I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn't like attention drawn to myself.And1otherwise assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher,I always2to sit at the back of the classroom.

    All this3after I joined a sports team.It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team.At first I thought it was a crazy4because I didn't have a good sense of balance,nor did I have the5to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me.But for the teacher who kept insisting on my "6for it",I wouldn't have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts（选拔）was only the7of it!When I first started8the practice sessions,I didn't even know the rules of the game,much9what I was doing.Sometimes I'd get10and take a shot at the wrong direction which made me feel really stupid.11,I wasn't the only one "new" at the game,so I decided to12on learning the game,do my best at each practice session,and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn't 13"just yet".

    I practiced and practiced.Soon I knew the14and the "moves".Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive15in me was winning over my lack of confidence.With time,I learned how to play and made friends in the16—friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player.I never had so much fun!

    With my17self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates.I have gone from "18" in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself,19raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn't and not 100 percent20I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

    We came back to the classroom after lunch while our classmates were playing outside.

    “Look at 1 I found in Ms. Lee's office.” Karen, a friend of mine, held up a small box filled with pieces of chalk in every color of the rainbow.

    “Wow! What fun it would be to write on the 2,” Judy's eyes shone with joy. “But Ms. Lee doesn't let us do so,” I responded. “Don't be 3, Janet. No one will ever know,” said Karen, 4 into the box and drawing out some chalk. At first I 5 joined my friends, however, gradually I found it was fun.

    Then it struck Judy that we should6each other to write names with our left hands. Picking up their chalk, they started. I7a white piece...

    “Better get this board cleaned off now,” said Judy, 8what I wrote on the board. Everything came off9my name! I was sweating in10and I felt my knees were getting11. It wasn't chalk at all, but a white piece of crayon(蜡笔). Mom had a 12: “Fools' names and faces always 13 in public.” I never understood 14 what it meant before. Now I did!

    I rushed to the toilet to get a can of cleanser and Judy 15 with paper towels. After rubbing hard, my name was 16, but an abrasion(磨损处) remained on the board.

    Hearing 17 coming, we remove every trace of wetness as 18 as possible. We were just slipping into our desks 19 the teacher walked in. Perhaps Ms. Lee never 20 the abrasion. But I did. I learned that day: “No one will ever know” is never true.

    We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate my daughter's beautiful performance. We don't do this often because of our1budget.

    I noticed a very2mom come in with her three children, maybe about age 4 or 5. She looked like she had just3work. She sat with her children quietly taking care of them and4all their needs. Then I noticed as soon as the last course5arrived, she took a bite of her food in a hurry and then one of the6had to go to the bathroom. They all left the table and she7them—so lovingly and8— especially after what may have been a long day at work. She was still wearing some kind of uniform.

    I 9 myself from the table and quietly went to the hostess stand. I 10 $15 to the hostess and said, “Can you put this anonymously(匿名地) towards that mom of 3's 11？ I am hoping it will 12 at least the children's meals.” The hostess had such a lovely smile and accepted the 13. I didn't stand around 14 as I didn't want anyone—even my own family—to 15 what was going on. I wanted it to be completely anonymous.

    For the 16 of my meal, I did all I could not to pay any more attention 17 to the table, as I didn't want her to suspect that it was me that had 18 their dinner.

    It feels so 19 to live in this type of world, full of love and 20 ， instead of anger, sadness and self－service.

    It was 12:45 p.m. on January 2, 2007. Fifty-year-old Wesley Autrey was 1 the train at a subway station in New York. His two daughters, aged four and six, were with him.

    2, a sick man fell on the platform (站台). The man, 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter, got up, but then 3 again — this time, onto the track between the two rails. A 4 was coming into the station. It was a(n) 5 moment. But Mr. Autrey wasn't afraid. He 6the man, and he looked at the 7 that the man was in. It was about half a meter deep. And he8, “The train is going to travel over this man. 9 he tries to get up, the train will 10him. But if he lies on the ground and doesn't 11, he'll be OK.” So he knew he had to 12. And there was no time to think carefully.

    He 13. Mr. Autrey lay on top of Mr. Hollopeter and kept him down on the ground. The train driver 14 them. He was afraid, but he couldn't 15 in time. Five subway cars traveled over the two men before the train stopped.

    The people on the platform were 16. When Mr. Autrey heard them screaming (尖叫), he shouted, “We're OK down here, but I have two daughters up there. Let them 17 their father's OK.” People on the platform clapped and 18. They were amazed at Mr. Autrey's 19. Subway workers helped the two men out. They had no serious injuries.

    Mr. Autrey said, “I didn't do anything special. I just saw someone who needed 20. I did what I thought was right.”

    Yesterday evening I was watching the evening news on television. The news was about a1for scientific discoveries. The announcer, whose name was Ralph Story,2something that caught my 3. "All great discoveries," he said, "are made by people between the age of twenty-five and thirty." Being a little over thirty myself, I wanted to 4with him. Nobody wants to think that he is past the age of making any 5. The next day I went to the public library, spending several hours looking up the 6 of famous people and their discoveries. Ralph was right.

    First I looked at some of the 7discoveries. One of the earliest, the famous experiment that8that bodies of different weight 9at the same speed, was made by Galileo(伽利略) when he was 26. Madam Curie(居里夫人) started her research that led to a Nobel Prize when she was 28. Einstein(爱因斯坦) was 26 when he10his world-changing theory of relativity. Well, 11of that. Yet I wondered if those "best years" were true in other 12.

    Then how about 13? Surely it needed the wisdom of age to make a good leader. Perhaps it 14, but look when these people 15their careers. Winston Churchill(丘吉尔) was elected to the House of Commons at the age of 26. Abraham Lincoln(林肯) 16the life of a country lawyer and was elected to the government at what age? Twenty-six.

    But why don't best years come after thirty? After thirty, I 17most people do not want to take risks or try new ways in their lives. Then I thought of those famous people18Shakespeare and Picasso. The former one was writing wonderful 19at the late age of fifty, 20the latter was still trying new ways of painting when he was ninety! Perhaps there is still hope for me.

    For a long time, I thought a present and a gift were no different. I grew up in a household where presents 1 special occasions, say there were always presents for Christmas and our birthdays.

    So when I married Gary who did not give presents on a 2 basis, I had to make an adjustment. Gary did not wholly avoid gift­giving, though. 3 noticing how many hours I spend on the 4, he brought home a shoulder pad (垫肩) for the telephone receiver. But mostly, he 5 holidays, let alone shop for earrings to 6to me showing his affection.

    I tried to change him 7. I bought books for his birthdays and knitted him hats and sweaters for Christmas. 8 I began to tell him what I wanted, giving9instructions, but got nowhere.

    Last year when the snowstorm 10our town and he was on business, I used his present road scraper(铲土机)to11both our drive and our neighbors, thinking how12earnings would have been. Gary had wisely chosen not the thing I 13, but the thing that he knew I would need.

    I 14began to understand the difference between a present and a gift. A present is just a thing. But a gift is broader and often cannot be 15, It is a small act of kindness, the 16 to bend to another's needs, the sacrifice of time and effort. 17 is a gift. Any expression of it, freely given, is a (n)18 from the heart that is immeasurably better than a present.

    My insistence on presents must have seemed to Gary a lack of 19 for the gifts he had be giving all along, but he never stopped giving them.

    Gary will be home this Christmas, but I don't 20 a present. I already have the greatest gift.