A teacher once told each of her students to bring a clean plastic bag and a bag of potatoes to school. For every person they didn't want to forgive(原谅) in their lives, they chose a potato, wrote the person's1and the date on it and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were very2.They were then told to carry this bag with them3for one week. They would put it beside their bed at night, on the seat when sitting in a car or on a bus , and next to their desks at4. The5carrying the bag around with them made students get to know what a weight they were carrying in their minds. They had to pay attention to(注意) it all the time so that they wouldn't6it or leave it in embarrassing(尴尬的) places. As time passed by, the potatoes went7and smelt terrible. Too often we think of tolerance(宽容) as a8to other people, but it clearly is for9! If we choose to keep our sadness and hatred(仇恨) in our hearts, we will have to10them around all our lives.

    John was driving through a small country town, feeling quite lost and 1. He was happy when he saw a small 2 coming up on the right side of the road. John quickly 3 his car, and walked inside the restaurant.

    John saw a blackboard with a 4 written on it. It said, "Today's Special (特价菜): Vegetable Soup with Fried Chicken and Roast Potatoes."

    "Wow, that sounds pretty good!" John thought to 5. He decided that he would try this special.

    "I'll take the special," John said to the waiter when he came over to 6 John's order. But a few minutes after receiving his order, John called the waiter 7 to his table. He was 8.

    "Is this the special? It says vegetable soup, but there are no 9 in this soup at all! It also says fried chicken, but the chicken isn't 10. And it says roast potatoes, but these potatoes aren't toasted—they've been boiled. What is going on here?"

    The waiter was not used to 11 people from the city. He wasn't quite sure what to say to this angry customer. But he finally found a way to answer the man. "My good man," the waiter said while looking down at John over his glasses, "that is the reason why it is so 12!"

A rich man and a poor tailor(裁缝) lived in the same house. The rich man lived upstairs and the tailor lived downstairs. The tailor liked to sing when he made clothes. He sang one song after another. But the rich man liked to sleep a lot, and the singing disturbed him. 

One day, the rich man said, "Tailor, I'll42give you a bag full of money every day if you stop singing. "

"Fine, " said the tailor. So the tailor stopped singing and became richer and richer.

But after some time, the tailor found he was not happy because he wanted very much to sing again. Then he gave all the money back to the rich man. 

"Here, " he said, "take your money back. I won't be happy if I can't sing. " He put the money on the table and went away and sang. He sang and sang. And he was happy again just like before.

①" Class, this is John Evans, " Mrs. Parmele introduced him to us, trying to give him a warm welcome. We saw a boy in old clothes. John looked around and smiled, hoping somebody would smile back. Nobody did. He kept on smiling anyway. I held my breath as Mrs. Parmele looked around the classroom, hoping she wouldn't notice the empty desk next to mine. She did, and pointed him at that desk. He looked over at me as he sat down, but I looked away. 

②By the end of his first week, John was at the bottom of our class. I told my mother one evening at dinner, " He even doesn't know how to count. " However, as I ate lunch with him the next day and listened to him, I realized that it was pleasant to be with him. After lunch, I decided that I would be John's friend. 

③One night, as Mother came into my bedroom, I said, " Mom, tomorrow is John's birthday, and he's not going to get anything. Nobody cares. "" Don't worry, " Mom said as she kissed me goodnight. "I'm sure everything will be fine. "

④I wished John a happy birthday in the morning, and his smile showed me that he was glad I had remembered. By mid- afternoon I had almost decided that birthdays weren't that important. Then, as Mrs. Parmele was writing on the blackboard, I heard a familiar(熟悉的) voice singing the birthday song. I looked up and saw Mother coming through the door with a tray(托盘) of cupcakes and a present in her hand. Mrs. Parmele also joined in. Mother found John looking like a rabbit in car headlights. She put the cupcakes and the gift on John's desk and said, " Happy birthday, John. " John stood there with his mouth open, unable to believe what was happening. While John ha ppily shared his cupcakes with the class, taking the tray from desk to desk, I caught Mother watching me and she smiled. 

⑤John Evans moved away soon, and I never heard from him again. But I always remember the happiness in a boy's eyes, and the taste of the sweetest cupcake.