I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I'm left 1. Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other 2?

I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s,3children from different races and religions played and studied4in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone's5from Ismail's. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu—we just6our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well7or otherwise.

We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we'd8the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to9the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his10

When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail's family later returned to their village, and I11touch with him.

    One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. I12my destination. The driver acknowledged my13but did not move off. Instead, he looked14at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname(绰号). I was astonished at being so15addressed (称呼). Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two16we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true affection, something17to describe.

If we can allow our children to be18without prejudice, they'll build friendships with people, regardless of race or religion, who will be19their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies built and20we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “we happy few, we band of brothers”.

    One day a man was asked to paint a boat by the owner of the boat. He brought with him paint and 1and began to paint the boat bright red, as the owner asked him. While painting, he 2 there was a hole in the boat and decided to 3it. When he finished painting, he received his 4 and left.

    The next day, the owner of the boat came to the painter and 5him with a nice check, much 6than the payment for painting, the painter was 7" You've already paid me for painting the boat!" he said.

    "But this is not for the paint 8. It's for having repaired the hole in the boat."

    "But it was such a(n)9service. Certainly it's not worth 10 me such a high amount for something so unimportant!"

    "My dear friend, you do not 11 . Now let me tell you what 12. When I asked you to paint the boat, I 13 to mention about the hole. When the boat dried, my kids took the boat and 14 a fishing trip. They did not know that there was a 15 in the boat. I was not at home at that time. When I returned and noticed they had taken the boat, I was 16because I remembered that the boat had a hole. Imagine my 17and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.

    "Then, I 18the boat and found that you had repaired the hole! You see, now, what you did? You 19 my children! I do not have enough money to pay your 'small' good deed."

    So, no matter who, when or how, just 20 repair all the ""leak" you find.

    As a young man, Albert was a skilled artist, a potter with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son 1 a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some 2 intestinal (肠的) disorder, neither Albert nor his wife took the condition very 3. But the boy died suddenly that night.

    Knowing the death could have been 4 if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, he always felt he was 5 . To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two 6 were more than Albert could stand, and he 7 alcohol for help. 8 Albert became an alcoholic.

As the alcoholism 9 , Albert began to lose everything he 10 —his land, house, etc. Finally Albert died alone in a small 11.

    Hearing of Albert's death, I thought, "What a totally 12 life! What a complete failure!"

    As time went by, I began to 13 my earlier rough judgement. I knew Albert's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I saw the love between Ernie and his children, thinking that 14 and caring had to come from 15 .

    I hadn't heard Ernie talked much about his father. One day, I 16 my courage to ask him what on earth his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said 17, "As a child 18 I left home at 18, Albert came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, 'love you, son.'"

    Tears came to my eyes as I realized 19 a fool I had been to judge Albert as a failure. He had not left any 20 possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.

    It was the biggest night of my life—opening night. Hours of1and daily rehearsals had gone into this production. I had recited my line a thousand times,2that my one sentence would be the highlight of the show.

    As a 7-year-old boy, I was3to perform in an actual musical. The night before I had4my costume on the bed: a white shirt, blue jeans, and my handmade necklace. My5was going to be specially done. My lips would be in beautiful red. I was6prepared to be the shining star in my class's performance of the musical One Big Happy Family.

    A little time before the play, the backstage was complete7. My friend and I, dressed in our costumes, were giggling. Children were running around madly. Some were8about forgetting lines; others were singing various songs out of tune. It was a big group of9second graders about to make their first performance.

    Soon the big moment came, and we all filed onto the stage,10the audience of parents and relatives. The11began, and my second grade class started singing with sweet seven-year-old voices. I sang my little heart12, hoping to make the show as perfect as I d13.

    My turn to speak! The kid standing next to me handed over the microphone to me. As I started to speak, I noticed something had gone horribly14—the microphone was not turned on. The blood rushed to my face immediately.15, I turned it over and switched the device on. After saying my line as quickly as possible, I handed the microphone off and I just felt that I had16.

    “Everybody is excellent!” the teacher17us in the backstage. “I'm sorry, Miss Alex.” I said to her. “18to be sorry about, Honey.” She smiled to me, “Not every surprise in our life is always so pleasant. You did a good job!”

    I felt so19in a minute and I can hardly wait to tell my dad and mum the story of “the unpleasant20”.

    "Paul must have been trying to carry his waste paper to garbage can and dropped a few pieces." I1, picking them up.2later I found more pieces. No quiet sighing this time. I3, "Who is throwing garbage?" No answer. Instead, I saw more bits of paper4floating down from upstairs. Looking up. I saw my seven-year-old son, Paul.

    "Stop making a mess." "It's not a mess. They're5." "Sorry, what did you say?" I hadn't heard him clearly.

    He didn't answer me. Paul has autism (自闭症) and6answers a question, especially when he's7attentively on something else. He ran down the stairs. "Where are my other butterflies he asked,8around. Every time Paul9five or more words together, my heart says a10of thanks. But lately he seems to11that the benefits of forming complete sentences when communicating are12of the effort.

    Butterflies. Of course. I rushed to13them from the garbage,14them off and handed them to my young artist "Want to see them15again?" he asked with a shy smile. "Oh yes! They're beautiful." I whispered. He ran back upstairs to float his16down again. They really did look like beautiful butterflies.

    That day Paul17me to look up at18instead of down at garbage. How many other masterpieces (杰作) do I miss because I'm too caught up in my19to take time to appreciate what's right in front of me? Life is not what happens to us. It's20we look at it Now, I look up.

When I look back at the first half of the year. I am amazed by how many challenges I have been through. The biggest one was definitely my high school graduation 1.

When I first arrived in this Czech Republic four years ago, I was just a normal exchange 2who spoke only English, then at the end of the year-Long exchange program, I came up with the idea of 3my high school studies there.

At that time, I was only sixteen and delighted by my new future. What I underestimated was the 4of completing school in the Czech language, which is considered to be one of the most 5languages in the world. As I 6 knowledge of certain subjects I receive the worst marks and people around the world doubted whether I could graduate. However, I practiced all the time. Gradually, I could communicate with others fluently and my 7 grew.

The final exam day came. Thinking about everyone who had helped and supported me along my journey, I felt8and confident.

In May, I received notice that I had 9the exam. At my graduation ceremony, my Czech teacher said very proudly in front of everyone, "One student, she is from China with merely three years of learning Czech, she 10. She deserves a golden folder for the certification. "

My journey through high school was finally finished, though the journey of University is just about to begin, I think I am ready.