An village had a1tradition. At the beginning of every year, any boy who had reached the age of majority(the state of legally being an adult) was given land and money to build a home. The boy had to 2 his home before winter. If this home failed to endure the cold weather in winter, the villagers could not 3him in any way.

    On 4 Paul and Marc reached their majority. They 5 theri land and money and decided to search nearby villages for ideas on building their homes. In each village, they found the nicest 6and talked to the owners. Each owner gladly offered 7 .

    After Marc saw several homes, he  8the best ideas and went back to his own land. Paul,  9, continued collecting more ideas. Soon he had so many great ideas that he began to 10 some of them. And he always believed he could find even better ideas in the next village.

    Marc began building his home. He had several 11 starts, but his home gradually rose from his land. By fall, Marc had finished his home. It wasn't perfect, but it was strong and he could 12 it later. Paul enjoyed all the beautiful homes and 13 with home owners. The first snow came and Paul, realizing he was running out of time.14back to his land. He built the best home he could in the time he had, but it was 15. The first winter storm destroyed his home and he froze to16 . The villagers mourned for him.Marc  17 the winter. Each year, Marc searched for other good ideas he could use to make his own home look better. He became a leader in the village,18a family, and lived a happy and content life.

    We all build and improve our own mental homes. It's  19 and fun for us to search for ideas from other mental home owners ,but we only improve our own mental home if we actually 20 the best ideas.

    On his 67th birthday, Dad had a heart attack. He was1he survived. But something 2him had died. His passion for life was gone. He refused the doctor's3 and his bitter attitude made every visitor 4 Dad was left alone.

    I asked Dad to come and live on our small farm5the fresh air would do him good. A week later, I 6the invitation. He criticized everything here. Frustrated, I decided something had to be done.

    One day I read an article saying several depressed patients' attitudes had 7dramatically (显著地)when given dogs. That afternoon I drove to the animal shelter, where a pointer's eyes caught my attention. They watched me8.

    A staff member said: “He's been here for two weeks with nothing heard. His time is 9tomorrow.”

    I turned to the man in horror. “You mean to 10him?”

    “Madam, he said coldly. “We don't have 11for every unclaimed dog. The pointer's calm brown eyes12my decision. “I'll take him, ”I said.

    On arriving home, I took the dog to Dad's room. “Look what I got you! ”I said 13

    Dad frowned and murmured. “I don't want it”. Then, suddenly, the pointer 14from my grasp. He sat down in front of Dad.

    Dad's anger 15and soon he was hugging the animal.

    It was the beginning of a16Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together they spent long hours walking down country roads and relaxing on the banks of streams.

    Dad's 17faded, and he and Cheyenne befriended each other. Then, one night two years later, Cheyenne rushed into my bedroom as if telling something. Running into Dad's room, I found he had18.

    Two days later, my grief 19when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. While burying him near their favorite stream, I silently 20the dog for restoring Dad's peace of mind.

    My mother was a nurse and often took me along to visit the families she was caring for. Among them was a woman who had a 1 disease and was always lying on the bed.

    One afternoon, my mom told me that we needed to 2 the woman at her home to 3 treatment, and we would stop at a store 4 I thought we would stop at a5store, but we pulled up to a6 My mom headed to the make-up7and bought the most expensive bottle of8they offered. She also bought a 9nightdress. When I asked my mom who these things were for, she said they were for her patient. My mom 10explained that although this woman was older and unable to11her bed,  she was still a lady, and she 12dignity and beauty. She 13 to me that when we care for someone, we 14the disability or the illness and we look into the15 of the human so we can connect with them with sympathy. I 16 realized that my mother's 17strengths were caring for the very young and the very old, those who can not 18for themselves and need trustworthy care providers. I knew in 9th grade I would become a 19.

    Today, I work as a clinical psychologist, and I'm: not 20 that I find my practice filled with patients who are very young and very old.

    In kindergarten, I met my first love – dancing. For the last eleven years, I have spent many hours at the dance studio. The 1 I began as a little girl has shaped my personality, forming 2 that I will have for the rest of my life.

    Once while our dance team 3 for the state competition, six senior members quit without notice, leaving our team without a 4. My team's enthusiasm for the season was cut in half. 5, I was determined to become the new captain and lead my team past this obstacle.

    During the first practice after the seniors quit, my team's emotion was 6. As a leader, I tried to motivate my team through 7. I started to do 8 work outside practice to improve my kicking technique. My team respected me as a coach because I showed 9. On weekends, I spent hours trying to make up a creative competition routine. I wanted my team members to 10 the dance and perform well.

    Before the state meet, I drilled the 11 into the girls' heads and constantly encouraged them to work harder. I would shout out names of people who were 12 well during the dance, and the girls would 13 with even more energy. Through my dance experience, I also found I got better by 14 myself. I mixed new skills into the routine for the state competition to 15 my team's technique. We wanted to prove to ourselves and our school that we could still be a(n) 16 dance team without the girls who 17.

    On the stage, I felt my team's 18. I was proud that we were able to rebuild our confidence and go beyond our expectations at the state competition. We were 19 for all our hard work by placing in the top five. This experience taught me a lesson: with a passion for something, I could 20 any obstacle with creativity and determination.

    My dad also taught me, by example, that a healthy lifestyle is important. He was 1 ever sick. I don't think my dad ever even had a cup of coffee. He seldom 2 alcohol.

    He would say, "Bonnie, your 3 is a reflection of your overall physical well-being. So 4 you want to sing well, take better care of yourself." If I became hoarse (嘶哑) or caught a cold, he didn't 5 me directly, "Well, Bonnie, you know, if you get to sleep a little earlier, that would probably be a good 6." When I decided to get silent about 18 years ago, he told me, "See, Bonnie, it's so great to see you in such strong voice 7."

    He just did not complain (抱怨), even when he was uncomfortable towards the end, 8 the cancer that eventually 9 his life. He simply made a 10 to be positive.

    I am so glad that we had the 11 to perform together. I was touched that he tried singing my music, 12 the bluesy style didn't come 13 to him. Then, when I had so much Grammy (格莱美奖) 14 with my album Nick of Time in 1990, I 15, hey, I had one of the greatest 16  of all time in my family. I was very 17 about doing The Boston Pops Show on TV with my dad. To 18  me, he said, "Bonnie, a beautiful song is a beautiful song. Just 19 it." I looked in my dad's 20, and there we were singing the Irving Berlin Song. Of all the duets (二重唱) I've done, that one will always be a highlight.

I had a terrible experience last year. One night my younger brother, Chase, was driving us home from our weekly cleaning of the church. We were both getting 1 , so we picked up a couple of energy drinks at a gas station. Then we jumped onto the freeway and 2 home.

The ride was fine. My brother was focused, so I 3 my eyes. I woke up when we were close to our exit. But the car 4 turned to the right. I did not care at first because Chase often played jokes. Then I 5 it was not a joke at all.

I shouted my brother's name at the top of my 6 . He woke up from his sleep in time to slam on the brakes, though the brakes did little to 7 us down. We crashed into a streetlight, 8 us hit the dirt hill of the off-ramp (出口匝道).

Then I 9 something white and bright shoot toward my chest. It hit me and left me breathless but 10 me from the dashboard (仪表盘). The streetlight swung around, hitting two other 11 and then crashed back onto the hood of our car. One inch 12 to us, Chase and I wouldn't be here today. A kind man 13 us out of our car, and the policeman came to 14 us. They said there were no broken ribs (肋骨) and no internal bleeding.

Our dad 15 on the scene in his car and drove us home. From that day on, we never drove while we were sleepy or tired again.