anything about me or my life. I felt a twinge of guilt for somehow giving her that5.

    She watched me. I finally6to whisper a quick "No".

    By then, the teacher had entered the room and turned on the music to start class. With a sigh of7, I moved my feet into the best position. But as soon as my knees bent for our first pose, I realized my8had been disturbed. This woman's words wouldn't9echoing in my thoughts.

    I wanted to know how she came up with her very mistaken10. If she knew anything about my life, she never would have had the11to ask me that question.

    I did my best to do our floor exercises in front of the mirror. For a few moments, I didn't see the usual12of my older self attempting to use a beautiful art form to 13my gracefulness. I only saw the little girl whose father died when she was two, the child who walked home from elementary school every day to an empty house, who learned to sew her own clothes to14money.

    Perfect. My life had been far from it.

    When those memories15, I was left with a vision of the woman I had become, the woman16by all those things I considered imperfect. I now saw the woman who had learned to be self-reliant, who17her family and her friends, who didn't take life for granted. Was that the "perfect" this woman had detected?

    I still don't know, but I no longer feel18or feel like I must keep track of all the difficult times to prove my life isn't19. If ever again asked whether my life is perfect, I would have a different20. Because now I see that, despite all its imperfection, it is.

    "Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be one of those!" I said this after seeing the Capital Dancing Company perform when I was three. It was the first time that my 1 took on a vivid form and acted as something important to start my training. As I grew older and was 2 to more, my interests in the world of dance 3 varied but that little girl's dream of someday becoming a 4 in the company never left me. In the summer of 2005 when I was 18, I received the phone call which made that dream a 5; I became a member of the company 6 back to 1925.

    As I look back on that day now, it surely 7 any sense of reality. I believe I stayed in a state of pleasant disbelief 8 I was halfway through rehearsals (排练) on my first day. I never actually 9 to get the job. After being offered the position, I was completely 10. I remember shaking with excitement.

    Though I was absolutely thrilled with the change, it did not come without its fair share of 11. Through the strict rehearsal period of dancing six days a week, I found it vital to 12 up the material fast with every last bit of concentration. It is that extreme 13 to detail (细节) and stress on practice that set us 14. To then follow those high-energy rehearsals 15 a busy show schedule of up to five performances a day, I discovered a new 16 of the words "hard work." What I thought were my physical 17 were pushed much further than I thought 18. I learned to make each performance better than the last.

    Today, when I look at the unbelievable company that I have the great 19 of being a part of, not only as a member, but as a dance captain, I see a 20 that has inspired not only generations of little girls but a splendid company that continues to develop and grow-and inspires people every day to follow their dreams.

    Any form of speech can be challenging, particularly if you are not used to talking in front of an audience. I am very 1 that I have been doing presentations and 2 training programs for many years, 3 I have got used to the nervousness that always appears inside before I speak. The nervousness is always a(n) 4 thing for me as it allows me to channel my energy into what I want to say.

    Just recently I had the pleasure of 5 at a conference about the key success factors (因素) in business and as usual in the days before my presentation I spent a lot of time 6 what I wanted to cover, as well as 7 the content.

    I have always 8 the level of success of my presentations by the applause (掌声) and 9 that I receive from the audience. After the applause ended I had the 10 to personally speak to nearly all of the delegates (代表). The last delegate I spoke with 11 me by taking my hand, shaking it and saying how much she 12 my presentation, and that she had got a lot of 13 tips to use in her business. Usually I feel 14 after any presentation, and I know it is directly related to how much energy I put into what I do. 15, this time her praise gave me a great lift and recharged my batteries.

    This 16 at the end of my presentation also made me realize that what we 17 in life can come back to us and 18, we all need to value the praise when and where it is deserved. As I drove away from the 19 I reflected on how fortunate I had been to receive all those words of praise and 20 that morning.

    I began to do volunteer work in grade seven. I experienced many meaningful moments, and the most1ones were when I was volunteering as a swimming2at the YMCA in Brockton, Massachusetts. At first, I was a teacher's3."What are we going to do next? "When is the play time? These were just two of the questions I was often4there. On the day of my first class, I thought it was going to be a(n) 5 job. I 6that since I had taken swimming lessons from the age of five, I knew the7about swimming. After all, I was good at all8of swimming! 9, I soon found out there was more about teaching swimming than just knowing how to swim.

    During my first class, I assisted the swimming teacher in teaching a group of five-year-old kids. From that moment on, my10of teaching changed. Teaching is communicating. To instruct children, one has to make the lessons11 and interesting for them to learn. I had to learn many games that would help the children to 12as swimmers. Such as "Red Light, Green Light" and "Blast-Off." I must devote myself to teaching them and set a(n)13example to them.

    I expected to teach a group of children, but it14my students were the ones who taught me how to be a(n)15teacher. Not only was it challenging to learn the children's names, but it was also challenging to16to their many personalities and moods. There were many 17that went along with helping these children, among which was seeing a child18a task that he or she could not do before they met me.19, through the volunteer work, I learned that there would always be rewards by giving, and there would be20by making efforts.