A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet．He held up a 1which said：“I am blind, please help．”

    There were only a few 2 in the hat．A man was walking by．He took some change from his pocket and 3 it into the hat．He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some 4 ．He put it back so that everyone

    who passed 5 would see the new words．

    Soon the hat began to 6 ．There were a lot more people 7 money to the blind boy．That afternoon the man who had 8 the sign came to see how things were．The boy 9 his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said, “I just wrote the 10 ．I said what you said but in a different way.”

    What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I 11 see it．”

    Do you think the previous sign and the new one were 12 the same thing? Of course both signs 13 people that the boy was blind． 14 , the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat because of his blindness．The second sign told people that they were15 enough and able to enjoy the 16of the day , which the boy couldn't.

    There are at least two 17 we can learn from this simple story.

    The first is : Be 18for what you have．Someone else has19 Help where you can.

    The second is : Be creative. Think 20 .There is always a better way.

    I got my first bike in 1943. It was an old, second-hand blue bike. Bikes of any kind were very1at that time. A new bike was rarely to be seen, as2was needed to produce weapons to3our brave men and women in the fighting overseas.

    At ten, I was quite4 I convinced my mother I could earn enough money to be a millionaire—if I only had an old second-hand bike. She laughed but5about 80 per cent of the total cost of the bike. I had6a few dollars digging gardens, cleaning snow and doing other jobs.

    I7Mother I'd pay back the loan(借款). The day I got my bike was one of the happiest of my life. I could8earning some money--9groceries(杂货) for Clarks' grocery store and packages for a small store a few block away—this was in the Forest Hills section of Edmonton. I made a few dollars but10to start another work, as the first was proving too11to come by.

    My mother, another brother, Len, and I were to12Dad in Yellowknife, which was so far way that my bike couldn't be transported there. Leaving my bike was very difficult, but13had to come first. I made very little money14it, not enough to pay Mother back. We15Yellowknife in the fall of 1943. It was quite an experience for a young fellow, or anybody else for that matter.

    After we'd been in Yellowknife for a while, I was able to16Mother for the bike loan. I got a job at the recreation centre in the Negus Mine. The17paid great—I had lots of money, but would not18another bike. The19there were made with the tailings(尾矿) from the mine—lots of rough rock. The new20had not been built at that time.

    Even though I've lived most of my life in China, English has always been an important part of my life.

    When I was four years old, my family and I1 to the US, where we lived in Houston, Texas, for a year. I was too 2 then to fully understand what it was like to be in such a different environment, but 3 English started to make its way into my life.

    At first, I didn't really know how to 4 with my foreign classmates with proper English, but they were nice and 5 and very soon English became like a second language to me. I could 6myself in both Chinese and English. I had another useful 7.

    English is 8 a tool of communication for me; it has also brought a new world of 9 to me. When I was in fourth grade, my friends 10me a very popular book series called Percy Jackson & the Olympians, and I felt then that I had never read any story that 11 me as much. I began to 12 the world of English literature（文学）and found that all the 13 books and stories I came across opened my eyes to a different 14 from the one I had been familiar with. I loved the stories I would otherwise have 15 if I had not known English.

    All in all, English has given me another tool for communicating with others, 16to understand and accept things I would never have 17 and brought me much 18through reading. I think I am very 19 to have learned English because it has helped20 my view of the world, and it still does.

    The day I received my letter of acceptance to NewYork university, I was extremely excited. It was my dream university. And my1 were pleased for me. But they also hadn't2 me to get into such a competitive school. In fact, the best thing they ever did for me was to 3  me from doing things4 - indeed, when I was in elementary school, they offered to buy me a present5I got a C.

    It 6 when I was in the third grade. An only child in an Asian family, I had just 7 with my family to Los Angeles. Months into the third grade, I developed a strong feeling of8 about getting bad grades. Seeing my anxiety, Dad said, "Kate, tell you what. If you get a C or 9, I'll buy you a present. If you score higher than that, I won't buy you anything, because you won't10 it."

    Clearly dad wasn't the 11Asian tiger parent, pressuring me to work tirelessly for the best12, and neither was my mom. They didn't want to push me. They wanted me to be13 and healthy. Dad's 14  of a "failing grade" gift amazingly15 my worries and reassure. What's more, I16getting A's and B's throughout high school, but without the added stress and fear of failing. I think it was my parents' lack of stress on grades that gave me 17 to encourage my own desire for achievements. I now realize I was 18 when I thought I didn't receive a present from my dad that day. He gave me two invaluable19 : the space to develop my own desire for excellence, and the healthy mind to 20it.

A Game of Light and Shade

    It was a sunny day. I had gone up and down the tower when, outside the door at the foot, a blind man came toward me. In a moment, he disappeared up the stairs. I looked at the sign that said "To the Tower", and decided to 1 him.

    I caught up with him in the ticket office. There I was 2 to see the attendant (工作人员) selling him a ticket as if he were any other visitor. Then, with the ticket in one hand and 3 the wall with the fingers of the other, the blind man reached the stairs 4 to the hallway.

    "That man is blind. What would a blind man climb up the tower for?" I said to the attendant, expecting him to show some 5, but he didn't answer.

    "Not the 6 certainly," I said. "Perhaps he wants to 7."

    I bought a ticket and 8 up the stairs. The man hadn't gone as far as I 9. A third of the way up the tower, I heard his 10. I slowed down and followed him at a little 11. He stopped from time to time. When he got to the balcony, I was a dozen steps 12. As I reached it, I saw him at the corner of the tower.

    At last, after ten minutes, I 13 him. "Excuse me," I said as politely as I could, "but I am curious to know 14 you came up."

    He smiled. "Coming up the stairs, you will notice how not just light but sun 15 into the tower through the narrow windows here and there, so that you can feel the 16—the cool stairs suddenly become quite warm—and how up here behind the wall there is 17, but as soon as going opposite a window you can find the sun. There is no 18 so good as this for feeling the difference between light and shade. It is not the first time I've come up."

    The blind man seemed quite 19 just like a child who was enjoying his favorite games. He told me the truth that blind men can also find the beauty in life 20 they cannot enjoy the sights of the world.