Running for a Dream

     I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come 2 me. I saw worry and 3 on my father's face. Then the race began!

        For the first two and a half miles, I felt 4. I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled5 and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the6  required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races, I didn't7 out in the front, I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

       Then without warning, my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I 8 see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into 9 when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them 10 weight.

       I watched as runners rushed by me. 11 I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the 12 left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled (爬), inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both 13 and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep 14 until the very end.

        The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to 15to. I whispered, “I'm so sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry I16 you.” He looked at me, saying, “You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just 17 ． All that matters is that you did your best.”

      “But we worked so 18 ． What about our dream?” He reached over for my hand and said, “Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true?”

       It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a 19 path for my journey, I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a 20. What I realized, though, was that to him, I was the greatest prize he had ever won.

A Different View

    At age 14, 15 and 16, the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us. My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection.

    In high school, we joined the gymnastics team, and our 1became even more important to us. We had no fat, only muscle. On the weekends, we would go to the beach, 2 of our flat stomachs.

    One summer day, all my friends were at my house 3. At one point, I was running back to the pool. I 4 on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung (蛰) me. I instantly started to feel 5. That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen. I couldn't walk. I could barely6.

    When my foot started to go numb, everyone became more 7. My foot was not getting enough blood. I had to go to the 8, and my leg hurt as if it were badly broken. I couldn't move. All I could do was think about how soft my middle was becoming. That 9 me more than any concern over my leg.

    That would all 10 when I heard the doctors mention possibly cutting off my foot. It was still not getting the 11 supply it needed. The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.

    Never before did I have such great 12 for my foot. And walking seemed like a 13 from the gods. Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about 14 and who was wearing what. More and more I expected visits from other kids in the hospital, who were quickly becoming my friends.

    One girl came to visit me 15. Every time she came, she brought flowers. She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and 16 the other patients.

    She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking. I would not have given this girl a second 17 before. I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her 18.

    Finally, I was improving and soon I went home. My leg was still swollen, 19 I was walking, and I had my foot! When I would go back to the hospital, I often saw my friend. She was still visiting people and 20 good cheer. I thought if even there was an angel on this earth, it had to be her.

    Many years ago, Dad worked as a farmhand（农场工人）.At that time, he had a horse. Every Saturday he 1to the town after dinner and spent a few hours on social 2 with other farmhands, such as drinking, chatting, and playing cards in the cafe. On Saturday evenings, the cafe was 3 because many farmhands were there. Before midnight Dad returned home on his horse, quite satisfied with his 4.In his words, he 5 thought of changing his job.

    At the age of 31,Dad married my mother who was a schoolteacher. In the following spring I came 6 into the world. Life became hard, so my mother felt 7.She told Dad that they must make a 8.

    My mother had 9 of how some famous persons, especially Thomas Edison who was born in a poor family, fought against fate and achieved greatness and 10.And she 11 that I would some day become a great leader 12 men or cities and Dad should be a successful businessman. So she 13 Dad to give up his job as a farmhand, sell his horse and 14 a small business of his own. And I went to high school and college. She even sent me abroad for 15 education when I graduated from college. Under the drive of my mother's hope, Dad and I 16 what we have today. Dad runs a big international 17 and I am a successful lawyer 18 great fame in my country,19 not a leader as my mother expected.

Dad said, without my mother, we wouldn't be what we are today; at least, he would remain a farmhand.20 he got a lesson of life — sometimes we really need drive from outside.

    After 22 years of marriage, I have discovered the secret to keep love alive in my relationship with my wife, Peggy. I started dating another woman.

One day Peggy said to me, "Life is too 1, you need to spend time with the people you love. You probably won't believe me, but I know you love her and I think that if the two of you spend more time together, it will make us2.

The "other" woman my wife was encouraging me to3is my mother, a 72-year-old widow who has lived alone since my father 4 20 years ago. Right after his death, I5 2,500 miles away to California and started my own life and career. When I moved back near my hometown six years ago, I promised myself that I would spend more time with mom. But with the 6of my job and three kids, I never got around to seeing her much 7family get-togethers and holidays.

    Mom was 8 and suspicious when I called and suggested the two of us go out to dinner and a movie.

    We didn't go anywhere 9, just a neighborhood place where we could talk. 10 her eyes now see only large shapes and shadows, I had to read the menu for both of us.

"I used to be the 11 when you were little," she said.

"Then it is time for you to relax and let me 12the favor," I said.

    We had a nice talk 13dinner, just catching up on each other's lives. We talked for so long that we 14 the movie.

"15was your date?" my wife asked when I got home that evening.

    Nice...nicer than I thought it would be,' I said.

    Mom and I get out for16a couple of times a month. Sometimes we take in a movie, but 17we talk. Through the talks, I know what it was like for her to work in a factory during the Second World War. I know how she met my father there, and know how they 18the difficult times. I can't get enough of these stories. They are 19 to me, a part of my history.

    Peggy was right. Dating another woman has20my marriage.

    I often remembered the lesson Father taught me.

    We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had 1 me to this spot in a small town not far from our home. I wondered2.

    "Look down, Elsa," Father said. I gathered all my 3 and looked down. I saw the square in the centre of the village. And I saw the crisscross (十字形) of twisting, turning streets leading to the 4.

    "See, my dear," Father said gently. "There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can't get to the place where you want to go5 one road, try another."

    Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had 6 my mother to do something about the terrible school lunches. But she 7 because she could not believe the lunches were as 8 as I said.

    When I turned to Father, he would not help. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a9 the value of an open, searching mind. By the time we reached home, I had a 10.

    At school the next day, I11 poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked the cook to serve it to Mother at dinner. Everything went on smoothly. She swallowed one12 and spat it out. Quickly I told her what I had done, and Mother stated13that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!

    Years later，I began to work as a fashion (时装) designer. Two years ago. I was busy getting ready to show my winter fashions. But just 13 days before the presentation the sewing girls all stopped working. I was as 14 as my models. "We'll never make it," one of them cried.

    Accept the failure? 15 use wisdom to find another road to my goal? Then a great idea flashed through my mind—why not 16 the clothes unfinished?

    And, exactly 13 days later, our showing turned out to be so 17 that it was a great success. What a showing it was! Some coats had no sleeves; others had only one. Many of our clothes were still in an early stage. Our different showing caught the18 of the public, and orders for the clothes 19 in.

    Father's wise words had20 me once again, "There is always more than one way to the square."

    Each week, I give my elderly neighbor a ride to the store when I am going. She keeps trying to 1 me for the ride, and I always 2 refusing. I tell her that it doesn't cost any more for her to 3 with me and it is 4 for me to do this.

    Last week, she brought a(n) 5 and said happily, "I have something for you and you must accept it." I said, "If there is money in it, I don't want it." But she 6 it on a stand. Later, I opened it to find a "thank you" card with 7 in it. That night, I stopped at her house to give a plate of 8 fried chicken that I had. I took an envelope and put the $10 9 it along with a"10" card. When leaving, I left it 11 in her door.

    The next day, she paid a(n) 12 to my home to return my 13. She said, "Look, I know you put that letter in my door this morning, didn't you？" I had 14 forgotten about it, and I thought from the sincere 15 on my face, she believed me when I said that I hadn't put any letter in her door that morning. Actually, it was the night before, 16 I thought I wasn't lying. She went on to17 the envelope and enclosed (装入) the "smile" 18, and told me how she was blessed with so many good things lately. I told her that I was so 19 for her, and that I hope she 20 to be so blessed.