A lady wanted a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had liked a beautiful 1, and knowing her husband could 2 it, she told him that was all she wanted. On the morning of the 3, her husband told her how 4 he was to have such a good wife, and how much he loved her. He 5 her a beautiful gift package. She opened it and 6 a Bible. 7, she raised her voice and said to her husband, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” She was so 8 that she left him.

    Many years passed and the lady was very 9 in business. She owned two large companies. She 10 her husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to 11 him. But before she could, she 12 a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions to her. She needed to come back and 13 things.

    When she arrived at his house, sadness 14 her heart. She saw the still new 15, just as she had left it years before. With 16, she opened it and began to turn the pages. A ring 17 from the Bible to the floor and a 18 could be seen. She picked it up and found it was the ring she wanted in those days. And on the card was the date of her birth, and the words “LOVE U ALWAYS”.

    19 your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it's because it is better packaged the way it is! Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things! The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched for they must be felt with the 20.

    During my second year at the city college, I was told that the education department was offering a "free" course, called Thinking Chess, for three credits. I 1 the idea of taking the class because, after all, who doesn't want to 2 a few dollars? More than that, I'd always wanted to learn chess. And, even if I weren't 3 enough about free credits, news about our 4 was appealing enough to me. He was an international grandmaster, which 5 I would be learning from one of the game's 6,I could hardly wait to 7 him.

    Maurice Ashley was kind and smart, a former graduate returning to teach, and this 8was no game for him; he meant business. In his introduction, he make it 9 that our credits would be hard-earned. In order to 10 the class, among other criteria, we had to write a paper on how we plan to 11 what we would learn in class to our future professions and 12, to our lives. I managed to get an A in that 13 and learned life lessons that have served me well beyond the 14.

    Ten years after my chess class with Ashley, I'm still putting to use what he 15 me: "The absolute most important 16 that you learn when you play chess is how to make good 17.On every single move you have to 18 a situation, process what your opponent(对手) is doing and 19 the best move from among all your options."These words still ring true today in my 20 as a journalist.

    South Korean artist Young-Sung Kim has a very special talent, he can paint photographs. That may sound like kind of exaggeration (夸张).

    Most of Kim's paintings describe small1 interacting with man-made objects. The artist admits that he has been greatly 2 by insects and reptiles (爬行动物) since he was a young boy, keeping them in his room and 3 them. From that days on, he 4 to become a painter.

    “It wasn't 5 to paint their structure and color well. It was much harder than I had expected. I promised myself I would train myself at art school 6I could paint them perfectly,” the 7told Yonhap News Agency.

    8 his parents didn't approve of his decision to focus his studies on art9 that he would not be able to land a good job. In high-school, their 10 only made Kim rebel (叛逆) even more. After two years of this, his family finally 11 and allowed him to follow his dream.

    In the end, Kim 12his parents that they made the13 decision. Not only does he get to earn a living doing what he14most, but he became one of the world's most highly-regarded15painters, earning between $10,000 and $130,000 per artwork.

    Youn-Sung Kim paints for more than 12 hours a day16on weekends. Despite the17 realism of his paintings, Young-Sung Kim never completely 18with his work. He 19 his artworks on a 100-pomt scale, and none of his dozens of paintings have ever scored above 90 points. Kim hopes to 20 himself and get as close to that 100-point mark as possible.

The Sweetest Thing

    When I was ten, I was crazy about candy. Whenever in our small-town store with my mom, I would 1 my fingers through my favorite candy on the shelf.

    Once there, thinking about all things sweet, I noticed a man a few feet away pressing buttons on the ATM machine. Dressed in a suit, he seemed to be late for something, 2 waiting for his cash to appear. The machine made a noise, and he immediately 3 a pile of bills and headed out. Curiously, I walked over to the ATM, where I started pressing the buttons as if knowing the 4. Then I looked into the bottom of the machine. There I saw it: a beautiful, crisp $ 20 bill! 5 I wanted to believe my magic made the cash appear, I knew the man in the suit must have left it behind.

    I held the money in my hand, staring at the number "20" and feeling 6 than I ever had. I thought about slipping the money into my pocket. No one would know, but I just didn't feel it was 7. I knew it didn't belong to me. I had to find its owner and give it back! So I told my mom what had happened. "We'll look for him." she said kindly. We rushed out and found him stepping into his car in the parking lot! We 8 him and asked whether he had left money at the cash machine.

    "Let me 9" he said, pulling out his wallet and bills. "Twenty, forty, eighty...Oh! You're right," he said with surprise, "I'm 10 a $20 bill."

    "Here you go," I said, smiling with pride, as if I was a(n) 11 who had solved a mystery. "Thank you so much," he said, bending down and shaking my hand. My heart swelled. Before saying goodbye, he asked my mom for my name and 12. "I want to send your daughter a thank-you card," he said.

    On my way home, my 13 was racing. Twenty dollars. What could I have done with it? I bet I could have bought a puppy or every single candy bar in town! But now 14 of that would happen. Yet I knew I had done the right thing.

    A few weeks later, I got a box with a note. I ripped it open to find packages of candy. "Dear Felice, thank you very much for 15 my $20. You are a great girl, and I appreciate your 16. I hope you enjoy this candy. Best wishes, Tom." Tom included his business card. It 17 that he was vice-president for the candy company. The candy tasted sweet, each 18 reminding me that what I had done mattered. Although my honesty wouldn't always be 19 with candy, it would make a difference to someone. And that was the 20 part of all.

Raynor Winn and her husband Moth became homeless due to their wrong investment. Their savings had been 1 to pay lawyers' fees. To make matters worse, Moth was diagnosed(诊断) with a serious disease. There was no 2 , only pain relief. 

Failing to find any other way out, they decided to make a walking journey, as they caught sight of an old hikers'(徒步旅行者) guide.

This was a long journey of unaccustomed hardship and 3 

recovery. When leaving home, Raynor and Moth had just ￡320 in the bank. They planned to keep the 4 low by living on boiled noodles, with the 5 hamburger shop treat. 

Wild camping is 6 in England. To avoid being caught, the Winns had to get their tent up late and packed it away early in the morning. The Winns soon discovered that daily hiking in their 50s is a lot 7 than they remember it was in their 20s. Raynor 8 all over and desired a bath. Moth, meanwhile, after an initial 9 , found his symptoms were strangely 10 by their daily tiring journey. 

11 , the couple found that their bodies turned for the better, with re-found strong muscles that they thought had lost forever. "Our hair was fried and falling out, nails broken, clothes 12 to a thread, but we were alive." 

During the journey, Raynor began a career as a nature writer. She writes, "13 had taken every material thing from me and left me torn bare, an empty page at the end of a(n) 14 written book. It had also given me a choice, either to leave that page 15 or to keep writing the story with hope. I chose hope." 

As a child, I dreamed of becoming a writer, but the pursuit of dreams was never encouraged — leaving me to write secretly in my room. Life progressed and an interest in interior design surfaced in my teens. However, at my parents' insistence, I enrolled in secretarial school and worked in that area for twenty years. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

So I signed up for a two-year interior-decorating course. I crammed two years of work into nine months to ensure that I received my diploma for my fortieth birthday. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

The next step was to get some hands-on experience at a design firm. A visit to a newly opened interiors showroom ushered me into a dream job that opened more opportunities for me than I could have ever imagined. I worked as a decorating consultant at the showroom and I was on my way to creating the career I envisioned.

Opportunity knocked at my door in 1997. I peeked the possibility of writing a decorating column for a woman's magazine. The editor liked the idea and the monthly column debuted in February 1998. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} To master the finer skills, I signed up fora freelance (自由撰稿) writing course. Encouraging feedback from tutors gave me the confidence to submit my work for publication on the Internet. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}From around the world, people emailed to say that they identified with my experience to redefine myself and pursue my dream. Some even asked for advice. Soon, this hobby developed into a passion that consumed me. I now write two regular columns and my website is under construction.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} I am doing what I love. On my journey, I have learned that it is never too late to pursue and live your dream.

A. I met my self-set deadline with twelve days to spare.

B. The response from readers was unexpected and overpowering.

C. My family tells me that I look younger and seem more energetic.

D. At 39, I felt a growing restlessness and a desire for a more creative life.

E. I realized that I was involved in doing something I dreamed of as a child.

F. Happy marriage with two kids and a job reawakened my teenage interest.

G. I promised to myself I would let nothing prevent me from being a freelance writer.