My first lesson is at a meeting. As we settle around the table I hear Meg, who is 1 a recent operation, talking to Judith, the manager of our project. “Thank you so much for 2 my daughters to their dance lessons last week.” “Don't mention it,” Judith says, “It was nothing.”

    Knowing how 3 Judith's schedule is, with her work, kids and aging parents, I find her driving Meg's children to lessons unbelievably 4. I am about to say more about this when Donna, another colleague, enters the room 5. She apologizes for being late, saying she just hosted a lunch for her friends who are over seventy. “That is so nice of you,” I say, 6 how busy she is, how she doesn't like to cook and clean. “Oh,” she says, waving her hand, “It was nothing.” 7, I can still tell the 8 in her voice. She did gain a sense of satisfaction from the entertainment offered to her friends.

    Seeing their 9 to help others selflessly, I start thinking about the concept of “nothing”, this peaceful and generous way of living — had it really been nothing or are they simply saying that? It 10 to me that once I spent a whole afternoon after work helping a friend 11 a speech she was going to deliver. I 12 her to rearrange the sequence of the stories in the lecture to make it sound more 13. After the fifth try, she finally 14 it . She hugged me with 15, saying thanks to me. I smiled and said it was nothing.

    Suddenly, I realized that helping someone was really something to me. I learned that giving from the heart doesn't 16 mean sacrifice and hard work. The 17 is finding something we love to do and finding someone who 18 that something. Our generosity can benefit others 19 ourselves. Once you have a good 20 of it, it's nothing. And it's really something.

    The famous composer（作曲家）, Albert Roussel, didn't have a good start in this career. However, he achieved a great deal of success as a result of a 1 .

    Roussel's parents died when he was eight and he went to live with his  2  . As a little boy, he fell in love with music and  3  himself about it by reading through the family collection that his mother kept,  4  which there were a lot of related books.

    Three years later, Roussel's grandfather died, and his mother's sister decided to  5  him. Her husband was a kind man and  6  for young Roussel's music lessons. One summer vacation at a Belgian seaside added a second  7  to his life—the sea. Then he studied to be a naval cadet（海军学员），but still made time to study  8  .

    In the French Navy, he and two friends found the time to  9  a band, playing the works of Beethoven and other  10  . Roussel also began composing. On Christmas day 1892, he had his first chance to  11  as a composer, which turned out to be a success.

    That success  12  Roussel to write a wedding march（婚礼进行曲），and one of his navy friends  13  to show it to a famous conductor, Edouard Colonne. When Roussel's friend  14  with the manuscript（手稿）, he reported that Colonne had advised Roussel to  15  his naval career and devote his life to music.

    Not long  16  , at the age of 25, Roussel decided to  17  Edouard Colonne's advice. He gave his heart and soul to his composing and  18  a major force in twentieth century French music. Because of Eduoard Colonne's inspiring  19  , Roussel devoted his life to music—but Rousssel's  20  friend later admitted that he had made it up. He said he had never even shown Roussel's manuscript to the famous conductor.

A Leap（跳跃）to Honor

    Leaping on a narrow balance beam(平衡木) is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast, is an expert at it.

    To perfect her skills, Lola 1 for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished seventh out of 16 girls.

    That's especially impressive, 2 she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift constantly. She often sees double and can't 3 how far away things are.

    When she was little, her mom 4 that even though she couldn't see 5, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the 6 right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

    Though learning gymnastics has been more 7 for her than for some of her tournaments, she has never quit. She doesn't let her 8 stop her from doing anything that she wants to.

    She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest 9 is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. “You have to 10 your mind that it'll take you where you want to go,” says Lola.

    To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most 11 for anyone because it's four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn't 12 the beam. In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10 — her highest score yet.

    Lola doesn't want to be 13 differently from the other girls on her team. At the competitions, the judges don't know about her vision 14. She doesn't tell them, because she doesn't think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her 15 attitude.

    Lola never thinks about 16. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her 17 is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach to 18 what she's learned to other kids when she grew up.

    Lola is 19 of all her hard work and success. She says it has helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics, too. Her 20 for others is “just believe yourself”.

Honest Thanks

    I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the notecard into the 1 ， sealed it and stuck the stamps on it，but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox...I2.

    The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via Facebook 3.She had inspired me to live a(n)  4 life—for example，by 5 more.

    Her volunteer efforts weren't 6—she wasn't building wells in Uganda，but  7 she was doing small，local good deeds，such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do，too. She made me8 I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her 9 positively influenced my life .I could have easily sent her an e-mail，10 that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank you. That's why I ended up 11 the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox，unable to place the envelope inside. What was 12 me? Why was this so 13 to do? I guess I felt strange because it wasn't like she was my best friend，I just knew her，“People don't 14do this，” I thought to myself. However，15 thinking it over，I still felt a(n)16to let her know how grateful I was. Finally，I put the envelope in the mailbox.

    Weeks later I received her reply. She was 17  a tough time and my letter meant the 18  to her. She didn't know she had such a(n)19on others. Not only did this letter make her happy，but her response to it increased my 20 of happiness，I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating gratitude is a great skill to practice. Life is too short not to do it.

    When 12 girls from San Fernando High School in California received a grant(经费) to develop an invention to solve a real-world problem, they decided to create a solar-powered shelter to help the homeless.

    For over a year, the girls have been using all their free time to complete the 1“They have this amazing internal(内心的)2that I've never seen in any individual,” Violent Mardirosian, a teacher at San Fernando High who is3with the team on the project, told The Huffington Post. “I thought4that maybe some of them would give up, say 'I didn't5this much work,' but they haven't. They're just working hard and they're not giving up and they're super6.

    Living in a low-income community, the girls have seen the 7 of homelessness first-hand. Many of them are from immigrant families and hoped the 8 which is powered by rechargeable(可再充电的) solar panels(控制板), would help the9.

    Seventeen-year-old Maggie Mejia told the Huffington Post that10she had no previous 11experience, the girl figured out as a team how to12the shelter using how –to videos and books that taught them how to code. But the most important13she's learned during the project isn't technical.

    “I've learned a lot about14others, helping the community and being selfless and showing a better world to other people and15someone else's life,” she said. The project was carried out with DIY Girls, a nonprofit that helps fund STEM-science, technology, engineering and math- projects for16.

    Mardirosian said all the participating students have17their interest in STEM through this project.

    “Many of them didn't think about engineering before. They thought maybe they're not18out to be an engineer. But working together, now they 19their skill - whether a writing skill or a drawings skill or a speaking skill, they're all20in this field. Everyone has found their importance in this picture,” she said.

    When I was young, my mother could not even 1 a 50-cent chocolate bar for me. However, instead of focusing on poorness, my mother selflessly 2 me to fight for success so that I could lead a 3 life. She worked long hours every night to support the family. 4, she would find time to 5 with my sister, Emily, and me. Although I did not have two parents, I was loved and 6 just as much.

    Not all of life's milestones were easy. Some even left a 7 taste when my mother married a man in Maryland. The first few months were 8: baseball games dinners together and movies. It felt like we were the 9 All-American family. Then things 10. Screaming matches between my stepfather and my mother ruined dinners, and he 11 movie tickets for wine.

    We spent five years living in a family setting that had turned into a 12 zone. To our great relief, they finally 13 and we settled in Texas, where Mom is still working hard for a better life. Now, as I write this article with some dark 14 at hand, I realize my family and I are at the 15 point of our lives. I have succeeded both in my 16 and personality. I have been 17 my hunger for knowledge and I am to 18 from high school, not making a bitter product of my 19, for I know that hard times in life are also learning experiences. 20, like candy, can be the sweetest treat of all.