When I was in my twenties, I travelled alone through the UK. In order to 1 locations that the public transportation couldn't get to, I bought a(n)2 car, drove it around for three months and sold it before I returned to Australia. The car cost most of my money, so I lived mainly on3during that trip, it being cheap and filling. In Ireland, my4 was stolen, and it was impossible to get another. So for the rest of the trip I 5out in my car, being too poor to afford bed and breakfast.

    One morning, I 6 in my old Skoda under a twisted tree on a remote lane in the Irish countryside, with no more than a 7 house in sight. I had a terrible desire for a 8 cup of tea and some hot water to make porridge with 9 I would not have to eat the cold leftovers from the previous day.

    My thermos (暖瓶) had gone cold overnight so I knocked on the door of the house. A woman opened it. Hot water? She 10 let me get away with just that! I was invited indoors, seated at the breakfast table with the 11 and given a delicious breakfast, as much as I could eat. I was 12 to eat something more than porridge! I 13 being friends with the whole family.

    That was only one of many acts of 14strangers showed me when I was traveling alone in foreign regions. One London businessman rushing to work, seeing me 15 offered to pull my ridiculously heavy suitcase 16several flights of stairs in the underground. After he'd done so, with a smile and a wave, he 17 into the crowd.

    Kindness gets 18. The other day, I was able to point out a rare parking spot to a young man who had been driving around the railway car park, looking 19 desperate. His grateful smile was all the 20 I needed as I dashed off to catch my train.

    Eric Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, won brief international fame at Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games for an extremely unlikely victory.

    Twelve months before the Olympics, Moussambani had never gone outside of his home country, an extremely poor tiny African nation. Having1his admission into the Olympic Games, Moussambani set about teaching himself to 2. The only pool that was3belonged to a local hotel, and they 4 him to use it between 5 and 6 am, three times a week. Before Sydney he had never set eyes on an Olympic 5, let alone practiced in one. Moussambani had no6, no lanes（泳道）, and no way of tracking his efforts. Worse still, he didn't know he had been entered in to the 100m race, not the 50m he had7.

    When the day came, events got 8. Of the three competitors in the first round, Moussambani was the9competitor who was not removed from the game for starting early. He now had to do it alone, against the 10, fighting for a chance to be in the final.11it seemed that he's not going to finish it in the second half of the race, he 12completed it with a time of 1＇5". It was the slowest time in Olympic history,13a personal best.

    International media 14him 'Eric the eel' and a real model of the Olympic 15that it's not the winning, but the taking part that 16. When he was17after the race, Moussambani said, “At first I got worried that I couldn't 18. Thinking of the dear people19me, I kept on and it happened.”

    Moussambani never gives up. He is now the head coach of the national team and thanks to his20, the country has built two 40m pools.

    I was the fool at school, regarded as a special needs student. I was termed as such, obviously, because I was not interested in school and did not care for my 1.

    Over time, I started to believe in my stupidity. I 2 the fact that I was in special needs classes and poured it out as anger and depression. But one activity 3 this view of myself chess.

    I started to play chess with my father after school simply because I wanted to 4 him at something. My father was a5 man, fond of physics, writing, religion…, almost every 6. He was called a walking dictionary. So, winning in chess against my father would be a 7that I had intellectual power. On the small chessboard. I had a chance to 8 my so—called inability.

    Game after game. I wanted to beat my father even more. I started to study chess books and play against a chess computer to 9 my skills. One weekend. I finally checkmated （将杀） my father on a ferry ride, which made me feel 10 .

    Two years later, I became the second board on my school chess team, with our top board being the best high school player in the state. But before the tournament season, our top player 11 to come. There came my chance to play as top board against the best players in other states.

    I was determined to show who I had become：a（n） 12 person able to win with calculation, logic and will. My most 13game came in the final round. Our team was facing a high school which only excellent students attended. It was 14 a match between a special needs student and a smart soul. My opponent （对手） was playing well and kept 15 while I kept defending to keep my king safe. He spent long trying to break down my defenses, but could not find the final push. I 16with more defensive moves, trying to make it as difficult for him as possible. With little 17 left, he started to make rapid moves. 18he could make the final decision, he ran out of time. Honestly, as his clock flag fell, I jumped up out of my seat and kissed the floor out of excitement. Of course it was not the most sportsmen—like 19 but I could not control my emotions.

    While holding my winner's cup, I knew I was not 20. The inferiority complex （自卑感） had melted away, and I realized that underneath our thoughts, each person is a genius.

    With the plaster cast(石膏绷带) on my arm for weeks, I returned the hospital to have it removed.

    The doctor cut away my cast and asked me to 1 my arm. When moving it in every possible way, I was 2 by the fact that my elbow(肘) was actually fixed, which was all thanks to the doctor and made me more interested in the 3 of the doctor. I began to think that he had a secret 4 that only a few people in the world had, and I 5 what it was. From then on, I was sure that I would become a doctor 6 him one day. At the age of four, I was already 7 to discover the art of healing and share it with the world.

    As my mom and I made our way out of the hospital that day I released her hand and ran away. I wanted to 8 my experience with everyone. I found an elderly man9 from a wheelchair and ran to help him, saying, “Don't worry, Grandpa. The doctor will fix your10. Look how he fixed my arm!” I then showed him my newly 11 elbow. He gave me the biggest smile. I waved goodbye to the man and felt 12 to have shared my good fortune with someone who truly 13 it.

    Thirteen years have passed by since that day, and many things have changed. 14, I am still determined to discover the art of healing, even though I now know it is not as 15 as I originally thought. Last summer I had a chance to volunteer in 16 medical environments where I learned how to encourage patients to eat the healthy food they17, and what doctors do when a child refuses a throat swab. Each of these experiences has taught me a lot, 18 most importantly they have further promoted my interest in19. Although I have not yet discovered the art of healing, I know that every year I get 20 to it.

    A minister(牧师)was on a long flight. The first 1 of approaching problem came when the sign on the airplane 2 on: Fasten Your Seat Belts.

    As the minister looked 3 the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers became 4. Later, a voice over the intercom(内部通话系统) said "We are so sorry that we are unable to 5 the meal at this time. The currents are ahead of us." And then the storm broke. Lightning lit up the darkening skies, and 6 moments the great plane was tossed(使动来动去) around.

    The minister recalled, "As I looked around the plane, I could see the nearly all the 7 were scared. Then I suddenly saw a little girl. Obviously, the storm 8 nothing to her. She was reading a book on her seat and everything within her small world was 9. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again. Sometimes she straightened her legs, but worry and 10 were not in her world."

    The minister could 11 believe his eyes. It was not surprising, 12, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to13the plane, the minister came up to the girl whom he had 14 for such a long time. Having talked about the storm, he asked why she had not been afraid.

    The child replied, "That was because my 15 was the pilot, and he would take me home."

    There are many kinds of 16 that frightened us. Physical, mental, financial, domestic, and many other storms can easily and quickly 17 our sky and throw our plane into apparently uncontrollable movement. We have all known such times, and let us be honest and accept, it is much 18 to be at rest when our feet are on the ground than 19 we are being tossed about a darkened shy.

    Let us remember: Our father is the 20. He is in control and taking us home. Don't worry.

The famous composer, Rob Stewart, didn't have a good start in this career. However, he achieved a great deal of success as a result of a1. Stewart's parents died when he was eight and he went to live with his2. As a little boy, he fell in love with music and3himself about it by reading through the family collection that his mother kept,4which there were a lot of related books.

Three years later, Stewart's grandfather died, and his mother's sister decided to5him. Her husband was a kind man and6for young Stewart's music lessons. One summer vacation at a Belgian seaside added a second7to his life——the sea. Then he studied to be a naval cadet, but still took time to study8.

In the French Navy, he and two friends found time to9a band, playing the works of Beethoven and other10. Stewart also began composing. On Christmas Day 1892, he had his first chance to11as a composer, which turned out to be a success.

That success12Stewart to write a wedding march, and one of his navy friends13to show it to the famous conductor, Edouard Colonne. When Stewart's friend14with the manuscript, he reported that Colonne had advised Stewart to15his naval career and devote his life to music.

Not long16he was 25, Stewart decided to17Edouard Colonne's advice. He gave his heart and soul to his composing and18a major force in the twentieth century's French music. Because of Edouard Colonne's inspiring19, Stewart devoted his life to music, but Stewart's20friend later admitted that he had made it up. He said he had never ever shown Stewart's manuscript to the famous conductor.