“I don't feel right about this,” I said to one of my cousins in a low voice. She nodded in 1 . Not wanting to be the first to touch the food, I waited for one of the older adults to start.

    Thanksgiving usually meant 2  and full stomachs, however, this year was 3. My family sat around the dinner table 4 at our feast. Everyone had a full plate, everyone except for Grandma. The treatment for throat cancer would 5  one of her great pleasures, eating. This was the first 6of many food-focused 7  to come. I could not imagine what it would be like to never taste food again. My cousin Molly broke the 8 with a raise of her glass, “To Nat.” We all followed her lead. “Your 9 and strength encourage us all,” she continued. Grandma smiled, holding back her tears with great 10 . “Thank you. Please, please eat.” And with that, we all began to eat. Conversation broke 11around the room while Grandma laughed and talked with us all. Cancer would take away her ability to eat, but not the gift of being the best hostess. The evening went on as 12 Thanksgivings do. By the time the night was over, I felt 13 to my family than ever before. I learned that we gather together on holidays not to eat rich feast, but to 14 and share with one another. We 15 my Grandmother's courage, but we all learned a lesson in grace. In the years following, my Grandma 16 to create meals for family events. She told me once with a laugh, “I may not be able to eat, but I can 17 taste things.” With a 18 heart, Grandma prepared what she could not have for the only purpose of making us 19 . She inspired me to learn to cook and helped me find the 20 to make everything come together: love.

    Life will be peaceful if you always do kind things. I teach my daughters to develop a habit of 1 others. The little acts of 2 give you chances to provide service for others. They can make you feel how 3 it is to be kind and helpful.

    We 4 in a rural (乡村的) area. Most of what we 5 is beautiful nature. One of the exceptions to the 6 is the rubbish that some people throw out of their car windows as they drive along the rural roads. One of the few 7 of living there is short of 8 public services，such as rubbish collection，which is common in the 9.

    A helping behavior that I practice regularly with my daughters is 10 rubbish in our neighborhood. My daughters often have a match to see who can collect the most rubbish. They will often say to me in a(n) 11 voice, "There's some rubbish，Daddy—12 the car！"And if we have time, we will often get out of our car and pick it up. 13 it may seem strange, we do it. In fact, we 14it. We pick up rubbish in parks, on sidewalks, almost anywhere.

    One day I saw a stranger picking up rubbish on the road. I stopped. He 15 his head and smiled，"I saw you doing this with your family. It's a good 16 to protect our environment."

    There are many other ways to 17 kindness for others. You may share a dinner with a beggar，visit 18 old people in the nursing home，or help the blind 19 the street. You can think of something that can be finished 20 but helpful. It is fun, self­satisfying, and what's more, it can set a good example. Helping others is helping yourself.

    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.

    When pilots fly over the grassland of the Pampas region, Argentina, they're often surprised to spot a huge guitar-shaped forest in the ordered fields. The site is more than an amazing example of land art. Behind the site is a(n) 1 love story.

    When young Argentine2 Pedro Martin Ureta, aged 28, met 17-year- old Graciela Yraizoz in his hometown, they fell in love at first 3. Two years later, they got married and4down on the farm where Ureta had been 5. Graciela had many big plans for the farm in her mind. One day when she was taking a plane on a flight 6 Pampa, Graciala noticed that another farm looked like a milking pail(桶) from the 7. Graciela thought that her family could create something even more attractive on their own farm: A huge forest 8 as her favorite musical instrument—the guitar. Graciela 9playing the guitar in her spare time and often played the guitar at the local10.

    But Ureta didn't take his wife's idea 11saying, “We'll talk about it later.” Later12 came. In 1977, Graciela died suddenly of brain cancer at the 13 age of 25 while carrying their fifth child. After her wife's death, Mr. Ureta 14not fulfilling her wish. Still heartbroken a few years later, Ureta decided that the best way to honor his15wife would be to fulfill her wish and 16the giant work of art in her honor.

    After the local government refused to17with the project, Ureta and his children took it 18. One by one, they planted roughly 7,000 trees into the shape of a guitar. It took a few rough seasons for the trees to take root, but Ureta's dedication19.

    Watching the forest grow over the years gave Graciela's children 20.

    “It was the closest thing possible to have my mother alive,” Maria Julia, Ureta's second daughter, said.

    I built a company when I approached with a major opportunity that was going to take our company to the next level. Then something 1 happened. I received an email from the investor that read: "We're going to2....."

    I was crushed(崩溃).The next few days I thought about this3and realized just how4I truly was. I thought maybe it was time to count my 5and get another "real job". Luckily, I realized that having that thought meant I had a problem-my fear of 6. If I was going to keep moving forward with my company I'd have to 7 this fear of being rejected again. So, I8 Google to help solve my problem and I found a game. The 9 of the game is to help you get over your fear of rejection by 10 seeking out rejection. I loved it. I11 I would try it to help me remove this fear.

    What came next was something I could have12 imagined. As my rejection journey continued, I began to feel more and more 13 when asking for things, realizing I could focus on the 14 factors.

    In the process of my rejection journey, here is what I learned about rejection. Avoiding it doesn't 15 mean you avoid failure. Most people believe avoiding rejection is a good thing, 16 that's not true. When we 17 away from rejection, we reject ourselves and our ideas before the world ever has a 18 to reject them. This is the 19 form of rejection and we are overlooked by the world. Therefore, the greatest lesson I've learned from rejection is no matter what, don't be20 by the world.

My mother has taught kindergarten for 39 years. She used to collect and wash old tennis balls. 1 my father drilled holes in each one. Once my dad finished them，the balls would fit 2 onto the feet of a standard school chair and 3 the annoying noise that let out every time kids moved the chairs. When you are in 4 of a classroom filled with kids who have never been to school before and turning them into students, the little things 5.

One day, a boy was transferred (转学) into my mom's 6. He had a long record of misbehavior, including eight suspensions (暂时停学) from his 7 school. His teacher still remembered being 8 about how he would influence her classroom. However, my mother welcomed him with a smile and kindly 9 the rules and expectations for her class. The next day, he 10 directions with, "What are you going to do if I don't do it?" My mother still smiled at him. She explained that she was there to help him and 11 he could do well. Day after day, she praised everything he did that was 12. It was a few tiring months but well worth the 13. He gradually turned into one of the best students that year.

By 14 a loving heart with right classroom management measures, teachers can do 15 in a single school year.