Before Father's Day, I found my father was unhappy because he was out of work. I decided to cheer him up by buying him a special Father's Day gift.

One day after school I1to the Agins which was known for fashions and styles. I told Agins that I was looking for a Father's Day present.

“ Do you think he'd like a2?”she asked. “I think he might.”I told her.

She 3a Swiss watch and I told her that would like it.

“ How much money do you have?”she asked.

“ 4dollars.” I replied.

“You're so lucky!”she told me. “It's only $11. You still have $1 for the5 . “ She packed the watch and I thanked for my business, and I rode off home with the gift under my arm.

When my father opened the gift, he asked6. “Where did you get it?”

“I boughtit at the Agins.I cost me $11.” I said. My father was shocked into silence.

Many years later, I did learn that the watch was worth several hundred dollars,7I appreciated(赞赏) how wonderful Agins had been to me. I always felt8that I never had chance to thank her.

“What really amazes meto this day…my daughter.”My father said, “Letting you have the watch for 11 dollars was9 enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch(触动) of10. I'll never forget it.”

    A long time ago, there lived a wise man named Zun-Nun in Egypt. A young man came to visit him and asked, “Teacher, why do you dress in 1 a way? Nowadays it's necessary to dress neatly（整洁地）, isn't it? Or how will people know you're really a 2and wise man?”

    Zun-Nun smiled, took a ring from his finger and said, “Young friend, I'll answer your question, 3 first do one thing for me. Take this ring to the market. Can you sell it for one chip of gold?”

    When the young man looked at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, he thought to 4, “How will I sell it at that price?”

    He 5  the ring to the vegetable, meat and fish traders and others in the market. But 6 was willing to pay a chip of gold.

    He returned and told this to Zun-Nun. Zun-Nun said, “Now go to the gold shop and show the ring to the owner. Don't give a 7, just see how much he will pay.”

    One hour 8, the young man was back. “Teacher, people in the market really didn't know the value of this ring. The gold shop owner 9 me 1,000 chips of gold.”

    Zun-Nun smiled. “That's the answer to your question, my friend. Someone can't be valued only from his 10. The ring was a gift from the emperor,” he said.

B

    Rose was telling her granddaughter Lily stories about how she had written a best-selling 1 in her early 30's.

"Did you always know you wanted to be a2, Grandma?" asked Lily. Rose smiled at her granddaughter. " I 3 knew it on my first day of primary school."

"I felt like that on my first day of primary school too! It was singing, I used to be sure that I would be a singer," said Lily. "Why 'used to' ,Lily?" Rose asked.

"Well," began Lily,"4 be the best singer in the class. But there was a new girl coming to my class, and she was better at singing than I was. What was the point(意义) of 5 as she was much better than me?"

"You know, Lily," Rose said," Although I was the best at writing in primary and middle school, when I got into high school, I met a girl in my English class. She was always the best writer. I used to 6 because of it, thinking that I was no longer the best writer, I was 7."

"So what did you do?" Lily asked. "I did what any person would do." said Rose." I did everything to be better than her."

"Did you ever write better than her in your class?" Lily asked." No. But I realized that it wasn't about being the best out of everyone, it was about being the very best that I could be.

So I 8my love for writing, and look where I am now…" Rose 9.

"Wow!" said Lily in surprise. "But what's that girl doing now?" "Who knows, but there's one thing I am 10:she hasn't written a best-selling book yet."

    Do you often communicate with your parents?

    Some parents are always comparing their 1 with themselves when they were young, or with other people when they were children.

    “When I was your age,” a father said to 2sixteen-year-old son one day, “I was at the top of my class every year. And I 3 what I wanted to do when I left school. I had goals. You have no goals, 4your are always at the bottom of your class .”

    The man's son said nothing. He had already heard this from his father 5 times.

    “And when your mother was your age,” the young man's father, 6 , “She had a good job and she was earning money. You don't even have a part-time job. You earn nothing.”

    The man's son still said 7. He had heard this before, 8.

    “And 9 your elder brother was your age,” the young man's father went on, “he studied hard. But your just 10your time.”

    And the man's son still said nothing.

    Finally, the young man's 11 said, “And when Abraham Lincoln was your age, he worked all day and studied at night.”

    This time the son 12 stay silent(沉默).

    “And when Abraham Lincoln was your age, father,” he said, “He was the president of13United States. 14 are you?”

    His father had no answer to this.

    Are your parents always comparing you 15 others? And what's your reply? Do you have a better way to communicate with each other?