A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet．He held up a 1which said：“I am blind, please help．”

    There were only a few 2 in the hat．A man was walking by．He took some change from his pocket and 3 it into the hat．He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some 4 ．He put it back so that everyone

    who passed 5 would see the new words．

    Soon the hat began to 6 ．There were a lot more people 7 money to the blind boy．That afternoon the man who had 8 the sign came to see how things were．The boy 9 his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said, “I just wrote the 10 ．I said what you said but in a different way.”

    What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I 11 see it．”

    Do you think the previous sign and the new one were 12 the same thing? Of course both signs 13 people that the boy was blind． 14 , the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat because of his blindness．The second sign told people that they were15 enough and able to enjoy the 16of the day , which the boy couldn't.

    There are at least two 17 we can learn from this simple story.

    The first is : Be 18for what you have．Someone else has19 Help where you can.

    The second is : Be creative. Think 20 .There is always a better way.

    Several weeks ago, our headmaster, Mr. Gaudi, told us that our school had been chosen to compete on Smart Aleck—a game show which my best friend Carla and I both love. Carla has a good imagination, 1 I know a lot of history. So we thought we'd be good 2 for the team.

    A few days later, Mr. Gaudi held a meeting with everyone interested in the 3 . He told us that Smart Aleck uses a five member team. He also said that three more people would be needed as backup (替补). 4, four times that many students were at the meeting. So Mr. Gaudi said we would have a 5 among all the students present and the top 6 scorers would become the team and the backup. Everybody agreed that this was a 7 way to decide.

    Yesterday, all of the hopefuls went to the dining hall after school. We would have to 8 the starting line-up（阵容）. Mr. Gaudi acted as the 9. After a couple of hours, all the 10on the team were set except one. Carla and I 11 for that last position. We had to hold a one-on-one competition 12 the two of us. The winner would be on the team and the loser would be the 13.

    Midway through our two-person competition, I was starting to pull ahead. 14 I saw the look on Carla's face. I waited for a second and knew what I had to do. As much as I wanted to be on Smart Aleck, Carla wanted 15 even more. So, starting with my next question, I held back and let Carla 16, just by a little bit. Her expression as she 17 she would be on the show made up for my not being on the team. And since I will go as backup, I'll still have the 18 of seeing the show up close.

    Was I 19 by not trying as hard as I could? I don't think so. No one noticed, and Carla and I didn't 20 it. It won't hurt the team because Carla will be a very good competitor on the real show. I think that making my best friend happy was the right thing to do.

Running for a Dream

    I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1 my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come2 me. I saw worry and 3 on my father's face. Then the race began!

For the first two and a half miles, I felt4. I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled 5 and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the 6 required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races, I didn't 7out in the front. I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

    Then without warning, my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I 8 see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into9 when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them 10 my weight.

    I watched as runners rushed by me. 11 I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the12 left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled(爬), inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both 13and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep 14 until the very end.

    The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to 15 to. I whispered, “I'm so sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry I 16 you." He looked at me, saying, “You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just  17. All that matters is that you did your best."

    "But we worked so 18. What about our dream?" He reached over for my hand and said, "Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true?"

    It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a 19 path for my journey. I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a  20. What I realized, though, was that to him, I was the greatest prize he had ever won.

I have a warm story to share with you. A school in San Francisco not only accepted a deaf student, but also {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (teach) the entire class sign language to allow them to better communicate with him. 

The moving story began in September last year {#blank#}2{#/blank#} a woman asked the primary school in her neighbourhood {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (accept) her six-year-old son, James, who has a hearing disability. The teacher, Lily, agreed almost immediately, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} on the first day of school, she noticed James {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (sit) all by himself, unable to communicate with any of his classmates. 

{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(determine) to find a way out, Lily tried developing a few signs of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (she) own. But a parent of another child came up {#blank#}8{#/blank#} an even better idea—getting the whole class to learn sign language along with James. So they got a sign language teacher on board, and three months later, James was able to communicate {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (happy) with all his classmates about regular things like homework and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (game).

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. My husband was taking care of our baby girl so that my six-year-old son and I could do some yard work, just the two of us. It was sure to be 1 . But soon, the clouds of mosquitos seemed 2 to our bug spray (喷雾). I was sweating, itchy, and arguing with my son about how to pull weeds. I had told him the "right" way — getting those weeds out from the bottom, by the roots, 3 them entirely. 

However, my son went about things in his own way. He pulled the 4 of the weeds off, moving quickly down the line as he left the remaining part still in the soil. Somehow, I found this to be incredibly 5 . Why couldn't he do it in my way and save me the time of having to 6 his portion (部分)? Why did he do it at all if he wasn't going to do it properly? 

"If you do as told, we'd be done earlier and 7 a longer period before we would have to return and pull weeds next time," I said, trying to keep my tone 8 . 

He went back to his work, shaking dirt from his handful of growing things and throwing 9 stems into our shared basket. "People do things 10 , Mom," he said innocently. 

My fire soon faded, replaced by the 11 realization that I'd just received a valuable12 from the person that I was supposed to be teaching. While trying to 13 my baby girl, my kindergartener, and the yard work, 14 was a lifeline for me. But my way was, perhaps, not the best way after all. His time shouldn't be 15 . His job was to be a kid and take his time, for as long as he was able.

I was living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is a1 city, with more people living in it than in my whole country. We rented a flat in a guarded community, but there was a favela (棚户区) quite 2 .

For several months I didn't have a car, so three times a week, I took buses to go to the city centre. During these 3 , I would ride with the people who took the same bus from the favela to go to work. When I got on the bus, all the seats were already 4 . But when people saw that my bag was heavy, they offered to hold it on their legs to make me feel lighter5 . At first, I was 6 . Then I realized that these people had absolutely no 7 to steal from me: they only wanted to 8 .

Once, on my way back, I had to 9 for a long time at a bus stop. I was alone, except for a woman who was 10 very poor. She carried a small paper bag of popcorn and nothing else.

While we were waiting she walked over and 11 me some popcorn. I 12 her, but didn't want to help myself to it. She then repeatedly insisted that I take from what was clearly her only food.

That was the first time I had thought about how people who have almost nothing are sometimes able to 13 the little they have more "14 "than those who own a lot. I wonder if it's true that the more you have, the bigger the difficulty to share anything with others. I was so moved by that woman's simple generosity that day. I clearly 15 more than she did, but she naturally and joyfully shared what little she had with me.