One of the easiest things in the world is to become a fault-finder. However, life can be 1when you are not busy finding fault with it.

    Several years ago I2a letter from seventeen-year-old Kerry, who described herself as a world-class fault-finder, almost always 3by things. People were always doing things that annoyed her, and 4was ever good enough. She was highly self-critical and also found fault with her friends. She became a really 5person.

    Unfortunately, it took a horrible accident to change her 6Her best friend was seriously hurt in a car crash. What made it almost 7to deal with was that the day before the 8, Kerry had visited her friend and had spent the whole time criticizing her 9 of boyfriends, the way she was living, the way she related to her mother, and various other things she felt she needed to 10It wasn't until her friend was badly hurt that Kerry became 11her habit of finding fault. Very quickly, she learned to appreciate life rather than to 12 everything so harshly ( 刻薄) . She was able to transfer her new wisdom to other parts of her13as well.

    Perhaps most of us aren't as extreme at fault-finding,14 when we're honest, we can be sharply 15of  the world. I'm not suggesting you16problems, or that you pretend things are17than they are, but simply that you learn to allow things to be as they are—18most of the time, and especially when it's not a really big 19 .

    Train yourself to "bite your tongue" , and with a little 20, you'll get really good at letting things go. And when you do, you'll get back your enthusiasm and love for life.

    Ever since an accident put him in a wheelchair, Dan has had one dream:1.

    That is why he was 2 to learn about a piece of research that could possibly lead to his 3. But there are two 4. First, the research may take years before it becomes a treatment. And the second is the most 5 of all considerations: money.6by love for Dan, friends worked hard through a series of 7 to raise 20,000 pounds for his future surgery. Dan felt he could really start looking forward to the day when he could turn his 8 into a reality.

Then he 9 Brecon, a 5-year-old who 10 from cerebral palsy (脑瘫). Dan read about a new surgical operation that could 11 the little boy to walk unaided. But the surgery would 12 more than 60,000 pounds — money Brecon's parents were having a 13 time raising.

    Dan said, “I'm in pretty much the 14 condition, but it appears that Brecon can 15 walk if he gets his surgery, and I can't right now. So I thought I might as well pass the money on to him. I'm 16 to everyone who has helped me out, but this boy needs it 17 I do at the moment.”

    And so he took this dream out of the bank and 18 it over to Brecon's parents, telling them, “It would make me very happy to see the 19 made to Brecon's life.”

    “I wanted to help someone whose life could get better,” he said. “If I can help someone to walk, I will. Even if it means 20 a dream to do it.”

    When I was a kid, Dad and I would go for long walks together. Sometimes we'd spy 1along the way-a penny here, a dime there. 2 I picked up a penny, he would ask, “Is it a wheat?" It always thrilled him when we found one of those 3 coins produced from 1909 to 1958, the year of my birth. On one of these walks, he told me he often 4 of finding coins. I was amazed. "I always have that dream too!" I told him. It was our secret connection.

    One gray winter day in 2002, not long after his 5, I was walking down Fifth Avenue, feeling 6 and lonely, and I suddenly found myself in front of a church, where Dad had been working there, but I hadn't 7 for a long time. When I walked into it, I heard the hymn (赞美诗) was A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

    That's Dad's 8, one we'd sung at his funeral. Hearing this again, I burst into 9. After the service, I stepped onto the sidewalk--and there was a penny. I 10 to pick it up and turned it over, and 11 enough, it was a wheat!

    That started it. Suddenly wheat pennies began 12 on the sidewalks of New York everywhere. I got most of the 13 years: his birth year, the year he graduated from college, the year he 14 my mom, the year they got married…

    One Sunday, when I was walking up Fifth Avenue, I 15 a penny in the middle of a crossing. It was a 16 street; taxis were speeding by--should I 17 it? I just had to get it. A wheat! But the penny was 18, and I couldn't read the date. When I took out my magnifying glass lo see it clearly, there was my birthday. As a journalist, I'm in a profession where doubting is a necessary 19. But I found 21 wheat pennies in the year after my father died, and I don't think that's a(n) 20.

    It was 12:45 p.m. on January 2, 2007. Fifty-year-old Wesley Autrey was 1 the train at a subway station in New York. His two daughters, aged four and six, were with him.

    2, a sick man fell on the platform (站台). The man, 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter, got up, but then 3 again — this time, onto the track between the two rails. A 4 was coming into the station. It was a(n) 5 moment. But Mr. Autrey wasn't afraid. He 6the man, and he looked at the 7 that the man was in. It was about half a meter deep. And he8, “The train is going to travel over this man. 9 he tries to get up, the train will 10him. But if he lies on the ground and doesn't 11, he'll be OK.” So he knew he had to 12. And there was no time to think carefully.

    He 13. Mr. Autrey lay on top of Mr. Hollopeter and kept him down on the ground. The train driver 14 them. He was afraid, but he couldn't 15 in time. Five subway cars traveled over the two men before the train stopped.

    The people on the platform were 16. When Mr. Autrey heard them screaming (尖叫), he shouted, “We're OK down here, but I have two daughters up there. Let them 17 their father's OK.” People on the platform clapped and 18. They were amazed at Mr. Autrey's 19. Subway workers helped the two men out. They had no serious injuries.

    Mr. Autrey said, “I didn't do anything special. I just saw someone who needed 20. I did what I thought was right.”

Two Candles

    Tom was a middle-aged leather trader whose repeated failure in career made him a depressed man, often 1 that he had been cheated by others. One day he told his wife he was so 2 with the city that he had to leave.

    So his family moved to another city. It was the evening of a weekend. When Tom and his wife were busily 3 up their new home, the light suddenly 4. They had to stop work. Tom was regretful to have forgotten to bring along candles and had to wait 5 in a low mood. Just then he heard slight, hesitant 6 on his door that sounded clear in the 7 night.

    "Who's it?" he wondered, since Tom was a 8 to this city. And this was the moment he especially hated to be 9, so he went to the door and opened it 10. At the door was a little girl, shyly asking, "Sir, do you have candles? I'm your neighbor." "No," answered Tom in anger and shut the door 11. "What a nuisance (讨厌鬼)!" He complained over it with his wife. "No sooner had we settled down 12 the neighbor came to borrow things."

    After a while, the door was knocked again. He opened it and found the same girl outside. 13 this time she was 14 two candles, saying, "My grandma told me the new neighbor downstairs might need candles. She 15 me here to give you these." Tom was very 16 by what he saw. When he became fully aware, he said, "Thank you and your grandmother. God bless you!"

    At that moment he suddenly realized what caused his 17 in life. It was his 18 and harshness (刻薄) with other people. The person who had cheated him in life was actually19 else but himself, for his life had been darkened by his unsympathetic 20.