A ship was wrecked (失事) and only two of the men aboard were able to swim to a small, desert-like island. Not knowing what else to do, the two 1 agreed that they had no 2 but to pray to God.

    3, to find out whose prayers were more 4, they agreed to divide the territory (领地) between them. What the first man 5 for was food. The next morning, he saw a fruit bearing tree on his side of the island, and he was able to eat its 6 But the other man's side of land remained 7.

    After a week, the first man became 8 and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, a woman swam to his side of the island. But on the other side of the island, there was 9. Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more 10. The next day, like magic, all of these things were 11 to him. However, the other man still had nothing.

    12, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could 13 the island, and in the next morning he found a ship at his side of the island. The first man 14 the ship with his wife and decided to leave the other man on the island, considering him unworthy to receive God's blessings 15 none of his prayers had been answered. As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven booming, “Why are you leaving your 16on the island?”

    “My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he doesn't 17 anything.”

    “You are mistaken!” the voice 18 him. “He had only one prayer, which I 19. He prayed that all your prayers would be answered. Had it not been for that, you would not have 20 any of my blessings.”

When I was about five years old, I used to watch a bird in the skies of southern Alberta from the Blackfoot Blood Reserve in northern Montana where I was born.I loved this bird; I would 1 him for hours. He would 2 effortlessly in that gigantic sky, or he would come down and light on the 3 and float there beautifully.Sometimes when I watched him, he would not make a sound and liked to move 4 into the grasses.We called him meksikatsi, which in the Blackfoot language 5 "pink-colored feet"; meksikatsi and I became very good friends.

    The bird had a very particular significance to me 6  I desperately wanted to be able to fly too.I felt very much as if I was the kind of person who had been born into a world where 7  was impossible. And most of the things that I8  about would not be possible for me but would be possible only for other people.

    When I was ten years old, something unexpected 9  my life suddenly. I found myself become an 10  child in a family I was not born into; I found myself in a 11  position that many native Americans find themselves in, living in a city that they do not understand at all, not in another culture but 12 two cultures.

A teacher of the English language told me that meksikatsi was not called meksikatsi, even though that is what 13 people have called that bird for thousands of years.Meksikatsi, he said, was really "duck".I was very 14 with English.I could not understand it.First of all, the bird did not look like "duck", and when it made a 15 , it did not sound like "duck", I was even more 16 when I found out that the meaning of the verb "to duck" came from the bird.

    As I 17  to understand English better, I understand that it made a great deal of 18 , but I never forgot that meksikatsi made a different kind of meaning.I19  that languages are not just different words for the same things but totally different 20 , totally different ways of experiencing and looking at the world.

    It was a hot day in Bangkok (曼谷). I was walking out of the busy Grand Palace, and some 1Thai teens started asking me questions. Noticing that I was2, they were interested and wanted to know more.

    “Oh, so lonely!” they said to me when they learned I was,indeed,3 solo for the long journey. I smiled and shrugged. They didn't know I've 4 been alone.

    I'm surprised by how much more outgoing I've become. Instead of putting my5down and ignoring the person who may be6me on the sidewalk, now I smile and say hello.

    The only bad thing is the fleeting (短暂的) nature of the relationship one builds on the7. I've felt sad more than a couple of times over parting ways8a fellow traveler. But there are always9friends and possibilities just the next town over.

    Part of the10of taking this trip was the knowledge that I'd be doing this alone. At first, I tried to get friends to11with me for various legs of the journey. I asked close friends, then even not-so-close12, then slowly realized that I might never travel if I13around for a time when a friend of mine would be free to14me.

    If I was really going to do this, it would have to be alone.

    As it turns out, traveling alone is the best15I could have made. You always have to make16considerations for others when you travel with others. Sometimes, you have to do things you don't feel like doing.

    Solo travel is amazing. And really,17I truly want and seek out18, I am never alone. I always have a group. I never feel19. Sometimes, being alone forces you to reach out to people you might not otherwise have ever 20.

    So don't fear traveling alone. It's the best thing there is.

    There is a story about a princess who had a small eye problem that she felt was really bad. Being the king's daughter, she didn't like to listen and kept 1 all the time. When the doctors wanted to help her, she always refused any 2treatment and kept touching her eye and it became worse and worse.3 the king announced a big4 for whoever could cure his daughter. After some time, a man arrived. He 5 that he could cure the princess but6 he was not a doctor.

    After he had 7 her, the man said, “There is nothing much wrong with your eye, hut there is something else that is really 8 .” The princess was worried and asked what it was. He 9and said, “It is really bad. I shouldn't tell you about it.” No matter how much she10, he refused to tell her, saying that he could not speak without the king's11 .

    When the king arrived, the man was still 12to tell his findings. After the king ordered him to tell them, the man said, “Well, there is no problem with the 13 . The big problem is that the princess will start14 a long tail very soon. If she15it when it appears, I can prevent it from growing.” Everyone was deeply concerned at this 16. And the princess stayed in bed, day and night, directing all her17 to feeling when the tail might appear. Thus, after a few days, her eye got well.

    This is how we 18 react: we always focus on our  19 problem and it becomes the center of everything. So far, we have done this20, generation after generation.

    The day when I would go off to college was around the corner. Mom stood me in her usual spot behind the ironing board (烫衣板)and said, “Pay attention: I'm going to teach you to iron.”

    Mom clearly explained her 1 for this lesson. I was going to be2 and needed to learn this 3skill. Also, I would be meeting new people, and properly ironed clothes would help me make a good 4“Learn to iron a shirt,” Mom said, “and you can iron5”

    But ironing shirts was not 6 work. It didn't make use 7long muscles we used to throw a baseball, and it wasn't a 8 operation like ice-skating. Ironing was like driving a car on a street that has a stop 9 every 10 feet. Moreover, an iron produced steam and it carried an element of 10.If you touched the wrong part of it, you'd get 11. If you forgot to turn it off when you 12 you might burn down the house.

    As for technique, Mom 13 me to begin with the flat spaces outward, always pushing the iron forward into wrinkled (有褶皱的）parts.14had to be done right. Mom said they were close to your face, where everyone would15 them.

    Over the years, I've learned to iron shirts skillfully, which gives me a sense of 16. 17failures I suffer in my life, an ironed shirt tells me I am good at something. 18,through ironing I've learned the 19 of solving even the most troublesome problems. “20 wrinkles one at a time,” as Mom might have said, “and before long everything will get ironed out.”

    Last summer, I travelled to Meixian County with my friends. It is a small county at the foot of Taibai Mountain in Shanxi Province. We stayed there for one week and I1 my vacation because of the beautiful scenery at the top of the mountain.

    I will2forget the day when we climbed the main peak(山顶). The3in that area changes very quickly: it was sunny in the early morning when we set out,4it began to rain heavily when we were only halfway up.

    Soon, we were all5and some of us wanted to go home. They said, "There is nothing6here. We came to see the scenery,7the pouring rain!" However, the guide8, "Since we have got wet already, why not just go on with our journey？"

    So we carried on up the mountain and,9we even noticed, the rain stopped and the sun was smiling again. When we reached the top of the peak, the view was unique (独特的).

    Up there, it was bright and clear. The sky was10and the air was fresh. The gentle wind made us feel cool. All the clouds were just like waves in the ocean,11and falling under our feet. We could only see the peaks of mountains, as if they were12floating sparsely (稀疏的) in the ocean. It was a really magical experience.

    While we were enjoying the scene, the guide said13,"You see, I knew that there would be no rain above the clouds."

    It is14. While it may rain below the clouds, the sun is still there above them.

You will never see the sun15you don't try your best to climb to the top of the mountain. If we had stopped and gone home when the rain was very heavy, we would never have seen the beautiful scenery16the clouds. I think this is also true in17.

    As the song says, "You won't see the rainbow unless you have gone through the thunder and storm." I think in the18, whenever I have any difficulties in my life, I will remember the19from the top of Taibai Mountain and the20which touched my heart deeply: There is no rain above the clouds.