Joy in the Journey If you have ever been discouraged because of failure, please read on. For often, achieving what you set out to do is not the important thing. Let me explain.

      Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to 1. “What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.“We plan to dig a hole all the way through the   2!” One of the brothers volunteered 3.

     The older boys began to 4, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was 5. After a long silence, one of the 6 picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and many other kinds of insects. He   7 the lid and showed the wonderful 8 to the scoffing（嘲笑的）visitors. Then he said quietly and 9, “Even if we don't dig all the way through the earth, look at what we have found  10  the way!”

      Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to dig. And that is   11    a goal is for — to cause us to move in the  12  we have chosen, in other words, to keep us 13! But not every goal will be fully  14. Not every job will end 15. Not every hope will come to pass. Not every love will last. Not every dream will be 16. But when you fall  17 of your aim, perhaps you can say, “Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things  18 my life because I tried to do something!” It is in the digging 19 life is lived. And I believe it is the joy in the journey, in the end, that truly  20.

    A little boy invited his mother to attend his elementary school's first teacher-parent conference. To be little boy's1 she said she would go. This would be the first time that his classmates and teacher met his mother and he was embarrassed by her 2.Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar that 3nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy 4wanted to talk about why or how she got the scar.

    At the conference, the people were5by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother6the scar, the little boy was still embarrassed and 7himself from everyone. He did8 got within earshot of a 9between his mother and his teacher, and heard them speaking.“How did you get the10on your face?” the teacher asked.The mother replied, “When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught on fire 11was too afraid to go in because the fire was12so I went in. As I was running towards his bed, I saw a beam(横梁) coming down and I placed myself over trying to13him. I was knocked14but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She touched the 15side of her face. “This scar will be 16but to this day, I have never17doing what I did.” At this point, the little boy18running towards his mother with tears in his eyes. He hugged her and felt a great sense of the 19that his mother had made for him. He held her hand20for the rest of the day.

    One autumn morning, I spotted a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by 1 because I'd never seen geese there before. Thinking they would soon leave, I 2 the chance to get close to them. I wondered where they came from and why they had chosen our pond.

    The next morning, the geese were still my 3 I walked round to the mailbox, showing them I meant no harm4I couldn't resist getting a 5 look. I hid behind some trees and 6 the handsome pair quietly through the branches. I was surprised to see they were staring at me, too!

    As days passed, I started 7 to them on my trips to the mailbox. They craned （伸长） their necks and raised their heads 8 but seemed to realize I was their friend. By then, my curiosity about 9 they were staying so long at the pond changed to10. As they were feeding in the grass the other day, I discovered the reason for their 11the male had a broken left wing. He couldn't 12 and his faithful mate wouldn't leave him behind. I asked a biologist what to do. He explained that sometimes a13 wing will heal by itself and suggested letting nature take its course.

    On the first day of November, I was working in the neighborhood of the geese with my tractor. As I bent to fasten a chain from the tractor, I 14some movement from the corner of my eye. Both geese were running towards the pond. Their wings were 15 like crazy, struggling for take off. Gradually, they flew over the pond. They16 enough altitude to fly past a neighbor's house, and then circled back towards me, flying no more than 50 feet over my head as if to say goodbye. Then they were out of my17.

    The season's first snowflakes fell the very next day. The birds must have 18 that winter was coming, and it was time to go. I became fond of them during their 19 visit to our pond, and now I miss them. I'll never forget their 20 to each other.

    Mum said they might not be back until after eleven. My brother Greg and I 1 to play hide -and- seek (捉迷藏). But there was not much 2 except in the front room. The3 was that we were not allowed in there by ourselves.4, we just took the risk.

    Once there, both of us were cautious and moved about 5 for some while. Then, when I hid behind a tapestry(壁毯), 6 by my brother, I jumped out. With a sense of 7, I felt my right elbow (手肘) striking (撞击) something hard. We heard a crash. Even 8 we dared to look, we knew that the vase lay broken.

    When Mum and Dad came home and viewed the pieces, we knew any 9 would only serve to fuel their anger. Mum ordered us to sit on the bare floor, beside the ruin. She cried, “How 10 the two of you have done this?” Greg and I, too 11 to cry, could voice no answer. After a while, she 12 us and stayed there alone by herself, much like a statue.

    Greg and I 13 throughout that night, struggling to decide what we might do to 14for it. We hoped with the money we had saved we might just have 15 to buy a vase. The next day, we set off to search 16 every local shop until we found a good copy.

    When we 17 home in silence, we 18 Mum and Dad with what we'd bought. Dad 19 out, took it from Greg and then passed it to Mum. She sighed, “You broke our Ming vase.” But we believed they knew we were 20.

    I work as the reception manager at my hotel. A(n) 1 came in a few weeks ago with a note attached that the guest would be travelling with her 2 father. Just so that we would be aware when 3 with them when they arrived as his daughter wanted to make his trip to Ireland as 4 as possible. Upon seeing this note and noting I would be the one to 5 them in, I decided to learn some basic 6 language.

    I greeted the guest in my usual way, 7 for the surname on the booking. Once I heard the name I 8 immediately who was standing in front of me.

I had been learning for over two 9 how to say” welcome to Ireland. My sign language is 10 , but if you need anything during your 11 just let me know and we will help you”.

    I smiled at the father and daughter in front of me, turning to the father who I greeted in sign language and began the bit I had 12 for him. The father smiled and was so 13 .Seeing his reaction was 14 for me. It was so worth the last few weeks of learning basic sign language.

    On check-out I sadly wasn't 15 .but they had left a gift for me with a note saying” thank you very much for what you did on check-in. My father has been in 16 form since you checked us in and insisted we get you a 17 before we left. You have no idea how much this 18 to my father and me and we can't thank you enough. You've made his trip very special with one simple 19”.

    They wrote a letter to the general manager also asking to give me a raise, which I really 20 . I cried for a solid 5 minutes when I came to work today to find this gift in my locker.

    The dream of many people is to leave their mark on the world however they can. This could be in countless different 1, from coming up with a new invention to 2 starting a family. No matter what it is, 3 the world in some way is the purpose of many lives.

    That's 4 makes the Renaissance – an art period which centered in Italy between the 14th and 17th centuries — the era of 5.

    When we hear the word "art", it's very likely that we'll imagine a work from the Renaissance period. This w as a time when many believe art made a revival(复兴)— "renaissance", 6, means to bring new life to something.

    Take the works of Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci for example. His painting Mona Lisa became one of the best-known 7 on Earth. While many artists left their marks by bringing 8 to the world, Da Vinci did much more than that. The artist was fascinated with the study of human anatomy(解剖学)and even 9 time dissecting human bodies to help with his studies. Da Vinci also proved his 10 in many other areas, and he created sketches of ideas for many inventions, from bridges and machinery to even a helicopter and a robot.

    The Renaissance also played host to many other great names in the world of art. Italian painter Raphael, for example, was another leader of this era. But his most famous work isn't 11 on a w all today. 12, his masterpiece — the Raphael Rooms of Italy's Palace of the Vatican — IS the w all. The walls and ceilings of the palace are filled with beautifully 13paintings of Bib le scenes, which he started as a young artist in 1508.

    Religious works such as Raphael's w ere the 14 style of the Renaissance period. We only have to look at the most iconic (标志性的)sculpture of that period — and perhaps 15— to realize that.

    Italian artist Michelangelo's sculpture David, 16 a Biblical character, was firstly shown in the 1500s. The sculpture has 17 years of exposure to the rain, having rocks throw n at it by protesters(抗议者), and even someone 18 it with a hammer in the 1990s. 19 all these, David is still standing strong and 20 today — a true symbol of the Renaissance.