One night in November, Itzhak Perlman gave a concert in a theatre. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that becoming a violinist is not a small 1 for him. He had to walk 2 the help of two walking sticks as a result of the disease he caught as a child.

    People sat 3 while he made his way to his chair and began his play. But this time, something went 4. Just as he finished the first few parts of the music, one of the wrings(弦) on his violin 5. We thought that he would have to stop the concert. But he didn't. 6, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then 7 the conductor(指挥) to begin again. The orchestra(管弦乐队) began and he played with such strong feeling and purity as they had 8 heard before.

    Of course, everyone knows that it is 9 for a violinist to play a pleasant work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, 10 that night Itzhak Perlman didn't want to accept that.

    When he finished, there was a terrible 11 in the room. And then people rose and 12 from every corner of the theatre.

    Perlman was excited. He smiled and said, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to 13 how much music you can still make with what you have left."

    So, suppose our task in this fast-changing world is to make 14, at first we should try out best with all that we have. And then,    15 it is no longer possible, try to play it with what we have left.

    Some people remember the things by writing notes to themselves. Then they leave the notes in obvious(明显的) places, such as on the table or on the floor in the middle of the living room. I don't think I like to write notes to myself. Most of the time I lose them or forget to look at them until it's too late. I prefer to use an alarm clock to tell me what I should do. I have ten alarm clocks in my house. They could tell me about things. For example, if I have to make a telephone call at a certain time, I'll set an alarm clock to go off a few minutes early and put the clock by the telephone. Or if I want to watch a certain television program, I'll set an alarm clock at the right time and put the clock on top of the TV set. I can remember almost anything if I use my clocks. However, sometimes an alarm clock goes off and I don't know what it means. I always remember setting it, but I do not know why I set it. If the clock is by the telephone, I know I may have set it to tell me to call someone, but I can't be sure. I might have set it to tell myself that somebody was to call me at a certain time.

C

    My daughter Eyen is ten years old. She is in Grade Three in a primary school. She is a cute girl though(虽然) she has some strange ideas sometimes.

    One day she asks me, “Mum, what's your favourite subject?” I think for a while(一会儿) and answer，“It is difficult to tell. I love singing, so music is my favourite. And I am good at English. My history teacher also says I am excellent. Well, I can say I don't like science. But science is important for us, you know. So you must do well in it. What is your favourite subject, Eyen? Tell me something about your subject, dear.”

    “I like Chinese. It is easy. I like English because my English teacher likes me very much. I can't stand maths. It's serious and sad(悲哀的).”

    “Do you mean(意味)your maths teacher is serious and sad?”

    “No, it is maths, not the maths teacher.”

    “Why do you think so?”

    “Because maths has so many problems! Isn't it sad all day?”

    Mr. Brown was going away for a week. He said to his son," {#blank#}1{#/blank#} anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has {#blank#}2{#/blank#} out for doing something and will be back {#blank#}3{#/blank#} a week." He was afraid his son couldn't remember this, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and give it to him.

    Four {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (day) passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no one to come and that the paper was of no {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (valuable) for him, so he put it on fire that evening.

The next afternoon, someone came and said, "Where is your father?" The boy looked {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (worry). He said to himself. "I {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (put) the paper on fire already." So he {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (shout), "No more." The man was so surprised that he said. "No more? I met your father last week! And tell me {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it happened! ""On fire yesterday evening." the boy said.

    A little boy invited his mother to attend his school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's disappointment, his mother said she would go. This would be the first time that his classmates and teachers met his mother and he was embarrassed by her appearance. There was a serious scar (伤疤) that covered nearly the whole right side of her face. The boy never wanted to talk about why or how she got the scar.

    At the meeting, the people were impressed by the kindness of his mother with the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed and hid himself from everyone. However, he could hear clearly the conversation between his mother and the teacher.

    "How did you get the scar on your face?" the teacher asked.

    The mother replied, "When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught on fire.

    Everyone was too afraid to go in because the fire was out of control, but I went in. As I was running towards his bed, I saw a burning wood falling down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked to be unconscious (无知觉的), but luckily, a fireman came in and saved both of us." She touched the burned side of her face. "This scar will be forever, but until today, I have never regretted doing what I did."

    When the little boy heard this, he couldn't help running towards his mother with tears in his eyes. He hugged her and felt his mother was greater than anyone. He held her hand tightly for the rest of the day.