My friend Alan did not have a rich family. He did not have much money. Sometimes Alan 1 had to accept money and gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me 2. He was not the kind of person who never 3 the money he should. He was always very 4 with the money he spent.

    A few years ago, he won the lottery (中了彩票) and got a huge 5 of money. He was very excited. It changed his life. The 6thing he did was to buy a very expensive new car. Then he 7 spending money on unnecessary things or the things that he normally would not buy. It seemed that he had money to 8. He had more money than he needed and it was burning a hole in his pocket. He wasted his money 9.

    When we got together for a  10 at a restaurant, he would always pay the bill.  He 11 me the money made him feel very happy.

    But, Alan soon 12 out all of his money. He was as poor as a church mouse again. His last dollar was spent and he had no money   13.

    I admit (承认) I do feel  14 for my friend. He had enough money to live like a king. 15, he is back to living a hard life. He was wise about small things, but not about important things.

    Yesterday is Father's Day. Many things happening between my father and me crowded my mind. But one thing made a deep impression on me.

    It was a Sunday morning, and I was in a 1mood．Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn't invited me. I was in my room2ways to make them sorry when my father came in. “Want to go for a ride today, Beck? It's a beautiful day.”

    “No! Leave me alone!” Those were the 3words I said to him that morning.

    My friends called and4me to go to the mall with them a few hours later. I forgot to be 5with them and then went with them. When I came home, I found a6on the table. My mother put it where I would be sure to see it．“Dad has had an 7 ． Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital．”

    When I reached the hospital, my mother came out and told me a car hit my father and he was badly hurt．“Your father told the driver to leave8alone and just call 911，thank God! If he had moved Daddy, …”

    My mother may have said more，but I didn't hear. I didn't hear anything 9those terrible words: Leave me alone. My dad said them in order to10himself. He didn't want to be hurt more．How much had I hurt him 11I shouted out those words at him earlier in the day?

    It was several days later that he could12have a talk. I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him．

    “Daddy … I am so sorry …”

    “It's okay, sweetheart. I'll be okay.”

    “No, ” I said, “I mean about 13I said to you that day. You know, that morning?”

    He looked at me and said, “Sweetheart, I remember 14about that day, not before, during or after the accident. I remember telling you goodnight the night before，though.” He managed a weak smile．

    My English teacher once told me that words have great power. They can hurt or they can heal(治愈). And we all have the power to15our words. I am going to do that very carefully from now on.

    Once upon a time, there was a hungry fox that was looking for something to eat. He was very 1. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could not find any food. 2 he went to the side of the forest and looked for food there. He found a big tree 3 a hole in it.

    Inside the hole was a package. The hungry fox thought that there 4 be food in it, and he became very happy. He jumped into the hole and when he 5 the package, he saw there 6 lot of food in it!

    The fox happily began to eat. After the fox had finished 7, he felt thirsty and decided to leave the hole 8 drink some water. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get out of the hole. Do you know 9? Yes, the fox had eaten so much food that he became 10 big to go through the hole.

    An old woman had two large pots(罐) — one on each end of a pole(扁担). She carried the pole with the pots on her shoulder. One of the pots had a crack(裂缝) in it, while the other pot was 1 and was always full of water. At the 2 of the long walk from the local well(井) to the woman's house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.

    This 3 daily for two years, with the woman bringing home only 4 pot(s) of water. Of course, the perfect pot was 5. But the poor cracked pot was 6 of its own imperfection.

    One day, the cracked pot spoke to the 7 while they were on the way back. "I am ashamed of myself 8 this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house," it said. The old woman smiled and said, "Did you 9 that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I 10 know you were cracked. I planted flower seeds on 11 side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you 12them."

    "For two years, I have been able to 13 these beautiful flowers to decorate(装饰) my dining table. 14 you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty." Hearing these words, the cracked pot 15.

    Each of us has our own cracks. But it's these cracks that make our lives so interesting and meaningful.

    Ben would hear strong winds outside his home in Alabama Black clouds were making the s{#blank#}1{#/blank#} very dark. The winds strongly b{#blank#}2{#/blank#} and beat against the house. With no l{#blank#}3{#/blank#} outside, it felt like midnight. The news on TV r{#blank#}4{#/blank#} that a heavy rainstorm was in the area.

    Everyone in the neighborhood was b{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Dad was putting pieces of wood over the windows while Mom was making sure the lights and radio were {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Ben was helping his mom make dinner when the rain began. After dinner, they tried to play a card game, b{#blank#}7{#/blank#} it was hard to have fun with a serious storm happening outside.

    Ben could not s{#blank#}8{#/blank#} first. He finally fell asleep when the wind was dying down.

When he w{#blank#}9{#/blank#} up, the sun was rising. He went outside with his family and found the neighborhood in a mess. Fallen trees, broken windows and rubbish were everywhere.

    They joined the neighbors to clean up the neighborhood.

    Although the storm broke many things apart it brought families and neighbors c{#blank#}10{#/blank#} together.