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.

    In the United States there was an unusual tale telling of the daughter of a mechanic (技工). One day while walking along the bank of a lake, the girl 1 to see 20 eggs laid by a wild goose. After some time the girl 2 the mother would not return to her eggs and she 3to take them home. There she carefully 4the eggs in the heat of a lamp. Several days5the eggs broke and the baby geese came into the 6.

    Geese are known to take the first living thing they see as their mother.7, to these young geese, the girl was their mother.

    As they8, the girl was able to 9 her birds to run across the grass, but she could not teach them to 10The girl became increasingly worried about this, both when 11and in her dreams. Later, she had an 12: She would fly a plane to guide them I 13She asked her father for a plane and he assembled (组装) a small aircraft for her.

    Caring about 14 safety, the father decided to fly the plane himself. However, the birds did not 15or follow him, and 16slept in the grass.

    One day, the girl 17into the plane, started it and soon left the 18 Seeing their mother take to the air, the birds 19 flapped (拍打) their wings and 20. She flew the plane freely in the sky, her young birds following.

    There once was a king in a faraway country. One day, he decided to1a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of 2 So many artists 3 The king looked at all the pictures.4 there were only two he really liked, and he had to 5between them. One picture was of a 6 lake. The lake was a perfect mirror with peaceful huge mountains all around it. Above was a 7 sky with light white clouds. All who 8 this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

    The other picture had 9too. But these were not flat at all. Above was a (an)10 sky, from which rain fell heavily and in which lightning played11 Down the side of the mountain was a waterfall with loud sound. This did not look12 at all.

    But when the king looked 13 he saw behind the waterfall a small tree 14 in a crack (缝隙) in the rock. In the tree a mother bird had 15 her comfortable home. There, with the flow of angry water, the mother bird was 16 her hungry children in the nest, taking no attention to the 17things around them — in perfect peace.

    Which picture do you think18 the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

     “Because” said the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,19 or hard work. Peace means although noisy things are around you, you 20 keep calm in the heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

    I can never wipe off the memory that I met my current stepmom for the first time. After I parted with my father for ages, I moved to America and was 1 with him. In the beginning, she made sure to let me know that I was welcome in her 2. I remember when I first saw her at the 3. It was different, but not 4. Over the past years there is 5 I needed that she did not provide. I'm the young woman I'm today because she made sure to 6 me properly. Yesterday I went to see her for Mother's Day. When I gave her 7, she held my face in both of her hands and kissed me straight on the mouth 8 I had the flu.

    Her simple act of affection 9 me back to my first night in America. After I was 10 up from the airport we went home and she11 my luggage and took me shopping for new clothes since the ones I had brought with me from Africa were a bit 12. That night before I went to bed, she came to my room, the first room I had ever had for my own. She told me she was 13 to have me and that she would take good care of me. Before she 14 she asked me for a hug. That was my 15 first hug and I was 11 years old at that time.

    I'm 23 years old now and I have received many 16 over the past years, but none has given me a greater 17 or deeper impression. I regarded her as my 18 mother because my new life began when I came to 19 with her. Today I say to my mother, Mrs. Sherrill Kirundi, thank you, mom. Thank you for your giving me my 20 childhood back.

My Perfect Imperfect Life

    A few years ago, I was standing at the barre (扶手杠) waiting for my adult ballet class when I heard a voice behind me. "So, do you have this perfect life?"

    My first reaction was to1who was being asked such an odd question. Then I remembered there were only two of us in the room. When I turned2, the other woman was looking straight at me.

    I had no idea how to answer it. Was she3? Who has a perfect life? Sure, occasionally I did find the perfect dress or the perfect pair of shoes,4never would I use that word to describe anything about me or my life. I felt a twinge of guilt for somehow giving her that5.

    She watched me. I finally6to whisper a quick "No".

    By then, the teacher had entered the room and turned on the music to start class. With a sigh of7, I moved my feet into the best position. But as soon as my knees bent for our first pose, I realized my8had been disturbed. This woman's words wouldn't9echoing in my thoughts.

    I wanted to know how she came up with her very mistaken10. If she knew anything about my life, she never would have had the11to ask me that question.

    I did my best to do our floor exercises in front of the mirror. For a few moments, I didn't see the usual12of my older self attempting to use a beautiful art form to 13my gracefulness. I only saw the little girl whose father died when she was two, the child who walked home from elementary school every day to an empty house, who learned to sew her own clothes to14money.

    Perfect. My life had been far from it.

    When those memories15, I was left with a vision of the woman I had become, the woman16by all those things I considered imperfect. I now saw the woman who had learned to be self-reliant, who17her family and her friends, who didn't take life for granted. Was that the "perfect" this woman had detected?

    I still don't know, but I no longer feel18or feel like I must keep track of all the difficult times to prove my life isn't19. If ever again asked whether my life is perfect, I would have a different20. Because now I see that, despite all its imperfection, it is.

    Barry White, Jt., a fifth grade English teacher at Ashley Park PreK­8 School, has a personalized handshake as greetings with every one of his students every day.

    The students know that when they 1 the school gate we do our 'good mornings' and then it's time to 2 " White told ABC News of his enthusiastic 3. "I'm always pumped up 4 . we start doing the moves, which brings them 5 and cheers them up for a high­energy 6."

    Each handshake is different, using custom moves inspired by the student's personality.

    "I started with one simple handshake last year with one of my 7 graders," he explained. "The girl of fourth grade would 8 me every morning before she'd go to class. She'd get in trouble sometimes for being late because she'd wait on the 9."

    "This year I started 10 handshakes with the kids during class breaks. It was just one or two students and then it became contagious (有感染力的) , he 11 ." I saw how much it 12 to them, so I said, Come on, everyone! Come on! Then it was my 13 class, then it was kids from other classes. Now I have third graders wanting to do it too.

    His administration loves the 14 which White brings to his students each day. "Barry's handshakes 15 his own authentic building relationships with 16 . When I walk into my teachers' rooms, I see the 17 of those strong and trusting relationships. When kids know their teacher 18, they are attentive, engaged and driven to be 19. That's the culture we are 20," said principal (校长) Meaghan Loftus.