Black or White

    When I was in elementary school, I got into an argument with a boy in my class. The teacher  1 to teach us a very important lesson.

    She brought us up to the front of the 2 and placed him on one side of her desk and 3 on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could 4 see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. "White," he 5.

    I couldn't 6 he said the object was white, when it was clearly black! Another

    7 started between my classmate and me, this time about the 8 of the object.

    The teacher told me to go 9 where the boy was standing 10 told him to come stand where I had been. We changed 11, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I 12 answer, "White."

    It was an object with two 13 colored sides, and from his viewpoint (视角) it was white. Only from my 14 it was black.

    I have never  15 the lesson I learned that day. Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person's viewpoint in order to truly understand his / her view.

    Mabel is a beautiful girl. She likes all kinds of clothes, but she didn't1 her heart into her lessons when she was at school. With her friends' help, she finally finished middle school, 2 she learned little there. Of course, she can't do any important work and now she is a salesgirl in a 3 She has to work there and hopes to find a better one .

    One afternoon the girl argued with her mother angrily. So the following morning, . When she served an old man, she was very4 The old man chose a pair of shoes and bought them. Before he left, he asked, "How 5  will the shoes last?"

"It depends. If you don't use them .the shoes will  6  be broken. "

The old man  7 nothing and went away. That afternoon, while Mabel was  8  for supper, she cut her finger. She had to go to a hospital. That old man happened to be on duty. After Mabel got the medicine from him, she asked, "When will I get 9 ?"

    "It depends, "said the old man. "If you don't use 10 , you'll lose your finger. "

    Tom had a dog named Max. Max was 10 years old, which was quite 1 in dog years. Tom bought the dog to protect him and his family from 2. When Max saw something suspicious (可疑的), he barked loudly. There was one time when a bad man was trying to get into Tom's house. Thankfully, Max barked loudly and Tom's dad was able to 3 the bad man in time. Sometimes though, Max would bark when he saw another dog. Tom would go outside 4 something bad was happening, but it was really just another dog.

    Tom went on a lot of hikes and walks with Max. Tom did not like to exercise, but he did not 5 if it was with Max. Tom would also take Max to the dog beach, where Max could play with other dogs. Max was considered part of the 6. He was even in the family holiday postcard picture. Tom knew, however, that Max was going to 7 soon. He tried not to think about it.

    One day, Tom came back home from school and filled up Max's water bowl as usual. Except this time, Max did not run to the 8 as he usually did. Tom looked around the house for Max and found him lying on the floor. Tom was surprised. He 9 ran to Max and called his name over and over again. He was gone. Tom and his family buried (埋葬)him in their backyard. He 10 for a long time, and remembered all his good memories with Max.

    People can hardly believe that Fred Carey is one of the best students in his class. He1a trouble maker and often drove his teachers mad.

    Fred's father died when he was just a 2 boy. Life became 3for him. His mother had to work to pay for his education. As a result, she was seldom at home. She tried to look4him well, but Fred caused a lot of problems for himself and his family. He had no 5 in studying and often got into trouble with the police. Luckily, his mother was very patient and didn't give up 6him. 7 the end, she made a difficult decision 8 him to a boy's boarding school. Fred hated it at first and caused even9 trouble. He told his teacher he wanted to leave the school. Even the teacher agreed that Fred was wasting his time.

    The headmaster suggested that Fred should have a talk with his mother. "It was exactly10 I needed." he said. "My mother helped me understand how much she had given to me." She also told me that 11 my father was no longer with us, he was watching me and would always be proud of everything 12I had done. That's the time when I decided to change. I realized that since my father died, I had been afraid of being alone, and had tried to make my mother 13 more about me.

    Now Fred has really changed. He has been working hard. How was he able to change? His mother's love helped him to feel 14about himself, and as Fred himself says, "15 very important for parents to be there for their children."

    This morning I got an email from Roy. It seems that my boy really enjoys his new life at the University of Harvard.

    The1made me think of the first day when we moved into this house.

    Little Roy ran around the new house with great excitement and tried to move his own things into the house such as his toys, books and clothes.2, his little hand knocked over(打翻)a bottle of paint on the shelf. The paint made the tidy floor and white wall a terrible mess. "Oh, my God！"My wife rushed in angrily. I looked at my son, and his small face was filled with3.

    I4and held his hand, "Take it easy, Roy. Now let's do something to make it look5."I took out a6 ."You see, Dad is a magician(魔术师).I can change it into a big tree."

    His mother soon helped paint some butterflies and flowers on the wall.

    We spent the whole afternoon7and laughing. The wall became a beautiful forest with plants, birds and small animals. Blue sky and white clouds were also painted by Roy. On that day, everybody in the house knew something8happened.

    The night before Roy left for the University of Harvard, he asked me if I still remembered the day when he knocked over the paint." Since then I've9worried about making mistakes, "he continued, "I believe I can always10ways to solve all the problems."

    Tony was a 15-year-old boy living with his little sister, Jane. Their parents had passed away long ago. Tony 1 Jane by himself.

    One day, Tony woke up at 3 in the morning as usual. When Jane was 2 alone, Tony left their little house m deliver(递送) the newspaper. As he did so, he found something unusual. One3 was sitting in front of his house. Tony was so 4that he stopped to look at him closely. It was a very 5 morning and he looked very old.

    The poor old man didn't have anything to cover himself with. Tony went into his house to get the old man a blanket (毯子), 6there were no extra blankets. Tony thought bard and took his father's 7. It was the only thing of his father's that he had left. Tony wrote a short 8 . "Sir, I routed you sleeping in front of my house. This is 9 father's coat. I hope it fits you well " He put the note in a pocket of the coat, and covered the old man with the coat. Then he went to work. When he 10three hours later, both the man and the coat were gone. Tony thought that it was the 11 thing he could have done with his father's coat.

    That afternoon, Tony hurried home after school because Jane was12alone. However, Jane and the old man were standing in front of the house, and Jane shouted to Tony, "Brother! He's our 13!"

    The grandfather smiled and said, "Tony. I have been looking for you all around the country for eight years. I'm not 14. But I can take care of you two. Thank you for giving me the coat and letting me know what a 15 person my grandson is. This coat was the very one that I gave my own son, a long time ago."