There was once a lazy crow(乌鸦). He thought it was too much trouble to 1 food. “Caw! Caw!” he said. “If someone brought me my food every day, I'd be very 2!”

    One day, he saw a(n) 3 pigeon(鸽子) flying by. “How happy and well-fed it looks,” the crow said to himself. So the craw 4 the pigeon until they came to a 5. There were some other 6 there too. Before long, an old man came along and brought them a large bag of food. When the man had gone, the crow flew over to the pigeons. “Caw! Caw! ”said he. “Can I 7 you?”

    “No, you can't !” 8 the pigeons angrily. “We don't know you.”

    The crow went home feeling 9. But he suddenly had a(n) 10. “I'll paint my 11 grey, ”he said, “and then the pigeons will 12 I am one of them.” After he finished the painting, he flew off to the park and was 13 by the pigeons. The crow was so hungry that he got very excited at the food. “Caw! Caw! Give lots to me!” he said loudly. 14, the pigeons found he was a crow. They flew after him and made him 15.

    Sadly, the crow flew to his own forest. But when his old friends, the other crows saw him, they asked him to 16. They did not 17 him because of his grey-painted feathers. So the crow felt 18 than before. His own 19 did not want him, and 20 would the pigeons let him into their group.

    “What looks easier isn't always so.” the crow said to himself.”I wish I had never painted my feathers grey!”

Sleeping in Class

I can still remember it as if it happened yesterday. I was a college freshman and had1most of the night before laughing and talking with friends. Now just 2 my first class of the day my eyelids were feeling 3and my head was drifting down to my desk to make my textbook a 4. A few minutes' nap time before class couldn't5, I thought.

Boom! I lifted my head immediately and my eyes opened wider than saucers. I looked around with my heart 6 quickly trying to find the cause of the 7. My young professor was looking back at me with a 8, boyish smile on his face. He had 9 dropped the pile of textbooks he was carrying onto Ms desk. “Good morning!” he said, still smiling. “I'm glad to see everyone is 10. Now let's get started.”

For the next hour I wasn't sleepy at all. It wasn't from the shock of my professor's textbook11either. It was12from the attractive discussion he led. With knowledge and good humor, he made the material come alive. His insights were full of both wisdom and loving kindness. I13the classroom not only wide awake, but a little 14and a little better as well.

I learned something far more important than 15 in class that day, too. I learned that if you are going to do something in this life, do it well, do it 16, and make it an 17 of your love. What a glorious place this world would be if all of us did our work joyously and well. What a beautiful world we could 18 if every doctor, teacher, musician, cook, waitress, poet, miner, farmer, and laborer made their work an expression of their love. Don't sleepwalk your way through life then. 19! Let your love fill your work and your soul. Life is 20short not to live it well.

    During the fifth grade, I was often bullied(欺凌) by a boy.1I told it to my teacher. Kyle's bullying never stopped. I was very2and full of hate until he went to another school the next year.

    One night in eighth grade I3again the bullying Kyle had put me through. I waited for the rush of anger I'd always4when thinking about Kyle,5none came. I tried again, thinking about the marks he'd6so many times on the tops of my feet, the words, the pain…but I felt no hate for him.7I felt a small beating of pity inside my heart. This boy, who had8my fifth grade experience, had probably been9his own troubles then. He was obviously10at the world and maybe he was simply taking that11out on me. It was no excuse for what he did, but it was a12.

    I felt as if I had an13understanding. Being angry with Kyle for what he had done was like drinking poison. By holding my hate for Kyle14. I was only hurting myself. That night, I15to let old wounds heal(愈合), and I forgave(宽恕) my fifth grade bully.

    In letting go of that pain, I felt great16. I wasn't letting a three-year-old incident17me. In that way, I guess forgiveness is the most18tool humans have been blessed with. Because, with it, we can let go of19burdens and truly live our own lives. Who knew an eleven-year-old boy could20me that?

    A long time ago there was a boy. He was smart, talented and handsome.  1, he was very selfish and his temper was so 2 that nobody wanted to be friends with him. Often he got angry and said various 3things to people around him.

    The boy's parents were very 4 about his bad temper. They considered what they could do and one day the father had an idea. He called his son and gave him a hammer and a bag of5.The father said: “Every time you get angry, take a nail and 6 it into that old fence as hard as you can.”

    The fence was very7and the hammer was heavy, nevertheless the boy was so angry that during the very first day he drove 37 nails.

    Day after day, week after week, the number of nails was gradually8. After some time, the boy started to understand that 9 his temper is easier than driving nails into the fence.

    One day the boy didn't 10 hammer and nails any more as he learned to hold his temper perfectly. So he came to his father and told about his11. “Now every time, when you hold your temper all day long,12 one nail”.

    Much time has passed. At last the boy could be13 of himself as all the nails were gone. When he came to his father and told about this, he14to come and take a careful look at the fence. “You did a good job, my son,15 pay your attention to the 16 that were left from the nails. The fence will 17 be the same. The same happens when you say hurtful things to people, as your words leave18 in their hearts like those holes in the fence. Remember, we need to 19 everyone with love and respect. It doesn't 20 that you say you are sorry, because the scars will not disappear.

    When I was three, Connie, my new sister, was born on December 17, 1993. Eleven months later, this smiling child was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). The doctors at John Hopkins gave her an 8% 1 of survival. With the help of our 2 parents, Connie was able to fight against the disease and 3 went into remission（缓解期）. Months later, Connie had a relapse（复发）. After a (n)4 second relapse in 1996, with a survival rate now at only 1%, the doctors5 a bone marrow transplant（骨髓移植）was the best route to take. After 6 our blood types, the doctors found an exact7.Me. I was honored to be able to help my sister.

    After the bone marrow transplant Connie spent her summers in the neighborhood pool. She could always be8running around the house in bathing suit. Staying in the remission for five years would mean Connie's cancer would be 9 But before Connie could10 year three, cancerous cells started to 11 her body once more; she relapsed.

    Connie 12 during this relapse. becoming progressively13 During the summer of 1999, she was not able to14 in the pool or ride her bike. She spent her summer days in hospital.

    When November 15 around, Connie hit rock bottom. The doctors said it was her 16. When I was nine years old, on November 19, 1999, my family and I said our goodbye to a child who did not live 17 the age of six.

    Connie is a 18to my family and me. She is a role model to people who knew her. Her bravery and courage was greater than19I know. Connie has taught me by example: it is hard to 20 a person who never gives up.

    I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was rather organized. Each of her objects had its 1, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签 ) everything. I always looked for everything. 2time, Kate got neater and I got 3. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got 4 of each other.

    One evening war 5. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her shouting, "Take your 6 away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I7 to my feet and started shouting. She shouted back louder.

    The room was filled with 8. We could not have stayed together for a single9 but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could 10right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she 11, she quickly hid under her covers, sobbing(呜咽). 12, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden ,a 13 feeling of sympathy(同情) rose up in my heart,

    Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, 14 my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, 15 on her side. I was so buried in my work 16 I even didn't notice Kate had sat up.

    She was watching, her tears dried and her 17one of disbelief. Then, to my surprise, she 18 out her hands to catch mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thanks."

    Kate and I stayed 19for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to 20together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.