My first lesson is at a meeting. As we settle around the table I hear Meg, who is 1 a recent operation, talking to Judith, the manager of our project. “Thank you so much for 2 my daughters to their dance lessons last week.” “Don't mention it,” Judith says, “It was nothing.”

    Knowing how 3 Judith's schedule is, with her work, kids and aging parents, I find her driving Meg's children to lessons unbelievably 4. I am about to say more about this when Donna, another colleague, enters the room 5. She apologizes for being late, saying she just hosted a lunch for her friends who are over seventy. “That is so nice of you,” I say, 6 how busy she is, how she doesn't like to cook and clean. “Oh,” she says, waving her hand, “It was nothing.” 7, I can still tell the 8 in her voice. She did gain a sense of satisfaction from the entertainment offered to her friends.

    Seeing their 9 to help others selflessly, I start thinking about the concept of “nothing”, this peaceful and generous way of living — had it really been nothing or are they simply saying that? It 10 to me that once I spent a whole afternoon after work helping a friend 11 a speech she was going to deliver. I 12 her to rearrange the sequence of the stories in the lecture to make it sound more 13. After the fifth try, she finally 14 it . She hugged me with 15, saying thanks to me. I smiled and said it was nothing.

    Suddenly, I realized that helping someone was really something to me. I learned that giving from the heart doesn't 16 mean sacrifice and hard work. The 17 is finding something we love to do and finding someone who 18 that something. Our generosity can benefit others 19 ourselves. Once you have a good 20 of it, it's nothing. And it's really something.

    Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle's nest rested. The eagle's 1contained four large eagle eggs. One day an earthquake rocked the mountain, 2 one of the eggs to roll down the mountain 3 a chicken farm, which was in the valley below. The chickens knew that they must 4 and care for the eagle's egg, so an old hen 5 to hatch (孵) and raise the large egg.

    One day, the egg hatched and a beautiful 6 was born. Sadly, however, the eagle was raised to be a(n) 7 . Soon, the eagle believed he was8more than a chicken. The eagle 9 his home and family, but his spirit cried out for more. While playing a game on the farm one day, the eagle looked at the skies above and 10 a group of eagles soaring in the skies. “Oh,” the eagle cried, “I wish I could soar 11 those birds.” The chickens shouted with laughter, “You cannot soar like those birds. You are a chicken and chickens do not 12 .”

    The eagle 13staring at his real family up above, 14that he could be with them high in the sky. Each time the eagle wanted to let his 15 be known, he was told it couldn't be done. That is 16 the eagle learned to believe. Slowly, the eagle 17 his dreaming and continued to live his life like a chicken.18, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle 19.

    You will become what you believe you are; so if you ever dream of becoming an eagle, 20 your dreams, not the words of a chicken.

    A large cat arrived at a farm where many mice lived. None of them dared go outside for fear of being1by the cat.

    The mice decided to hold a 2to find a way of stopping themselves from being in 3One day, when the cat was out, mice of all ages4 into the meeting room.

     “Let's build a big trap,” one mouse5 When this idea was6 another said. “What about poisoning(毒死)her?” But7knew where to buy the poison. One young mouse, whose mother had become the cat's food, said 8.” Let's cut her teeth, so she can do no more harm.” But the meeting did not accept his 9.

    At last, one mouse,10than the rest, jumped onto a table. Waving a bell, he called for11 “Be quiet! We'll tie this bell to the cat's tail, so we'll always know12she is! We'll have13to escape, and the slower and weaker mice will hear her coming and be able to 14!” Hearing the words, everyone got15and they congratulated him on his good idea.

     “We'll tie it so tightly(紧紧地)that it will never16!”

     “She'll never be able to walk 17again! Why, the other day, she suddenly appeared right in front of me! Just imagine”.

    However, the wise mouse said, “We must18who is going to tic it on her tail.” There was not a sound in the room. Nobody was19enough to put the plan into action. The meeting ended without any decision being made.

It's often very easy to have bright ideas, but putting them into practice is more20matter.

    October 12^th, 2008. It was a cold, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up for two hours along the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn's house. But she had 1 that I come see something at the top of the mountain.

    "I'll stay for lunch, but I'm 2 back home straight after that," I announced when I arrived.

    "But I need you to drive me to the garage to 3 my car," Carolyn said. "Could we 4 do that?"

    "How far is it?" I asked.

    "About three minutes," she said. "I'll drive—I'm5 it."

    After ten minutes on the mountain road, I looked at her 6. "I thought you said three minutes."

    She laughed. "This is a detour(绕道)."

    Turning down a narrow path, we parked the car and got out. To my 7, the views before my eyes were 8 words.

    From the 9 of the mountain, several acres(英亩) across hills and valleys, were rivers of daffodils(水仙花). Plenty of 10—from the palest ivory(象牙白) to the deepest lemon and then to the most vivid pink—shone like a carpet before us. It looked 11 the sun had tipped(翻倒) over and spilled(洒落) gold down the mountainside.

    A series of questions 12 my mind. Who 13such beauty? When? How?

    As we approached(接近) the house that 14 in the center of the land, we saw a sign that15: "Answers to the Questions; I Know You Are 16."

    The first answer was: "One Woman—Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain." The second was: "One at a Time." The third: "17 in 1958."

    The 18 of it would not let me go. "Imagine," I said, "if I'd had a 19 and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have 20?"

    Carolyn looked at me, smiling. "Start tomorrow," she said. "Better yet, start today."

    Nobody can inspire us like great teachers. They show us things about ourselves we can't see. They see 1 in us that others, including ourselves can't or won't see. 2 they give us the courage to find our own way and enough 3 to show us that what we feel 4 is anything but that.

    When Bill Gates 5 Seattle's View Ridge Elementary School, he was a really unattractive and shy fourth grader. 6 a kindly librarian named Blanche Caffiere, he was 7 to come into his own in a way that would one day 8 the world forever. Gates sets the stage for this tale like this:

    "When I first met Mrs Caffiere, she was the elegant and engaging school 9, and I was a shy fourth grader. I was 10 trying to go unnoticed, because I had some big shortcomings, like terrible handwriting…and I was trying to hide the 11 that I liked to read - something that was cool for girls but not for boys… Mrs Caffiere took me under her wing."

    He was grateful to Mrs Caffiere for helping him become less 12 , which resulted from the true spirit of 13 teaching. First she encouraged Gates' enthusiasm for 14 by helping him explore it through the use of introspective (内省的) questions, 15 what he liked to read and why. Next, she would go out of her 16 to source books that were 17 more interesting and challenging for him. Finally, 18 he'd read them, she would sit down with him and ask him if he liked what he had read, and more 19 what he'd learned and why. "She basically 20 what I had to say." Gates recalled.

Lying in bed, I debated whether I should paint the wall at home or go for my scheduled medical check because of the occasional pain in the breast I 1 doing either, but both were overdue. I rolled over and over again, thinking about my 2 situation.3, I settled for the painting and decided to make another 4 for the medical check.

After breakfast, I got out and pulled into a mall. I 5 by the gift shop next to the paint store to pick up some cards. I 6 a shelf with statues of angels (天使). One dressed in pink caught my eye. As I 7 to get her down, a woman who was standing by my right side said, "She's a pretty breast-cancer angel.^”

"Yes, she is. But she's a little 8 , I can't afford it," I said. Putting the angel back on the shelf, I stopped and bent down as a sharp 9 ran from my shoulder down my arm. The woman came around to my left side, saying firmly, "Honey, get the angel and your medical check. You'll be 10 ." Then she left quickly.

All happened so fast and unexpectedly that I was11. I wanted to ask her how she knew I 12 a medical check, but she was 13 to be found. I took her 14 anyway. After 15 the pink angel, I drove to the 16 .

The 17was breast cancer, and I was scheduled for surgery a week later. After chemotherapy(化疗),I 18 recovered as the strange lady had said.

I was declared cancer-free nine years ago. Much as I 19 my pretty breast-cancer angel, I gave her to another breast-cancer patient with the 20 that she'd someday hear the voice of her own angel.