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.

    My little daughter, you are teaching me how selfless(无私) real love is!

    My wife called ,“How long will you be with that1?Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?” I threw the paper away and 2to the place .My daughter Sindu,sat there, tears welling up in her eyes .In front of her was a big bowl of rice.

    I 3the bowl and persuaded:“Sindu, why not take a few mouthfuls of the rice?”

    “OK, Dad .I will eat — not just a few mouthfuls,4 the whole lot of this. But...” Sindu hesitated .“Dad ,if I eat the whole rice ,will you give me 5I ask for?”

    “Promise.” I 6.

    After eating the rice painfully ,Sindu came to me ,her eyes wide with 7Now I became a bit 8“Dear, you shouldn't insist on9a computer or any such 10things. Dad does not have that kind of money right now.”11 “I want to have my head shaved off(剃掉),this Sunday!” was her requirement ,which was far 12my belief.

    On Monday morning ,I 13Sindu at her school and watched her walking towards her classroom. She turned around and 14.I waved back with a smile. Just then ,a boy, who just got out of a car,shouted,“Sindu, please wait for me!” What 15me was the hairless head of that boy.

    “Sir, your daughter is16indeed!” Without introducing herself, a lady standing beside me continued, “That boy is my son, who lost all his 17because of a disease .He 18to come back to school for fearing the unintentional(无意的)but 19teasing(取笑)of the schoolmates. Sindu visited him last week, and promised him that she would take care of the teasing problem. But I 20imagined she would cut her lovely hair for my son!”

    Hitting heavily on the keys in frustration, I turned away from the piano, trying to fight the tears that were already welling up in my eyes. After an hour of 1 I still couldn't get the rhythm quite right on a Mozart piece that I had to 2 to my piano teacher the following day. It was frustrating to have spent such a( n)3 time on a piano song and still be unable to play the piece correctly. To me, the piece had at first seemed easy. But, no matter how4 I tried, I just couldn't seem to play it the way that it was 5 to be played.

    I decided to take a 6.For the most part, after a little bit of work, I could 7 learn the song rather quickly. However, it was always that one song, which might have appeared simple but was8 that always annoyed me. These types of songs always made me 9myself whether I could be a pianist.

    After having dinner, I decided to come back to the piano. Placing my10on the keys, I chose to play the piece slowly and carefully, paying attention to hitting the correct notes11 trying to play the piece quickly. Using this new method of practicing, I12 a great deal of patience, something that I often had13 with. Instead of thinking how hard the rhythm was, I thought about how I could 14myself, little by little. Finally, I could slowly see myself getting better.

    15 I didn't even get the rhythm right until a week later. I also16 an important lesson—sometimes, baby steps are the best way to 17a goal. I'm an impatient person who likes to think that I can get18 by leaps and bounds. But, in the case of piano, I couldn't move forward and improve19 I slowed down, believed in myself, and took it one step 20.

    George Springer helped his team Houston Astros win the World Series in 2017. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player, 1 his struggle is mostly hidden. His 2 is not trying to hit a fastball, but in 3 it. He stutters（口吃）.

    Growing up in Connecticut, Springer was the kid who would 4 raise his hand in school, the kid 5 every time he opened his mouth.

    “I was the guy who didn't talk,” he said “I would 6 speaking at all costs.

    He was often 7. Sometimes he was bullied（欺侮）. The phone was suffering to him. 8 were worse. If he wanted a dish that he knew would be tough to say, he would 9. If he was with his family, his sister Nicole would 10 for him.

    He remembers a couple of attempts at speech therapy（语言治疗）, but he said he was 11 with encouraging parents, an ability to 12 himself in sports, and a small group of friends who 13.

    “If therapy works for you, 14. But for me, I also developed my own 15to handle it,” he said. “Besides, when I was around all my friends, it didn't really seem to 16 them. If I did it, they would 17 until I was done, then finish the conversation.”

    To help other kids18the same issue, Springer frequently appeared in interviews and even agreed to wear a microphone 19 during the 2017 All-Star Game. He then added “I can't let anything in life I can't 20 slow me down or stop me from being who I want to be.” These 22 words proved it.

    When I was 8, a gentleman came to my orphanage（孤儿院）and taught us how to do woodworking projects.

    I remember my first project—a small table. I was so 1 of it that I looked upon it as if I had created a(an) 2 . It was absolutely beautiful and it had taken me six weeks to 3it. I could hardly wait to give it to Mother Winters as a 4. She was the head mistress of our orphanage, who was always 5 with us.

    As the tables were not dry from the clear coating, the man told us to wait a few days before taking them to our dormitories. But I was just so 6and happy that I couldn't wait. I dashed out like a 7 , carrying my table, smiling from ear to ear.

    When I reached the dormitory I placed the little table beside my bed. I was 8it when Mother Winters entered. She walked over to the table. Running her hand 9 it, she noticed that it was still wet.

    "Were you 10to bring this home?" she asked.

    "No, ma'am," I 11 with my head down.

    She ordered me to throw the table out and so I did. After she left, I immediately opened the door to get it back. There was 12stuck all over. I brushed and cried, but it would not come off.

    I hid the table in my closet and never 13it. A year later while cleaning up, I gave the table to Mother Henderson, my houseparent（宿管员）, thinking that she would 14it away.

    Thirty years later at a reunion, I 15that Mother Henderson was living nearby, so I drove up to see her. We talked cheerfully for long. As I was about to leave, she asked me to come down to her16 to get something important. I followed her 17 into a dark corner. She picked something up. 18she turned around, I could see that she was holding a little table.

    Mother Henderson kept the little table that I had given up for lost so long ago.

    Today, I look at that table with bittersweet memories but full of 19to Mother Henderson, who kept it for a young orphan who tried very hard to 20 .

    My l4-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat which was hanging at a secondhand clothing store in Northampton Mass. While the other coats drooped(低垂), this one looked as if it were1itself up. The coat had beautiful tailoring, a Fifth Avenue label and a(an)2price of $28, which was popular just then with3, but could cost several hundred dollars new. This coat was even better, bearing that4of classic elegance(优雅). John tried it on and the fit was perfect.

    John5the coat to school the next day and came home wearing a big smile" Did the kids like your coat?" I asked. "They loved it," he said,6folding it over the back of a chair and smoothing it flat. Over the next few weeks, a7came over John. Agreement replaced contrariness (作对) and reasoned discussion replaced fierce8. He became more mannerly and9, eager to please. He would generously loan his younger brother his tapes and lecture him10his behavior.

    When I mentioned this incident to his teacher and11what caused the changes, she said laughing. "It12be his coat!" Another teacher told him she was giving him a good13not only because he had earned14but because she liked his coat. At the library, we ran into a friend "Could this be John?" he asked surprisingly,15John's new height, assessing the cut of his coat and extending his hand, one gentleman to another.

    John and I both know we should never16a person's clothes for the real person within them.17there is something to be said for wearing a standard of excellence for the world to see and for18what is on the inside to what is on the outside.

    For John it is a time when it is as easy to try on different approaches to19as it is to try on a coat. The whole world, the whole future is stretched out ahead, a vast landscape20all the doors are open. And he could picture himself walking through those doors wearing his wonderful, magical coat.