How old was I? I can't remember. Maybe I was only 10. It was the first 1 without my father because he was away for something. He left me to fill that sad place in my mother's heart. It was the Christmas when I stopped being a 2 and tried to play Father Christmas myself. I really wanted to make it happy and bright again. It was the Christmas of the 3.
Mom first saw the coat at Tobias, a nice 4 shop in our town's little shopping mall. It was dark green. And it was a 5, heavy, wool dress coat. Mom pulled it out from the rack(架) and held it up. “Long enough,” she said in a low voice and 6.
“I need a new coat,” Mom smiled before the mirror. She looked good on any clothes, 7 this coat suited her much better. She looked at the 8, then hung the coat back on the rack, standing there once more to 9
Eighty-seven dollars. But I decided to buy it for her. As we moved on 10 the mall, I found some excuse to return and asked one of the Tobias ladies to 11 the coat.
I helped clean every yard(庭院) in our neighbourhood—some yards twice, and soon I got the coat. The store ladies helped me put it in their biggest 12 with bright blue paper and thick silver ribbon(丝带). I don't remember 13 I got it home, but I can still feel the wonderful 14 and pride that filled me. I would imagine the big space which the box would take up under our tree. Here it was—joy, peace and15 —all in the box, waiting for Mom's surprise

    Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country,    1  mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country Mouse saw the City Mouse, he  2 , "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City Mouse went. The City Mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good,  3 . Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should 4 and live in the city. You would live in a nice house  5 stone. You must come and see me at my house in the city. " The Country Mouse went to the house 6 the City Mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great  7 . The City Mouse cried, "Run! Run! The cat is coming! " They ran away 8 and hid. After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country Mouse said, "I  9 living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For  10 is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."

    A successful businessman told a story in his speech. It was the story of a boy named Jim. He was twelve years old. People in his town always 1 him. As far as he could remember, nobody ever said a kind word to him in his life.

    One day while Jim was walking down the street, he saw a 2 fall from the bag of a little lady just in front of him. Jim ran to 3 her, picking up the wallet.

    "Thank you, dear. You are a nice little boy, "she said kindly, and went on her way after giving him a bright 4.

    Jim was amazed. These were the first kind words he had ever 5. He stood there. He knew that she was the busy little dressmaker who lived in a small house at the east end of the town.

    Later that day, Jim sat down by the 6 and did some thinking. Finally the boy pulled a piece of broken 7 from his pocket and looked at himself. He saw nothing but dirt. He got some water from the river and washed it carefully. Then he looked again. He 8 recognized (认出) himself. He was surprised. He stood straight and looked up. A feeling of self-respect awoke in his heart.

    After telling the story of Jim, the businessman kept 9 for a moment. And then he said, "Gentlemen, I was that boy…You never know what those 10 words meant to me…"

    One day, when a successful businessman opened the door of his car, a dog sleeping 1his car suddenly came out and bit (咬) his leg!  He threw a stone at the dog,2he was not able to hit it. How angry he was!

    Upon3his office, the businessman called a meeting of the workers. He took out his anger(愤怒) on them. Gradually, the businessman's anger4the company.

    The businessman was still angry after returning home. His wife asked him, "Why are you so late today?" The man5, "I didn't go to the office to play soccer. I went to work. So don't ask such stupid questions!"

    His wife was troubled about being shouted at6. She turned her anger on their son who was watching TV. "This is all you do. You have no 7 in studying!  Turn off the TV now!" she shouted.

    The son became8as well. He walked out of his house and saw a dog passing by. He picked up a stone and threw it at the dog9. The dog ran away, barking(犬吠) in pain.

    Sometimes, when we are angry about something, we might take out our anger on 10. We should learn to control our anger.

    One summer, a library in Texas in the US was having a terrible problem. For years, the number of books in the library 1 growing. As a result, they became too big for the 2 and had to move to a newly-built library across the town. 3 was finished and paid for. They found out that they didn't leave enough 4 to move their mountain of books across the town. Even the 5 moving company (公司) was going to ask for several thousand dollars to move the books. What could they do? They thought and thought. 6 one clever worker had a good idea. She said that during that time, the library would be closed. They could 7 the readers to borrow more books, for example to borrow 20, 40 or 100 books at a time (一次性). At the end of the summer they could 8 them to the new library. The idea 9 beautifully and a lot of people crowded to borrow books. This was a win-win (双赢的) situation. The 10 were happy to have more books to enjoy. The library saved a lot of money and moved all the books to the new library.