A Welcome Gift

    Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them 1side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud2filled the room and made them feel very happy.

    The next morning, 3, their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a 4under their door during the night. One of their neighbor had written to complain(抱怨) about the sound of the piano. Dario's mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it. But he said that they were all 5people and he couldn't imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their 6and apologize for their playing.

    “Maybe we could go and7everyone in person.” his mother said.

    “What if we invited them to come here for a 8instead? Dario asked.

    They both loved the  9. Over the next few days, they sent out invitations and prepared desserts10their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

    Finally, the day of the party11. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to12. One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, 13Dario's mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

    “I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I14 that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note. I hope you don't think I disliked the playing.”

    Dario's mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “I think maybe we15you an apology.” she said. “I didn't16how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.

    “You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert said. “I like what you play! Just not so loud at night.” She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such17music.”

    “These songs are beautiful music.” Dario's mother said. “We will be 18to play them in the evening.”

    “And we won't play so loud or late!” Dario said. He was already looking forward to19  the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother's face. It gave him a feeling of20and made him feel that they were home at last.

    LoAnna and Kris' kids were playing outside on a sunny Saturday. Suddenly LoAnna heard a huge sound, She 1outside to see a wide mud, sand, and rock 2down the hill. She phoned Kris 3and Kris sped back home. But traffic had come to a 4. Kris had to run.

    Suddenly, he heard a woman screaming for help. As he 5the sound through mud, he only saw an arm reaching up, holding a boy. Kris kept her talking while 6the wood, metal trapping the mother and child. Finally, he was able to 7the baby. By this time, other citizens had 8it to the site. With others taking the 9in rescuing the woman, Kris continued his way home.

    Soon. he heard a(n) 10moan(呻吟) from the ruins again. The man buried was about twice Kris' weight and, 11, he'd have to wait for more help. Hearing a helicopter above, Kris climbed up on the roof, and led a rescuer to the trapped man. 12the rest of the helicopter crew arrived, Kris left to find his 13. Hours later, Kris reached home. His truck was 14, and so were LoAnna and the others. He 15cars and houses nearby to find other 16and then walked back to the rescue team. Not long after he arrived, his truck came into 17. LoAnna pulled over and ran to him. He hugged her tightly and spoke 18, “Let's go home.”

    Over the next several weeks, 43 bodies were 19Just nine survivors were luckily pulled from the mud, all of them on that day. Kris was 20by the Red Cross for his heroic deeds.

    When I was a college student, I did a lot of traveling abroad. That was because a professor1me to do so. She said, "Now it is the time for you to travel around the world,2your knowledge through actual experiences and have fun?" I3her.

    Since I started to work for a4company, however, I have done most of my traveling through the Internet. By using the Internet, I have seen the5of many cities on my computer screen. And I have really made business6, too. With the help of the Internet, I have also got7about food in different countries.

    Therefore, I was beginning to feel that actual trips were8necessary when I happened to read a famous chef's (厨师) comment on the Internet. He said, "It is very difficult to have real Italian food in a foreign country, because we enjoy food and the9around us at the same time. So why don't you fly over to Italy and enjoy real Italian 10? "Those words reminded me of my11advice. As information technology12, you might be able to do without making some real trips. But this also means that you will miss the various13 you can get from traveling.

    Today there are people who14 direct communication with others and spend much of their time on the Internet. It is not surprising to see a group of people15not with each other but into their micro phones. It seems as if such people are16by an invisible wall. They seem to be losing out on a good chance to17and talk with other people. I do not think that they are taking good advantage of information technology. We should use information technology as a tool to make our daily18 more fruitful. However, we should never let it 19our time for face to -face communication. Let's make use of information technology more20, and have great fun in experiencing the actual world.

    My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse (松鸡). It's 1for a grouse to have any contact (接触)with people. In fact, they're hard to spot, 2they usually fly off when they hear humans approaching

    This grouse came into our lives in 3Tom was working out in the field when he 4her walking around at the edge of the field. She was 5unafraid and seemed to be 6about what he was doing,

    Tom saw the 7bird several times, and site got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew 8of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

    One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom 9he didn't see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

    Apparently, she didn't like to be 10. She'd run up and peck (啄) at Tom's hands, then 11off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the 12and left.

    As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to 13more and more often. 14Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom's leg and stay long enough for me to get a 15of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt 16no just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

    When hunting season opened, we put a 17at the end of our driveway asking 18not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road, 19warned people not to shoot her. 20, hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

    Confidence has nothing to do with your figure. I learned this recently.

    Every day I'd look in the mirror, hate what I see, and repeat the words1, "I am beautiful." Sometimes I'd even grit my teeth (咬紧牙关) to2the words out. But I3saying it, no matter what.

    It was at the4of my friend that I began this5. He said he wanted to be friends with me because of my6and gentle character. Besides, he also saw me as beautiful and it7him that I couldn't see it in myself.

    For a long time, I had8that my weight made me a second-rate person. Years of being fat and years of being9had caused me to build a cocoon (茧) around myself. I10thought that if I stayed quiet, maybe I would be safe. I put myself in layers of11, my heart breaking a little more with each wedding invitation. I12hoping for my true love, believing I wasn't good enough.

    It wasn't until I met him that I was determined to be happy on my own and things began to13. He pointed out my14personalities and excellent qualities and made me repeat them out loud. I laughed at first because it felt15, but I kept at it every day.

    Then one day, a(n)16thing happened. Staring into the mirror, I realized with a(n)17that I believed it! He wasn't18and it was true-I'm beautiful! The layers of my cocoon suddenly disappeared. And nowadays, I learn to love myself and keep19no matter what my dress size is. Indeed, confidence comes from20.