A few years ago, an elderly woman entered my video store, along with her daughter. The1was showing an air of impatience,2 her watch every few seconds. If the daughter had possessed a rope, she would have 3 her mother to it as a means of pulling her along.

    The old woman began to pick DVDs herself. I walked over and asked 4 I could help her find something. The woman smiled up at me and showed me a 5 on a piece of paper.6 rushing off to find the DVD for the woman, I asked her to7 with me so I could show her where she could find it and I wanted to enjoy her8 for a moment. Something about her movements9 the memories of my own mother, who'd 10. As we walked along the back of the store, I described what was on the shelves: old television shows, action movies, cartoons, science fiction. The woman seemed glad of the unrushed “trip" and 11 conversation.

    I said to her daughter,“12 some advice?”“ Of course not,” said the daughter. “13 her” I said. “When she's gone, it's those precious 14 that will come back to you. Times like this, I know.” It was 15  .I still missed my mom and remembered the times when I'd used my impatience to make her 16.

    Together they 17  their way toward the store's exit. They stood there for a moment, side by side,18 the holiday crowds. Then the daughter glanced over and looked at her mother lovingly. And slowly, she placed her arm with apparently unaccustomed affection 19 her mother's shoulders and 20 guided her back into the crowd.

    The books in David's schoolbag felt like bricks as he ran. What he wanted to do was to play basketball with Eric, 1 his mother told him he would have to return his sister's books to the library first.

    He had 2 set foot in a library and he didn't like reading. He would just 3 the books in the outside return box. But there was a 4; it was locked.

    He went into the building, only a few minutes 5 closing time. He put the books into the return box. And after a brief 6 in the WC, he would be on his way to the playground to 7 Eric.

    David stepped out of the WC and stopped in  8 — the library lights were off. The place was 9. The doors had been shut. They 10 be opened from the inside, he was trapped in a library!

    He tried to11 a telephone call, but was unable to12. What's more, the pay phones were on the outside of the building. 13 the sun began to set, he searched for a light and found it.

    14 he could see. David wrote on a piece of paper: “15! I'm TRAPPED inside!” and stuck it to the glass door. 16, someone passing by would see it.

    He was surprised to discover that this place was not so unpleasant, 17. Rows and rows of shelves held books. He saw a book about Michael Jordan and took it. He settled into a chair and started to 18.

    He knew he had to 19, but now, that didn't seem to be such a 20 thing.

"Whoa! What are you doing? " I asked. I had just walked into my daughter's room as she was1a science project. Normally, I would have been pleased at such a(n)2But this time, her project involved much sand.3she'd put some plastic under her work area, it wasn't nearly enough. The sand was4 all over our newly renovated(整修的) floor.

My daughter immediately felt my displeasure and began to5herself. "I used plastic!" she responded angrily. I responded more6, "But the sand is getting all over!"

"Where else am I supposed to do it?" she7.

    Why won't she admit when she has done something8? I felt my9, thinking of the future: what would her life look like if she couldn't admit her mistakes?

    My fear translated into more anger, this time about how10it was for her to admit mistakes. We had a11  She said something that I felt disrespectful to me and I12my voice. Both of us ended up 13terrible. I wished this  14happened before.

    So I thought that I needed a good15to respond to my daughter. For this, I went to my wife, Eleanor, who was truly a master. I asked her how I should have 16it.

"Sweetie," she said, role-playing me in the17with my daughter, "There's a lot of sand here and we need to18it up before it destroys the floor, how can I help?

    That's really a great way to deal with it: first19the problem, next state what needs to happen and then offer to20 . It's simple, right? However, it's really helpful in solving some problems in life.

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(生活的必需品)—except the 1.

    While the convenience of the Internet was definitely a contributing factor to my 2not 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 3with 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 9information 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, 13any 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 15myself first and then asked them what was happening around the town. When this16 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 newfound Estonian friends, I was most glad that I had left my "bossy 20" at home.

    Walking across campus with every pair of eyes on you can be embarrassing, especially when you're 13 years old. I looked around me in 1 of a friendly face, a smile, anything. I was quite disappointed. And I, 2, felt somewhat foolish, walking across campus 3 with a false smile plastered(粘贴)across my face. I was simply 4 to follow the advice my mother had given me years before: when things get 5, smile. No matter where you are, a smile will always be understood. A smile is 6. At that very moment, however, I felt my mother's advice didn't 7.

    When the teacher 8 me to the class as the "American girl," 10 sets of hands immediately shot up. Some students had 9; others wanted to practice their English with me. Because I couldn't speak much Chinese 10, I communicated with them via gestures mixed in with 11 English and Chinese. Although I was 12, I wasn't sure how much of it was 13. It was almost as if they were 14 about me and I was being examined. 15 who could blame them? After all, I was the first American ever to 16 the school.

    Then, from across the room, a Chinese classmate suddenly 17 at me, and my nerves were instantly 18. Though there are cultural and language 19, we were sharing something in common. And as usual, my mother was right. A smile does make a 20.

    One day, when I was a teenager, I was home along doing two of my favourite things: I was eating a huge plate of spaghetti and mealbails and I was 1.

    At the time, my family pet bird - a big white cockatoo named Luke was free from his 2 and flying around inside the house. Luke, which wasn't3 to use real words, was chucking (咯咯地叫) away, 4 me, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I was 5 on reading my detective book. 6 Luke decided to get closer and before I 7 it, he'd landed right on top of my spaghetti and meatbails! I was so surprised - my mind went8. My reaction was the same as yours would be: I shooed (用"嘘"声吓唬)him off my food! This wouldn't have been so bad 9 one thing: Luke had 10 my spaghetti. So when he 11 again, the spaghetti still winded in his12 went flying everywhere. He landed on my shirt. He hit me in the 13. As I pulled noodles out of my hair, Luke 14 spaghetti sauce all the way. He wasn't15, except for his16the sauce in his beautiful white 17 turned him splotchy (油渍斑斑的)orange for several weeks.

    See how funny spaghetti can be? And see how 18 reading can be? So go ahead and enjoy a good book. But if you like to read while you eat, you'd better keep an eye on your food. And if you find a19 novel at the 20 with red, splotchy (油渍斑斑的)spots on two pages near the middle, you'll know that I've read that book, too!