A long time ago there was a boy. He was smart, talented and handsome.  1, he was very selfish and his temper was so 2 that nobody wanted to be friends with him. Often he got angry and said various 3things to people around him.

    The boy's parents were very 4 about his bad temper. They considered what they could do and one day the father had an idea. He called his son and gave him a hammer and a bag of5.The father said: “Every time you get angry, take a nail and 6 it into that old fence as hard as you can.”

    The fence was very7and the hammer was heavy, nevertheless the boy was so angry that during the very first day he drove 37 nails.

    Day after day, week after week, the number of nails was gradually8. After some time, the boy started to understand that 9 his temper is easier than driving nails into the fence.

    One day the boy didn't 10 hammer and nails any more as he learned to hold his temper perfectly. So he came to his father and told about his11. “Now every time, when you hold your temper all day long,12 one nail”.

    Much time has passed. At last the boy could be13 of himself as all the nails were gone. When he came to his father and told about this, he14to come and take a careful look at the fence. “You did a good job, my son,15 pay your attention to the 16 that were left from the nails. The fence will 17 be the same. The same happens when you say hurtful things to people, as your words leave18 in their hearts like those holes in the fence. Remember, we need to 19 everyone with love and respect. It doesn't 20 that you say you are sorry, because the scars will not disappear.

    Alice was very worried about her dad. For some time now she had noticed he was 1 his hair. One day, she asked him, “Daddy, every day you have less hair.2 is that?” Her father smiled and said, “It's the hair thief. He visits my head during the night when I'm 3. One by one he 4 out my hair, as much as he likes.”

    This worried Alice but she was 5 to help her father. That very night she stayed 6 as long as she could. When she was 7 her dad and mom had fallen asleep, she took a hammer and went straight to their bedroom. She walked carefully in order not to make any 8. She didn't want the hair thief to hear her. Then she began carefully 9 her father's head. When she arrived at her father's side, she began looking at his head,10to catch the hair thief as soon as he appeared. Before long, she saw a shadow on it and 11 all her strength, she swung the hammer down.

    Thwack! Her father 12a loud cry. The lump(肿块) on his head was big and growing.13 with shock, he turned the light on and saw Alice waving her hammer in the 14 with her hands. “Daddy, I 15 got him. I thought I 16 him, but it looks like he escaped!” said Alice. At the same time, the mother woke up. She 17laughing when she knew what had happened.

    So Alice's father had to 18to her that the hair thief didn't exist, and that losing hair is something that just happens 19 to most daddies. And Alice still worried about her daddy, but she no longer waited for the hair thief.20 , she bought her daddy a very nice sleeping hat.

    Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter（伐木工） went to a timber merchant to ask for a job and he got it. The 1was really good and the work conditions were good ,too . For those2,the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

    His boss gave him an axe(斧头) and 3him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees. The boss offered  4to him and told him to5that way .Encouraged by the boss's6, the woodcutter tried harder the next day,7he could only bring 15 trees. The third day, 8he tried even harder, he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing fewer and fewer trees. 9 ，he had to go to the boss and apologized to him, wondering whether he was losing his 10 ."When was the last time you sharpened (磨) your axe?" the boss asked. With a(an)11 look on his face, the woodcutter answered, "I had no12 to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to13trees..."

    Our lives are like that. It seems that everyone is14 than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that ? There's 15 wrong with activities and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we16 the truly important things in our 17 life, such as taking time to read and 18 more time with our family. We all need time to relax, to think, and to 19 .If we don't take the time to sharpen the "axe" , we will become20 and lose our effectiveness.

    A 1thing happened 2me last Sunday. It was such a beautiful day 3 I drove to go for a look in the country.

    On the way back home, my 4 stopped. It was out of gas on a 5 road far from a town! I decided to walk until I found someone 6could sell some gas. I had walked almost a mile 7 I finally found a house near the 8. I was glad to see it because it was getting dark.

    I knocked at the door and a little old lady with long white hair 9. She said, "I've been 10for you here for a long time. Come in. 11 is almost ready."

    "But I only came for some gas," I answered. I couldn't 12what she was talking about.

    "Oh, Alfred! Gas? You 13tea," said she.

    I quickly14 that my car was out of 15, but she didn't seem to listen to me. She just kept 16 me Alfred and talking about how long it had been17she had seen me. She was acting very strangely and I was anxious to leave. As soon as she went to get tea, I went out of the house as fast as I 18.

    Fortunately, there was another house down the road and I was able to buy the gas I needed. When I told the man about my 19, he said, "Oh, that's Miss Emily. She lives by herself in that big house. She's strange, but she wouldn't 20 anybody. She is still waiting for the man she was going to marry thirty years ago. The day before their wedding he left home and never came back because of the war."

    It seemed like any other day when fitness instructor Chantelle Lister set off to work at 7 am. It was the school holidays, so her daughters Loren and Mollie, 17 and 6, and 11-year-old son Charlie were still 1 in bed.

    But within an hour, the family home in Kettering, England, went up in flames (火焰). The 2started downstairs, and deadly smoke started 3 the second floor, where the children were sleeping.

    4, the family's beloved dog, Bailey, rushed to their 5 . Although the thick smoke 6 to climb the staircase, the 4-year-old dog made his way 7 and kept barking outside Loren's door until she 8 .

    Loren opened the 9 to thick black smoke covering the stairs and the sound of smashing (粉碎) glass. Struggling to 10 , the teenager ran into the other 11 and managed to get the 12 children out through a window and onto the roof.

    After successfully raising the 13, Bailey ran back downstairs to try to get out. 14, he was trapped in the 15 house.

    “The firemen pulled Bailey out and tried to 16 him, but he was dead,” Chantelle said. “They put a blanket over him and I kept 17, 'That could have been one of my children.' Bailey was such a character and so 18. The children wouldn't be here 19 him. He's my hero and I'll be 20 to him forever.”

Running for a Dream

    I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come2me. I saw worry and3on my father's face. Then the race began!

    For the first two and a half miles. I felt4.I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled5and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the6required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races, I didn't7out in the front, I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

    Then without warning, my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I8see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into9when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them10weight.

    I watched as runners rushed by me.11I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed. I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the 12left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled （爬）,inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both13and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep14until the very end.

    The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to15to. I whispered, "I'm so sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry I 16you." He looked at me, saying," You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just17.All that matters is that you did your best."

    "But we worked so18.What about our dream？"He reached over for my hand and said, "Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true？"

It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a19path for my journey, I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a20.What I realized, though, was that to him ,I was the greatest prize he had ever won.