Bert Manson, 82, slowly opened his eyes and turned to face the clock on the bedside table. It was 8:23 a.m. He felt 1. The time was nothing to him. He had nothing to do all day. He lay on the bed, 2 to the cars on the highway and the shouts of the children running to school.

After a while, Bert3 got out of bed and asked himself the same questions as he did every morning: Would he fall today? If so, would anyone come? How long would he 4? Would he die? He looked out of the window into the street below. “And who would 5?”he spoke quietly.

After Bert's wife died a year ago, his son and daughter said they would visit once a week. But the last time was months ago. On the phone, they always had a(n) 6: too busy at work; the children are 7; bad weather; no time. Nobody seemed to have any time…except for Bert. He8 his granddaughters. He loved it when Mandy and Ruth came to visit. They brought him candy and 9.

He walked toa chair near the bedroom door 10. He rested for a moment before continuing in small steps to the bathroom.

    My father was a self-taught mandolin（曼陀林琴）player. He was one of the best players in our town. He could not 1 music, but if he heard a tune（曲子）a few times, he could play it. When he was young, he was a2 of a small country music band. They played at local dances and the radio station.

    At home, Dad often got out his mandolin and played for the family. We three children sang along. 3 played the mandolin like my father. He could 4 your heart with the music that came out of that old mandolin. He seemed to shine when he was playing. You could see his 5 in his ability to play so well for his family.

    But Dad had to find another 6 in a factory later because the money he made atthe band wasn't enough to7 the family. Unluckily he had an 8 one day and lost one finger. He couldn't play as 9 as before. From then on, every time we asked him to play, he would make up reasons to 10 down our request. However, we missed his performance so much. 11 , he agreed and said “Okay, but remember, I can't hold down on the strings（琴弦）the way I 12 to”. When he played the old mandolin, it carried us back to a 13,happy time in our lives.

    Dad was that kind of man. 14 was what he was doing all his life. If he could give 15 to others, he would, especially his family. He was always there, sacrificing（牺牲）his time to see that his family had enough in their life.

Grandmother's Problem

    There was once a grandmother living in her grandson's house. The man loved  1 grandmother very much. However, she had some strange habits, so the man thought she needed medical help. Perhaps, he thought, it was time for her to 2 the rest of her life in a special hospital.

    "I'd like you to examine my grandmother," he told a doctor, "then let me know 3 you think she needs special care."

    "All right," the doctor said, "send her to me next Tuesday."Tuesday came and the old woman went to see the doctor. She 4 in front of him and he asked her lots of questions.  She answered them all, and the doctor was 5  .

    "There's 6 with this woman," he thought."I don't understand why her grandson has sent her to me. Perhaps he's the one  7  needs special care."

    He decided to ask her one last question. "Why do you think," he asked her, "your grandson wants you 8 special care?"

  "I like hamburgers," she said.  The doctor laughed."I like hamburgers, too!"

    "You 9 ?"the old woman said, "I'm so glad. Then you must come to my house and have a hamburger 10 me.  I've got boxes and boxes of them in my bedroom."

    Once a gentleman was traveling in a train. He felt 1 and got down at a station to look for some water. But when he got to the water tap, the train had started. He ran back but 2 the train.

    It was getting late and he decided to spend the night at the station. The next morning he asked about the next 3. He came to know that the next train was on the other day. So he decided to find a place for a day's stay. It was getting 4 and he could not find a place near the station.

    At last he reached a small village. He asked a villager 5 he could stay in his house for a night. The villager agreed. The villager cooked him food and 6 him a room to stay. But he did not ask for anything in return.

    At seven in the evening, the gentleman heard a knock at the door. The villager opened the door. It was a7 man in black. He asked the man to pay his debts (债务).

    The next morning, the gentleman 8 some money on the bed. When the villager found the money, he also found a note. It said: "You 9 me but didn't want any pay from me.

    Yesterday I heard the conversation between you and the rich man. I knew that you were in need of 7  10. This is what you need."

    Henry loved books, but not like you and I love books. Henry loved to1books. It all began quite by mistake one afternoon when he wasn't paying attention. He wasn't sure at first, and tried eating only one2Just to test.

    Next, he tried a whole sentence and then a whole page. Yes, Henry liked them very much. By Wednesday, he had eaten a whole book. He was3them very fast.

    And by the end of the month he could eat a whole book in one go.

But here is the best bit: The4he ate, the smarter he got.

    He ate a book5goldfish and then he knew what to feed. Before long he could do his father's crossword in the newspaper…, and was even smarter than his teacher in school.

    Henry loved being smart. He 6 that if he kept going, he might even become the smartest person on earth. So he kept eating books about anything. Henry wanted to know7all.

    8the thing started going not so well. In fact, they started going very, very wrong Henry was eating too many books, and too9at that. He was beginning to feel a little ill.

    Everything Henry was10was getting mixed up. I he didn't have11to digest(消化)it. It became quite difficult for him to speak.

    Suddenly Henry didn't feel very smart at all.

    More than one person told him he should12eating books. So Henry gave up eating books and sat13for a long time. What was he to do?

    Then, after a while, and almost by accident. Henry14it up a half-eaten book from the floor. But instead of putting it in his15Henry opened it up …

    …and began to read. And it was so good.