One month ago, my daughter started kindergarten. As usual, I wished her success. I was telling a lie. What I actually wish for her is 1. I believe in the power of failure.

    Success is 2 in a sense. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do, or doing something correctly the first time, which can 3 be a problematic victory. First-time success is usually a fluke (侥幸). First-time failure, 4, is expected; it is the natural order of things.

    Failure is how we learn. I have been told of an African phrase 5 a good cook as “she who has broken many pots”. If you have spent enough time in the 6 to have broken a lot of pots, probably you know a fair amount about 7. I once had a late dinner with a group of chefs, and they spent time 8 knife wounds and burn scars. They knew how much credibility (可信度) their 9 gave them.

    I earn my 10 by writing a daily newspaper column. Each week I am 11 that one column is going to be the worst column of the week. I don't just set out to write it; I try my best every day. 12, every week, one column is inferior (较差的) to the others, sometimes extremely so.

    I have learned to 13 that column. A successful column usually means that I am treading (踏) on 14 ground, going with tricks that work, or dressing up popular ideas in fancy words. Often in my inferior columns, I am trying to 15 something I've never done before, something that I'm not even sure can be done.

    My daughter is a perfectionist. She will feel her failures, and I will want to 16 her. But I will also, I hope, 17 her of what she learned, and how she can do 18 next time. I probably won't tell her that failure is a good thing, because that's not a(n) 19 you can learn when you're five. I hope I can tell her, though, that it's not the end of the world. Indeed, with luck, it is the 20.

    One morning in early fall, I found a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by 1because we'd never seen geese there before. I2they would soon be on their way, so I enjoyed the 3to be close to them. I wondered where they came from and why they'd 4our pond.

    The next morning, the geese were 5our guests, so I watched them at a distance to show them I meant no 6 Still, I couldn't7 getting a closer look. I stopped by some trees near the water's edge and quietly looked at them through the8I was surprised to see that they were9me.

    As the days passed, I continued to see them every-day. They craned their necks and raised their heads10but seemed to realize I was a friend. Later, my11about why they were staying at the pond so long changed to concern. It wouldn't be long before the12winter came and the pond froze over.

    One day, as they were feeding in the grass, I discovered the reason for their 13--the male had a broken left 14 He was unable to fly, and his mate would not leave him behind. I asked a wildlife biologist friend what I should do. He explained that sometimes a broken wing will 15by itself and suggested tat I let nature take its course.

    On the first day of November, I 16sight of the geese running toward the pond, beating their wings with great effort. Both17climbed higher and flew over the pond. Then they turned back toward me, flying no more than 50 feet over my head as if to say goodbye. Then they were18.

    The season's first snow fell the every next day. The birds must have19that winter was coming and that it was time to go. I miss them very much now and I'll never forget their20to each other. We can all learn a lesson or two from this pair.

Growing roots

When I was growing up. I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd 1 known. When Dr. Gibbs wasn't 2 lives, he was planting trees.

The good doctor had some 3 theories on planting trees. He believed in "No pains, no gains". He never 4 his new trees, which was 5 many people. He thought that watering plants spoiled (宠坏) them, and that if you want strong trees, you have to make things 6 for them. He, talked about how watering trees 7 shallow roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in 8 of water. I came to understand that he meant deep roots were to be 9. The lack of water seemed to 10 the trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

I used to 11 for my sons that their lives will be easy. But 12 I've been thinking that it's time to13 my prayer. I know my children are going to meet14and I'm praying they will be strong. The prayer for comfort is seldom met. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the winds blow, they won't be 15 away.

When I lived in Boston, I taught English as a second language to adult students from around the world. On the last day, they threw a nice party. I was amazed they had learned enough English {#blank#}1{#/blank#} （arganize） such an event altogether. At the end of the party, they proudly handed me a gift box. After the box {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （open）, I gently lifted a beautiful coat from it. "We went shopping for a new coat!" they all shouted {#blank#}3{#/blank#} wonderfully perfect English.

Charles Darwin was a very famous scientist who lived in the 1800s.His ideas about evolution completely changed the way scientists understand the natural world.He recorded his ideas in notebooks marked with letters of the alphabet(字母表),which have been considered extremely important for showing how he developed the evolution.

The Cambridge University Library had several of Mr.Darwin's notebooks.The two that were missing were kept in a small box,and were last seen in 2000.In 2001,someone noticed that the box was missing.Luckily,the library had taken pictures of the notebooks' pages,so the information wasn't completely lost.

In 2020,the library made a huge effort to find the books.Workers searched through the 10 million books and other things in the library,but they didn't find the notebooks.Finally,the library asked people around the world to help look for the books.They officially reported the missing notebooks as stolen so that the police around the world would search for them.

Nobody could ever have expected the way in which the notebooks were returned recently:in a pink gift bag with a note that said "Librarian,Happy Easter,X".People at the library quickly recognized the blue box that the notebooks had been stored in.Inside a brown envelope they found the two missing notebooks,tightly wrapped in plastic.After the police had examined the package,library workers were able to open and carefully study the notebooks.They were pleased to learn that the notebooks were in good shape.They hadn't been damaged and they weren't missing any pages.

The timing of the return is perfect.The library was planning a show called "Darwin in Conversation",which is set to open in July.Now the missing notebooks can be part of that show.

No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own 1 .  

I learned this lesson from a(n) 2 many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football programme.  

 It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practice to 3 the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment, we were defeated. I couldn't 4 I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to 5 that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my 6 about their ability and potential.  

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little 7 . Most importantly, I began to treat them like 8 . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations, we met every day and 9

passing and kicking the football.  

Six months after suffering our 10 on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a

11 for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest

12 of my life! 

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can 13 the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and 14 them. I helped them to see themselves15 , and they built themselves into winners.  

Winners are made, not born.