There was a woman in Detroit, who has two sons. She was worried 1 them, especially the younger one, Ben, 2 he was not doing well in school. Boys in his class 3 fun of him because he seemed so 4.

    The mother 5 that she would, herself, have to get her sons to do better in school. She 6 them to go to the Detroit Public Library to read a 7 a week and do a report about it for her.

    One day, in Ben's  8, the teacher held up a rock and asked if anyone knew it. Ben 9 up his hand and the teacher let him 10. “Why did Ben raise his hand?” They wondered. He 11 said anything; what could he possibly want to say?

    Well, Ben not only 12 the rock; he said a lot about it. He named other rocks in its group and even knew 13 the teacher had found it. The teacher and the students were 14. Ben had learned all this from doing one of his book 15.

    Ben later went on to the 16 of his class. When he finished high school, he went to Yale University 17 at last became one of the best doctors in the United States.

    After Ben had grown up, he 18 something about his mother that he did not know as a 19.

    She, herself, had never learned how to  20.

    The famous composer, Albert Roussel, didn't have a good start in this career. However, he achieved a great deal of success as a result of a 1.

    Roussel's parents died when he was eight and he went to live with his 2. As a little boy, he fell in love with music and3himself about it by reading through the family collection that his mother kept, 4 which there were a lot of related books. Three years later, Roussel's grandfather died, and his mother's sister decided to 5 him. Her husband was a kind man and6for young Roussel's music lessons. One summer vacation at a Belgian seaside added a second 7to his life—the sea. Then he studied to be a naval cadet（海军学员）, but still took time to study 8.

    In the French Navy, he and two friends found the time to 9a band, playing the works of Beethoven and other10. Roussel also began composing. On Christmas day 1892, he had his first chance to 11as a composer, which turned out to be a success.

    That success 12 Roussel to write a wedding march（婚礼进行曲）, and one of his navy friends 13to show it to a famous conductor, Edouard Colonne. When Roussel's friend 14with the manuscript（手稿）, he reported that Colonne had advised Roussel to 15his naval career and devote his life to music.

    Not long,16, at the age of 25, Roussel decided to 17Edouard Colonne's advice. He gave his heart and soul to his composing and 18 a major force in twentieth century French music. Because of Eduoard Colonne's inspiring 19, Roussel devoted his life to music, but Rousssel's20friend later admitted that he had made it up. He said he had never even shown Roussel's manuscript to the famous conductor.

    After my brother died in an accident, my mother was very sad. I was only 4 years old at the time, but I still understood the 1 in my mom's attitude toward safety.2, everything around us was potentially 3.

    I grew up with a lot of 4 and rules that were meant to 5 me. For example, I was not 6 to walk home from school by myself, even though everyone I knew already did. I couldn't 7 evening parties or go to summer camp,8 what if something happened to me?

    As I got older, the list of things to 9 got longer. I became a natural 10. I was concerned about things like getting cancer, losing my wallet, being caught in car accidents and earthquakes —11 big and small, real and 12.The funny part is that you'd never know it by looking at my life, because I'm constantly 13 myself to do the things that frighten or worry me. In fact, I've developed a 14 for myself: If it scares me, then I have to do it 15 once. I've done lots of things that would have 16 my mom: I've ridden a motorcycle, I've traveled alone, and I've performed stand-up comedy.

    Courage isn't a natural attribute (品质) of human beings. I believe that we have to practice being courageous. The more 17 I do things that scare me or that make me 18, the more I realize that I can do a lot more than I originally thought I could do.

    Even though I inherited (经遗传获得) my mother's cautious19, I've also come to believe that fear can be a good thing, if we 20 it. Believing that has made my world a less scary place.

    As a young man, Albert was a skilled artist, a potter with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son 1 a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some 2 intestinal (肠的) disorder, neither Albert nor his wife took the condition very 3. But the boy died suddenly that night.

    Knowing the death could have been 4 if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, he always felt he was 5 . To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two 6 were more than Albert could stand, and he 7 alcohol for help. 8 Albert became an alcoholic.

As the alcoholism 9 , Albert began to lose everything he 10 —his land, house, etc. Finally Albert died alone in a small 11.

    Hearing of Albert's death, I thought, "What a totally 12 life! What a complete failure!"

    As time went by, I began to 13 my earlier rough judgement. I knew Albert's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I saw the love between Ernie and his children, thinking that 14 and caring had to come from 15 .

    I hadn't heard Ernie talked much about his father. One day, I 16 my courage to ask him what on earth his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said 17, "As a child 18 I left home at 18, Albert came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, 'love you, son.'"

    Tears came to my eyes as I realized 19 a fool I had been to judge Albert as a failure. He had not left any 20 possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.

    It was Mother's Day and I was shopping at the local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were 1 ， we realized that only minutes earlier an 2 woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground. 3was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock. 4, a lot of people stopped to help out.

    5we were walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very 6about what had happened to the elderly people. He 7to me, "Mom, it's not much fun falling over in front of 8." Seeing that there was a flower stall（摊位）in the front of the supermarket, he added, "Why shouldn't we 9  the lady a flower? It will make her feel better." I was 10that he'd come up with this 11  idea. So we went over and told the flower seller 12 we wanted. "Just take it," she replied. "I 13 take your money for such a wonderful 14.”

    By now medical staff had arrived, and were 15 the injured woman. We gave the flower to the woman's husband and I told him it was 16my son. At that, the old man started crying and said, "Thank you very much." He then turned to me, "You have a 17 son. Happy Mother's Day to you."

    The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. 18being badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with 19 in her eyes and gave him a little 20.

    Jen and Jeff Fisher were a lovely couple with two kids who would soon be faced with a life-changing decision. Not only would it change the1of the family that they already had but it would also change the2of three young children that came into their home.

    The Fishers already had two3of their own: 13-year old Aiden and 10-year-old Macy. The Fishers decided to4another child and were introduced to the foster (寄养的) system. It was through foster care that they'd5three kids who would change everything.

    A social worker who worked with the foster system6the Fishers to an 11-year-old girl named Tannah Butterfield. She and her two younger siblings (弟妹) lost their7and no longer had a home of their own. Tannah wanted nothing more than a8of her own.

    As is9with the foster system, siblings are at risk of being separated from each other and sent off to10homes. But that's when the Fishers did something extraordinary.

    The Fishers11Tannah and her siblings, six- year-old Teagun and two-year-old Tallie, into their home. It was an extremely polite gesture,12since some foster families won't accept siblings together due to their13differences.

    When Tannah and her siblings set foot in the Fisher household for the first14, the switch couldnt have been15. They got along well with Aiden and Macy as if they'd all16each other their whole lives!

    A majority of kids in foster care often17separated. Luckily for Tannah, Teagun, and Tallie, they were able to18with the Fisher family for whole two years. At that point, Jen and Jeff Fisher19that they wanted to adopt the three kids that they had come to20as their own.