I moved to a new neighborhood two months ago. In the house with a large 1 across the road lived a taxi driver, a single parent with two school-aged children. At the end of the day, he would2 his taxi on the road. I3 why he did not park it in the garage.

    Then one day I learnt that he had another car in his garage. In the afternoon he would come home 4work, leave his taxi and go out for his 5 affairs in his other car, not in his taxi. I felt it was6.

    I was curious to see his personal car but did not make it until I 7 to be outside one evening two weeks later, when the garage door was8 and he drove out in his “own” car: a Rolls-Royce（劳斯莱斯）! It shook me completely 9 I realized what that meant. You see, he was a taxi driver. But deep inside, he saw himself as something else: a Rolls-Royce owner and a（n）10 . He drove others in his taxi but himself and his children in his Rolls-Royce. For him, a taxi was just something he drove for a living. Rolls-Royce was something he drove for a (n）11.

    We go to bed every night and 12 every morning as parents or children, not as bankers, CEOs or professors. We go for a party as close friends or go for a vacation as a 13. We love life as it is. Yet often, we base our entire happiness and success on how high we 14 the social ladder（梯子）And we never use our Rolls-Royce, by keeping it dusty in our garage. We should focus more on 15we are than what we do!

    Like many perfectionists, I truly believed that self-sufficiency was a virtue. And1my brain was so good at finding what it was looking for, I noticed every single time that idea got proved2 and so I always had lots of3for why it really was better if I just handled everything myself.

    This kind of thinking, friends, was the 4in disguise (伪装).

    My self-reliance came in handy when I was a kid in the seventies and in adulthood when I was an independent 5Then, in the first years of 6the Organized Artist Company, I found myself 7everything I could about websites, copywriting, graphic design, etc. Later whenever one of my business friends 8about how her website was being held hostage (人质) by her designer, I9felt too satisfied10if mistakes were made in my business, they were all mine.

    Now this was where my false11showed up—in not wanting others to know I made mistakes. If I had other people12me, they would see my errors and13. Working alone, I could keep up a pretty good display of 14.

    But as the Organized Artist Company became increasingly 15, I realized I was doing harm to the people I was trying to serve by attempting to do everything myself. I was16my growth and the depth of my work.

    I had built a business with my own two hands, and I 17with a business that I could hold in my own two hands. Cozy,18limited in scope (范围).

    Once I was willing to control my ego( 自负) and admit that my vision of self-sufficiency was a 19my business took a remarkable leap forward, and revenue 20 Little change, big difference.

Inspiration

    “Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be one of those!” I said this after seeing the Capital Dancing Company perform when I was three. It was the first time that my1 took on a vivid form and acted as something important to start my training. As I grew older and was 2to more, my interests in the world of dance 3 varied but that little girl's dream of someday becoming a 4 in the company never left me. In the summer of 2005 when I was 18, I received the phone call which made that dream a 5I became a member of the company6 back to 1925.

    As I look back on that day now, it surely 7 any sense of reality. I believe I stayed in a state of pleasant disbelief8 I was halfway through rehearsals (排练) on my first day. I never actually9 to get the job. After being offered the position, I was completely10I remember shaking with excitement.

    Though I was absolutely thrilled with the change, it did not come without its fair share of 11. Through the strict rehearsal period of dancing six days a week, I found it vital to 12 up the material fast with every last bit of concentration. It is that extreme 13 to detail (细节) and stress on practice that set us 14.To then follow those high-energy rehearsals 15 a busy show schedule of up to five performances a day, I discovered a new 16 of the words “hard work.” What I thought was my physical 17 were pushed much further than I thought 18I learned to make each performance better than the last.

    Today, when I look at the unbelievable company that I have the great19 of being a part of, not only as a member, but as a dance captain, I see a 20 that has inspired not only generations of little girls but a splendid company that continues to develop and grow and inspires people every day to follow their dreams.

    I spent last summer volunteering at a hospital. One morning, I was called to a room in which an 1 woman was staying.2she wanted to go to a nearby gift shop, I got a(n)3 and helped her into it, heading for the shop.

    When we got there, the shop wasn't 4yet. It was merely a 30-minute wait so we went over to the 5 area and I read her bits and pieces of the newspaper aloud. After 30 minutes, we went into the gift shop. Pushing her around, I could see the 6 on her face as she looked at everything. She happily chose some window decorations and then 7chocolates. She asked me to push her8 that direction. I helped her9all the different chocolate arrangements. She 10 decided on three different boxes.

    As she was checking out, she asked the cashier for a 11 and asked me to write the numbers l, 2, and 3 on the boxes. She 12 that the nurses were taking such good care of her, so she 13 chocolates for each of the three shifts of nurses. The moment I wheeled her back up to her room, she gave the 14shift of nurses their box of chocolate, who 15offered some to me before taking some themselves. There were 16 all around.

    17her generosity and getting the opportunity to spend time with someone who got so much pleasure from life was a 18 in itself. Gratitude has an amazing way of bringing people 19 especially in a place where health is so highly20.

    Spelling was sort of my superpower. I wasn't a math or science guy, but I could chew and 1 books.

    "Your word is onomatopoeia," said the announcer. On the stage of "School Bee," my brain 2 to the spelling bees ahead: first the county championship, then the state, and finally the national spelling bee. I glanced back at Alexa, who wanted another chance at 3. If I missed this word, she'd be 4 in the game. But that wouldn't happen. Chin up, shoulders back, I 5 my throat, "O-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a." I made it.

    The trophy (奖杯) was presented to me. I shouted onstage, "I am the alpha-best". Surprisingly, my sister, Deandra, rolled her eyes. "You're a 6 winner." Deandra made a 7 face. "She tried to shake your hand but you 8."

    I didn't 9 at all. "Anyway, I won the school bee." "Don't be proud. You'll soon be facing the 10 of the best in the county bee."

    "Will they 11 me? I am the alpha-best with no efforts at all." After six rounds, the number of students 12 from more than 100 to just seven and I was one out of the seven. If I had been given words like aerospace or conical, I'd make 13 already. Unfortunately, I 14 with the word maestro at last. I stood 15 for the longest moment.

    The final winner acted the exact 16 of mine. He accepted his trophy with a small bow, and then shook hands with the runner-up (亚军). I got to know Deandra's words 17.

    I apologized to Alexa, "I'm sorry I was so 18 when I won." "How was the county bee?" Alexa asked. "A 19." If you need a study partner for next time, I'm happy to help." "Really? Let's 20 on it, partner." "Better late than never." Alexa said, shaking my hand.

    It's about 250 miles from the hills of west-central Iowa to Ehlers' home in Minnesota. During the long trip home, following a weekend of hunting. Ehlers 1about the small dog he had seen 2alongside the road. He had 3to coax(哄) the dog to him but, frightened, it had 4.

    Back home, Ehlers was troubled by that 5dog. So, four days later, he called his friend Greg, and the two drove 6. After a long and careful 7, Greg saw, across a field, the dog moving 8away. Ehlers eventually succeeded in coaxing the animal to him. Nervousness and fear were replaced with 9. It just started licking(舔) Ehlers' face.

    A local farmer told them the dog sounded like one 10as lost in the local paper. The ad had a 11number for a town in southern Michigan. Ehlers 12the number of Jeff and Lisa to tell them he had 13their dog.

    Jeff had 14in Iowa before Thanksgiving with his dog, Rosie, but the gun shots had scared the dog off. Jeff searched 15for Rosie in the next four days.

    Ehlers returned to Minnesota, and then drove 100 miles to Minneapolis to put Rosie on a flight to Michigan. "It's good to know there's still someone out there who 16enough to go to that kind of 17,"says Lisa of Ehlers' rescue 18.

    "I figured whoever lost the dog was probably just as 19to it as I am to my dogs," says Ehlers. "If it had been my dog, I'd hope that somebody would be 20to go that extra mile."