Abbaye, a master artist, was ready to retire in 1392. One day, Bartoli, a rich Italian merchant,  1 him saying, "Could you 2  my portrait on my banquet room wall? It's 20 feet tall.”

    “I'm ready to retire," Abbaye shook his head,“so I'm not  3.”But seeing the disappointment in Bartoli's eyes, he   4  his mind, "Well, there's a possibility if you can find it in your  5  to allow me to explore the  6  of my abilities. Furthermore, already I can see your 7 .So I insist

that while l work your portrait stay 8  even from you!”

    “No problem," Bartoli agreed, though he thought it was  9  ，"Anything you wish, but it must look realistic．”

Immediately the master artist  10  a high curtain in front of the wall, -through which Bartoli couldn't see at all.

A week passed. "How is it coming?" asked the  11   Bartoli.

     “It's coming quite well. You see, a masterpiece  12   quite a while at least.” Abbaye answered from behind the  13   ．

Another three, four weeks passed and  14half a year went by. Bartoli lost his  15 .“Today I must see it!" he shouted.

Stepping from behind the curtain 16  surprised by such anger, Abbaye said calmly," That's fine.

You needed only to request it.” And he  17  aside the 20 - foot curtain.

          Bartoli stared at the masterpiece and then his mouth 18  open. He was obviously so angry that his eyes  19  red. So what was wrong? Abbaye had drawn to his heart's  20  for 20 feet tall. Perhaps Bartoli couldn't tolerate his abstract expression, which Picasso would have been proud of.

    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 (纸盒). 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  11him. But before she could, she  12 a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions (财产) to her. She needed to come back and  13things.

    When she arrived at his house, sadness  14her 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 YOU 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.

    I still remember an old lady, a customer on the paper route in my hometown when I was 12 years old. She taught me a lesson in 1 that I shall never forget.

    On a(n)2  afternoon, a friend and I were throwing stones onto the 3  of the old lady's house. The stone that I found was too smooth,4 it slipped from my hand as I let it go and 5  straight not for the covering on top of the house but for a small window on the house's back porch. At the sound of broken glass, we knew we were 6 . We turned and 7.

    I was too 8 about getting caught that first night to be concerned about the old lady with the broken window in the freezing weather. However, a few days later, when I was sure that I hadn't been9 ,I started to feel guilty about her  10 . She still greeted me with a smile each day11  I gave her the paper, but I was no longer able to act comfortably in her 12

    I 13 my mind that I would save my paper delivering money, and in three weeks I had the seven dollars that I calculated would pay for her window. I put the money in an envelope with a note 14  that I was sorry for breaking her window and15 that the seven dollars would cover the cost of repairing it.

    I waited until it was dark, moved 16 to the old lady's house and put the letter I didn't sign through the letter slot in her door. I felt 17  and could have the freedom of once again looking straight into the old lady's kind eyes.

    The next day, I handed the old lady her paper and was able to 18  the warm smile that I was receiving from her. She thanked me for the paper and gave me a bag of cookies she had made herself. I thanked her and proceeded(开始) to eat the cookies as I continued my 19.

    After several cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. When I opened the envelope, I was 20. Inside were the seven dollars and a short note that said, "I'm proud of you.”

    Having been walking in the snow for 2 hours, Little Buddy was really tired and frustrated. The way home seemed1each step a struggle. For fall every little distance that Buddy gained, he seemed to fall back even further, pushed by the rising wind and his own2 When Buddy had to go uphill, he looked with3at the long distance remaining and thought he wasn't going to make it. His legs had been pushing through almost-waist-high4for hours, and all he wanted to do was to 5down, to end this terrible journey and close his eyes.

    Suddenly, there was someone6him. A large man was looking down at Buddy, smiling at him7 Buddy, should have heard the sound of the man's boots crunching(使……发出嘎吱嘎吱声)the snow8he'd walked up from behind. But, there hadn't been a9.

    Buddy stared at the10.Who was he? There was a scarf hiding most of his face, but11Buddy felt no fear of him. The man said nothing. He simply picked Buddy up, lifted him over his12set Buddy on his shoulders and began to13.

    Buddy told the man where he14.As they approached the house, the stranger 15and looked Buddy in the eye. Buddy16and the man silently lowered his head and helped Buddy17off his shoulders. Buddy was so happy that he immediately knocked at the door. When Buddy18the man and wanted to thank him, he had already19Buddy could only see20in the snow and a dim(模糊的)view of his back.

    When I was a boy we had several gardens around our old house. The largest one of all was used just for 1 potatoes. I can still remember those potato 2 days. The whole 3 helped.

    4 my Dad had tilled(耕地)the soil，my Mom，brothers，and I went to work. It was my job to 5 the little seed potatoes in the rows while my Mom dropped 6 of fertilizer (肥料)beside them. My brothers then covered them all 7 the freshly turned earth.

    For months afterward I would 8 over at the garden while I played outside and wonder what was going on underneath the ground. When the harvest time came I was 9 at the huge size of the potatoes my Dad pulled out of the soil.

    Those little seedlings had grown into sweet food. They would be 10 meal after meal of baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, and my 11 favorite: potatoes cooked in spaghetti sauce.

They would 12 the entire family well fed throughout the whole year. It 13 was a miracle to be held.

    Thinking back to those special times makes me wonder how many other 14 I have planted in tills life that have grown 15 in the hearts and minds of others.

    How many times has God used some little thing that I said 16 did to grow something beautiful? How many 17 has Heaven used these little seedlings to 18 another's soul with sweet food?

    I hope then you always 19 the garden around you with care. I hope that you plant only goodness, peace, and20 in the lives of everyone you help. I hope that everyday you help miracles to grow.

    "A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high." I'm sure that John would agree with this saying, 1 he felt this way almost every day in school.

    By high school, John was the most famous 2 in his town. He was always absent, didn't answer questions and got into 3. He had failed almost every exam by the time he entered his senior year, yet was 4 each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn't want to 5 him again the following year. John was moving on, but definitely not moving 6.

    I met John for the first time at a weekend leadership training program since John was one of 405 students who 7. At the start of the training, John was just standing 8 the circle of students, against the back wall. He didn't 9 join the discussion groups. But slowly, the interactive games 10 him in.

    The ice really melted when the groups started building a list of 11 and negative things that had occurred at school that year. John 12 some constructive ideas on those situations. The other students in John's group 13 his comments. All of a sudden John felt like a 14 of the group, and before long he was 15 like a leader. By the end of the training, he had joined the Homeless Project team. The other students on the team were 16 with his passionate concern and ideas. They 17 elected John co-chairman of the team.

    John started 18 at school every day and answered questions from teachers for the first time. He led a second project,19 300 blankets and 1,000 pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter from house to house.

    A bird with a broken wing only needs 20. Once healed, it can fly higher than the rest.