My wife and I were walking through the parking lot at the supermarket the other day. We noticed a huge truck 1 about a foot into the next parking space. There was plenty of room in its own space, 2 the driver had chosen to park very poorly and made sure that 3 could use the space next to his.

    My first 4 was “Why do people act like such idiots (白痴)?”

    “What a 5 that people have to do things like that.” My wife said.

    I stopped and looked around at the rest of the parking lot. There were a good five hundred 6 and 99% of them were parked well. Their drivers had shown the 7 necessary to park in a way that still 8 other people to park.

    “Think about it,” I said. “Only one 9 parks poorly and we start using ‘people' to describe the driver.” The 10 of the matter is that we forget about the thousands of people who behave themselves when we see one person doing something 11.

    I've been 12 for many years, and the percentage of good drivers is always 13 than the percentage of poor drivers. “People” don't necessarily drive poorly, but individuals do.

    My wife and I almost didn't 14 the many cars that were parked well because the car that was parked poorly caught our 15. It is true that we're far less 16 to see the positive side of things if we keep 17 on the negative. Once we fall into this trap, how many of the wonderful things in the world will we 18?

    Our lives are ours to live, and the 19 we see our world is up to us. Remember: the rude person truly is a(n) 20, and not really worth the time or effort we spend thinking about him or her.

    The other night, I had to go to a meeting, which lasted past my daughter's bedtime. I 1 home and was brushing my teeth when I 2, and there on the bathroom mirror was a note in the  3 of a heart. It said, “Hi, Mom! I Love You. Laurel. ” 4, I cut a heart out of a piece of paper, and pasted(贴) a(n) 5 next to hers, saying, “I Love You, too, Laurel. Love, Mom”, which she 6 the next morning.

    Our family has 7 that by integrating(互相) writing into our 8 activities, we become more thoughtful of each other. Meanwhile, our daughter is learning to enjoy writing and becoming a(n) 9 writer.

    While teaching in a primary school, I 10 how influential parents can be as children learn to write. 11when our daughter first began to scribble（乱涂）, I became 12 by her work. I offered praise for her 13, for I found that scribbling is far more complex and important than I had 14. It was obvious that her scribbles,15 being lovely art objects, showed a lot about her 16 of the world of writing.

    Gradually, our family began writing a great deal. I sensed that writing helped Laurel learn 17 to read. As a matter of fact, by 18 my own child and her friends and by reading professional books, I became more and more 19 about how writing develops and how 20can help children become eager writers.

    Last spring, I was fortunate to be chosen to participate in an exchange study program. In my application letter, I was careful to 1 how much I wanted to see France; evidently, my excitement really came through in my words. Once I 2  that I was going, all I could think about was the fun of foreign travel and making all sorts of new and 3 friends. While traveling was inspiring and meeting people was 4 , nothing about my term in France was what I 5.       

    The moment I arrived in Paris, I was 6 by a nice French couple who would become my host parents. My entire experience was joyous and exciting  7 I received some shocking news from my program coordinator（协调人）: there had been a death in my host parents' extended family. They had to travel outside France for several weeks. That afternoon, I had to 8 out of one family's house into another. The exchange coordinator told me I'd have a 9this time and asked whether I could share a bedroom with an English speaker. To avoid the temptation(诱惑) to 10my native language, I asked not to be 11with an English-speaking roommate. When I got to my new room, I 12 myself to my new roommate Paolo, a Brazilian（巴西人） the same age as I, whom I was surprised to find playing one of my favorite CDS! In just a few hours, we knew we'd be good friends for the rest of the 13 .

 I left France with many 14 , so when people asked me what my favorite part of the trip was, they are always 15 to hear me talk about my Brazilian friend Paolo and scores of weekdays in class, weeknights on the town, and weekends16 France we enjoyed together. I love how people 17 seem so different, but end up being so18 . The most valuable lesson I gained from studying in France wasn't just to respect the friend people 19to respect all people, for your next best friend could be just a continent away. I would recommend an exchange program to anyone who wants to experience foreign cultures and gain meaningful 20.

    I was required to read one of Bernie Siegel's books in college and was hooked on his positivity from that moment on. The stories of his unconventional1and the exceptional patients he wrote about were so2 to me and had such a big3on how I saw life from then on.

    Who knew that so many years later I would look to Dr. Bernie and his CDs again to4my own cancer experience?

    I'm an ambitious5, and when I started going through chemo(化疗), even though I'm a very6 person, I lost my drive to write. I was just too tired and not in the7. One day, while waiting to go in for8, I had one of Dr. Bernie's books in my hand. Another patient9what I was reading and struck up a conversation with me10 he had one of his books with him as well. It11that among other things, he was an eighty-year-old writer. He was 12a published author, and he was currently13on a new book.

    We would see each other at various times and14friends. Sometimes he wore a duck hat, and I would tell myself, he was definitely a(n) 15of Dr. Bernie. He really put a 16on my face. He unfortunately17 last year due to his cancer,18he left a deep impression on me and gave me the 19 to pick up my pen again. I20to myself, "If he can do it, then so can I."

Overcome the Fear for Your Dream

    I stood nervously behind the red curtain and glanced out across the stage. A girl about my age sat at a piano; I could see her fingertips moving over the black and white keys in front of her. The beautiful melody (旋律) was so relaxing, 1 my body tensed with anxiety.

    My body 2 when the girl stood up from the bench. It was finally my turn. A part of me wanted to run home and 3 under my bed, but I knew I had chosen to 4. When the girl onstage walked toward me, I could hear my heart beating 5. The girl had a proud smile on her face and when she passed me, I heard her say “Good 6”!

    “Well, here goes nothing.” I said to myself.

    I stepped onto the 7 and walked slowly toward the piano. The bright lights nearly 8 me, making it difficult to see the audience. When I reached the 9, I automatically slid onto the bench into position. The sounds of whispering and people walking around gave way to complete silence. I stared at my 10 fingers and for a moment my mind went 11. Closing my eyes, I imagined the music sitting in front of me and tried to recall every tiny detail.

    Finally, I took a deep breath and began to play Beethoven's Moonlight sonata（协奏曲）. The rich tones of the piano rang out. One by one, each muscle in my body loosened and relaxed. I sat on the bench and my 12 danced over the row of black and white keys as if they had a mind of their own.

    All the practice and 13 I put in for six months showed this was what my teacher was pushing for. I tried to 14 all the things she reminded me to do. “Keep your wrists up, relax your arms, don't raise your shoulders… ” I remembered feeling slightly annoyed hearing these things continuously, but I never realized until now how it really 15.

    When I reached the end of the piece, the audience started 16. I rose from the bench and gave a deep bow. A proud smile 17 up my face. Inside I felt 18 that it was over and that I had done so well. As the applause died down, I turned and walked to the other side of the stage. I saw a young boy standing nervously behind the red curtains staring 19out at the stage. When I walked by, I passed to him the two words that were given to me for20: Good luck!

    Do birds have a favorite color? It's probably not a question you've ever 1 but a project designed to answer that question led to two British schoolboys 2 the Young Scientist Award of the year after presenting their 3 to a group of judges.

    The boys' 4 to find out whether birds have a(n) 5 for a particular color came purely from scientific curiosity. Both of them are very 6 about nature and the power of colors in things, 7 they worked as a perfect combination and 8 a citizen science project that didn't require fancy equipment.

    The boys 9 bird feeders in their back gardens. Each garden had five feeders, colored blue, green, red, yellow and transparent. They made sure to change the position of the feeders regularly, 10 it affected the results and then placed a 11 for an hour each morning, afternoon and evening across all four seasons to 12 birds visiting each feeder. They collected 13 covering a total period of 400 hours.

    When the experiment finished, they had recorded the birds' 14 to the gardens added up to 3,205, with over a third being to the 15 feeders. It was a conclusive win for blue. The pair believe that blue is 16 to birds because of its familiarity, while red and yellow are often 17 of poison in nature.

    Later, the boys considered 18 for their findings, such as using the less popular colors of red and yellow to 19 bird strikes on planes. There seems to be quite a strong connection between the 20 of planes and the number of bird strikes.