A long time ago there was a boy. He was smart, talented and handsome.  1, he was very selfish and his temper was so 2 that nobody wanted to be friends with him. Often he got angry and said various 3things to people around him.

    The boy's parents were very 4 about his bad temper. They considered what they could do and one day the father had an idea. He called his son and gave him a hammer and a bag of5.The father said: “Every time you get angry, take a nail and 6 it into that old fence as hard as you can.”

    The fence was very7and the hammer was heavy, nevertheless the boy was so angry that during the very first day he drove 37 nails.

    Day after day, week after week, the number of nails was gradually8. After some time, the boy started to understand that 9 his temper is easier than driving nails into the fence.

    One day the boy didn't 10 hammer and nails any more as he learned to hold his temper perfectly. So he came to his father and told about his11. “Now every time, when you hold your temper all day long,12 one nail”.

    Much time has passed. At last the boy could be13 of himself as all the nails were gone. When he came to his father and told about this, he14to come and take a careful look at the fence. “You did a good job, my son,15 pay your attention to the 16 that were left from the nails. The fence will 17 be the same. The same happens when you say hurtful things to people, as your words leave18 in their hearts like those holes in the fence. Remember, we need to 19 everyone with love and respect. It doesn't 20 that you say you are sorry, because the scars will not disappear.

    One young person, who was well educated, went for a job as a manager in a big company. The president did the final 1.

    He discovered the youth was 2 and felt satisfied. Then the president asked who paid for his school fees. The youth answered, "My mother did it. She worked as a clothes 3."

    The president requested the youth to 4 his hands. So the youth did. They were smooth. Then he asked, "Have you ever 5 your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to 6."

    "Go and clean your mother's 7 when you go back today, and then 8 me tomorrow morning," the president said 9.

    The youth felt his chance of getting the job was high, so when he went back, he 10 requested his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell 11 he cleaned his mother's hands slowly. It was the first time he had 12 that his mother's hands were so wrinkled (布满皱纹的). After that, the youth didn't say a word and washed all the remaining clothes for his mother 13. That night, Mother and Son 14 for a very long time, longer than any talk before.

    The next 15, the youth went to the president's office. The president noticed the tears in the youth's eyes and asked: "Please tell me how you 16 about helping your mother." The youth said, "Number One, I know now what 17 is. Without my mother, I wouldn't be successful today. Number Two, by helping my mother, I realize how 18 it is to get something done. Number Three, I've come to realize the 19 of family relationship."

    The president said, "You are 20. This is what I'm looking for to be my manager."

    Carl Kenton is a wealthy businessman. Five years ago, after returning from abroad to his motherland, he 1 his small company. Speaking of success, Glen often tells us a story about his 2 expensive “school” fee. He always owes his success to it.

    At that time, Glen, who already got a PhD degree, decided to return to the homeland, starting a company. Before 3 , he bought a Rolex watch with the 4 made through years of work after school and the scholarships. At the airport he had to accept the routine customs check. The watch on his wrist was also demanded to be 5 down for inspection. Glen knew that carrying the 6 goods out had to pay the tax and he worried about paying 7 for his watch. So when he was checked, he told a lie that his watch was a 8 fake (假货). When he was 9 of his “smarts”, immediately, 10 the presence of Glen, the officers hit the watch, which 11 nearly 100,000, into pieces at hearing Glen's words. Glen was 12. Before he understood why, he was taken to the office to be examined 13. For many times of entry-exit 14, he knew that only those people in the “blacklist” would “enjoy” this special treatment. The officers looked over everything carefully in the box and 15 him no matter what time of entry and exit he must accept the check and if 16 reusing and carrying fake and shoddy goods, he would be charged according to law! Suddenly, his face turned red, and he had nothing in mind after 17 the plane for long.

    After returning to the homeland, he often told the story to his family and his employees, too. He said that this made a deep 18 on him because the additional high “school” fee that he had ever paid made him realize the value of 19, which he would 20 as the secret of his success forever.

    Lana sat next to Grandma. She enjoyed looking at the old photo album. "Who is this?" she asked, 1 at a picture. It was of a small girl with a wild 2. She had a big gap (豁口) between her front teeth.

    "That is your mother when she was about your 3. We thought her front teeth would never come," said Grandma.

    Lana laughed. "She 4 funny with those teeth 5."

    "Yes, she did," smiled Grandma.

    "Did the tooth fairy take her teeth too?" asked Lana.

    "We liked to pretend she did," said Grandma. "She put the 6 under her pillow and went to sleep. The next morning there would be a coin in that place."

    "What really 7to the teeth?" asked Lana.

    "Well," said Grandma. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but I kept 8."

    "You did?" asked Lana. "Why?"

    "They helped remind 9 of your mother and her sisters10they were growing up," said Grandma.

    "Do you 11 have them?" asked Lana.

    "I have not 12 of them for a long time," said Grandma. "I would have to 13."

    Lana jumped 14 from her chair. "Can we look now?"

    Grandma 15 and led her to the kitchen. She 16 one of the upper cabinets and began to 17. She pulled out a box of bandages and many bottles of medicine. There was even a jar of seeds.

    "I do not think they are here," she began to say. "No, wait. Here they are!" Grandma 18the bottle in the air and the teeth clinked inside.

    They 19 at the kitchen table. Grandma poured out the 20 onto a plate.

    The young woman entered the pool where an injured dolphin was swimming. Despite her fear, she felt strong wearing her new leg.

    In her second grade, Maja 1 her cousin, Jasmina. After Jasmina's death, Maja swore she would honor the little girl by 2 with a dolphin, an animal that both girls   3. "Jasmina never got the chance to do it." says Maja, now 32, "so I 4 that someday I'd do it for her."

    In high school, Maja was 5 about sports. She even planned to become an athlete. 6, in 1993, during the civil war in her home country, a bomb 7 her left leg.

    After two years' treatment in the U.S., Maja 8 her first artificial leg. But because it didn't 9 well, walking for Maja was very painful. 10, she managed to graduate from a local high school. Then after receiving a 11 from Saint Francis University, she got a job at an insurance firm and 12 started her own company.

    To relax, Maja 13 often watch the dolphins play at an aquarium（水族馆）near her home. A young dolphin, Winter, who had lost its tail, caught her 14. One day, Maja happened to see trainers fitting Winter with a high-tech 15. When they were done, Winter swam freely in the water. Maja was 16. She managed to find the inventors of Winter's tail. Within ten days, she had a new leg which freed her of the 17 that had troubled her for almost 16 years.

    Now, Maja was ready to keep her 18. She went to the aquarium, lowered herself into the pool and held out a hand to Winter, who approached 19, then swam away. After a few minutes, the dolphin let Maja 20 its back. Finally, the two began to swim around the pool together.

Rebecka Peterson, a high school math teacher, is the nation's 2023 Teacher of the Year. Her first year of teaching wasn't without its 1 ，but she remembered why she was there and wanted to bear those2 thoughts in mind. So she 3 the One Good Thing blog.

It was 4 and fun, really. Every evening, she would write on her blog, 5 "one good thing she experienced that day. She gave her blog the tagline; "Every day may not be good, but there is on good thing in every day."

She encouraged her 6 to do the same in their handwritten journals. Just a few minutes a day to7 something good that happened—that would be enough, she 8 . She believes that it will make them happier and more 9 to learn.

During her eleven years in teaching, Peterson has10 that some students find math difficult. But her efforts to make it 11 made her the 2023 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. From there, she made the 12 to win the nation's 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Peterson has travelled around the country, talking to teaches about binging 13 back to Classrooms. Her goals include emphasizing the positive experiences students have not only with math but with learning 14 . She hopes her stories will attract new teachers to the profession and give 15 to current ones.