That holiday morning I didn't have to attend school. Usually, on holidays, Mother 1  me to sleep in. And I would certainly take full advantage of it. On this particular morning,  2, I felt like getting up early.

        I stood by my window overlooking the 3, having nothing better to do. But as it turned out, I was soon to learn about something  4  in life.

        As I watched several people go by, get into their cars and go off, I  5an old man on a bicycle with a bucket on its  6 and a basket of rags and bottles on its back-carriage. He  7  from one car to another,  washing and cleaning them. From the water on the ground, it seemed that he had already  8  washing and cleaning about a dozen or more cars. He must have begun to work quite early in the morning.

        Several thoughts  9my mind as I watched him work. He wash't well-dressed. He had on a pair of shorts and a(n)  10  T-shirt. The bicycle he rode was not by any means the kind modern  11 would want to be seen riding on. But he seemed 12  with life. There he was, working hard at his small business,  13at passers by and stopping to chat now and then  14elderly men and women on their way to the market nearby,

        There was a noticeable touch of  15 in the way he seemed to be doing things  16 the  windscreen(挡风玻璃), then standing back to admire it; scrubbing(擦净)the wheels and  17, standing back to see what they look like after the scrub.

        It was a  18 to learn, I felt. At no age need one have to beg for a  19 if one has good health and is  willing to work hard. For a while I felt  20 of myself. Young as I am—just sixteen, and there was this old man who must have been usefully engaged perhaps before the sun appeared above the horizon.

    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.

    Having said good-bye to his parents, Alvin, with his wife and one-year-old son, set off back home. Still1Alvin and Clare talked and laughed happily. And even little Alax2from time to time. The family were3their trip.

    But three hours later things began to 4. It was starting to snow. Alvin sped up the car,5to arrive home before dark. But it was too dangerous to drive fast now because it was snowing more and more heavily. So Alvin had to 6down. The snow on the 7was getting deeper and deeper until it was hard to 8on it. Their car slipped(滑落)off the highway and got caught in the deep snow and the engine refused to start again.

    “The snow doesn't seem to9. Shall we stay in the car waiting to be frozen(冻)to death or walk ahead 10the snow?”Alvin asked. Clare said she 11to walk. So they got out of the car with their Alex and began walking. But something 12was to come. Soon they lost their 13 and had to walk aimlessly(无目标的)on and on.

    Night came. They were not 14of the dark. But they feared that poor Alax would die of cold. However, their faith(坚信)to keep Alax 15filled them with courage, warmth and strength. They slept and rested in turn and then continued their 16. They had fallen down many times but each time true love encouraged them to rise to their 17again.

    One, two, three, …seven days passed. On the eighth day, 18 at last came from Alvin's parents, the police and local people. But the young 19had to have their feet cut off because of the bad frost-bites (冻伤). Fortunately, there was 20 seriously wrong with little Alax.

    I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! If not, no 1 to catch up, just join right now. Everyone says one of the most effective ways to deal with 2 emotions is to 3. If things are sad, try to find a 4 to laugh or joke. Easier said than done.

    However, I had a chance to make a joke of it last night. My husband 5 the job of dealing with my 6 orthodontic（矫牙）treatment. He7 he'd make the 8 and take her to see the doctor.

    On 9 flight to Kansas city for the holidays, my daughter lost her dental braces（牙套）. We looked everywhere on the plane but it was 10. We returned home 11 and my husband didn't call to make an appointment. Days went12. I 13 him periodically, but nothing happened.

Whenever I thought about this delay（延误）, I became extremely annoyed. Last night, I was 14 to turn on my anger at full volume（音量）. "This really matters. She is growing now. She'll only have to suffer, you 15 you'd do it," But then I thought about, "make a joke of it." So I went over and said 16, "honey, if you don't call the orthodontist's tomorrow, I'm going to be very angry. I'm not threatening, just giving you fair warning." And today he made the appointment. I'm not sure if making a joke of it was more effective（有效的）than getting angry, but I don't think it was less effective.

I used the same 17 on myself last weekend. Faced with a lot of dull tasks to do, I repeated to myself 18, "Oh well, this is the weekend of the dreaded（恐怖）tasks." And just making that little joke made it easier to handle those tasks.

Maybe, my jokes weren't funny at all. But just the attempt to take a 19 attitude made a huge 20. It's easy to say "make a joke of it", but it's hard to do when you're feeling angry or upset. Have you found a way to get yourself to make a joke?

    For fans of Emma Watson, it's quite exciting that she perfectly plays the role of Belle in Disney's fantasy film Beauty and the Beast. In most fairy tales, it's the woman who 1her prince to rescue her from danger, but in this movie, Belle, independent and active, with 2and kindness, saves her love and 3him from a fearsome beast back into a charming prince.

    Watson, in real life, is 4 with her famous roles. She is 5 for fighting for equality for women all over the world and is always proud of her feminist（女权主义）thoughts. Actually, her early 6 affected her decision to be so strong in her.7. She claimed in one speech she 8 on gender（性别）equality: At age 8, she was called “bossy” by boys only because she, a girl, wanted to direct plays. She then started to focus on gender equality. Afterward, her enthusiastic and wise public speeches have 9 many miserable women, for which she 10 credit.

    On March 8, Watson 11 a live Question and Answer about gender equality for the UN's HeForShe campaign. During the12, Watson emphasized that gender equality doesn't just 13 women. “I've got four brothers. Gender equality is having an effect on them just as 14 as me. My brother once said he just couldn't 15 some of his male friends, 16the rude way they talk about girls.”

    When Watson was17as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joked that he hoped Watson used her magic stick to 18 violence against women. And the19 young woman is doing and will 20to do so.

    Today I went on an outing with my best friend. However, I1her in a very large mall for some four hours. I went2searching all over from one end to the other. Finally, I had to3to my pride and ask for help. I spoke with the kindest4! He promised me that everything would be5, and walked with me one more time all around the mall but6again. I thought it was so strange and wondered how a(n)7woman could lose her best friend in the mall.

    I drove home in8and thought of what a great trouble I had made. Nobody around could9me for such a mistake. I thought about how special my best friend is to me and those who know her.

    When I arrived home, I was10to find my best friend was just there: my Mother! My mother was fine. She11said, "I looked all over for you and for an hour of12, without any luck. Therefore, I13to take the bus home myself, I did not have my cell phone. Why are you crying? " Needless to say, I was so overjoyed to see my mother was in one14.

    Nothing in this world happens without a(n)15. What happened that day lets me realize how much my mother16to me. At the same time, the 17of the security guard, a complete stranger, also18me deeply. This19is a great reminder for me to show kindness to people I see daily. Never20the presence and friendship of them for granted, Value what we have today.