Love Is Blind: The Magic of Tabby

    In October, 2003, 1 started my work at my local animal shelter's Adoption Department. Over the years, more than 50,000 animals have1the doors of the shelter. Most of them, I do not remember. But occasionally there are2animals, who touch me so deeply that I could never possibly3them. Tabby was one such animal.

    Tabby was an ancient Cocker Spaniel, probably 14 years old. What's more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby's chances at adoption seemed4at best. After all, we didn't have many adopters coming in5, “Can you show me all of your really old dogs who are also6?'' We had all thought that Tabby would live out the rest of her life at the7.

    One day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, had8Tabby's picture and stories on the shelter's website at home. They were interested in meeting her! It was the only9we ever received about Tabby. What could a young child possibly see in a 14-year-oid dog who was both blind and deaf? Most boys would want a dog who could grow with them and10through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would11be able to do that. But after meeting her, Loretta and Gary decided that she was the right dog for their family. They adopted Tabby!

    If Tabby's story had simply ended with her12adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed.13  it was what happened after her adoption that people might regard as “magic”. Gary14from seizures(癫痫). Since Gary and Tabby met they became15They did everything together. They became so “in tune” with one another that Tabby began to telegraph Gary's seizures16they occurred, giving his family a(n)17that one was about to strike. What's more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby's18 .

    How could it be? Nobody could explain19Tabby did it. But those of us who were fortunate enough to know her and her family had20the magic, the kind that has its roots in love.

I'd gone from a tiny village school with a total of 60 students to a huge-school with thousands of pupils. I was a little fish in a very big1. I lived too much of my first year 2 doing anything wrong. I just decided to be the wallflower when it 3 class discussion and answering questions. I was always the one that 4didn't look the teachers in the eye 5 they asked me to answer. I listened well, and6 everything in, but I always liked to be a spectator（旁观者）. It is hard not to 7 what others may think of you when you are speaking in front of many 8. It did take long for me to feel 9 with teachers and make friends with classmates.

Some people 10 straight into a new learning environment.11 most are nervous and feel they don't fit in. It's completely 12so it should not be a worry to you. Be 13and you will adapt to the new school. School life is 14 you make of it. Some 15 it; some love it. But it's only when you leave that you can really appreciate how school16you into the person you become.

It's so important to 17 yourself out of your comfort zone. If you are shy, tell yourself you will raise your 18at least once every lesson; if you are quick-minded, try to give other people a(n)19In time, you will20 how much you loved it or hated it.

    My father and I are moving gracefully(优雅地) across the floor. Around and around we go, 1 and nodding to the other dancers. We are the best dancers on the floor, they tell us. My father holds my hand and smiles at me. All the years that I 2 to dance with him disappear now. And those 3 times come back.

    I remember when I was almost three and my father came home from work, he pulled me into his 4 and began to dance me around the table. We danced through the years. One night when I was fifteen, I was 5 in some painful feelings. My father asked me to dance with him. “Come on,” he said, “let's get the 6 on the run.” When I turned away from him, my father put his hand on my shoulder, and I 7 out of the chair shouting, “Don't touch me! I am sick and 8 of dancing with you!” I saw the 9 on his face, but words were out and I could not call them back. I ran to my room crying 10.

    We did not dance together after that night. My father waited up for me through my high school and college years when I danced my way out of his 11. Many years later, soon after his 12 picked up from a heart problem, my mother wrote that they had 13 a dance club. “You remember how your father loves to dance.” Yes, I remembered. My eyes filled up with 14. I knew he was waiting for a(an) 15 from me, but I could never find the right words.

As my parent's 50th wedding anniversary 16, I knew 17 I wanted to do was dance once more with my father. On the big day, in the party after the dinner, my parents danced around the room with the other dancers. I walked 18 the dancing people, looking directly into my father's eyes, “Excuse me, but I believe this is my dance.” My father stood 19. Our eyes met and traveled back to that night when I was fifteen. In a(an) 20 voice, I said, “Let's get the unhappiness on the run.” My father bowed(鞠躬) and said, “Oh, yes. I've been waiting for you.”

The Grass Cutting Days

    Every time we headed out to cut grass, Dad was there to watch. I used to1why he came with us. He stood watching us in the sticky Florida heat when he could have been inside2with air conditioning and an icy drink.

    One day we were cutting our next-door neighbor's yard. She always waited until the grass was knee-high to call us over. To make matters worse, we had an old lawn mower that kept breaking down as we tried to cut 3 her backyard jungle. This particular afternoon, I was finishing up and was tired and sweaty. I 4 the tall glass of cold juice I would drink in a minute to cool down.

I was just about to turn off the lawn mower 5 I saw Dad pointing to one single blade of grass (一片草). I thought about the small amount of money I was getting 6 for cutting grass so high that it almost broke the mower. I ignored him and kept walking. Dad called me out and yelled, "You missed a blade."

I frowned (皱眉),hoping he would let me go home. He kept pointing. Though 7 and discouraged, I still went back to cut that blade of grass. I thought to myself, "That one blade isn't 8 anyone. Why won't he just let it go?"

    But when I reached adulthood, I understood his 9 : When you're running a business, the work you do says a great deal about you. If you want to be seen as an honest businessman, you must deliver a quality product. That single blade of grass 10 the job was not done.

    Other neighbors took 11 of the good work we did and we soon gained more 12. We started out with one customer, but by the end of the summer we had five, which was all we cared to handle because we wanted time to enjoy our summer break from school.

    The lesson my dad taught me stayed with me: Be 13 . If you say you are going to perform a job at a certain time, 14 your word. Give your customers the kind of 15you would like to receive. It shows how sincere you are and how much pride you take in your work.

    Cheques have largely replaced money as a means of exchange, for they are widely accepted everywhere. Though this is very 1 for both buyers and sellers, it should not be forgotten that cheques are not real money: They are quite 2 in themselves. A shopkeeper always faces a certain 3 when he accepts a cheque and he is quite within his rights if, on occasion, he 4 to do so.

    People don't always 5 this and are shocked if their good 6 is called into question. An old and very wealthy friend of mine told me that he had ever had an extremely 7 experience. He went to a famous jewelry shop which kept a large stock of precious stones and asked to see some necklaces. After examining carefully, he 8 to buy a particularly fine diamond necklace and asked if he could pay by cheque. The assistant said that this was quite in order, but the moment my friend 9 his name, he was invited into the manager's office.

    The manager was polite, and he explained that someone with exactly the same name had 10 them with a worthless cheque not long ago. My friend got very 11 when he heard this and said that he would buy a 12 somewhere else. When he got up to leave, the manager told him that the police would arrive at any moment and that he had better stay there 13 he wanted to get into serious trouble. Sure enough, the police arrived soon afterwards. They politely 14 to my friend for the inconvenience, but explained that a person who had used the same name as his was 15 for a number of recent robberies. Then the police asked my friend to 16 a note which had been used by the thief in several shops. The note read: "I have a gun in my pocket. Ask 17 questions and give me all the money in the safe." 18, my friend's handwriting was quite unlike the thief's. He was not only 19 to go without further 20, but to take the diamond necklace with him.

    A young student was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend. As they1along, they saw a pair of old shoes2on the road, which they thought belonged to a poor man who was working in a field nearby. The student3to the professor, saying, "Let us play a4on the man: we will5his shoes, and conceal (隐藏) ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his anxiety6he cannot find them."

    "My young friend," answered the professor, "we7never enjoy ourselves by8the poor. Since you are9, why not give yourself a much greater pleasure by helping the poor man? Put a(n)10into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and11how the discovery affects him." The student did so, and they both hid themselves behind the12.

    The poor man soon13his work, and came across the field to the road14he had left his shoes. While putting on his shoes, he felt something15. He stooped (弯腰) down to see16it was, and found the coin. He was greatly surprised. He then17him on all sides, but found nobody. He then put the coin into his pocket, and his surprise was doubled when he found18coin. He fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent (热烈的) thanksgiving, in which he19his sick wife and his children without bread.

    The student was20moved and his eyes were filled with tears.