On the very first day, God created the cow. He1 to the cow, "Today I have created you!2 a cow, you must go to the field with the3all day long. You will work all 4 under the sun! I will give you a life5 of 50 years."

    The cow objected, "What? This kind of a 6life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I'll give back to you." So God agreed.

    On the second day, God created the dog. God said to the dog, "What you are7 to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, you will have to8 at them! I'll give you a life span of 20 years."

    The dog objected, "What? All day long to9by the door? No way! I'll give you 10 my other 10 years of life!" So God agreed.

    On the third day, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, "Monkeys have to11people. You've got to make them laugh and do monkey 12 I'll give you 20 years life span."

    The monkey objected. "What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will13, and the other 10 years I'll give you back." So God agreed.

    On the fourth day, God created14 and said to him, "Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. This kind of life, I'll give you a 20 year life span."

    The man objected. "What? 15a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best and you16me to live only for 20 years? No way, man! Why don't we make a(n)17? Since the cow gave you back 30 years, and the dog gave you back 10 years and the monkey gave you back 10 years, I will 18them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?" So God agreed.

    AND THAT'S WHY...

    In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we19all day long, suffer and get to 20 the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!

    Children find meanings in their old family tales.

    When Stephen Guyer's three children were growing up, he told them stories about how his grandfather, a banker, 1 all in the 1930s, but did not lose sight of what he valued most. In one of the darkest times 2 his strong-minded grandfather was nearly 3 , he loaded his family into the car and  4  them to see family members in Canada with a  5 , "There are more important things in life than money. "

    The 6 took on a new meaning recently when Mr. Guyer downsized to a  7  house from a more expensive and comfortable one. He was 8  that his children, a daughter, 15, and twins, 22, would be upset. To his surprise, they weren't. 9  , their reaction echoed（共鸣）their great-grandfather's. What they 10was how warm the people were in the house and how 11  of their heart was accessible.

    Many parents are finding family stories have surprising power to help children   12  hard times. Storytelling experts say the phenomenon reflects a growing 13 in telling tales, evidenced by a rise in a storytelling events and festivals.

    A university 14 of 65 families with children aged from 14 to 16 found kids' ability to 15 parents' stories was linked to a lower rate of anger and anxiety.

    The 16 is telling the stories in a way children can 17 . We're not talking here about the kind of story that 18 , "When I was a kid, I walked to school every day uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. "Instead, we should choose a story suited to the child's 19 , and make eye contact （接触） to create "a personal experience", We don't have to tell children 20 they should take from the story and what the moral is. "

    It was early one hot morning in 2015 when, accompanied by my mother, I was 1 wheeled to the taxi stand. Three weeks earlier, I had 2 my left ankle at home. Now, I was on my way to being 3 for an operation at the Philippine General Hospital.

    I was feeling 4 as I'd never had surgery before and the thought of it 5 me. After waiting for 6 for more than 90 minutes, we were still standing there. It usually only takes a few minutes, but on this particular Sunday they would 7 us either already filled with passengers or 8 to take us. Perhaps they weren't 9 to carry my 10. My mother was starting to get frustrated as we were fast running out of time; our 11 was scheduled for 10:45am. Then a black SUV 12 and stopped in front of us. The driver, taking a look at us, said, “You two look like you could use a 13!” He told us he'd seen us earlier as he was taking his son to a 14 school activity. He was now returning home and saw that we were still there.

    With no questions asked, this good Samaritan welcomed us aboard and got us to the hospital. We arrived at 10:30 – just in time. He refused any 15, saying people should help one another. He left with a smile.

    I was finally 16. A long recovery process and physical therapy followed and now I am able to 17 again.

    To this day we have not 18 again this friendly driver who went out of his way, but his generosity towards us has 19 in our minds and taught me to keep watch for and help others 20.

    It was a mid April-a time when the planet Earth turns under the hot rays of the Sun. There was a large desert in Africa with no trace of 1 except a little rose. There was not a bird or a tree in 2. The sand dunes(沙丘) became piles of burning coal as the days 3. But the little rose 4 the cruelty of the Sun. The Sun was very 5 to have seen the rose's ability to 6 such unfavorable conditions.

    One afternoon, the Sun said to the little 7, "Dear Rose! I am the supreme power in this universe. I have the 8 to give and take life. Thousands of living things 9 every day, as they are not able to bear with my heat. But, you have been weathering even my hottest rays 10 any complaint. May I know the source that gave you this great 11?"

    "Oh, mighty Sun," the little rose said 12 , "I don't know much about this desert. But it appears 13 and there seems to be no one else in the whole world my eye could stretch. I began to feel 14 for the loneliness of this desert and 15 to help it as possible as I could. And in this process, I never 16 anything that causes pain to me. My whole 17 has been to be a good friend to this desert and 18 its loneliness."

    19 by the little rose's care for the large desert, the Sun offered a(n) 20-millions of other roses filled the desert with their sweet smells and thus turned the entire stretch into a great oasis of life.

    My father was a Jamaican(牙买加) immigrant while my mother was a white woman. They never got married but I was born. However, my father never1his family about my existence. Whatever the case, I didn't know I was a2until my thirteenth birthday.

    Walking into my aunt's apartment brought a lot of emotions. What if my3didn't want anything to do with me because I was half white? How4can I learn the jokes that my family members told? Should I5them for all the years they didn't spend with me? My mind was full of thoughts when I was6to everyone, trying desperately to understand family members who almost were7strangers. Meanwhile, I was8to just remember everybody's name.

    One of my aunts, who'd been quiet for most of the morning looked at me with tearful eyes. She mentioned how9she was for my father to have a daughter, saying, "He's always dreamt of having a daughter". However, she then expressed her10towards my father for keeping the family in the11about me. From this12, I have learned more about what it means to be biracial (代表两种人种的). Can I still13myself Jamaican even though my first time trying curry goat, a traditional dish, was not until my teenage years?

    I've become aware that no matter how much DNA you might14with a particular race, you won't feel truly connected if you did not15with that culture's customs. I believe this event has16me into becoming a more understanding person when analyzing someone's actions. I have realized that I am far from a17. I am determined to prove that I'm here for a reason by using my talents to18those around me. I have grown to not19on my parents and families to tell me who I am, but I have understood my uniqueness and20my real self. I really feel proud that among strangers I eventually know who I am!

I was ready for bed. My eyes fell on the musical 1 on my bedside table. In it was a photo of Dad smiling, and once opened, it would play his 2 song recorded before his death. It was propped(支，撑)open just enough so the recording wouldn't play.

Dad was a 3 man. He was always singing me his little made-up songs to share joy although he was 4 off-key, not hitting every note.

Dad was a man with big heart. When my house burned down a few years ago, Dad 5 my family into his home. When we tried to offer some 6, he said with his characteristic voice, "Don't be 7!"

With happy 8, I fell asleep.

"Beautiful and marvelous-!"

Suddenly, was awoken hours later by the 9 song. The card! I snapped it shut(啪的一声合上).

How did that card just start playing? I checked the windows, all tightly shut. But why couldn't I 10 the feeling that something was wrong?

I decided to 11 downstairs. Opening the door to the laundry room, I was hit with a strong smell of 12. The heat lamp had fallen, and the carpet was burning.

The 13 wasn't too bad. I let out a shaky breath with 14. What could have happened? Perhaps another house fire. . . But we were safe. All thanks to Dad's one-of-a-kind 15.