Little John invited his mother to attend his school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's 1 , she said she would go. This 2 be the first time that his classmates and teacher 3 his mother and he felt  4of her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar that 5 nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to 6 why or how she got the scar.

    At the meeting, the people were7by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother 8 the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed and 9 himself from everyone. He did, however, get within 10 of a conversation between his mother and his teacher.

    The teacher asked 11 , “How did you get the scar on your face?”

    The mother replied, “ 12 my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. Everyone was 13 afraid to go in because the fire was 14 , so I went in. As I was running toward his bed, I saw a long piece of wood coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked 15 but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She 16 the burned side of her face. “This scar will be 17 , but to this day, I have never 18what I did.”

    At this point, the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He held her in his arms and felt a great 19 of the sacrifice（牺牲） that his mother had made for him. He held her hand 20 for the rest of the day.

    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.

    Devon Gallagher, a college graduate from Philadelphia, wants the world to know where she's been during her great worldwide vacation in a(n) 1way.

    The traveler, who was 2 with a bone disease, had her right leg 3 at the age of four. 4 the amputation (截肢) caused hardships for Gallagher early on, she, at the age of 22 now,5 it as an inspiration for making the 6 of her life.

    To spread that7, Gallagher has 8 to social media, 9 she shares photos of her travels across the world, but instead of 10 using a geotag (地理标签), she draws her location across her artificial leg before taking a picture.

    Now she has been taking pictures 11 Europe. "I get a new leg every two years and I can choose the design on it. One day I had a sudden 12 that my new leg could be used as a blackboard," Gallagher said. "My mum and grandmother weren't too 13 the idea, but my friends thought it was great and told me to go for it, so I did."

    Gallagher said people often stare when she's 14 on her leg, but once she shares the photos, she 15 only praise and encouragement. "My leg hasn't 16 me from doing anything I've wanted to do," she said. "I don't know 17 it is my determination to prove to myself that I can do it, but anyhow, I've been able to 18 up with my peers and lead a pretty great life."

    Gallagher shows us that you should never let anything stand in the 19 of your dream. And if you meet with an obstacle (障碍), get 20 with it— if life gives you an artificial leg, make art.

    It's been five years since I came to America. The year before I arrived, every weekend I was woken up by "Spring River in the Flower Moon Night", 1 by my mother on a zheng.

    My mom was always enchanted(着迷)by the beauty of Chinese traditional music2she never had the chance to learn a(n)3. In 2009, she got a zheng from a friend and has been playing and 4 ever since. Sometimes when I miss her, I search for the songs she used to play on the Internet. I 5 expected to hear them here in Boston.

    Earlier this year, as I6 a new apartment, I met Zhantao Lin, the director of the Boston Chinese Musicians Association. At Lin's house, I heard the7of the erhu. Lin later8me to his music team and I heard the rehearse(排练)for a9this year. It was beautiful and powerful — it10 brought me back to my hometown in China.

    11is also part of Lin's daily routine. Besides performing, he passed on his love of the erhu to his12. I went to one of Lin's classes and met 9-year-old London Turk. I asked him13he chose to learn the erhu. "It's much14to learn than the violin," he said. Perhaps Turk hasn't really started to15the beauty of the erhu, but his mother has always loved the instrument. "There are so many beautiful things in Chinese16: the music, the language, and the art. So we just try our best to let him have a17to explore it," she said.

    I18my mom for giving me a chance to immerse(使沉浸)myself in the Chinese musical world. The music makes me feel relaxed. It can also19me of my homesickness. If you listen to one piece, you will20its uniqueness, power, and beauty.

    I met my art teacher Ms. J in the seventh grade and she changed me.

In her first class, she encouraged us to1what art meant. During discussion on facial structure and paintings, she2the “golden ratio (黄金比例)”, a beauty standard and explained how Davinci applied it to his works to ensure they were visually3.

    I couldn't help but think if my4had been measured against the "golden ratio," my score would have been5

    I was born with a facial disfigurement( 缺陷)and my face looked6. After regular appointments with7, my face was changed many times with little improvement. I8seeing myself in the mirror.

    People's strange tones, curious expressions kept telling me that I was9. Worse still, my photo appeared in a magazine with big letter "Face similar to work of Picasso" right below. I felt10

    I told Ms. J about my11and how my face was compared to Picasso's painting.

    "Art isn't about what you see but about what you12." She comforted me and told me that our13appearances were our signatures that we left in the world, which set us14and made us beautiful. And then she showed me a picture of an old man with long white hair. "You see, Davinci doesn't look too pretty, but his works15beauty on us." she added.

    I was struck by her words, and I wondered16I had never thought this way.

     "Being compared to Picasso may seem like a shame, but it's a(n)17.You are unique and you are a masterpiece."

    Today, when I look18the mirror, I will remember the words of my teacher, "beauty is subjective" and I get to know my appearance is my19.

    It takes me years to20that beauty is more than a cold calculation.

    I had ever been invited to see a performance. That day I met a brave and talented boy I would never1. The young musician, Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes, was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair and began to play the2. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful3. He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more4. I was seeing something5in his face. It was something that I6can't explain. And his smile was magic!

    He was born with no7and a pair of paralyzed（瘫痪的）legs. As a child, he was fitted with man-made eyes and8in a wheelchair. Today, Patrick is a junior. His father9classes with him and he's made nearly all As.

    But more than his10musical talent, it was Patrick's "attitude of gratitude" that11my soul. On stage, between songs, he talked to the12about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, "God made me blind and unable to13. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability, the musical14I have and the great opportunity to meet new people."

    I15a quote, "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning to16in the rain!"

    I thought that's it! We all17adversity(不幸）in our life. However, it's not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and18in our lives. During19times, do we spend too much time we feeling sorry for ourselves, or can we, with gratitude,20how to dance in the rain?