When I began teaching in a university, I was invited to a workshop for new professors. I had 1a long time learning what to teach, but not learning how to 2 it. Somehow, my university seemed to hope a weekend spent with experienced professors would 3 for that. My colleagues presented well-crafted lectures about the tools they used. I enjoyed their 4, but do not remember a thing they said.

    At a coffee break during the lectures, finding myself 5, I turned to a mathematics professor standing nearby. I asked him what his favorite teaching 6 was. "A cup of coffee." he said, "I talk too much and too fast in the classroom. Students sometimes have trouble 7 me. So when I've said 8 that I want my students to think about, I would 9 and take a sip of coffee. It lets what I've just said sink in."

    When we were called to the next talk, he put down his cup and I 10 there was not a trace of coffee in it. "My doctor11 me to stop drinking coffee," he explained. "So I have always used a(n) 12 cup." I decided to try his 13 in my class.

    I took a cup of coffee with me to my next class. It helped. My pauses, as I 14 the coffee, not only gave my students 15 to think about what I had said, but gave me time to think about what I was going to say next. I began to use my 16 to look around the room to see how my students were reacting to what I had just said. When I saw their 17 wander, I tried to bring them back. When I saw them puzzled over some concept that I thought I had 18, I gave another example. My 19 became less organized and less brilliant, but my students seemed to 20 me better.

    Draper, the owner of a secondhand bookstore, was sorting through a pile of old books when an envelope fell from one. Inside was an undated 1 and a faded photo of a woman holding a little girl on her lap. The letter said if Bethany was 2 it, it meant the author had died.

    Tears were welling up in Draper's eyes. These were a 3 woman's last words to her child. He had to 4 Bethany. “Whoever it is will 5 this,” he thought. “You wouldn't 6 a letter like that.”

    He supposed if the 7 ended up in his shop then Bethany was likely from around Bishop Auckland. And he thought he 8 recognized the little girl's face. Even if she'd since left the area, there might be someone in town who would recognize the 9.

    He started with the local newspaper. The Northern Echo ran the story of the 10 letter.

    11, Bethany Gash, now 21 and a(n) 12 herself, was on Facebook about 10 miles away when a close friend messaged her to check out the 13. As she read her mother's 14, words she thought had been lost forever, she said she thought she must be 15.

    Gash was only 4 when her mother 16. Five years later, her family moved to a new home and the letter, put away in the pages of a book for safe keeping, was unintentionally 17.

    She remembers unpacking and looking for the letter, and then 18 searching through everything in hopes that it was there. “That's when I realized it was 19 gone by now and I'd never see it again,” she said.

    Draper 20 the letter in person. He also brought her a children's book for her son. Gash was greatly moved to have the letter back, and also touched by the stranger's kindness.

    Each year her husband sent her valentine roses, tied with pretty bows, and a card. The card would 1say, "I love you even more than last year on this day."

    The year he2, the roses were delivered to her door as usual. The card said, "Be my valentine. My love for you will always3with every passing year." She thought this was the4 time that the roses would appear. She5he ordered roses6without knowing that he would7.He always liked to do things ahead. Then, if he got busy, everything would work out 8.She put 9 in a very special vase, and then placed the vase beside the portrait of his smiling face. She would sit for hours, staring at his picture and the roses.

    A year went by, 10it was tough to live without him. Then, on Valentine's Day, the doorbell rang, and she saw roses sitting 11 her door. She brought the roses in, and then looked at them in surprise. Later she 12 the flower­ shop and asked them to explain 13 valentine roses were sent to her.

    The owner replied,"I know your husband passed away a year ago. The flowers you14today were paid for two years ago. Your husband always planned ahead. Here is 15 of many years. You'll get them every year till... and he also wrote a special little16for you...he did this years ago. He said, 'If you find out that I'm no longer here, the card should be sent to my wife the following year.'"

    She thanked him and hung up the phone, her tears 17 her face. She found a card among the roses and read it slowly, "Hello, my love. I know it's been a year since I was gone. I hope it's not too hard for you to overcome. I know you must be 18 and the pain is real. The 19 we shared made everything so beautiful in life. I loved you more than20can say. Please try not to be too sad. That is why the roses will be sent to you for years."

    The accident happened on a Sepember night in 2013. A vehicle struck my car from behind 1 I was driving home. At the hospital. the doctors 2 I was a quadriplegic(四肢瘫痪者) and told me I wasn't going to be able to move anything from my neck 3. I had lost the 4 of almost every muscle and was very weak.

    I realized that my life was 5.My head 6 like a heavy ball and I couldn't hold it up. I was unable to use a phone, and unable to 7 or wash myself. I couldn't grasp anything: a fork or spoon was too 8 to pick up.

    However, I saw a glimpse 9 and was inspired by other patients with 10 like mine in the recovery center. The first year was slow and I didn't see much 11. But I had to learn to be 12 with myself and to enjoy every 13 going forward. I was determined to walk again, so giving up was no longer a(n) 14. I struggled hard on my recovery(康复) and still do to this day. I'm now moving my 15 and arms on my own, doing things like swimming and yoga. All of this is 16 my doctor's wrong, and is turning the page from the impossible to the possible.

    My family, friends and team encourage me to 17 to work harder. I believe that this difficulty is an opportunity to 18 and become stronger. I'm sure my story will inspire others not to 19. If I learned one 20 from my car accident, it's this: Never give up on hope.

    I had never known a Christmas when we could ask for a special gift and actually expect to get it. The Great Depression (大萧条) of the 1930s really1 our farming community of Belleville, Michigan. Then came 1940; I was 7 years old and my brother, David, was 8. That year my father got a(n)2 job, and David and I were asked to choose the one 3we most wanted to get that year. I 4 a teddy bear. David asked for a bicycle.

    5, Christmas morning arrived. There under the tree, with a big red bow around his neck, was my teddy bear. David's6 , however, was not there. I7 how my parents could make my wish come true but not my brother's.

    “I8something,” my father said, as he went into the other room. When he came back he was9a bicycle.

    On David's face was a look of both delight and10. The bike was secondhand, which David didn't11, but it was a girls' bike. Boys did not ride girls' bikes. Personally, I wouldn't have 12if it had come with pink bows on it – it was still a bicycle.

    David and I had been learning to ride on bicycles13from friends in the neighborhood. I was not as14a rider as he was, but I could15to get from point A to point B.

    David was very16, letting me ride his new wheels often. He even17out a way to tie our Radio Flyer wagon to the bike so he could pull me and other kids up and down our road.

    Now we could18 places that were once beyond convenient walking distance. That winter we took many long rides down the snowy back roads, with me on the handlebars or19behind in the wagon. That bicycle was the Christmas present and truly gave us an exciting new 20.

I hadn't got exercise lately and felt a bit dizzy. I was a little1 . One of my friends invited me to show up to see a2 that they said would help me feel better. Little did I know that I was about to see something I would never forget.

They introduced a young3 , Mr Patrick Henry Hughes. He was4 onto the stage in his wheelchair and began to play the piano. His fingers5 across the keys as he made beautiful music. He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason,6 , I knew that I was seeing something special. Ten minutes later, someone came on the stage and7 a video of Patrick Henry Hughes.

Patrick was born with no eyes and a tightening of the joints which left him8 for life. Before his first birthday, he9 the piano. On his second birthday, he asked to play it. His father was10 . "We might not play baseball, but we can play music together. "

Today, Patrick is a11 at university. His father attends classes with him and he has made nearly all "A" s. He is also a trumpet player of a band. He and his father do it together — they12 all the band practices and the half-time performance in front of thousands of people.

But even more than his13 musical talent, it was Patrick's attitude to gratitude that touched me. I will never forget that night, that smile, that music, but most importantly, that14 attitude to gratitude. Gratitude can change your attitude,15 your life forever.